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Having doubts now is understandable.

That sinking feeling when you wake up and check the score. The deflation of a leg stump knocked back with the clock barely beyond midnight.

Another sleepless night. Another disappointment.

When those feelings return before England have even reached Australian shores, after capitulations against the cuddly New Zealanders rather than the fiercest enemy, you can be forgiven for wavering.

From Mount Maunganui to Wellington, plus a loss in Hamilton in between, England’s batting failings against the Black Caps were undeniably a concerning trend.

Yes, captain Harry Brook lost all three tosses to expose those batters to the worst of conditions on at least two occasions.

Yes, New Zealand’s 50-over side, with their 93% win ratio at home since 2019, provide one of the toughest challenges in world sport.

But with four Ashes bankers in England’s top five – and the fifth a possible starter in Jacob Bethell – they returned only one innings above 34 between them across three matches.

Bethell, Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Joe Root batted 15 times collectively in the 50-over series and together had nine single-figure scores.

No-one would call that ideal.

“It’s a different form of the game and it’s a completely different kind of challenge that we’re going to be confronted with as well,” said coach Brendon McCullum, denying batters would be scarred by the 3-0 series sweep heading into the Ashes.

At no point have England been in New Zealand because they see it as the optimal way to prepare for five Tests in Australia.

These fixtures were part of their wider schedule, dictated by those with a grip on the purse strings and who sign broadcast deals.

England have, instead, tried to make the most of the cramped schedule and ease players back into action after a post-summer break.

Steve Smith’s Sheffield Shield century appeared ominous, but fellow Australia middle-order batter Travis Head is also battling through white-ball matches against India, with no score above 30 in four attempts.

Had Root stroked New Zealand’s medium-fast pacers for a century in front of Aotearoa’s grass banks, few would have said it mattered when it came to facing Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the Perth cauldron with a different ball.

The reverse must also be true.

“Jamie Smith, Joe Root and Ben Duckett, they’ll be better for the run, too,” McCullum said.

The batting issues are also not without wider context.

England have lost six of their past seven bilateral series in 50-over cricket in a shocking and concerning run that goes back to the start of the 2023 World Cup.

They lost all 10 wickets in each match of this series, meaning their tally now stands at 18 such failures in 34 ODIs since the start of that tournament in India.

Brook and McCullum have made decent progress with the T20 side – victory against New Zealand prior to the ODIs meant they have won seven of eight completed T20s since Brook took charge at the start of the summer – but the downward turn of the 50-over side is proving far harder to correct.

An assessment made by the New Zealander after the Champions Trophy exit in March still holds true.

“We weren’t able to withstand the pressure and we weren’t able to navigate our way through,” he said. “I felt we lacked confidence.

“In Test cricket, in the last little while, the confidence levels of that unit are very high and [we have] the ability to execute the game plan and the style of cricket we want to.”

In Test whites these players have comfort in their roles and the team’s clarity. That still eludes McCullum in 50-over cricket.

Smith, who made 18 runs from 24 balls across the series, is the batter that looks the most uncertain.

He appears a natural fit when playing the role of dynamic-yet-correct ball-striker in whites but is too often reckless as an ODI opener.

It is hard not to feel for Smith, who had not batted in England’s top three before February.

After his side fell to 33-5 in first ODI, Brook questioned whether his batters could have “gone harder” but that has rarely been England’s problem.

Their powerplay run-rate in ODIs has been 6.58 in the past 12 months – the highest of any team in this period. That charge has been countered by the loss of 36 wickets in 17 innings, which is the worst record around.

For Smith a return to the Test middle order, away from the swing and seam of the new ball, will offer relief.

Duckett will not be as fortunate but will be reunited with opening partner Zak Crawley.

Their partnership and an Ashes battle may be what is needed to relight the fire inside England’s Bazball attack dog in chief.

McCullum was also asked at the Champions Trophy how he would ensure white-ball pain does not bleed into the Test side – an issue he now faces after bringing greater alignment between the two squads.

McCullum pointed to the importance of the “skills of your leaders” and it is there where England turn once again.

Test captain Ben Stokes has been in New Zealand over recent weeks but has stayed away from Brook’s squad, instead visiting family and training at his first club Sydenham Cricket Club in Christchurch.

While Brook has made an impressive start to his reign, the return of England’s talisman will bring a lift to any that need it.

England disappointed in New Zealand but with a flight to Perth and three weeks within the arms of the captain who makes them feel most at home, there remains plenty of hope for the Ashes.

With the team at the bottom of serie A, Patrick Vieira has agreed to step down as Genoa’s head coach.

Genoa haven’t won a league game this season under the leadership of the Arsenal legend, who took over in November 2024.

