Cricket: Caddick matches words with deeds

By RICHARD BOOCK in Wellington

Say what you like about Andy Caddick, but the England bowler at least knows how to walk the walk - as well as talk the talk.

Not the flavour of the month in the New Zealand camp after twice suggesting England were a superior team, Caddick lived up to his words yesterday as he helped his side to take a stranglehold on the second test.

Already 1-0 up in the series, the tourists marched through to a commanding 184 for one in their second innings, a lead of 246 and essentially an unassailable position in the series.

Caddick and batsmen Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher, who steered the tourists into a position of strength in the 48 overs before stumps, were prominent at the Basin Reserve.

Following a solid 79-run partnership for the first wicket, Trescothick and Butcher's positive approach defused the threat posed by Daniel Vettori's left-arm spin and ensured that by the end of the day only one team could win the test.

Trescothick, who struck 10 fours and hooked Ian Butler for six during a 118-ball innings, was unbeaten on 77 at the close, with Butcher 57 not out. The pair have shared in a second-wicket stand of 105.

Both appeared to be caught at the wicket late in the day, but were given not out by Steve Dunne - whose error-ridden performance at least cast some light on the reasons behind his rejection for the elite umpires' panel.

If Trescothick and Butcher were able to hammer home the advantage in the final session, Caddick undoubtedly set up the opportunity when he scythed through the hosts' batting, consigning New Zealand to a virtual rescue mission on the final day.

Having dismissed England for 280 on Saturday, with Butler's four-wicket haul the highlight, New Zealand were rolled for 218 following some haphazard top-order resistance and a searching examination of seam bowling from Caddick.

The Canterbury-born right-armer proved the biggest threat on a pitch which was supposed to be a spinner's paradise, taking six for 59 as New Zealand suffered a match-deciding collapse in the hour before lunch.

From a position of some comfort at 135 for one, Stephen Fleming's side lost five for 14 in 8.1 overs as Caddick and left-arm spinner Ashley Giles warmed to their work, eventually claiming the last nine wickets for 83 runs.

Caddick became the first English bowler to take consecutive six-wicket bags since Ian Botham took six for 58 and seven for 48 against India in 1979-80, and his figures were the fourth-best by an Englishman at Wellington.

To make the performance all the sweeter for Caddick, his 12th five-wicket bag was a rare first-innings success, which might go some way towards dispelling the suggestion he is more of scavenger than a predator at the bowling crease.

He has now taken 196 test wickets, 110 in the first innings at a mediocre average of 35.19, as opposed to 86 in the second at a much more impressive average of 20.40.

It was also another strong overseas effort from Giles, whose four for 102 means he has now taken 35 wickets at 31.23 away from England and just two at home - at an average of 107.

For all that, it was another depressingly familiar day for the New Zealand batsmen, who also capitulated in the first innings at Christchurch to hand England the initiative and the opportunity to win the test.

While Mark Richardson was solid and composed before Dunne adjudged him caught behind off his pad, Lou Vincent appeared to cram three unofficial innings into one, Fleming played a loose shot and Nathan Astle was brilliantly taken by Nasser Hussain at first slip.

Without the batting ability of Chris Cairns, New Zealand's lower-order was for once as fragile as the top-order, and it was only Craig McMillan's audacious 41 which allowed the 200-mark to be reached.

On a morning which began with a silent tribute to England ODI player Ben Hollioake, tragically killed in a car accident early on Saturday, Hussain's troops were at their most professional yesterday and as a result now know they cannot lose the series.

Possibly of more interest to them is the chance to win it 3-0.