Why England must move on quickly from Ashes hangover

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, England play six Tests this summer - three against New Zealand and three against Pakistan By Stephan Shemilt Cricket Correspondent at Lord's Published 2 hours ago Which version are we on now? Bazball 3.0? Bazball 4-1? Return of the Bazball? By the time England take the field for the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday it will be 145 days since their Ashes humiliation was completed in Sydney. Will they be wiser for the experience? Chastened? Humble? If you've struggled to keep on top of everything that has happened in the past five months, let's have a quick refresher. There were revelations about Harry Brook's night out in Wellington and a couple of lies to cover it up. Ben Stokes had his cheek smashed by a stray ball in the nets. England reached a T20 World Cup semi-final. Jacob Bethell played in the Indian Premier League and can play in the first Test, Jofra Archer played in the IPL but can't play in the first Test. Ollie Robinson is off the naughty step. There was an Ashes review, after which the only person to lose his job was Zak Crawley. You are probably tired of Ashes post-mortems, fed up of hearing about Lilac Hill, Snicko or Noosa. There is certainly no desire to ever see Travis Head cut another boundary. But the Ashes hangover – pun intended – will linger over this England regime. It was Brendon McCullum who said the Ashes could define his team, while Stokes asked them to make history. How were they defined? What history did they create? It is not an exaggeration to say this era could be remembered for the crimes against cricket committed in Australia, even if England do regain the Ashes on home soil next summer. England have been left with a chasm between themselves and their supporters. Some players have reputations to rebuild and international careers to salvage. It could get worse, with a decent argument that New Zealand are favourites to win the three-Test series. Their seam attack looks more potent, their batting more settled. There are some parallels to be drawn with the summer of 2014, when captain Alastair Cook survived a 5-0 mauling in Australia, only to then be pushed close to quitting by a defeat by Sri Lanka at Headingley, then India at Lord's. Cook stayed on, turned it around and won back the urn a year later – Stuart Broad's 8-15 and all that. How Stokes, McCullum and co would love something similar. McCullum acknowledged the "temperature has been hot" regarding the pressure he and his team have been under. One wonders what the reaction might be if England lose the first Test, or even the series. Would those who have backed the management be forced to act? But despite not winning those marquee series against Australia and India, England's record is good. They have lost only one series at home since 2014 and Stokes' win percentage is the best of any captain in the past 45 years. To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can