“We know things aren't going to change overnight” - England's assistant coach Paul Collingwood after New Zealand inch ahead at Lord’s
England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood stated that "things aren’t going to change overnight" for the Test team and that they need some time to adapt to the new strategy. Collingwood spoke after New Zealand gained the upper hand on Day 2 of the Lord’s Test.
After bundling out the Kiwis for 132 on Day 1 of the first Test, the hosts were in a great position to dominate the match. However, they succumbed to 141 in the first innings. An unbeaten 180-run stand for the fifth-wicket between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell then put the visitors ahead in the Lord’s Test.
Speaking after the end of a disappointing day’s play for England, Collingwood said:
"We know that things aren't going to change overnight. It's going to take some time for us to get the team playing the way that we want them to play. Obviously, that's a work in progress.”
He asserted that new coach Brendon McCullum as well as new captain Ben Stokes will stick to their philosophy of playing positive cricket. Collingwood added:
"Brendon's a glass-half-full kind of man. He'll stay calm, he won't change his values and beliefs just because of one innings, that's for sure, and neither will Ben."
The tourists take control on day two.
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After a disappointing batting effort, England’s bowlers fought back to reduce New Zealand to 56 for four in their second innings. However, Mitchell and Blundell frustrated the English bowlers for the rest of the day.
“This game's not out of our reach yet”: England assistant coach
The hosts blew away a great opportunity to gain control of the Lord’s Test as they only managed a nine-run first-innings lead. Admitting the same, Collingwood asserted that England are not out of the match yet. He commented:
"We came out of that first day all evens, both teams got pretty much exactly the same score. It's disappointing that we haven't gone ahead and created a big lead, but if you dwell on it for the rest of the game that's no good. This game's not out of our reach yet.”
The former England captain added:
"From our point of view we tried everything, and you can see in Ben that we've got a proactive captain who is willing to try different things.”
"A Test cap is a childhood dream. You now have the opportunity to live that."
Congrats, @mattyparky96 👏
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New Zealand will resume Day 3 at Lord’s with a lead of 227 runs. While Mitchell is three runs away from a century, Blundell needs 10 runs to cross three figures.
Also Read: Nasser Hussain rues lack of variety in England's bowling attack amid New Zealand's fightback at Lord's