England this, England that. It’s time to talk about New Zealand, who calmly parked their defeat at Lord’s and have quietly outclassed England in the second Test.
Glenn Phillips’ century, the first in Test cricket by a known ADHDer, was a multi-faceted masterpiece; Henry Nicholls played an innings of which Kane Williamson would be proud; and Matt Henry has been quite majestic.
There’s so much more to his performance than numbers, but the detail of Harry Brook’s performance provides a snapshot of Henry’s brilliance.
Brook v Henry 4 runs, 19 balls, 2 wickets, SR 21
Brook v the rest 78 runs, 67 balls, 0 wickets, SR 116
Imagine restricting Harry Brook to a strike-rate of 21, never mind dismissing him twice at an average of 2.
