Former England batter Mark Butcher has said England need to show more humility in order to improve their recent poor record in ODI cricket.
Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast following England's defeat in the second ODI against New Zealand, Butcher countered Harry Brook's assertion that England need to 'go harder' in order to succeed in the 50-over format. "Go harder? I don't know. I'm not entirely sure how they could have done that given the way that the ball was moving around," Butcher said in relation to the first ODI of the series, in which England were bowled out for 223 in 35.2 overs.
"Perhaps in those circumstances that might have been the right approach as Brook showed himself. When the ball is nipping around all over the place, then chancing your arm is often a better way of doing it than sticking it out when the ball is moving all over the shop. However, that was not the case in the second game."
England lost the second ODI in Hamilton on Wednesday (October 29) by five wickets, having been bowled out for 175 in 36 overs. Jamie Overton top-scored with a 28-ball 42 from No.7, before New Zealand chased down the target with 101 balls to spare. After the first ODI, Brook stated that England should have "gone harder" with the bat to knock the New Zealand bowlers off their lengths.
"To fall short batting your 50 overs by the margin that they did is inexcusable really," Butcher said. "It goes for all types of cricket, successful teams are smart in the way they approach matches on an individual basis rather than having a set idea that this is what we're going to do no matter what."
'It doesn't appear that there's any sort of learning going on'
England have had a poor record in ODI cricket since the 2023 World Cup. They've lost 17 of the 25 ODIs they've played, including losing 10 of the 14 they've played this year. Among those 14 were three defeats in their disastrous performance in the Champions Trophy, after which Jos Buttler stood down as captain. England won their first ODI series under Brook 3-0 against West Indies, but have won one out of their following five games since then.
England have won just one of their last 11 ODIs against sides that have qualified for the last two 50-over major tournaments 😬
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 30, 2025
🤝 @WPAinsurance #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/qY3fcB2CIY
"It doesn't appear that there's any sort of learning going on at the moment, given the paucity of results," said Butcher. "I don't think that there is a massive amount of trouble in terms of the personnel being picked, by and large they're the best that we've got. Therefore a little bit of smarts and humility might be the way forward in terms of approach, and realising that not every game is a coconut shy and you can't go out and smash the crap out of it. Sometimes you have to give the opposition bowlers a little bit of respect."
After the final ODI of the series in New Zealand on Saturday (November 1), England will next play 50-over cricket in January, when they will play a three-match series in Sri Lanka ahead of the T20 World Cup.
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