“You could compare and contrast if you so desired,” says the England Over-70s manager, Chris Lowe, offering the straightest of bats to my shameless prod. “You’re the journalist, so you probably will.” It would be professional negligence not to so let us duly look at the fate that befell Brendon McCullum’s England team over the winter, alongside that of their Over-70s counterparts, whose itinerary bore a startling resemblance to their junior brethren.
For both it began in Australia where Ben Stokes’s side succumbed to a bruising 4-1 Ashes defeat, weeks before the Over-70s swept to a 3-0 triumph in the wonderfully named Silver Ashes.
