It has been happening for a while but now it is out in the open, shorn of the veneer of normalcy that administrators like to put on things.
South Africa favouring their domestic T20 tournament over a Test series in New Zealand is only the latest and least ambiguous step in a journey that cricket has been making in recent years. This might be an inflexion point in the game.
Only two players from the team that beat India in the first Test (Keegan Petersen and David Bedingham) are in the squad. South Africa are led by Neil Brand, who will be making his Test debut. Six others are uncapped too.
