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NOTTINGHAM - New Zealand's bowlers are fast losing patience with a dud batch of cricket balls as they fight to salvage the England series after another day of frustration at Trent Bridge.
Despite some hostile spells which earned him three wickets on the opening day of the third test, New Zealand paceman Kyle Mills admitted the situation was becoming laughable.
The Dukes ball again went out of shape early in England's innings and captain Daniel Vettori had to go through the now familiar routine for both sides of convincing umpires Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor to get it changed.
The situation is akin to a rugby ball going flat in the opening minutes of a test match.
"Personally I'm struggling with the Dukes ball. Coming over to England I was told they were going to swing all over the place and I haven't really found that at all," Mills said.
"At Northampton we changed the ball three times in the first innings, we changed the ball here after 20 overs and we changed it Lord's and Old Trafford. They seem to go out of shape.
"People are saying it's maybe this year's batch, but they're not swinging as consistently as they have in the past. Being a swing bowler I'm finding that a bit frustrating."
Adjusting to the English Dukes ball was a top pre-series priority for coach John Bracewell who imported some for each bowler to practice with pre-tour. The useful swing they achieved in the practice nets in Christchurch isn't being replicated here.
Despite the problems with the leather, Mills was one of New Zealand's best on day one as he helped reduced England to 86 for five before a Kevin Pietersen century lifted the hosts to 273 for seven at stumps.
Mills took three for 58 off 24 overs including the big wickets of openers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, and the out-of-form Paul Collingwood without scoring, while Iain O'Brien led the way with four wickets including Pietersen and Tim Ambrose, for 67, with the second new ball.
Mills' sharp spell just after lunch, in which he removed Strauss and Collingwood, happened about 10 overs after the ball had been changed.
England's pacemen have had similar problems with the ball this series, with left-armer Ryan Sidebottom struggling to impose himself in the first two tests like he did in New Zealand.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said on the eve of the match that it seemed to be the 2008 vintage that were the duds.
At Northampton, where Mills and Tim Southee got the ball to swing consistently, they discovered they were the batch manufactured in 2007.
"There's almost a skill in that, getting the ball replaced for the '07 ball that is swinging a lot more than the '08 one," Vettori said.
"We're trying to push it (with officials). There are some deformities in them and it takes a while to get them changed. I'm not sure why they're bruising up so quickly but they are, and therefore when a ball's out of shape it doesn't swing."
Meanwhile, Mills and Pietersen differed on whether England's first day effort put them in the box seat.
Pietersen cited the average first innings score at the ground in county cricket this year being 214, meaning they had a clear advantage at stumps.
Mills said the slow pitch, which offered some seam movement, had some encouragement for batsmen who applied themselves.
"All the talk during the week was about the average (first innings) score being 214, but I think the wicket's better than that," Mills said.
SCOREBOARD
England
First innings
A Strauss c Taylor b Mills 37
A Cook b Mills 6
M Vaughan b O'Brien 16
K Pietersen c Hopkins b O'Brien 115
I Bell lbw b O'Brien 0
P Collingwood c Taylor b Mills 0
T Ambrose c Hopkins b O'Brien 67
S Broad not out 15
J Anderson not out 1
Extras (4b, 8lb, 4nb) 16
Total (for 7 wkts, 90 overs) 273
Fall: 14 (Cook), 44 (Vaughan), 84 (Strauss), 85 (Bell), 86 (Collingwood), 247 (Pietersen), 262 (Ambrose).
Bowling: C Martin 12-1-61-0, K Mills 24-7-58-3 (2nb), I O'Brien 20-4-61-4 (1nb), J Oram 17-6-26-0, D Vettori 17-0-55-0 (1nb).
- NZPA
