Test captains left to field thorny questions while the suits hide at Headingley

A day out from the third Test between England and New Zealand and Headingley could scarcely have looked more ripe for the occasion, with azure skies overhead, the white roof of the new football stand shimmering in the sunshine and the combination of a beige pitch and cambered green outfield hinting at another feast of runs.

There is a huge appetite for this match, too. England may be 2-0 up with one to play but the swagger shown during the run chase at Trent Bridge last week – plus a trio of locally produced players in Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Alex Lees – has left around 400 tickets spare on days one and four, with two sell-outs sandwiched in between. Around £3m in net revenue is on the cards and that is before punters have slaked their thirsts and filled bellies at the various bars and food outlets.

This is, of course, the Headingley Test that nearly wasn’t and one only needs to look up at the rebranded Clean Slate Pavilion for a reminder of the fact. The tie-in with an Indian digital streaming company – owned by Virat Kohli’s brother-in-law, Karnesh Sharma – is among a number of fresh commercial deals secured by Lord Kamlesh Patel, Yorkshire’s new chair, and his executive team since the exodus of partners that resulted from the club’s undoubtedly botched handling of Azeem Rafiq’s racism allegations.

Yorkshire’s international host status was suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board last November and their hosting of this prestigious and lucrative fixture was thrown into doubt. Losing it – something Rafiq himself did not want to see – would have risked financial ruin at Headingley. But the new regime has since demonstrated enough reform to lead to the ban being lifted, even if the governing body last week