CURE IS VITAL FOR TRAVEL SICK ENGLAND
IN the end England got what they deserved after two days of rain and a last-ditch attempt to bat properly failed to save them from an innings defeat.
It was their ninth loss in 10 away games and equalled a grim record of 12 successive Tests on tour without a win, which last happened between 1939 and 1948.
Failure on the other side of the world was less of an issue back then though. Most players had never ventured anywhere as far as Australia or as exotic as India and those back home were kept abreast of developments only by journalists’ reports.
It is very different now for players and for fans wanting to follow teams abroad, as well as the armchair supporters who can see every little swing of the bat or rub of the ball (just ask Cameron Bancroft).
So while Ben Stokes deserves credit for batting so patiently and smartly for his 66, there is no escaping the horror of his shot on the stroke of dinner to get caught behind point.
With the ECB spending millions on staging camps and Lions tours and Performance Programmes and Under-19 tours and sending players to play in overseas club competitions, venues such as Auckland are far from alien.
But right now it is entirely beyond the wit of Joe Root and Alastair Cook before him as captain, and Trevor Bayliss as coach, to find a way their bowlers can take the 20 wickets needed to win, or indeed score the big hundreds they need to create pressure.
England are simply not quite good enough at Test cricket overseas and there appears to be little chance of that changing in the near future, because there are so few solutions from the top.
Here England were done for by their pathetic first innings performance of 58. Credit to Trent Boult and Tim Southee. They are fine bowlers, but boy was life made easy for them.
Second time around England batted much better, which is like patting the bull on the back for managing to leave one teacup unscathed on his second visit to the china shop.
Yet despite England’s batsmen remembering they do not have to play a shot at every ball pitched up, the Kiwis still found a way to take another 10 wickets thanks to the industry of Neil Wagner and the leg spin variety of Todd Astle, who bagged three apiece. “We weren’t at our best in all departments if we’re being brutally honest,” said Root. “We couldn’t take those 10 wickets and it’s important we learn those lessons quickly as we’ve another Test match this week.
“It was important we showed character today, but it’s very important leading into the next match we do some soul-searching and get things right for that Test.”