Rural centres for test cricket

I have always thought that test cricket should be taken from the big stadiums (in particular Eden Park and Jade Stadium) and played exclusively at proper cricket grounds (like the Basin) and in rural centres. But the game at Hamilton has thrown up one real flaw with this plan; playing in farm country gives English journalists an excuse to pull out all those old gems about how the pace of life in New Zealand is so slow and dull. If they wanted excitement, why didn't they just go to Somerset?