ENGLAND notched a well earned success over New Zealand at Lord's yesterday on the type of wicket that was perfect for creating a competitive Test match.

There were some reservations expressed about the track early in the game, but a wicket that takes a match into the final day with both sides having a chance of winning has to be the way forward.

The pitch was never completely batter friendly and that means that both sides were able to go about their business in a positive manner.

Too often in the past their have been wickets created with a particular style of attack in mind and we have seen Tests finished in three days.

Quick finishes are not good for the game on many fronts.

It leads first of all to fans of the game losing interest - and also to people trying to sell and promote the game losing money.

Test grounds are selling hospitality packages for a five-day event and all quick finishes do is force them to have to hand a lot of money back.

But this does promise to be a very tight series.

While England may have drawn first blood the Black Caps have shown that they are a solid team with plenty of fight.

They are a team with few stars, but they are a strong unit who know their limitations and play within those boundaries.

Mark Richardson's efforts at Lord's perhaps epitomise what they are about.

He made two good scores and the fact that the New Zealand side know that his is well capable of hanging about gives them every reason to be confident.

If he can keep one end safe and slowly accrue around 100 runs, then others - such as Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns - can come in and do their stuff.

If one or more of them stays at the crease for a day then New Zealand know they are looking at a 300-plus return and that will always give them a chance of being in a position to win the game.