ENG v NZ 2021: England were not good enough against New Zealand, admits Chris Silverwood

England lost 7 wickets in the last session of Day 3.

England lost 7 wickets for 76 runs in last session | Getty

England’s head coach Chris Silverwood admitted that his team wasn't good enough against New Zealand in the second match of the two-Test series being played in Edgbaston.

After the first match in Lord's ended in a draw, England are on the verge of losing the second Test match against New Zealand and the series. The hosts were bundled out for 303 runs in their first innings and then later struggled to make a further impact with the bat in their second innings.

The Joe Root-led side crumbled on day three, taking a slender lead of 37 runs before the end of the play. The hosts ended the day at 122/9 after losing seven wickets in the final session of the day.

Talking about England’s performance, head coach Chris Silverwood admitted that they didn’t perform well and admitted that they need to work on the things.

"It's obviously not good enough. We need to improve, there's no doubt about that. There are things to work on without a shadow of a doubt. No-one is going to hide from that or deny it," Chris Silverwood told ESPNCricinfo. 

Silverwood said that it was a great opportunity for youngsters to perform in absence of seniors players but they failed to mark their stamp on the game. He added that England needs to work on converting starts into big scores.

"I'm not going to lie: I thought it was a great opportunity for some of the younger lads to come in and stamp their mark on the game. I'm sure one or two will be disappointed they haven't been able to do that.

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"When do we stop talking and start delivering? I think we need to start seeing starts turned into big scores now. That's one thing we're looking for: people pushing on and being greedy when they get in," he said. 

Chris Silverwood further pointed out that England has a young batting line-up with limited experience and will be back in form but when the veterans return to the squad. 

"We have got a very young batting line-up with limited experience. Joe Root is the one guy you would say has a heap of experience in that top seven. Getting the experience of Buttler and Stokes back will help the young players, as well. 

"We've seen in the past that, if you put the inexperienced players in between the experienced ones, it helps them learn. That's what I'm hoping will happen in the India series," he said. 

After the two-Test series against New Zealand, England is slated to play five-Test series against India, starting 4th August. 

(ESPNCricinfo inputs)

 
 

By Ankitjit Singh - 13 Jun, 2021

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