England arrive at judgement day for Bazball

Ben Stokes will captain England in Christchurch, the city of his birth

In one sense, this is an ending.

The three-match series in New Zealand, starting in Christchurch on Thursday (22:00 GMT, Wednesday) is the final act of a 17-Test 2024 for England. No England team has played more in a single year.

On the other hand, this is a beginning. Contests against the Kiwis, India and Australia, the three best teams in the world, are to come over the next 14 months.

England have the consistency of lumpy mashed potato. So far this year they have won seven and lost seven.

There are mitigating factors: unfamiliar conditions in Asia, an injured captain and a relentless grind from Hyderabad that will end in Hamilton. Despite the mitigation it is tough to argue convincingly that England are a better team than the one that travelled to India in January.

A longer run of inconsistency can be traced back to their previous tour of New Zealand in the spring of 2023. After victory in the first Test in Mount Manganui, England's record under Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum was 10 wins from 11 matches.

Starting with the second Test, an all time classic one-run defeat in Wellington, the record becomes 10 wins, 10 defeats and one wet draw. The ups and downs span, or are possibly because of, a regeneration of the team. In the XI that will play in the first Test in Christchurch, just six survive from Wellington.

It is barely a month since England were routed in Rawalpindi to lose 2-1 in Pakistan, but they appear refreshed - starting with the captain.

Stokes admitted to being weighed down in Pakistan by efforts to return from a hamstring problem, then when he was fit he received the nightmare news his house had been burgled with his wife and children inside. The mental toll manifested itself in his performances and captaincy.

In Christchurch, the city of his birth, Stokes is born again. Physically fit and back to his ebullient self.

As usual, he politely fends off suggestions that this is a homecoming - "I'm English" - though concedes it is special to be surrounded by so many members of his family.

Merivale Papanui, the club where a young Stokes played his earliest cricket, is about a 15-minute drive from Hagley Oval. And Stokes has been to see his namesake, a horse owned by McCullum, finish third at Riccarton Park.

As Stokes spoke on Tuesday, he was bullish in his explanation of England's latest rabbit out of the hat, the selection of Jacob Bethell to bat at number three.

Aged 21, the left-hander won't be the youngest England debutant to bat at number three in a Test. That distinction goes to Rehan Ahmed, who wandered out as the nighthawk as an 18-year-old in Karachi two years ago. At least Ahmed had a first-class hundred to his name.

"We do know what we're doing," said Stokes, who acknowledged his team will be judged on results. Still, he went back to a favourite mantra of being "all about the process".

Right now, the process is coming into question. There is so much to be said for England's relaxed attitude. Ben Duckett has discovered a career that otherwise looked dead, newbies like Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith have thrived.

But Test cricket is also about details. Some of the best England teams of the recent past - ones led by Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan, and again by Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss - were attentive to the small things that the current team overlook.

After the Shoaib Bashir visa row in India, no-one checked Ahmed's was fit for multiple entries and he almost didn't get back into the country. In the summer, England asked middle-order batter Dan Lawrence to open and dropped him when he failed. They still don't have a reserve opener.

It was ludicrous to come to New Zealand with three frontline spinners and no back-up keeper, yet England have been left disorientated by the injury to Jordan Cox. Durham's Ollie Robinson is due to come as cover once he gets his passport renewed - another example of disorganisation.

There is a suspicion England can be slapdash, that everything is sorted over a beer and a round of golf. Stokes even said he and McCullum had a "two or three-minute discussion" about where Bethell would bat, and the skipper got to know the new kid when they were partnered to play 18 holes against Zak Crawley and James Anderson. They lost.

To follow England regularly is to know they actually train ferociously hard, and Stokes and McCullum are two of the most innovative thinkers the game has known. But there is a perception England have become too loose, and sometimes the lines between perception and reality are blurry.

As it is, England have Bethell at three, with Ollie Pope number six and keeping. It is messy, especially with questions around Pope's form. His batting may be freed by something else to occupy his mind, although it is not a long-term solution. If it doesn't go well for Pope, the gloves mask the issue of the runs.

It is far from ideal in a country where England have not won a Test series since 2008 - they have been victorious in Australia and India more recently - and worse when New Zealand cricket is buzzing after perhaps the best month in its history. The women are T20 world champions and the men pulled off one of the greatest series triumphs by any Test team by winning 3-0 in India.

As a result, the beautiful Hagley Oval, a pop-up grass-banked venue - imagine dropping a Test ground into the middle of London's Hyde Park - is expected to be full. Will Young, Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner, three heroes of India, haven't made the Black Caps side and Kane Williamson is back. New Zealand start as favourites.

England once lived where their feet were, then lost their way by looking too far ahead. Now their future is intertwined with New Zealand, Australia and India. The Kiwis have just beaten India, who schooled Australia in Perth. England will be judged on their results against all three.

This is the defining time for the captain and coach. Yes, McCullum has signed a contract through to 2027, yet there has to be a possibility Stokes will not be skipper after the Ashes next winter.

Will this England team be remembered for a process or results?

Judgement day for Bazball is upon us.