Vieira “was no longer the first team’s coach,” according to a brief club statement.

Vieira led Genoa to safety and a 13th-place finish last season, winning eight and drawing nine of his 26 games. The Italian top flight currently ranks Genoa 17th.

His only other victories this campaign have been in Serie A, where he has lost six games, including five of the previous six, in the Coppa Italia.

The club thanked the coach and his staff for their hard work and professionalism throughout their careers, according to Genoa’s statement.

Vieira won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and silverware with AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Manchester City while also winning silver in his playing career.

He participated in France’s 1998 and 2000 World Cup victories.

Vieira left in 2011 and took over as New York City manager in 2016.

He was fired in December 2020 after leading Nice to seventh in Ligue 1 in his first season there.

In 2021, Vieira led Crystal Palace to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Wellington’s third one-day international

England 222 (40.2 overs): Overton 68 (62), Tickner 4-64, Duffy 3-56

New Zealand 226-8 (44.4 overs): Ravindra 46 (37), Mitchell 44 (68), Overton 2-32

New Zealand won the series by two wickets and 3-0.

After falling to Australia in the third one-day international in Wellington, England were unable to recover from another somber batting error, leading the visitors to Australia by two wickets.

England’s top order again folded, bowled out for the third game in a row, and New Zealand threatened to sabotage a 220-run chase.

In a 3-8 collapse, they lost captain Mitchell Santner for 27 and Daryl Mitchell for 44, who were only needed for 35 from 87 balls as they rolled up to 187-5.

With two wickets left, 27 were still unbeaten, but Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner’s unbroken ninth-wicket partnership, which had the potential to inspire hope for an unlikely, morale-boosting victory for England was voided.

England’s bowling effort was admirable, but this defeat was actually caused by their most recent top-order collapse, which left them 44-5.

Joe Root was out for two, Harry Brook for eight, and Ben Duckett for eight, but Jamie Overton’s 68, his first over the opening day of the series, was his only run for 200.

Seven of this XI’s players now travel to Perth to prepare for the highly anticipated series against Australia, which kicks off on November 21.

They only have one warm-up game against the England Lions, which is a three-day game, leaving little room for those battling for form before the series opener.

The main points of discussion in this game were:

England won the rain-affected T20 series 1-0, but the batting struggles across the three ODIs prevented them from building momentum on their journey across the Tasman Sea.

Following previous losses of 33-5 and 81-5, this top-order effort came after.

It was always fantastic to win in those positions. England still appear to be a team that can’t find the rhythm of 50-over cricket or the self-assurance to endure difficult circumstances.

The batters continued their insistence on being aggressive as the ball zipped around for New Zealand’s seamers after losing another game.

In the second over for five, Jamie Smith, another Ashes player in poor form, was almost bowled before duckett, the opener’s opening partner, hacked a pull in mid-on.

Jacob Bethell was yet another adulterer as he slashed a cut to the cordon while Root was being pinned by a Foulkes inswinger and Brook was tentatively slipping a ball.

Just 84 runs have been scored for England’s top four overall in the series, a new and unremarkable record for men’s ODI series of at least three games.

With these three defeats, England remain eighth in the ODI world rankings, leaving them without any form before the Ashes.

In contrast, since February 2019, New Zealand has won 93% of their ODIs at home. They discovered a way to win, even when they were about to throw it away.

Tickner, who had earlier taken 4-64, and Foulkes were helped by England’s skipper Brook’s error in making a wise gamble.

With only Adil Rashid’s leg-spin, ineffective on a seamer’s pitch, and Curran’s medium pace at the death, Brook frontloaded his key pace bowlers, Jofra Archer, who bowled quickly again without reward, plus Brydon Carse and Overton.

Before New Zealand reached the winning line, Curran nicked off Mitchell but was unable to take out another.

Overton, who also took 3-32 here and scored 156 runs throughout the series, is one of the few to improve their standing.

After Jos Buttler scored for 38, Overton showed strong attacking and a capacity to hold off momentum, even after the new-ball movement had faded, making sure England’s innings was 40.2% overs.

We have discussed the batting, to be precise. We didn’t score enough points to defend ourselves and give the bowlers the best chance to win the game. We’ll go back and apply the lessons we learned from this trip to future endeavors.

Mitchell Santner, captain of New Zealand, said, “The guys stepped up at different times during the chase. But thanks to England’s bowlers, they never made it easy in any games, especially on some wickets that had a little bit of a snag. Outstanding control was given by Daryl Mitchell in the middle.

With Gstaad’s emphatic victory in the Juvenile Turf, Ireland’s Aidan O’Brien has become the most successful trainer in Breeders’ Cup history.

