They were the heady honeymoon days; a golden summer of new love. When last New Zealand came to these shores they encountered an England team in thrall to one of their own, wide-eyed and winsome as they forged a new path. For Brendon McCullum and his so-called Baz-ballers, it was proof of purpose and potential as they vowed to do things a different way; a 3-0 series success achieved in a daring run of fourth-innings chases. It was a time of blissful ignorance; a period of newlywed nirvana.
Four years on, the broken promises in a winter of discontent have snapped that lover’s spell. The fraying edges of a team and regime were, not for the first time, blown apart by Australia in a winter in which even the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) seems to admit that just about everything went wrong. England and McCullum have been given one more chance, but this is a weakened marriage and mandate after what felt a reluctant renewal of vows.
