England at New Zealand: Ashes hope must remain despite ODI series defeat

From Mount Maunganui to Wellington, plus the loss in Hamilton in between, England’s batting failures against the Black Caps were undoubtedly worrying.

Yes, captain Harry Brook lost all three pitches to expose these batsmen to the worst of conditions on at least two occasions.

Yes, the over-50 New Zealand side, with a 93% home win rate since 2019, pose one of the toughest challenges in world sport.

But with four Ashes bankers in England’s top five – the fifth being a potential starter in Jacob Bethell – they have returned just one round over 34 between them across three matches.

Bethell, Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Joe Root hit 15 times collectively in the 50-over series and together had nine single-digit scores.

No one would call this ideal.

“It’s a different format of the game and it’s a completely different kind of challenge that we’re going to face as well,” said coach Brendon McCullum, denying that the batsmen will be scarred by the 3-0 series sweep heading to the Ashes.

England have never been in New Zealand as they see it as the perfect way to prepare for five Tests in Australia.

These matches were part of their wider schedule, dictated by those who control their money and who sign broadcast deals.

Instead, England have tried to make the most of a busy schedule and ease players back into action after the post-summer break.

Steve Smith’s Sheffield Shield century looked ominous, but fellow Aussie Travis Head is also battling through the white-ball matches against India, not registering a score higher than 30 in four attempts.

If Root had struck New Zealand’s medium-pace bowlers for a century in front of the grassy banks of Aotearoa, few would have said it mattered when it came to facing off against Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the Perth cauldron with a different ball.

The opposite must also be true.

“Jimmy Smith, Joe Root and Ben Duckett will be better in the race too,” McCullum said.

“I’m sure they will be better with the preparation we did with the other Test guys [bowlers Mark Wood, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson] “Those who have been here for a while as well, we won’t have any excuses in Australia.”