At least they avoided the indignity of being beaten before even the floodlights had come on. But only just. That’s how abject England’s performance was in this opening one-day international against South Africa.
This hammering took the hosts back to the dark days of the 2015 World Cup – a tournament when McCullum butchered wayward bowling to carry New Zealand to victory in a supposed day-night ODI as the co-hosts coasted to their target of 124 at Wellington’s Cake Tin before the lights had been switched on.
The batting that came thereafter was even worse, with Jamie Smith, Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks and Jos Buttler all out to terrible shots. England’s fifth-highest runscorer was Extras.
Baker’s debut turned into a disaster (Photo: AFP/Getty)
This all came during a blitz from Aidan Markram that saw the South Africa opener reprise McCullum’s role at Wellington a decade ago, hitting 86 from 55 balls before eventually being caught off Adil Rashid with his team needing just 11 to win.
It is six months since these teams last met in Karachi, England hammered in a Champions Trophy dead rubber 24 hours after Buttler had announced he was stepping down as captain.
A 3-0 series whitewash of the West Indies back in June was viewed as a tentative step forward at the start of Brook’s tenure. After all, the Windies didn’t even qualify for the last 50-over World Cup.
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As bad as they were here, and this was the seventh defeat in 10 ODIs since McCullum took charge, there are mitigating circumstances that should be taken into consideration.
Scheduling can be partly blamed but South Africa can also cite the fact they only arrived into the country six days before this opening ODI after they flew directly from their tour of Australia.
It’s also hardly surprising England’s players look so out of sync playing ODI cricket when they’ve jumped into this straight from the hit-and-giggle of the Hundred. That divisive tournament has also reduced the domestic 50-over competition to a second-string event, starving the best from valuable experience playing this format.
Still, these are mitigating factors, not excuses. Former England captain Michael Vaughan put it best when he lamented on commentary: “The schedule of the summer is not great but that is not an excuse. England have let themselves down. This is not good enough.”
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