Pie Chucker

The message to the New Zealanders yesterday was clear: Don’t mess wiv da Burnley Bronco.  On his home ground Jimmy Anderson bullied the Tourists into submission.  Well, he hit two batsmen in the same over and in the absence of an English Courtney Walsh, England fans have to make do with this level of intimidation.  Perhaps it is also worth mentioning that the Kiwis’ ’submission’ leaves them at 202-4 overnight, which ain’t too bad considering their top order is where they put the Rabbits.

Anderson hit Oram on the helmet with a bouncer but of more significance was the one that got under Daniel Flynn’s grill and knocked a couple of teeth out.  Flynn had some dental work last night and is expected to bat today.  Jimmy said what fast bowlers always say in these situations (it’s part of the game, just doing my job, I don’t make the rules, what’s for lunch tomorrow etc. etc.):

“It’s part of the game. It does happen every now and then unfortunately. I’m trying to make it as uncomfortable as possible. We do look at the bouncer as a real attacking option, especially against the Kiwis. I had the wind behind me, so I just decided to test out the other end of the pitch. I enjoyed it. When you hit someone on the head it generally encourages people to do it again. Certainly with Oram we thought it was a bit of a weakness.”

 For New Zealand, How made 64 whilst Taylor looks in line for a ton with 67 runs to his name at stumps.  If the middle order bat as well as they usually do against England, the Black Caps could put themselves in a very strong position in this game.