It was the bigger picture of an Ashes win this winter that drove England’s wacky selections and cricket against New Zealand, or so we have been led to believe. Those plans may still bear fruit, in which case we’ll be hailing their creators as strategic geniuses, but to field a team so ill-equipped for the challenges of Test cricket seems a ham-fisted way to go about it.
I’m all for seeing the wider perspective, something few sports manage, but where was that when New Zealand set England 273 in 75 overs on the final day of the first Test? Crowds were back, albeit in limited number,...