ENGLAND seamer Ryan Sidebottom took inspiration from a lunch-time inquest into the team's dismal performance to spark a dramatic change of fortune just as the deciding Test appeared to be slipping away.
Dismissed for 253 early on the second day after they resumed on 240 for seven, England's prospects of winning their first overseas Test series since beating South Africa in 2004-5 seemed bleak when New Zealand progressed to 103 for one shortly after
lunch.
It prompted a dressing-room meeting, firstly with Moores and then with bowling coach Ottis Gibson, and Sidebottom responded with a career-best haul of seven for 47 to dismiss New Zealand for 168. By the close the tourists had extended their lead to 176 runs by reaching 91 for two.
"At lunch we were really disappointed so we all had a get- together and told each other that we needed to pull our fingers out because the match was slipping away so early in the Test," revealed Sidebottom, who bowled unchanged in a 13-over spell between lunch and tea.
"You don't expect it to go quite so well but I think we pulled together as a team. Peter Moores had a few words and the bowlers sat down together and talked about the fact we needed to do something.
"Galvanised by the discussion, Sidebottom struck just three overs after the interval as Stephen Fleming drove loosely outside off-stump to give Paul Collingwood a comfortable catch at second slip.
Having removed Fleming for 59, it was time for a change of tactics inspired by India in England last summer. Captain Michael Vaughan had noticed how well opener Jamie How was leaving the ball and suggested Sidebottom changed the angle and came around the wicket – a successful tactic for left-armers RP Singh and Zaheer Khan against England last summer.
It worked superbly with How giving a catch to Andrew Strauss at first slip and Mathew Sinclair mis-timing an attempted pull to mid-on as New Zealand's collapse gained pace. "I've not really bowled around the wicket so to get a couple of wickets like that was especially pleasing," said Sidebottom.
Stuart Broad maintained the pressure from the other end with a tight line and length and he picked up three wickets, but it was Sidebottom who once again enjoyed the limelight in taking his series tally to 23.
• Saltires prospect Ryan Flannigan struck a fine century as Scotland's Under-20s continued their South African tour with a big win against a tough Ngam Academy side in Port Elizabeth yesterday.
The full article contains 438 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
