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NOTTINGHAM -Former test captain Mike Atherton damned New Zealand's batting lineup as one of the weakest to tour England as the home side's 2-0 test cricket series win was put in context today.
Writing in The Times, Atherton said England's third test victory by an innings and nine runs should be treated with similar caution to their previous innings win over West Indies in Leeds a year ago.
"As on that occasion, the brilliance of the day and the emphatic nature of the victory must be tempered by the realism that New Zealand were weak opponents," he wrote.
"Other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, there has not been a flimsier batting team to visit these shores in the past 20 years.
"... At Old Trafford, in the second innings, and here at Trent Bridge, in both, deficiencies in technique, method and plain ability were cruelly highlighted on pitches that, because they offered something to the bowlers, produced compelling cricket."
The Guardian's Mike Selvey said the home side's run of four wins in the last six tests against New Zealand wasn't as impressive as it seemed.
"Nor should the wins be taken out of context: New Zealand scrap hard and have some excellent cricketers - Daniel Vettori, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram, a man whose career batting and bowling averages are superior to those of Andrew Flintoff. But overall they are a pretty poor side."
Selvey added the win shouldn't paper over some of England's batting jitters.
"Were there a further test match next week, then Paul Collingwood and possibly Ian Bell might have been dropped for the time being.
"Now, though, comes salvation in the form of five one-day internationals and a month before the first test against South Africa and the much sterner challenge that will arrive with it."
The Telegraph's Derek Pringle said the familiar pattern played out as New Zealand served up the entree to the main tour of the English summer.
"South Africa will be tougher and far less obliging in conceding a strong position than New Zealand," he wrote.
"In five of the last six tests against England, Daniel Vettori's team had created a potentially winning position in the first half of the match. Only one, in Hamilton, was converted into a win. The others were all overturned by such power shifts as to end in defeat."
- NZPA
