SEDDON PARK — An English-born bowler ran riot to spark a dramatic collapse on day two of this final Test in Hamilton. Unfortunately he was playing for New Zealand.
Will O’Rourke, a towering quick who has taken Test cricket by storm since his debut against South Africa at the start of the year, was born in Kingston upon Thames.
The 23-year-old is nowhere near the most famous son or daughter from the Royal Borough, with the rapper Stormzy, Trainspotting actor Jonny Lee Miller and footballer Declan Rice all from the town.
Yet England would no doubt love the option of picking O’Rourke, whose high-class and high-pace spell early in the afternoon session started a collapse of eight for 66 that left the tourists routed for 143 and gave the Black Caps a first-innings lead of 204.
O’Rourke, who dismissed Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook and Joe Root in the space of eight balls, is the kind of bowler who would come in very handy for next winter’s Ashes series in Australia.
In reality, though, he was never on England’s radar given he was born to Kiwi parents, father Paddy and mother Jess, who moved back to New Zealand when O’Rourke was five.
Speaking before this series began, he insisted: “Mum and Dad, two Kiwis, were keen to raise us back in New Zealand. I came back here when I was five, so I don’t remember much of the UK. I was always a Kiwi and I always wanted to play for the Black Caps.”
Kiwis joke that O’Rourke is payback for Ben Stokes, England’s captain who was born in Christchurch and moved to the UK at 12.
He certainly made Stokes’ men pay during a spell where his average speed was 88 miles per hour and he was swinging the ball prodigiously as he ripped the heart out of England’s engine room.
Two in quick succession ⚡
Will O'Rourke dismisses Jacob Bethell and then Harry Brook for a duck!
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To say he was unplayable would be to exaggerate. But he did loosen the bricks that meant Mitchell Santner, the recalled spinner who took three for seven from just three overs, was able to bring the whole innings tumbling down in just 35.4 overs.
In a match where New Zealand added 116 runs for their final three first-innings wickets, England’s tail managed just six.
You didn’t have to look much further when assessing where this Test has been won and lost at the end of a second day in which the hosts stretch their lead to 340 with seven wickets still remaining.
Root, who made 32, was the highlight of a sorry England scorecard. Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Stokes were the only other batters to get past 12.
Worrying trend for England
This match may be a dead rubber given England had already wrapped up the series by winning the opening two Tests in Christchurch and Wellington. You can also use the fact this is the team’s 17th Test of a packed year as a mitigating circumstance.
Yet professional pride and the reward of finishing the year on a high should have been enough motivation for this talented group to have avoided the post-lunch surrender.
In a year where the Bazballers have made a habit of spectacular collapses, this was also a familiar tale. It’s become a theme especially in the final Tests of series.
Only a few weeks ago in Rawalpindi they were skittled for 112 in 37.2 overs against Pakistan, with all 10 wickets falling for 97. They also had a collapse of six for 62 in their first innings of a series decider they lost by nine wickets. Against India at Dharamshala in March they were dismissed for 195 in their second innings having already lost seven for 83 in the first.
But as this Hamilton horror show proved, this is not an issue confined to Tests in Asia.
At The Oval in September England collapsed to 156 all out in 34 overs in their second innings against Sri Lanka, losing seven for 62 in the process. They had already had a collapse of six for 64 earlier in the match.
A pattern seems to be developing and the issue is surely mental rather than technical. For years people have tried to work out the anatomy of the batting collapse. Nobody has been able to say definitively what causes them. Good bowling is certainly a part of it. Difficult conditions too. Panic is another factor.
Yet it almost seems that England, who fought back brilliantly with the ball on day one, cannot raise themselves at the end of series even for deciders like that defeat in Rawalpindi.
It is something they would surely like to get to the bottom of ahead of huge series against India and Australia next year when the stakes will be far higher than they are here in Hamilton.
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