Opinion: The highlight of my sports-watching life will never be surpassed.
Chris Cairns was magnificent with the ball as the Black Caps beat England by nine wickets at Lord's in 1999, Hamish Bidwell writes. Photo: Photosport
Not necessarily because it was so amazing to witness or the performances so remarkable, but because those who both run and play high-performance sport are so determined to ruin it.
I have no interest in this confected World Test Cricket Championship. And I won't suddenly become an enthusiast because New Zealand has qualified for the final, scheduled for June at Lord's.
I don't care how it works and how points are awarded. I just know that New Zealand's 2019 test series against England wasn't part of the championship - despite falling within the championship window - and nor is the series between the two teams this June.
The minute a competition was dreamt up that only included parts of the test cricket being played around the world, was the moment I dismissed it as a nonsense.
The Black Caps, captained by Kane Williamson, have made the World Test Cricket Championship to be played at Lord's - but Hamish Bidwell says the new contest is a nonsense. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Little wonder, then, that we read that New Zealand and England's best cricketers might not take part in June's test series. Some could have conflicting Indian Premier League commitments and - with absolutely nothing at stake - the June tests potentially aren't a priority for all the players.
Time was when a test series in England was career-defining for New Zealand cricketers. When competing at the "home'' of cricket was what dreams were made of.
It was at Headingley, in 1983, that New Zealand won its first test in England. Three years later they went back and won a maiden series.
The only other New Zealand team to win a test series in England was Stephen Fleming's 1999 side and I was there for every session.
Those 1986 and 1999 wins mean something. They're cricket equivalents of what the 1996 All Blacks did, in beating South Africa in a series in South Africa for the first time.
And they're unlikely to be repeated.
In 1999, for instance, New Zealand were granted four test matches. These days England will only agree to two, because the Black Caps aren't a big enough drawcard.
England save the four and five-test tours for India and Australia.
I'll never forget the final moments of that 1999 tour, as a begrudging Bob Willis interviewed Fleming on the balcony at The Oval. When it came time for England captain Nasser Hussain to speak, those home fans still in the ground went into a booming chant of "you're s… and you know you are.''
I flew over to watch that series as a punter.
New Zealand should have won the first test in Birmingham, but for a brilliant 99 not out by England nightwatchman Alex Tudor.
At Lord's, Chris Cairns was magnificent with the ball as the Black Caps won by nine wickets. Manchester was a rain-affected draw, before some last-day heroics from Dion Nash helped inspire New Zealand to an 83-run win at The Oval and a 2-1 series victory.
NZ Cricket manager John Graham in 1999 alongside Dion Nash (left) and coach Steve Rixon. Photo: Photosport
Nothing will ever top that for me. Partly because that series marked the end of my life as a fan. I started to get paid to write about sport after that tour and there's no place for clapping and cheering in the press box.
Test series have context. Careers and legacies are dictated by them.
No matter which cricketing nation it is, the great and the good are separated by their deeds in the test arena, particularly away from home.
The New Zealand team that toured England in 1949, for instance, is still talked about and written about. All four tests on that tour were drawn, but they were as good as wins for New Zealand at the time.
White-ball cricket is fine and it certainly pays the bills, but no Twenty20 star has the standing of, say, an Ashes-winning captain.
World Test Champion meaningless
The World Test Champion means nothing. And don't just take my word for it.
Greg Barclay Photo: Photosport
International Cricket Council chairman Greg Barclay - of New Zealand - has suggested the championship is not "fit for purpose'' and wondered if it would remain on the calendar.
"From an idealistic point of view it probably had a lot of merit, but I do just query in a practical sense whether it's actually achieved what it was intended to do,'' Barclay said.
Good on the Black Caps for getting to this year's World Test Championship final. It's tangible reward for the consistency of their performances at home.
But give me a three or four or five-test series against England in England any day. Give me Jeremy Coney's victorious 1986 side or the boys from 1999.
Give me test series that players are desperate to play in and whose careers are defined by the results. Give me cricket that actually means something.
