There are other reasons as well. New Zealand are here without a coach and Pakistan's man, Intikhab Alam, is more a manager than a modern-day coach. So for the first time in many years, we will be watching cricket, essentially, coach-less. As cricket comes to the end of a decade in which coaches have assumed the significance of unelected advisors to government - they are important but no one can decide why - it is a timely, if no doubt temporary, step back to a forgotten time.
On the field will step two of cricket's most powerful current captains. After recent fudges at home, Daniel Vettori and Younis Khan have the kind of control, say and influence captains around the world could only hope for. Vettori has selection duties, is his side's key allrounder and matchwinner and is taking on more coaching duties after the exit of Andy Moles. Younis, having resigned, has come back as captain with greater security, a more amenable management setup and presumably a free hand over selection matters, as most Pakistan captains have had. Admittedly, his grip will always be more fragile than Vettori's.
