Wish them luck as you wave them goodbye – and don't come home before the postcards, lads.
Dawid Malan sealed his World Cup spot with an imperious hundred as England signed off, ahead of defending their 50-over crown in India next month, with a 3-1 win against New Zealand.
Unlike their previous one-day meeting at Lord's – the dramatic World Cup final four years ago – this was as routine as closing the curtains. From the barest of margins in that champagne super-over in 2019, England strolled to a 100-run win where Malan, 36, was by far the most convincing act.
The man of the series, who fell agonisingly short of a hundred at The Oval 48 hours earlier, said: “Trying to break into this team you either have to be a freak or consistent by putting match-winning performances on the board, and that's what I've tried to do.
“I was gutted to miss out in the last game after doing the hard work, but to back it up and do it (reach three figures) today is unbelievable.” England skipper Jos Buttler said: “We've got better and better (in the series) – we wanted to play our style of cricket and we've been true to that.
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“Dawid's played fantastically and he read the game so well. We're going to the World Cup well positioned, we're building nicely.” Only last week, it looked as if Harry Brook would be parachuted into the 15-man squad after his applied violence in the Twenty20 series – with Malan the likely fall-guy.
But after just 37 runs in three innings, Brook's parachute failed to open in the one-dayers and now it looks a toss-up between him and Jason Roy for the last specialist batter's spot. Roy, who scored 443 runs in seven innings towards England's 2019 World Cup triumph, is now sweating on his place after sitting out the New Zealand series with a back injury.
Jason Roy's World Cup spot is in doubt after a series of back spasms meant he did not play a single game against New Zealand (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)Buttler admits England may add him to the one-day reserve team, captained by Zak Crawley, who face Ireland in a best-of-three at Headingley, Trent Bridge and Bristol next week to prove his fitness.
None of that will be of any concern to Malan, who became a father for the second time last week. He's on the plane already, fastening his seatbelt and the cabin staff are serving him a glass of something sparkling before take-off.
On a sluggish pitch where everyone else struggled in the absence of the rested Ben Stokes, Malan's timing was smoother than a lothario's chat-up lines. Easing past 1,000 runs in one-day internationals in just 21 appearances – an England record he now shares with Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott – he has already clocked up five ODI centuries.
New Zealand's Tim Southee dislocated and fractured a bone in his thumb and will almost certainly miss their World Cup opener against England (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)If his place was in doubt before, there is simply no way Malan (averaging 61.52 at a strike rate of 96.52) can go to India as spare baggage when England settle on their best combination for shock and awe in the old Raj.
His 127 off 114 balls out of 311-9 here included three sixes and 14 boundaries, taking Malan's aggregate for the series to 277 runs in three knocks. Moeen Ali took 4-50 as New Zealand folded to 211 all out despite Rachin Ravindra (61) swinging lustily after the horse had bolted.
New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee, meanwhile, gave the Black Caps a World Cup headache after suffering a fractured and dislocated thumb dropping a sharp chance to dismiss Joe Root. He has little chance of recovering in time to face England at the tournament opener in Ahmedabad on October 5.
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