Ashes 2017/18: How big of a disaster was it?

Showing a little faith:

Liam Livingstone has received his maiden call-up to the Test team. He has previously represented England in T20Is

England have announced the squad for the series against New Zealand, and contrary to certain assumptions, announced a largely unchanged squad, with Liam Livingstone coming in, and the likes of Jake Ball, Tom Curran and Gary Ballance dropped. Importantly, they have stuck with the same batsmen that played the Ashes, even though there were calls for Mark Stoneman, James Vince and even Alastair Cook to be dropped.

Vince and Stoneman both got a number of starts against a high-quality Australian pace attack, which in hindsight is commendable for two players playing their first overseas Test series. Cook’s monumental 244* at the MCG emphasized just how strong-willed he is. While some say that that innings saves him for a series or two, something to be noted is that that 244* was the highest score by a batsman in the entire Ashes campaign in a series which saw a combined total of 12 centuries being scored in five Tests, and Steve Smith plundering upwards of 700 runs in the series.

While 4-0 and 5-0 may not look too different, especially to the English fans and media, there have been certain positives to take away, which can be consolidated upon in the upcoming series against New Zealand.