SEDDON PARK — It’s easy to jump to kneejerk reactions when England slump to defeats as comprehensive as this 423-run defenestration at the hands of New Zealand. But it should not be forgotten that they have won a series in this country for the first time in 16 years.
Dead rubbers are always hard to gauge. It was a criticism of the great Australian teams of the 1990s and early 2000s that they often underperformed in the final Test when they had already wrapped up series.
England are nowhere near that calibre. Indeed, the inconsistency of Bazball is summed up by the fact that in 17 Tests this year they have won nine and lost eight.
No team has played more in a single calendar year, except India in 1983. That workload was surely a factor in this surrender in Hamilton when after being routed for 143 in their first innings they were rolled for 234 just 35 minutes after lunch on the fourth day.
In terms of runs this was England’s second-heaviest defeat away from home in history. It’s a worry that the first, by 434 runs, came against India at Rajkot in February. When Bazball goes wrong it can be ugly.
After brilliant wins in the opening two Tests here in Christchurch and Wellington, it’s hardly surprising the players’ motivation may have been lacking during this final week of a tour that ends so close to Christmas.
In all, 2024 has been a year of successful transition for this team. It started with a sensational 28-run heist against India in Hyderabad and has taken in wins in three of the five series they have played.
The forced retirement of James Anderson was seen as a controversial call at the start of the summer. The subsequent emergence of Gus Atkinson, who’s taken 52 Test wickets at 22.15 since his debut in Anderson’s final Test against the West Indies at Lord’s in July, and Brydon Carse, the find of the winter and leading wicket-taker in this series with 18, has fully justified that decision.
The bowling attack is in a stronger place than it was and with the hoped-for return of fast bowlers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer next year, this Test team will believe they have the firepower to beat India at home over five Tests next summer and compete for the Ashes in Australia the following winter.
The one blot on the bowling copybook is spinner Shoaib Bashir, whose eight wickets in this series came at 51.75 and who struggled to impose himself in turning conditions during a disappointing 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan in October.
Like opener Zak Crawley, England have absolute faith in Bashir’s potential and ability to be a top-class player at this level. Unlike Crawley, who averaged 8.66 in this series, Bashir is unlikely to be a success in Australia during next winter’s Ashes. His second-innings return of two for 170 in Hamilton was truly gruesome.
Australia’s batters will be licking their lips at the prospect of taking down Bashir next year. It’s to be hoped England have a Plan B when it comes to picking an Ashes spinner if Bashir’s summer against India turns ugly.
In terms of the batting, England have a few decisions to make. Does Ollie Pope, who in Jamie Smith’s absence was better in New Zealand as a wicketkeeper-batter at No 6, go back to No 3 now after Jacob Bethell’s emergence on this tour? “Definitely a headache, for sure,” coach Brendon McCullum admitted after this final Test.
Bethell’s three half-centuries and an average of 52 in his first three Tests point to a talent who will be hard to leave out. He also coped well with a ferocious spell of fast-bowling on this final day in Hamilton from Will O’Rourke.
Harry Brook, whose stunning year that included England’s first triple century in 34 years, in Multan in October, meant he rose to No 1 in the Test batting rankings last week, was dismissed twice in this Test, for nought and one, by New Zealand’s newest fast bowler.
The lifting delivery from O’Rourke on the final day Brook fended to first slip was perhaps a glimpse into his Ashes future next winter given this was a dismissal that evoked memories of a rampant Mitchell Johnson on England’s ill-fated 2013-14 tour of Australia.
O’Rourke was electric during an eight-over spell on the fourth morning where he touched 95 miles per hour, hit Bethell, Joe Root and Pope and deserved more than just Brook’s wicket.
This is the kind of hostile fast bowling England can expect from India’s Jasprit Bumrah in the summer and Australia’s Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins next winter.
The hope is that with just 10 Tests in 2025, the cut in quantity of matches will lead to a greater quality of performance.
This Test in Hamilton was one to forget for England. But they would be foolish to not learn the lessons from it as they head into a year that will define the legacy of coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.
They cannot be as brittle as this when they face the two best teams in the world across five Tests. The hope is the strides this collective have made over the past 12 months, including the learnings from a punishing 4-1 defeat in India at the start of 2024, will allow Bazball to be performed with more consistency because at their best this England team are a match for anybody.
