New England, it’s just like old England.

In reality this is closer to a white-ball tour of the England Lions and it is difficult to imagine a group containing players like Cox, in only his fifth List A match, who was ranked No. 3 for England on his debut , to keep at one. where Joe Root, who has played more than 450 international innings, is batting there.

Before speaking to the media, they held a debrief together on the sidelines discussing the events that contributed to their crushing eight-wicket defeat.

“(We have to) try to get into the rhythm of 50-plus cricket as quickly as possible. We had four debuts and they will all have learned a lot from what they have been through and hopefully they will move on from it.”

Liam Livingstone

Individuals, including themselves, are featured here eager to prove their point. So while the matches may quickly disappear into the ether of white-ball matches you forgot ever happened, that’s not the case for those involved, who are essentially participating in an audition for the future.

“We need to be informed as soon as possible,” Livingstone said. “We are proud to have performed for England. It is always special when you wear the Three Lions on your chest and we are quite disappointed with how we played.”

It is easy to point to the absence of List A cricket from the calendar as the reason for England’s inability to find the right pace for a wicket where 250 would have been competitive. But between Will Jacks, Phil Salt, Livingstone and Sam Curran you have four players with ODI experience. While, perversely, the absolute inexperience of Jacob Bethell and Mousley means they are not entirely new to the format. Bethell played in the One-Day Cup last year and has more List A matches than first-class matches to his name. Mousley, on the other hand, has only made ten one-day appearances, but has had a century and two fifties in that time.

But while there isn’t a complete lack of experience in List A cricket, there was talk of the actual roles each player had to fill. Of the top six, only Salt and Jacks had batted in those positions for England more than once in their careers. Everyone collectively took off their stabilizers for the first time.

“(We must) try to get into the rhythm of 50-plus cricket as quickly as possible,” Livingstone said. “We’ve had four debuts and they’ve all learned an awful lot from what they’ve been through and hopefully they’ll move on from that.”

A pertinent question is whether England’s absolute commitment to youth could indeed be detrimental to the players they are trying to blood in the first place.

The benefits of a mix of youth and experience are a trope so old it borders on cliché, but clichés exist for a reason. Rather than trying to give all of Cox, Bethell and Mousley their chance at once, wouldn’t it be better if two, or even one, of those players get their chance, with the addition of an experienced professional in the line-up? for them to knock around. Your James Vinces, your Dawid Malans. Or even Jonny Bairstow. He is still a contract player with England for at least another year. The lost talents could stand on the shoulders of journeymen.

Of course, a recall for the elder statesmen of off-Broadway white-ball tours could be seen as a step backwards. And there’s no guarantee they’ll be interested either. You can only call someone last minute as a second choice so many times.

But you also don’t want to throw your children into the deep end without bracelets. England have now lost twelve of their last eighteen ODIs. Cox said ahead of the tour that one of the main benefits of living in an international environment is working with the best. And does choosing such a young team allow that?

“I don’t think we read the circumstances as well as we could have,” Livingstone said. “When Sam and I got in we were at 240-250. But unfortunately I got out at the wrong time and that’s where it fell off. We’re proud that one of our top six got a score and unfortunately we didn’t not done. got that.”

The top six he is referring to have four List A hundreds in 271 matches.

There is no doubt about the talent in the group. This is an exciting team and regardless of whether they turn the series around and win, or crash and burn to a three-nil defeat, it will be fun to watch down the road.

But part of the reason they’re exciting is because they’re new and we haven’t seen them before. And maybe they do, although they might be less fun if they fit in a few iterations of it Frasier in the middle order they may also be better off.