Cricket: Black Caps need Bond for next test

Regardless of the result of the first test, the New Zealand-England series has shown the value of a true matchwinner - or lack of one.

Both sides were so evenly matched that, up to the end of the fourth day when England were eight without loss chasing 282 to win, no one had yet broken open what had been a gripping test match.

Entertainment machines Chris Cairns and England's Andrew Flintoff both shone with brutal assaults with the bat, Mark Richardson was outstanding in his 13 1/2-hour stays for 93 and 101, and England speedster Stephen Harmison took four wickets in both innings.

That is where Shane Bond's fitness will be sweated on by the tourists, who are hoping to have the Canterbury speedster fit for Headingley on Thursday week.

New Zealand's pace attack was steady if unspectacular in the first innings, and Bond's extra pace and fear factor would provide a much-needed point of difference at Headingley and in the third test at Trent Bridge.

Bond has been bowling regularly at warm-ups in his long recovery from stress fractures to his back, but his big test should come this week when New Zealand have the benefit of another warm-up match, at Leicester.

The Lord's test, played for the most part to near-full houses and a fair chunk of audible New Zealand support, was a stunning exhibition of how good test cricket can be.

Richardson may have stonewalled his way through, but he won the grudging admiration of the locals, if not aided their battles with insomnia.

He emerged from his batting bonanza with a coveted place on the Lord's honours board, just the 12th New Zealand test century at the home of cricket, and offered a glowing endorsement of the match.

"We seldom get to play in tests like this," he said. "All too often we've played in tests at home where the result is decided after the first innings [through] who bats first on a green one [wicket].

"This wicket wasn't so flat that both teams could go out and get 500-plus . . . We were disappointed with our bowling in the first innings [when they conceded 441 and a first innings deficit of 55]."

The weather was a surprise to many for the second half of May, because the expected grey skies and persistent rain gave way to barmy spring sun and an excellent test pitch.

While brisk scoring saw the test rumble along at a rate that kept the paying public and armchair fans gripped, it was also a reminder of a bygone test era.

With former dour England opener Geoff Boycott beaming from the commentary box, Richardson showed stonewalling still had its place.

- NZPA