Ambrose expresses himself

13 March 2008

Tim Ambrose takes the attack to New Zealand in Wellington

Watch Peter Moores' press conference and the end of day report on ECBtv

Tim Ambrose admitted attack was the best form of defence after helping England recover from a perilous position midway through the first day of the second Test against New Zealand.

Trailing 1-0 after the opening defeat in Hamilton, Ambrose came to the crease at Wellington’s Basin Reserve with the tourists tottering at 136 for five and shared a 155-run partnership with Paul Collingwood.

The Warwickshire gloveman came tantalisingly close to a maiden Test hundred before England closed on 291 without further loss, finishing the day on 97 not out, while Collingwood was also just short of a landmark - unbeaten on 48.

Ambrose had earlier watched openers Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan reach lunch with 79 on the board before New Zealand’s bowlers struck back in the afternoon session to leave England reeling.

“I was watching the other batsmen who batted ahead of me and they found it hard to keep balls out because New Zealand were bowling in good areas,” explained Ambrose.

“But from quite early on in my innings I found that I was seeing the ball quite well and that I had to make sure that if the ball was in my area that I did not miss because runs were going to be hard to come by.

“The situation was slightly different to Hamilton because it’s a true pitch so you can trust the pace and bounce of the ball, whereas in the last Test it was slow and low and hard to score on.”

Ambrose and Paul Collingwood shake hands on their hundred partnership © Getty Images

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England coach Peter Moores was delighted with the fifth-wicket partnership which ensured parity at the end of the day after New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori had won his second successive toss.

“We were under pressure, there was no doubt about it,” admitted coach Peter Moores.

“We needed a partnership and that’s what we have a team for and you’re always hoping two people will get in and be able to take the game away from the opposition a little bit.

“The nice thing was he actually came back and played some aggressive cricket and put them under pressure. It was a great partnership, it put us in a strong position and we needed it because, that afternoon session, we’d been put under real pressure.”

Ambrose’s performance also topped the stunning efforts of all-rounder Jacob Oram, who continued where he left off from Hamilton to deliver figures of 2-25.

It took England 17.2 of his overs before Ambrose drove him down the ground for the first boundary off his bowling and completed a good day’s work by bowling his 10th maiden out of 22 overs in the final over of the day to deny the boundary required for Ambrose’s century.

Oram, though, was full of praise for the diminutive figure of Ambrose, adding: “We maybe bowled a little too wide to him, but I’m not sure why that is.

“We didn’t quite hit the same rhythm and consistency we had in Hamilton as a group and that’s disappointing because we really were proud of our efforts on a flat one in Hamilton.

“We had better conditions to bowl in here and couldn’t produce the same efforts.”