Batting coach Marcus Trescothick has called on England to show the “hard work and discipline” needed to play in the second LV safety test against New Zealand. After asking the Black Hats to bat first on the Trent Bridge, England spent the first five sessions chasing the skin, as the tourists scored a terrific score of 553. Not only was the Kiwi team never scoring on these shores, it was also the third highest score England received after sending their opponents. The hosts lost Zak Crawley’s first game just in the second over of the response, but the worst fears of a top-flight collapse did not materialize as Alex Lees and Ollie Pope both fell as England reached 90 for one in the end. Daryl Mitchell, whose magnificent 190 had given the backbone of the participants in New Zealand, fired both blows at the first slip and allowed England to build some foundations. Lees will continue with the best 33 in his career, with Pope wanting to build a living 51 that will not come out. Trescothick was impressed by their initial efforts, but warned that they had only scratched the work surface in front of them. “It was a nice finish to the night, but it’s just the beginning of a hard job. I’m quite happy with where we are, but we have a lot to do,” he said. “We’ve seen both of these guys play well in county games and have some success here and there in international cricket, but this is a great opportunity for them to get a great score. What we do know is that it takes a lot of hard work and discipline. “There are still good balls coming out, as we saw with Jacques’s dismissal, so we have to be patient and do the right thing.” Pope flattered to cheat for most of his 25 games on the team, often failing to repeat his dominant appearances for Surrey after stepping up.
