Slow cooker Skipper leads borefest

ALASTAIR COOK and his batsmen prodded and plodded their way to a near-standstill at Lord’s.

England did not so much produce a go-slow with the willow as a go-nowhere.

In 80 overs on day one of the Investec First Test, they managed to score just 160-4.

Purists might describe it as ‘good old-fashioned Test cricket’ but most of the pundits reckoned England were far too cautious.

Sluggish, ponderous or dilatory. Choose any word you like. The fact is England’s batsmen never released their handbrake.

It is one thing to be risk-free in the opening skirmishes of a Test summer but another to be shackled by a visiting team England expect to beat.

You know it is a slow day when Jonathan Trott is England’s fastest scorer.

If they were guilty of complacency in New Zealand earlier this year — when they drew 0-0 — they were guilty of extreme conservatism here.