The batting numbers from England's 3-0 ODI loss in New Zealand make for grim reading, especially with The Ashes on the way.

Game one: 223 all out in 35.2 overs. Game two: 175 all out in 36 overs. Game three: 222 all out in 40.2 overs.

Put in to bat, collapsed and lost despite admirable fightbacks with the ball. That was the story, three times over.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic is that the 84 runs England's top four managed across the three games is the fewest in ODI history in a series in which a side has batted at least three times - five worse off than the 89 hit by Bangladesh at the 1988 Asia Cup.

Considering that top four was entirely comprised of players in England's Ashes squad (Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell in Mount Maunganui and Hamilton, before Ha

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