Today’s play is one of the few in this series where England can say they held the advantage, though much more will be required to win this test match and square the series in Hamilton as the tourists reached 269-5, still 106 runs behind New Zealand.

The sun has set on an extraordinary summer for English cricket. However, with the recently-proposed Hundred competition – the ECB’s answer to glitzy T20 tournaments like the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash – the move away from county cricket has the potential to alienate masses of loyal cricket fans.