Brendon

England’s 175 was some way short of the 244 average first-innings total in ODIs at Hamilton.

Indeed it was over a hundred runs adrift of the average winning score – 287 – when batting first at the ground.

Given so few runs to play with, England’s bowlers needed to marry incisiveness with control.

Archer brought them both during 10 overs of top-class fast bowling across two spells as he put down a marker in his first outing of the winter.

The 30-year-old set the tone early with a full delivery in his first over that had Young trapped plumb in front.

New Zealand’s batters were then hopping about the crease, as Archer showed his teeth with some rasping short balls.

Archer’s pace was up there as well. He averaged 87.4mph across his two spells with his fastest delivery of the day clocked at 90.2mph.

The Barbados-born quick bowler’s two other wickets owed a little more to fortune – Ravindra hooking him to Adil Rashid in the deep and Bracewell feathering one off his pads into the gloves of wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Yet they had been earned by spells of pressure. Archer’s 51 dot balls were the most he has bowled in an ODI when he has sent down 10 overs.

Archer’s injury problems and careful management over the past few years have been well documented.

But the fact he seems willing to throw himself about in the field – diving to stop balls on the boundary at fine leg – shows there are no scars.

There will be no holding back this winter.

England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will have excitedly taken note. So too, with a little more trepidation, will Australia.

England Test captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum make new players feel “on top of the world”, says all-rounder Will Jacks after receiving a surprise recall for this winter’s Ashes in Australia.

Off-spinner Jacks has played only two Tests, in 2022, but returns as cover for Shoaib Bashir ahead of Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson and Jack Leach.

“The leadership group make you feel like you can take anyone on,” Jacks told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“For someone who comes into the team making your debut, that builds you up quickly and makes you feel like you belong there straight away.

“He (Stokes) leads with his own actions, which makes him really easy to follow. He would never ask you do something he’s not willing to do.”

“Misconceptions” surrounding England’s team and their style of play are “disrespectful”, according to head coach Brendon McCullum.

McCullum took over England’s Test side in 2022 alongside captain Ben Stokes and revived a team that had won one match in 17.

They have since become known for a fearless and aggressive brand of cricket, particularly with the bat, but McCullum – who dislikes the term “Bazball” which was coined to describe the approach – has frustrations around how they are perceived as a team.

“We never have that kind of mindset about ourselves in the sense that, we’re not rigid in how we go about things,” McCullum told the For the Love of Cricket podcast.

“I think there’s a bit of a misconception about how we play, that we swing the bat as hard as we can, we try to take wickets and then we go for a round of golf and a few beers.

“I find it slightly disrespectful to all of you guys [the players] and all of the people in the set-up who work so hard and have such clear determination of wanting to succeed, to have that so simply categorised, almost.”

Before the start of the summer, McCullum called on his players to show more “humility” after making headlines with some of their comments which were perceived as not caring enough about winning.

Comments which caused a stir include Ben Duckett saying it did not matter that England lost 3-0 to India as long as they went on to win the Champions Trophy, while in September last year Harry Brook said “if you get caught somewhere on the boundary, then who cares?” when asked about his side’s one-day batting approach.

But McCullum added that his messaging has always been around players’ mindset, rather than instilling a particular way of playing or a focus on high scoring.

“For us, it’s about trying to create an environment that allows you to handle the pressures of international cricket, to understand the size of that task but to not be restricted in your ability to play,” McCullum added.

“You want your talent to come out, I hate seeing talent stymied, so having a certain style or belief in how we want to play gives us the best chance of success.

“You can’t do that if you are bound by this tension and negativity. I know they want to win, I know I want to win, I know the opposition wants to win.

“Just because I keep saying it doesn’t mean it’s just going to happen, so how do we go about that?”

Under McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, England have delivered often thrilling cricket and secured landmark series wins away in Pakistan and New Zealand.

However, they failed to regain the Ashes in 2023, having gone 2-0 behind against Australia before surging back to draw the series, while they were also heavily beaten in India and lost in Pakistan last year.

After securing the series win in New Zealand in December, they lost the third and final Test in feeble fashion.

McCullum said he and his side wants England fans to feel an “attachment” to them, liking them both as players and their style of cricket, while also winning series.

“There’s no greater opportunity than playing in big series against the best opposition on the biggest stage under the brightest lights to be able to test that,” he added.

Stokes said he hated the word “ruthless” when asked about England trying to seal a 3-0 sweep in New Zealand.

But McCullum said the all-rounder is “the most ruthless” sportsperson he has ever met.

“He is unbelievably driven, to push himself, to push his team-mates, to win at all costs,” he said.

“We’re very lucky to have him in the chair because he’s going to be very strong about trying to push this team to the next level.”

Despite the obvious focus on the five-Test series against India and the Ashes down under, McCullum said England will not underestimate Zimbabwe in the four-day Test at Trent Bridge.

“We want to be where our feet are,” he said.

“This game has an amazing ability to bring you back down to earth if you don’t have the respect for the game or the respect for the opposition.

“We go into it as favourites so we need to make sure we’re rock hard fit and ready to go and make good decisions under pressure.”