Poor planning to blame

New Zealand have a few skeletons in their closet that no doubt prevented them from raising the matter, in public at least, but they had due cause to kick up a sizeable fuss over the state of the Headingley pitch dished up for the second Test. But it's interesting to read that Geoff Boycott (in the Daily Telegraph) appears to be the only person to have taken issue with the pitch in the mainstream British press. Perhaps because of his Yorkshire bias he fears for the future of his beloved Headingley, and well he might.

Let's face it, New Zealand were cleaned up well and truly in this match. Just as was the case in their inability to push their cause by scoring more runs then putting pressure on England through their bowling when it mattered in the first Test, so it was this time around. Allowing England to achieve a first-innings lead was the death knell. From that point New Zealand were looking their unhooded executioners fair in the eye. And the telling blows were swift in coming.

Steve Harmison, and Matthew Hoggard, created the doubt by utilising the vagaries of the pitch - and they had their reward. Well done to England. Those with longer memories will recall the occasion at Christchurch in 1983-84 when Bob Willis's men turned up at Lancaster Park to find a pitch of lamentable quality. The grizzles were heard even before the match started. When New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first, making use of what good there was in the pitch before it disintegrated, they scored close to 300. England were then famously twice dismissed for less than 100, and the match lasted a minute over two days.

The noise and complaints were loud and long from the accompanying media, New Zealanders included. But it is to be supposed that being on the winning side makes it easier to overlook substandard pitches. Stephen Fleming's team have taken the loss at Headingley on their chins - or should that be their fingers - and offered no criticism. They at least tried to make a fight of it, which is less than could be said for that England team of 1983-84.

Indians who accused New Zealand of doctoring pitches during their rain-affected tour in 2002-03 will be laughing at the payback involved in England. But their complaints were unfounded, as the claims of doctoring failed to take into account the unseasonal weather that affected pitch-preparation, although conspiracy theorists have refused to accept that point. It is difficult to believe with all the money that has gone into bringing Headingley up to international standard with all the facilities outside the boundary, that something can't be found to sort out the pitch.

As New Zealand assess their situation and count the walking wounded their reflections cannot hide the fact that Daryl Tuffey and Chris Martin have failed to match their form of the New Zealand summer. Why that should be the case when there is a specialist assistant bowling coach in the touring party is a question that people back in New Zealand will soon be asking, if they aren't already.

Traditionally, the best New Zealand sports campaigns are based on exceptional planning - strategies that wring out every last cent from the development dollar are a must for a country as poorly resourced in participation numbers as New Zealand is. This tour won't be remembered as one of those. The decision to take only 14 men, a task made easier through the supposed availability of Shane Bond, has blown up in New Zealand's face. It is not hard to understand why this decision was reached. There were only three county games to go alongside the three Tests. An extra player could well have become more of a spare part than Kyle Mills has been. Yet the feeling persists that the planning, covering all the scenarios that have occurred, was not as thorough as it might have been. The evidence of two lost Tests and one lost county game is hard to refute.

That Mills is likely to play at Trent Bridge, possibly with James Franklin called up for service as well, will be ammunition for those critical of the decision to send only 14. That is something John Bracewell and his fellow selectors will have to account for at appraisal time. There does seem to have been a reluctance to utilise Ian Butler more, and he must be wondering what he has to do to regain selection favour. He did have an injury at the time of selection, but has subsequently been called up to play some county cricket for Kent. As one bowler who is capable of dishing up some of the fire that Harmison, in particular, harnessed, he could have been invaluable at Headingley.

That is all in the wiser-after-the-event category, and the real test for those who are required for service at Trent Bridge is how they prevent England from completing a clean sweep. For a side that was touted, from within its ranks, as the best New Zealand team ever to tour England, that would surely be even more unpalatable than the two losses already suffered.