From 168 for 1 England added 48 more by the close, Gooch marching to 93 (220 balls), Smith 22 after an agonising few early overs.

At the time of the contrasting attentions given to the ball at Lord's in 1930 it was worth polishing it during only a few early overs.

Australia were put in to bat by Brian Lara as the ball moved about and deviated off the seam in the early overs.

And, on the subject of Roy Fredericks, I still remember his hooked 6 of Lillee in the early overs of the match.

So well did Smith and Lamb play during the early overs, talk began of a mid-afternoon declaration to test the Kiwis' mettle.

The South Africans, who had won the toss, looked to be suffering from nerves in the early overs.

Without the pace of Alan Donald, the burden in the early overs fell on Tim Munton called up again yesterday for the England nursery side.

He usually opens the batting in one-day cricket so as to make use of the batting powerplay in the early overs.

By the time he had completed five early overs, Ajmal had already taken three prime England wickets.

Also, in the early 1990s, fielding restrictions were introduced in the early overs of the game, limiting the fielding side to only two players on the boundary.