Youth will prevail

“Of the finalists in this year’s Champions Trophy, though, it should be New Zealand that England look to for a degree of inspiration and not without a little shame,” writes The Times’ chief cricket correspondent and former English captain Mike Atherton. “It is, surely, a ridiculous state of affairs when a country as small as New Zealand with meagre resources, both playing and financial, has a better record than England when it comes to international one-day competitions. When Andrew Strauss last found himself out of the England team, he took himself off to New Zealand to play for Northern Districts. He was struck by the age of the players “primarily under 25″, by the fewer number of games played and by greater time spent in skill-based practice breeding more dynamic and athletic cricketers.”