Jofra Archer’s late arrival gives Luke Wood the chance to shine for England against New Zealand

OOn Thursday, Harry Brook described his team’s preparations for their final ODI series, last month against South Africa, as “a bit of a shambles”, and the same phrase could be used to describe many of their recent performances in this format – and for that matter a tour of New Zealand with one completed T20 and two washouts so far.

England’s series against South Africa started less than 48 hours after the Hundred Final, with the team gathering at Headingley like a dripping tap would fill a bath: irritatingly slowly. “I don’t think we even trained together,” Brook recalled. The team’s performance in the opening match was as shabby as their line-up.

But the sporting truth is that you are only as good as your last match. In their most recent ODI, England scored 414 against the South Africans in Southampton to win by 342. “We can handle that match and if we play like that we will be a very, very strong side,” Brook said. “Just take the momentum we got from that game into this series and everything will be fine.” With this in mind, the team traveled from Auckland to Mount Maunganui, where they will play the opening match against the Black Caps on Sunday, with the outlook as sunny as – thankfully – the weather forecast for the weekend.

Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett and Joe Root, who have led England’s top flight in all six matches since their Champions Trophy campaign ended at the group stages and the resignation of Jos Buttler as captain, arrived in Auckland on Wednesday and are ready to resume their positions. But the absence of Jofra Archer, whose delayed arrival in New Zealand means he will not make his first appearance in Hamilton until Wednesday, could open the door for Luke Wood to appear in what would be his first List A appearance in two years, his third of this decade and only the seventh of his career.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve played an ODI in… well, I haven’t played much yet,” Wood said. “It would be nice to continue playing and maybe try to find a similar role to the T20s. I don’t know what the team is going to be but hopefully I can keep my place and get the ball rolling.”

After nearly two years out of the international squad, Wood, who is 30, has played nine of England’s 11 T20s since Harry Brook became white-ball captain and is now looking to further cement his place in the line-up. “It was hard when I was gone, and when the call came this summer it was probably a bit of a surprise,” he said. “I’m not necessarily the youngest player anymore, so part of me felt like the opportunity was lost, but there’s always that glimmer of hope in the back of your mind. But I thought I was good enough to do it. I tried to deal with it differently than last time. Last time I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, while this time I’m just trying to enjoy it.”

The other absentee from what looked to be a permanent first-choice squad this summer is Will Jacks, who broke a finger in the T20 series against South Africa and is still recovering, focusing on being fit for the Ashes. Liam Dawson and Rehan Ahmed are the available replacements if England are to go into the series with their recent balance of three spin and three seam options.

As for New Zealand, since the end of the Champions Trophy – where they reached the final, where they lost to India – and when attention shifted sharply to the T20 World Cup in February, ODIs have fallen to their usual bottom spot on the list of global cricket priorities and the Black Caps have gone more than six months without attempting one.

But their recent record in the format – they were ranked second in the world before Australia overtook them with their wins over India this week – means their return will be welcomed, as will that of Kane Williamson, who for various reasons has not played for New Zealand since the Champions Trophy final and missed the T20s with an unspecified ‘minor medical problem’.

.