Follow UsNew Zealand haven’t been at their best since winning the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship in June 2021. They have lost four of their last seven Tests and are currently trailing 0-1 in the three-match series in England. Kane Williamson and Co. failed to defend a target of 277 at Lord’s and lost the game by five wickets. However, fast-bowling all-rounder Kyle Jamieson said there’s no reason for his team to panic after just one loss.
"It's not just that game or those series. This team has done such a good job over a long period of time, we're not going to panic after just one game. We certainly know there were moments in that game we could've seized and been better in. We know if we do that it will go a long way in trying to win this game and this series,” said Jamieson ahead of the second Test which will get underway in Nottingham from June 10.
New Zealand could have defended that target if not for Joe Root. The former England captain scored a stunning century in the fourth innings and only left the field once the job was done. Jamieson, who claimed six wickets in the first Test, said the tourists are making fresh plans to combat Root in Nottingham. That fourth-innings knock of 115* also catapulted Root back to number two in the latest edition of the International Cricket Council's Test batting rankings.
“He certainly batted pretty well. He was probably the difference in the game in the end. We'll certainly go away and make some plans. We've already had some conversations about how we want to attack him but also attack the rest of the batting as well. It's not about focusing on just him, you know, we'll try and take 10 wickets, take 20 wickets, we'll just go about trying to do that,” said Jamieson.
Jamieson himself has climbed to the third place in the ICC's Test bowlers' rankings but that doesn't really matter much to him. The tall paceman has claimed 72 wickets in 15 Tests at an impressive average of 18.54 and a strike rate of 42.5.
"I'm just trying to learn and grow as a cricketer and whatever those numbers spit out, they do. I'm just happy to be part of the side. Trying to play my part and just win Tests for this team. I think for me that's the main driver, the main focus and whatever that ends up as, it does.
"I'm reasonably realistic about where I am with my game. I don't necessarily think that numbers always give you the correct indication of where you're at, at a certain point in time. I'm just trying to grow, trying to get better, trying to improve my game, contribute to wins for the side. Those rankings will come out as they do."
Meanwhile, England opener Alex Lees started well in both innings at Lord’s but failed to convert them into something substantial. In his last six innings, the left-hander’s lowest score is 20 but also hasn’t scored more than 31. Lees is now eager to convert these starts into big scores.
"Last week was probably the most fluent innings I've had to date. I was pleased in the manner I played but the obvious thing is that I have to take that and turn it into a substantial innings. To be praised for a 20 is probably bittersweet. If you can get a good 20, you know you can probably make 60, 70, 80. I keep getting in and out, which is frustrating," said Lees.
"When you open the batting you face the best bowlers, sometimes at the worst times. To get through a spell or get through a tough day of cricket is something that I've always quite enjoyed… it's that old Yorkshire stubbornness. There's always going to be speculation about the top order in England… I just never really wanted to shy away from the challenge of it."
Lees, who has scored 171 runs in four Tests at an average of 21.27, managed scores of 25 and 20 in the first Test. The 29-year-old said he is not putting himself under any pressure but just wants to contribute as much as he can.
"It's not putting pressure on myself to make a double-hundred this game, but I'm aware I'd love to make a good score. It's trusting how I play and I played nicely in that second innings, so if I can take that forward and play in that manner over a period of time, the law of averages suggest I should get that contribution. That's what I'm striving towards.
"The obvious thing is if you've been selected as a batter, I think you always need to show some worth otherwise you know, you're not going to get re-selected. I think the bigger picture for me is that I want to keep playing in a way in which I like to play, which is a way in which Brendon (McCullum, the England Test head coach) and Ben want us to play as a team and buy into that team ethos and identity.
"And if I believe that, if we do that, and if I do that, I think there's no reason over the period of the next couple of games why I can't get a score."