England make cautious start

England were fortunate to lose only Nick Compton in the first session of their high-profile summer at Lord's this morning.

Alastair Cook and Compton first had to contend with new-ball swing from Trent Boult and Tim Southee but they did so well, and it was not until New Zealand turned to Bruce Martin's left-arm spin after 20 overs that Compton's patience ran out at the start of this first Investec Test against New Zealand.

Jonathan Trott then also got ahead of himself, and should have gone caught and bowled for a duck when he chipped a straightforward chance back to Martin. Cook by contrast was not about to throw away his hard work, and he and Trott closed out the morning to reach 56 for one at lunch.

Previously, one early play-and-miss from Compton at Boult, and an optimistic lbw appeal for Southee against Cook, were the only moments of even minor concern in the first hour.

Cook's decision to bat first under sunny skies was predictable, factoring in a significant early challenge if the New Zealand seamers got their lines right.

Boult conceded his first run off the bat, Compton's sharp single to cover, only from the final ball of his initial five-over spell.

But Cook clipped Southee for England's first boundary, off his pads, and the introduction of Neil Wagner for fellow left-armer Boult soon brought a second four for the England captain - past cover off the back foot.

After drinks, disciplined bowling from the tourists resulted in four successive maidens - a runless sequence which proved too much for Compton, who reacted by going up the wicket to the first ball of Martin's second over.

He did not get to the pitch but went through anyway with an attempt to hit over the off-side infield, and skewed a catch to point from a delivery that turned a little.

If that was a disappointing end to one 62-ball innings, Trott would have had even more cause for regret had Martin caught as well as he bowled.