England’s Test team have now all arrived in Australia, but with 11 days to go until battle commences their preparation seems a little underwhelmingJust beyond the boundary’s edge, a cockatoo flew into the hole in a eucalyptus tree where it is nesting. Beyond that, the Swan River flowed. Galahs, chests as pink as those any number of Englishmen will be sporting in a couple of weeks’ time, snuffled on the grass. Other birds flitted around the park, even those with less eye-catching plumage sporting eye-catching names: black-faced cuckooshrikes; willie-wagtails. Um, ducks.Given that they visited Wellington’s Basin Reserve, Christchurch’s Hagley Oval and the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui at various stages during their white-ball tour of New Zealand, it is tempting to conclude that England have arranged their various stopping points of the winter on aesthetic rather than sporting grounds. Even in this company, though, Lilac Hill stands tall. Continue reading...