England and New Zealand find ‘special’ camaraderie amid hard graft

England’s white-ball team have played 24 times this year, most recently a little more than three weeks ago. New Zealand’s have played 28 games, the latest was this month. These are groups who spend a lot of time together, but before the start of their Twenty20 series on Saturday both chiselled some space out of their schedule to do something surprisingly unusual with each other: nothing very much.

Brendon McCullum took his team to Queenstown in New Zealand’s Southern Alps where, in Harry Brook’s words, they were “just left to our own devices”. There was some hiking, a bit of go-karting and, inevitably, a lot of golf.

“We had an amazing time,” Brook said. “They’ve got some amazing golf courses down there and we were lucky enough to get on a couple of them. A couple of lads managed to get out and explore Queenstown. We had a few drinks here and there and team meals.

“We had a lot of fun – it was about trying to spend a bit of time together because we don’t really get that in the white-ball [team]. If you’re having a lot of fun off the field and enjoying spending time with the lads, then it’s going to be even better on the field. So I encourage everybody under mine and Baz’s leadership to just enjoy themselves.”

The Black Caps, meanwhile, were in the spa town of Hanmer Springs, attempting something very similar with the aid of thermal pools and water slides. “It was the first time in a very long time we had everyone in the room, everyone who’s involved in the Black Caps touring party and all the contracted players,” said Rachin Ravindra.

“We’ve got a new coach [Rob Walter] and trying to understand our environment and go back to what we’ve been doing really well for the last few years and getting together is special. It’s more than your performances on the field, it’s also getting on well as mates and getting to know the coaches and support staff. The more we can understand and care for each other, the better.”

Matt Henry, the New Zealand seamer, said: “When you have a small window to get guys together and work on the environment it’s always important. In the moving landscape of international cricket there’s people coming from all around the world and it’s important that when you get together you make sure you enjoy it.

“It’s probably always been our strength, the people we have. It’s amazing to play for New Zealand, but to be able to share a dressing room with mates is pretty special too. It’s always good to acknowledge that and come to a series refreshed.”

Harry Brook signs autographs for fans in Christchurch. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images

That feeling of being refreshed may be hard to maintain when some England players left home last Friday knowing they will not return for three months, with these three T20s to be followed by the same number of one-day internationals and then the short flight to Australia for the Ashes. There is an awareness that these extended periods away should not come to be seen as a grind.

“Touring’s awesome,” Brook said. “I get to see some of the best places in the world, experience some of the greatest things with a load of my mates. I love touring.

“It’s nice to see family when they come out – I’ll get my family out at the end of December, so I’ll be with them over Christmas and new year and then fly back with them. I don’t see it as a chore at all. I absolutely love touring. Putting an England shirt on is a great day.”

Brook has already chosen the team who will be putting on shirts on Saturday, making two changes to the side that thrashed South Africa at Old Trafford in his most recent appearance – he sat out the subsequent trip to Ireland – with Jordan Cox replacing the injured Will Jacks and Brydon Carse coming in for the rested Jofra Archer.

“We’ve got a great opportunity against a very strong side to go out and try to capitalise on the momentum we’ve got,” Brook said. “The last game we played together as a full group we got 300 in a T20, so if we can carry that forward it would be awesome.

“With the bigger picture being the T20 World Cup at the start of next year there’s a lot of areas we can improve on and a lot we can keep on getting better at. It’s just about being together as a group and heading in the same direction.”