The Athletic has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click here to join.It was the only time Brendon McCullum’s eyes lit up during an awkward exchange with the media dominated by his repeated expressions of concern for Ben Stokes.“I genuinely believe that if Sonny (Baker) gets some early success the crowd will get right behind him,” said an England coach far happier talking about one of his three debutants before the second Test against New Zealand than his exiled captain.“The country will get behind him too. He plays a bit like Mark Wood. He charges in, he’s got wild celebrations and you can just see that cricket is what he wants to do. May the cricketing Gods shine on him.”They shone, to a large extent, on Baker on an old-fashioned first day at the Oval when England went back in time with a new, old, captain and an inexperienced attack battling to get the better of a rugged New Zealand on an excellent pitch.It was a day when Joe Root did his best Stokes impression in trying to be a far more pro-active and even funky captain than when last in charge four years ago.England, with five changes to the team that went 1-0 up in the three match series at Lord’s before the captain’s late night out in Chelsea changed everything, ended just about on top.The closing passage of play was absorbing. Jofra Archer, on his return, launched a sustained short-ball attack on the sun-glass wearing Glenn Phillips, who emerged battered, bruised but unbeaten on 49 in New Zealand’s 291 for seven.And nothing was more fortunate for England than the two wickets burgled by Jacob Bethell with his left-arm spin towards the close that gave a positive gloss to their first post-Stokes day.Mostly it was the day when a 23-year-old Devonian announced himself as a bowler of considerable promise and a character guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of English cricket even during the most tumultuous of times.Sonny Baker is all action (Philip Brown/Getty Images)England mostly got their lines wrong on the first day, with 38 per cent of their deliveries down the legside or too wide outside off-stump — only once in their last 40 innings have they recorded a higher figure.