England will hope that getting crushed in a series opener on the back of limited preparation will not be a theme over the coming weeks, given they will enter this winter’s Ashes series on the back of just a single three-day warm-up match.

The seven-wicket mauling by South Africa in the opening ODI at Headingley on Tuesday was ugly. Yet there were mitigating circumstances given this was a series that begun just two days after the conclusion of the Hundred and that England’s weary players had gone three months without playing 50-over cricket.

Harry Brook, who suffered his first defeat as white-ball captain on his home ground, was in no mood to make excuses after his team were hammered having been bowled out for 131 in just 24.3 overs.

However, the schedule is clearly not helping England,

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