Notes from (north of) the Oval #15
Pfffffffft!
This summer’s final NFTO ended on a predictably bum note after New Zealand folded meekly after giving the appearance of a fight this morning.
It was apt in a way, with rain falling but not heavily enough to save them. A damp end to a vapid summer where the country got to celebrate a stunning World Test Championship with two low-key tests against Bangladesh and two more against a weak South African side playing under Covid restrictions.
There’s a danger of falling into a boom-or-bust trap when covering sport but that the world champs should lose once at home to inferior opposition may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose twice looks like carelessness.