England’s one-day wonders

“Nothing can make up for an Ashes thrashing,” said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail. But at least England’s “long winter” will also be remembered for two “outstanding” one-day inter-national (ODI) series wins. Immediately after the Ashes, England “earned an emphatic 4-1 win” in Australia. And last Saturday, they sealed an “even more meaningful” 3-2 triumph in New Zealand. It was the Kiwis who inspired England’s brand of exciting one-day cricket – and this series confirmed that the “pupils have definitely overtaken their masters”. They have won their last six one-day series, a “big stepping stone” towards next year’s World Cup.

For a long time, Jonny Bairstow was unable to break into this side, said Simon Wilde in The Sunday Times. But this series showed why the batsman is now “the first name on the team sheet”. Since he was recalled last June, his strikerate has averaged more than a run per ball. He has scored a century in each of his last two matches; in the fifth ODI he scored a hundred off 58 balls, the third fastest by any England batsman in an ODI and the fastest by an England opener. And Chris Woakes has played an equally important role as a bowler, said Scyld Berry in The Daily Telegraph. The player of the series in New Zealand, he “hammered away so accurately” that the Kiwis’ highest opening partnership was a mere 12. Woakes is now “England’s finest white-ball seamer”.