TRENT BRIDGE — After all the drama of Ben Stokes’s shock retirement during this deciding Test against New Zealand and the psychodrama of the past three weeks since the captain’s ill-fated night out in Chelsea’s Rex Rooms, England slipped to their most ignominious home series defeat in a generation.
Stokes’s decision to announce he was quitting international cricket on the fourth day here in Nottingham was meant to inspire his team to a memorable win.
Instead, starting this fifth day on 103 for 4, their forlorn pursuit of a target of 373 concluded 33 minutes after lunch to condemn England to a first home defeat in a series of three or more Tests since 2012.
Given the turbulence enveloping this England regime after Stokes’s bombshell – and the uncertainty over the futures of head coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key – this feels like the worst series loss on these shores since the win by New Zealand in 1999 that sent England to the bottom of the world Test rankings.
Having gone 1-0 up with victory in the series opener at Lord’s, this 2-1 defeat is even more damaging set within the context of last winter’s humiliating 4-1 Ashes hammering in Australia.
