Cricket: Queen could rule over outcome of opening test

Brendon McCullum’s first task at Lord’s is to win the toss, then unleash Boult, Southee and co. Photo / AP

Yesterday's removal of the covers at Lord's, after a shard of sunlight pierced the rain and overcast skies, revealed what might be described as a "Where's Wally?" pitch for the 100th test between New Zealand and England beginning tonight.

Identifying the 61sq m of turf, which will determine whether the visitors can win their first May test here, was a struggle. The Kermit-green strip camouflaged into the sloping outfield.

As a result, five names sprang to mind as to who might have a main bearing on the outcome: Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and the Queen.

The first four will lead the swing bowling attacks for their respective teams; the Queen will, presumably, be the head on the coin that's tossed to determine who is sent into bat.

New Zealand have lost five tests and drawn one against England beginning in May. In 52 tests overall between the sides in England, New Zealand have won four. They all began on July 22 or later, once the sun had a chance to bake the wickets.

Therein lies the challenge for New Zealand who are ranked third in the world and, having not lost their past six series, chasing a legacy.

Last time at Lord's shaped prosperously. Southee became the 17th Kiwi to get his name on the visitors' dressing room honours board with innings figures of six for 50 and match figures of 10 for 108.

New Zealand needed 239 for victory on the fourth day. After the top six exited for what resembled a telephone number - 1, 9, 6, 0, 5, 8 - New Zealand were 29 for six at lunch. Hopes of a glorious second Lord's victory to back up 1999 were gone.

The outstanding work of Southee and, to a lesser extent, Boult, was trumped by Broad (seven for 44) and Anderson (two for 23). England used only two bowlers as New Zealand exited for 68. Boult and Southee have moved into the top 10 test bowlers (sixth and ninth respectively) to match Anderson (second) and Broad (eighth).

The sides haven't met in tests since the 2013 series, although the New Zealanders delivered a monumental defeat to England in the World Cup, when Southee took New Zealand's best ODI figures of seven for 33 and Boult may have been the first ODI bowler to be gifted four slips.

Southee wasn't reading a lot into that dominant victory. He was instead anticipating getting his hand around the English Duke ball, with its prouder seam.

"We [Southee and Boult] had a couple of Dukes with us in India. I was bowling them to a mitt out in the middle before games when I hadn't been picked. The seam is more pronounced and they tend to be slightly harder. It feels nicer in the hand to bowl [than a Kookaburra]."

Southee would not accept England were vulnerable after drawing their West Indies series. He preferred to focus on a New Zealand team seeking to sustain their current success.

"[The last series here] started the run we've been on. We've played a great brand of cricket the last couple of years. [Captain] Brendon [McCullum] and [coach] Mike [Hesson] have created a culture where players can play their natural games.

"We competed for the majority of that [last Lord's] test, but were undone by one hell of a spell from Broad."

He paid tribute to Anderson who, with 397 wickets at 29.22, has the most test wickets by an England bowler. "I love watching Jimmy with a Duke. He's probably the best exponent of swing bowling going around. I like challenging myself against someone you look up to."

A duel of the duos awaits.