Gstaad passed his rivals in the one-mile race at Del Mar near San Diego despite a challenging wide post thanks to Christophe Soumillon’s superb timing late push.

O’Brien won the Breeders’ Cup for the first time in 21 years, surpassing the late D Wayne Lukas, and he placed eighth in the Juvenile Turf with a record-extending win.

O’Brien called it “extraordinary,” saying, “Wayne was a special man, unbelievable.”

“Wayne was such a big help to us all the time, and he was even more so when Giant’s Causeway was available. When we were still relatively young, he helped shoe him while he rode his own horse down to the track.

He made no mistake about helping his owners and horses. He had many great dreams, and he was incredibly special.

Donnacha O’Brien celebrated his first Breeders’ Cup victory while O’Brien senior, who has 26 top-level victories this year, held the record for the championship wins.

Oisin Murphy, the champion jockey, rode Balantina to a thunderous surprise victory in the $1 million (£760, 292) Juvenile Fillies Turf, his maiden victory.

This is truly exceptional. Donnacha, 27, described it as “fabulous” after working as a winning Breeders’ Cup trainer alongside his father and brother.

How to create your own, organic identity is one of the first questions posed when creating a new football club.

For many, it takes years to develop. However, for Major League Soccer’s newest club, San Diego Football Club, there was a simple answer.

It was already present.

The Right to Dream football network, which was founded in Ghana as an academy before acquiring FC Nordsjaelland from Denmark and expanding into Egypt after being acquired by the Mansour Group, is what gave the team its culture.

The ever-expanding system of clubs and coaching schools was followed by San Diego, who would become the next one to join.

Head coach Mikey Varas stated to the boys at the beginning that while we might be an expansion team in the MLS, we have a lot of rich history with Right to Dream and it is our responsibility to carry on that legacy.

Every first-team coach’s job is about winning, but how we win and who we win with matter, Varas said, and I believe I was hired because we fully share that vision.

With a record-breaking tally of points, wins, and away wins for an expansion team, Varas led the Californian side to the top of the Western Conference during his first season as a men’s head coach.

And he did it all while adopting a Barcelona style that was influenced by Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova.

Varas once said, “I adore football. Football is the best thing to do in life, in my opinion. The next best thing to do is to work in football if that’s not possible. And if that’s not enough, I believe having a strong football fan is the next best step.

And I am aware that there are many different ways to play football, and I respect each of them because they are of great value and allow you to win any way.

We experience this kind of exciting football deep within our hearts and DNA, which makes playing this game even more special.

A group of 30 strangers bonded under the influence of this style, which made them superior to Western Conference giants like the Seattle Sounders, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and both Los Angeles clubs.

However, the fresh start for staff and players seemed advantageous despite everyone having to form relationships with team-mates during the pre-season, frequently through card games and the odd trip to watch the San Diego Padres play for Major League Baseball.

Anders Dreyer, a midfielder, said: “It was nice to enter a dressing room where everyone wanted to be.

“Sometimes you come to a club with history, and there is stuff left over from the previous season,” says one player who wants to leave.

However, there was a group of players who would only desire to travel with us.

One of the players who was aware of Right to Dream was Danish midfielder Dreyer, who had previously played for Anderlecht and faced Nordsjlland there.

His involvement with the San Diego team in his native country influenced his decision to join the MLS club despite having no idea what it was like to play there.

I’ve always played Nordsjaelland, and I’ve always thought, “That would be nice to play like this.” And I adore playing that kind of game.

“The Right to Dream approach to the way we play just makes it easier to perform and to join the team and show your self.”

Because having a certain style makes everyone on the team more successful because they are aware of what they must do when they have a chance, in my opinion.

Dreyer appears to be one of the players in this model who has most accomplished. Lionel Messi is the only midfielder at Inter Miami with more goals this year than Lionel Messi’s 39.

It is this opportunity to write brand new history that has appealed to so many of San Diego Football Club’s staff and players, in a city that is one of the most passionate about football in the whole country.

San Diego Loyal, a USL team that disbanded in 2023, and the NWSL team San Diego Waves, both of which were in the Californian city, have given the area a sense of community.

We have everyone arriving in a parking lot before games, people are bringing beer, and we kind of throw this party, according to Steve Cabrera, chairman of Frontera SD, a San Diego supporters’ group.

“That’s when people see that, and they then see that it transfers to the game where we’re all as one, singing and chanting for the club, and bringing energy to the club.”

The fan base will grow as the team pushes the boundaries and aims to surpass Chicago Fire as the only expansion team to win the MLS Cup.

However, Right to Dream and San Diego are long-term hopefuls and want to make a long-term commitment to MLS’s elite.

According to Varas, “it’s crucial that we develop a sustainable project.”