Joe Root and the new coach are already looking forward to the next Ashes series as they prepare for New ZealandIt seems only yesterday that a weary
England Test side pitched up in
New Zealand after a heavy defeat in the 2017-18 Ashes and succumbed to the charms of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and the pink ball for a series-ruining 58 all out in Auckland.
Eighteen months on from that pink stink – one masked to an extent by Australia’s sandpaper scandal erupting 7,000 miles away in Cape Town – there can be no such excuses. All but a handful of England’s Test players have been resting since the end of the home summer and the two-match series in New Zealand that begins on Thursday in Mount Maunganui is being played with the red Kookaburra. And this is the start of a new era under Chris Silverwood, the head coach, whom it is hoped will partner with Joe Root for a golden spell.