\n<\/p>\n
From Mount Maunganui to Wellington, plus a loss in Hamilton in between, England’s batting failings against the Black Caps were undeniably a concerning trend.<\/p>\n
Yes, captain Harry Brook lost all three tosses to expose those batters to the worst of conditions on at least two occasions.<\/p>\n
Yes, New Zealand’s 50-over side, with their 93% win ratio at home since 2019, provide one of the toughest challenges in world sport.<\/p>\n
But with four Ashes bankers in England’s top five – and the fifth a possible starter in Jacob Bethell – they returned only one innings above 34 between them across three matches.<\/p>\n
Bethell, Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Joe Root batted 15 times collectively in the 50-over series and together had nine single-figure scores. <\/p>\n
No-one would call that ideal.<\/p>\n
“It’s a different form of the game and it’s a completely different kind of challenge that we’re going to be confronted with as well,” said coach Brendon McCullum, denying batters would be scarred by the 3-0 series sweep heading into the Ashes.<\/p>\n
At no point have England been in New Zealand because they see it as the optimal way to prepare for five Tests in Australia.<\/p>\n
These fixtures were part of their wider schedule, dictated by those with a grip on the purse strings and who sign broadcast deals.<\/p>\n
England have, instead, tried to make the most of the cramped schedule and ease players back into action after a post-summer break.<\/p>\n
Steve Smith’s Sheffield Shield century appeared ominous, but fellow Australia middle-order batter Travis Head is also battling through white-ball matches against India, with no score above 30 in four attempts.<\/p>\n
Had Root stroked New Zealand’s medium-fast pacers for a century in front of Aotearoa’s grass banks, few would have said it mattered when it came to facing Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the Perth cauldron with a different ball. <\/p>\n
The reverse must also be true.<\/p>\n
“Jamie Smith, Joe Root and Ben Duckett, they’ll be better for the run, too,” McCullum said. <\/p>\n
“I’m sure they’ll be better for it with the prep that we’ve had with the other Test guys [bowlers Mark Wood, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson] who’ve been here for a while, too, we’ll have no excuses come Australia.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n