Who boards the plane to New Zealand - and how tough will the Black Caps be to beat?
Tuesday 9 January 2018 07:52, UK
England were dreadful while whitewashed in Australia in 2013/14. This year's 4-0 defeat feels a bit different.
There were moments where Joe Root's side matched Steve Smith's, they had more than a few openings, but on each occasion they were snuffed out - by Smith's merciless batting, by Australia's trifecta of pace bowlers and, often, by their own limitations.
As England prepare to name their Test squad for the two-match series against New Zealand in March - which you can watch live on Sky Sports Cricket - we look at some of the key questions they face….
Time for a root and branch review?
If there is one, it certainly won't be the end of Root - the Yorkshireman, blighted by gastroenteritis in Sydney, will lead England in New Zealand. It might not be the end of anyone senior, with coach Trevor Bayliss and chief selector James Whitaker seeming safe in their roles. There will, though, be plenty of chat about the reasons England were walloped in Australia again.
There is a lack of, or perhaps a lack of opportunity for, genuinely fast bowlers. Sky Sports' Rob Key has a few ideas on how to produce some… Moeen Ali's struggles will also see spin examined, albeit that debutant leggie Mason Crane showed valour and energy in trying conditions at the SCG while being taken for 193 runs. He will surely be persevered with.
The absence of speed and spin are legitimate gripes, while Bayliss perhaps should come under the microscope with England having lost more Tests (18) than they have won (15) under him. The limited-overs side have prospered under Bayliss - a World T20 final and the semis of the Champions Trophy since an awful 2015 World Cup - but the Test team have plateaued.
Perhaps England will consider splitting the coaching duties, allowing Bayliss to focus on the white-ball game and giving someone with a greater familiarity with county cricket - Bayliss has admitted a lack of knowledge in that regard and little time with which to improve it - the opportunity to take over in Tests as Root aims to fashion his team, one capable of winning home and away.
A coaching shake-up does not appear imminent, though, so the immediate concerns centre on selection…
Who opens the batting in New Zealand?
There was a point during the Ashes when England had question marks over both of their openers but Alastair Cook's double century in Melbourne - the fifth of his Test career - has put to bed any chances of a quick retirement, while Mark Stoneman looks set to retain his place, having shown plenty of grit in Australia albeit while not racking up the runs he would have liked.
Stoneman, who had his bat and helmet broken by Australia's potent pacemen in Perth, saw his Ashes average slip to 25.77 after scores of 24 and nought at the SCG, but fifties at the Gabba and the WACA, allied with his battling qualities, mean it would be a shock if he did not jet to New Zealand.
"I think because the search for Cook's opening partner has gone on for so long - and because the options from the Lions are slightly more in the middle order - he is safer in his spot than James Vince," said Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain. We'll get on to Vince in a minute….
England could take a third opener to New Zealand, though, as an insurance policy if Cook or Stoneman were to break down injured - yeah, like Mr Longevity, Cook will do that - or to slot in at No 3 in place of Vince. Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed have Test experience, while Middlesex's Nick Gubbins won't be straying too far from his phone.
Who bats in the middle order?
Dawid Malan won't lose his place, the left-hander's Ashes century in Perth backed up by three further fifties cementing his spot for the foreseeable future. Vince, though, will be sweating on his position, with those gorgeous cover drives of his unable to see him to a game-changing innings.
Vince has certainly sparkled - he looked poised for a comeback century in the first Test in Brisbane before he was run out by Nathan Lyon, while it took a crackerjack off a crack from Mitchell Starc to dismiss him in Perth for 55, perhaps his finest innings in an England shirt to date.
Those knocks aside, Vince has been guilty of soft dismissals outside off stump while recording a series average of 26.88 and Test one of 22.70. "He must be one of the most frustrating cricketers of the last decade for England," Hussain said of Vince. "There is a very good international player in there but he's not really reacted to failures or disappointments."
Sky Sports contributor Mike Selvey reckons England could react by promoting Malan to No 3, though perhaps the selectors will look at one of their summer rivals, Shai Hope.
The Windies batsman produced results to back up his talent in his 12th Test when he hit two tons at Headingley. Vince would love the opportunity to make a statement like that in Auckland in what would be his 13th.
There seems likely to be one batting change, in the squad if not the starting XI, with rumpurs that Gary Ballance, an unused member of the Ashes party, will be left out.
Lancashire captain Liam Livingstone - 31 first-class games with an average of 48.75 with six hundreds and a top score of 224 - has been touted for a call up and was named checked by Bayliss during the Ashes, alongside Jennings, Worcestershire's Joe Clarke and Essex's Dan Lawrence.
Who takes the seam-bowling spots?
Yes, England's attack was pretty powder-puff in Australia on the whole but the juicier conditions in New Zealand should aid James Anderson - the tourists' best bowler during the Ashes - Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes, Broad now just one wicket away from 400 in Tests.
Tom Curran and Craig Overton showed enough endeavour in the Ashes to be hopeful of retaining their places, making Steve Smith their maiden Test wickets in Adelaide and at the MCG respectively, though there may only be room in the squad for one of them. Overton probably the favourite.
Jake Ball appears likely to drop out - he played in Brisbane but hasn't been seen since. So it could be that Toby Roland-Jones, who seemed an Ashes shoo-in before suffering a stress fracture of the back late last season having bagged 17 wickets in his first four Tests, makes his return.
The express pace could be provided by Mark Wood, who has floated around England's Ashes squad without being an official member of it. The fit-again Durham seamer has been included in England's ODI and T20 parties and they would surely love to call upon him in the five-day arena, too.
What threat will New Zealand pose?
A significant one. The Black Caps have won three of their last four Test series, with South Africa the only side to beat them in that period. Even then, if it hadn't hosed it down on day five of the third Test Kane Williamson's side would have been confident of winning and earning a series draw.
England know how tricky New Zealand can be in their own conditions - they would have lost to them on their previous tour in 2012/13 if not for a dogged rearguard action from Matt Prior (110no of 182 balls), Stuart Broad (6 off 77), and finally Monty Panesar (2no off 5) which left New Zealand one wicket short - Kane Williamson taking four with his part-time off spin.
Williamson's finest suit, of course, is his batting - the Black Caps' unflappable No 3, the least heralded member of the Big Four but definitely someone to fear, averaged almost 63 in 2017, with his three centuries taking his career tally to 17, the same number as team-mate Ross Taylor.
Bowling-wise, Tim Southee and Trent Boult are often talked about but fellow seamer Neil Wagner - a left-armer who has enjoyed spells in county cricket with Lancashire and Essex - bagged more wickets than them both in 2017, with 36 at 25.47 in just seven matches, including a seven-for.
