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It is difficult to know where to begin with England when it comes to Test match cricket as the last two games against New Zealand have clearly demonstrated.
When it comes to one day cricket opinion is not divided, everyone thinks the same - England are poor, they have no long-term strategy despite what comes out of Team England and their dismal run of results backs this up.
Test cricket though is different, especially when taking a reasonable period of time into account.
Leading up to the remarkable 2005 Ashes series against Australia, England had been improving steadily and had been on an excellent run of form.
Victories, home and away against the West Indies, home series wins against New Zealand and Bangladesh and most importantly an away win in South Africa were all testaments to an improving side.
The process had started under Hussein and Fletcher and was then taken on when Michael Vaughan became captain. They had become a difficult team to beat and that glorious summer saw everything fit into place for two classic months of Test cricket.
However, since those heady days England won only one series and that was against Pakistan at home before being humiliated in Australia.
Subsequently, they have lost to Sri Lanka and India away whilst beating an ever-increasing very poor West Indies. England were a well deserved number two in the world rankings but now they languish down at number five and are heading in the wrong direction.
Instead of 2005 being a springboard to long-term success, poor selection and complacency has left us with the Jackal and Hyde performances that are this current tour of New Zealand. The first Test match, on a track so flat and dead was always destined for a draw until England managed to capitulate on the last day leaving the Kiwis wondering how they had possibly gone one up in a three-match series.
Of course, scapegoats are never far away with such poor performances and this time it was the bowlers who suffered, namely Harmison and Hoggard. Both were jettisoned for Broad and Anderson and whilst the former might well think it is deserved, the latter should feel rightly disgusted he had missed out.
He would never say anything, that is his way, but of all the players who won the Ashes back for England, he deserves to be dropped the least.
We have witnessed Simon Jones, Ashley Giles and Freddie Flintoff fight physical injuries, Harmison and Marcus Trescothick fight mental ones, and had to suffer Andrew Strauss and Geraint Jones going through an unbearable loss of form, but still the management and captain stuck with them.
That, of course, was also at the same time that captain Vaughan and then captain Flintoff have gone through their own slumps in form, not to mention 'Fredilo'.
Meanwhile, Hoggard has toiled away, usually against the wind, taking wickets and keeping England in games only to find that given after one poor performance he is dropped for others. The fact that he was given only one warm up game is irrelevant apparently and unless it was a mutual decision then he can feel rightly disappointed with his treatment.
His replacements though did what they were picked for and bowled well enough to take enough wickets to beat New Zealand in the second Test against the odds - Ryan Sidebottom starring with five wickets.
The selectors will feel they did the right thing, of course, and in terms of this result they have, but the idea of this being a watershed in team selection is far from realistic. If Strauss keeps his place for the third Test we will know that the selection process remains a problem.
England have always had the ability to produce performances out of the blue and this 126-run victory was a surprise given recent efforts but only the next six months will give us a real picture of what level they are really at.
The last Test starting on Friday and the home series against the same opposition will not be defining moments, as the Kiwis are a pretty poor team themselves going through transition and without their only really top class player in Shane Bond.
No, it is when South Africa play in England will the quality of some of these newcomers be truly tested, and only then will the possibility of regaining the Ashes become a reality rather than a dream.
Whether Vaughan will be leading this challenge is another matter entirely and he must consider himself lucky that Paul Collingwood's captaincy of the one day side has not had the same impact as when he replaced Nasser Hussein in similar circumstances.
If a world 11 were to be selected now it is difficult to imagine many English players being picked which is in stark contrast to 2005 and despite the selectors reassurances in light of this recent win it will take a lot more to convince me that the right players and formula have been achieved.
