Nonsensical

Ah Cricket.  A sport where home advantage counts for more than most others.  Pitch conditions, climate, and familiarity.

Pig pen rubbish tips in India, the Duke ball in England, and deceptive green tops at the Basin.

But there is more to it than that.  The other thing in favour of the hosts is that you can pick and change your players as time goes on in keeping with form fluctuations.  While the touring side often travel with a larger number that’s what they are stuck with.  Home teams can pull in players in form currently playing as they choose.

But not so New Zealand in 2023.  Gavin Larsen’s Fat Lady Sings swansong moment would appear to be a really strange tactic of saying goodbye while chucking a dead fish into the room.

For no logical reason the 13 picked for the test against Sri Lanka is for the two match series.

That could be funky when everything is going right, but it’s not.  And now what remains of the selectors get to choose between a down on confidence Nicholls and a guy who accumulated 10 runs in his last test there.

The choice between two underperforming bowlers has a different feel of dead fish about it.  It is hard to see Tickner getting another run, and you know what that means.

Meanwhile in the last week Glenn Phillips showed that he had the grit and patience to go alongside the obvious talent to earn a recall.  It’s over three years since he scored 50 on debut in Sydney.

The current test captain made his debut in the final test of a series on the back of a decent International Age Group Tournament performance.  That was seen as a really bold call at the time.  He took a 5 wicket bag before scoring far too many runs for his long term good.

Maybe that’s the better way to go?