Last year, England’s winter started in New Zealand, where preparation for their first game in any format for nearly a month amounted to two relaxed training sessions, a cultural welcome ceremony involving local Māori elders and, before that, a team-bonding mini-break in Queenstown.
“Obviously there was a bit of golf played and a few drinks here and there and team meals and whatnot,” Harry Brook said of that trip. “It was just about trying to spend a bit of time together. They’ve got some amazing golf courses and we were lucky enough to get on a couple of them. A couple of the other lads managed to get out and enjoy Queenstown. Everybody had a lot of fun.”
