Pietersen was dropped after failing to reveal the contents of text messages allegedly sent to South African players during the drawn match at Headingley.
The New England Nor'easters, based in the Boston area, had the best record by far, finishing with nine wins, one drawn match and no losses.
Tension builds inexorably; every delivery is potentially the last, while each one survived edges the batting team toward the sanctuary of a drawn match.
But he did play, opening the batting and making a scrappy 28 and one, and bowling 22 fruitless overs in a drawn match.
The same six specialist batsmen who featured in England's last Test – the drawn match in Auckland two months ago – remain, in the continued absence of the injured Kevin Pietersen.
Many were predicting a drawn match but congratulations must go to the Sporting Index client who bought the total converted penalties at 4.4 for £2,500 a spot-kick at the start of the match - that netted him a tidy £16,500.
"Michael Lumb, Ed Joyce and now Taylor have all scored doubles at Nottingham in the last nine days - what price the first Test being drawn?" Match scorecard.
The teams have met four times in the Championship since the drawn match in April 2009, with each winning twice before Swansea's promotion to the Premier League in 2011.
With fellow rookie Tom Milnes also in the squad, that puts a lot of weight on the shoulders of Clarke and Irishman Boyd Rankin, who proved his return to fitness after a foot injury last week with an energetic performance on a lifeless track in the Bears' drawn match at Hove.
Miller scored 46 in a drawn match.
He scored 39 and 44 in a drawn match.
