Cook makes the most of catching practice

2:02am Thursday 6th March 2008

Alastair Cook spearheaded an impressive catching and bowling display by England which allowed them to claim a narrow advantage at the end of the first day of their Test series against New Zealand.

The Essex left-hander is not renowned for his fielding prowess, but claimed a hat-trick of good catches in the gully as the tourists restricted New Zealand to 282 for six on a good batting wicket at the close.

Cook's three catches were his reward for endless fielding and catching drills in practice run by coach Peter Moores and his backroom staff, and ensured the tourists exploited the few opportunities available during a tough opening day.

He set the tone with a sharp catch above his head to remove opener Matthew Bell, who had driven wildly at seamer Steve Harmison, and took an even better one diving low to his right to remove Stephen Fleming.

Another sprawling effort earned Matthew Hoggard his first wicket when all-rounder Jacob Oram edged an attempted drive, and with Ryan Sidebottom striking in the penultimate over of the day to dismiss Brendon McCullum, England were satisfied with their opening-day efforts at Seddon Park.

''If anyone has watched the lads train, they've worked extremely hard on their catching and it's nice for them to get their reward, especially Cook, because he's been working very hard on it,'' enthused Moores.

''To improve skills like that you don't do them overnight, it's a long-term thing. You have to keep doing it to get better, and I don't think you'll see much better than Cook's second catch at gully because Fleming really middled it and it went really quickly.''

Having lost the toss, England seemed destined for a long day in the field when New Zealand began their innings on a flat-looking pitch - a view which was underlined when Ian Bell was taken to hospital early in the day after suffering a nasty blow to his right hand at short leg.

But by the time news filtered back to the team that Bell had only suffered bad bruising, they had already claimed a bonus wicket, with Harmison making amends for another wayward opening spell with opener Bell driving loosely straight to Cook.

Cook's second catch ten overs after the interval, when Fleming, facing his former Nottinghamshire team-mate Sidebottom for the first time in international competition, flashed at a wide delivery, lifted England's spirits even further.

They followed that with another smart catch to dismiss Mathew Sinclair, who was superbly held by Paul Collingwood in his delivery stride after the New Zealand number four drove back down the pitch.

Collingwood claimed another sharp effort to end the resistance of opener Jamie How at slip, who had battled for 251 minutes to reach 92 but edged a turning delivery from Monty Panesar.

Cook completed his haul of catches shortly after tea when Oram again drove loosely and Cook dived to his left to leave attacking duo Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum at the crease.

''Cook is a deliberate learner and he will learn progressively, so he'll challenge himself to get better and better,'' said Moores. ''Slowly but surely he's getting better and better and he does have strong hands, which is important.

''A lot of the good catchers don't move much when they catch the ball, but he's been catching well in practice and he's taken that into the game.''

Just as England appeared set to dominate, McCullum got into his full stride and began illuminating the final session with the type of strokeplay which lit up the recent one-day series success over England.

Taylor, by no means a slow scorer himself, was on 20 when McCullum arrived at the crease but was quickly passed as New Zealand's aggressive wicketkeeper raced to his half-century off only 53 balls, which included five fours and two sixes.

But with only 11 balls remaining, McCullum chased a wider delivery from Sidebottom with the new ball, edged behind to debutant wicketkeeper Ambrose, and gave England a fresh impetus going into the second day.

Perhaps the only disappointments for the tourists were two fielding lapses when throws to Ambrose missed their target and raced for four overthrows.

The lacklustre display of Harmison, who averaged just 80mph during the day, would also have been a major concern had the other members of the attack not contributed a remarkable 18 maidens between them to prompt New Zealand's afternoon stumble.

''You're not going to frighten anyone out on that,'' added Moores.

''It's not a pitch you can fight against, you've got to be able to put it in the right area and create pressure knowing that it looks like a good pitch and we should be able to get a good score if we get some batters in on it.''

Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds will not be charged for tackling a streaker spectator during Tuesday's Commonwealth Bank Series defeat by India at the Gabba.

Symonds had not faced a delivery in the nine-run loss before a naked man charged on to the field and began dodging security guards and players.

The 26-year-old Brisbane man then headed towards Symonds at the non-striker's end, who stepped into his path and floored the streaker with a hefty shoulder barge.

The International Cricket Council's Level 4.2 regulation covers ''physical assault on another player, umpire, referee, official or spectator'', but Symonds will not face a penalty from Cricket Australia.

Editor's Choice