With less than a year before the start of the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, England are at a crossroads.

Their form has been largely good this past year under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Harry Brook. Last summer’s home ODI series wins against India and Sri Lanka were signs of progress.

Yet the two spectacular defeats they have suffered during the Tri-Series in Pakistan over the past few days is a reminder they still have a long way to go.

Failing to defend 429 against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi last Thursday was bad enough. It might have been written off as a freak one-off had they not choked against Pakistan in Lahore on Sunday. Brook’s men somehow contrived to lose despite having the hosts 154 for nine in their chase of 242.

They have not yet been eliminated from the Tri-Series – reaching the final is still theoretically possible if they win their final game against Sri Lanka on Thursday and other results go their way.

Yet despite missing several key players, these losses are a warning to McCullum and one he must heed if he is to prevent a repeat of England’s embarrassing 2023 World Cup campaign in India, when they crashed out in the group stage after arguably the worst-ever performance by a defending champion.

Here are the five key issues England must confront to avoid going into a downward spiral during their next two ODI series in Australia and South Africa either side of the New Year.

1. Drop Sam Curran

The all-rounder has been handed the key role of batting at No6 and bowling at the death. The problem is his bowling has become too predictable and opposition batters are finding it increasingly easy to pick his variations.

Maybe he deserves to be cut some slack given he is coming back from a two-month injury lay-off. But he is symptomatic of England’s over-reliance on all-rounders. Curran was one of four in the last two games and he is, right now, the weakest. To better balance the side, England need to replace him with a genuine bowler and shift Will Jacks to six. Jamie Overton could then be pushed up to No7.

2. Make a decision on Adil Rashid

He may be 38, but why has the leg-spinner been left out for the last two games? It is thought England believe Liam Dawson’s left-arm spin was more effective on the skiddier surfaces found in Pakistan. But Rashid is an all-time great and surely has to be in England’s best XI regardless of conditions? Dawson has done well since coming into the team but he lacks the X-factor of a genuine wrist-spinner.

Rashid would no doubt have made an impact in either of the last two games, especially bowling at Pakistan’s tail on Sunday. If England have moved on from Rashid – and the fact he’s in the squad for Australia suggests they haven’t – they need to say so. Otherwise, back him until the end of the next World Cup.

3. Realise the bowling attack cannot operate without genuine pace

With Jofra Archer rested for this tour and Josh Tongue injured at the weekend, England went into the last ODI in Lahore without a 90 miles-per-hour-plus bowler. What a difference it made as Pakistan’s tail pulled off an epic comeback for the ages. Henry Crocombe was handed his debut ahead of the quicker Sonny Baker.

In future, one – and probably two – of Archer, Tongue or Baker need to be in every England XI as express pace is crucial to successfully defending targets in ODIs.

4. Understand they need to play their strongest XI the majority of the time

Jacob Bethell and Jos Buttler are injured for this tour and as previously mentioned, Archer is rested. But this series has shown us that the depth in England’s 50-over team is maybe not what we thought it was. Batting-wise, they are strong, although Bethell and Buttler are still big misses. On the bowling front, they do not have the experience or depth to consistently rotate.

With less than a year to go to the World Cup, they don’t really need to do that either. As the 2019 World Cup winners did so successfully in the build-up to that tournament, play your strongest XI for the majority of matches to get the team battle-hardened for the challenge ahead.

5. Address McCullum’s woeful overseas record

England’s record overseas since McCullum took over as white-ball coach in January 2025 is terrible – with just two wins from 15 matches. Twelve of those were in Asia – with the other three in New Zealand – so perhaps there is some mitigation. But they need to arrest that travel sickness starting in Australia next month if they are to have a decent World Cup next year.

My England XI for the 2027 World Cup:

• Ben Duckett
• Jacob Bethell
• Joe Root
• Harry Brook (c)
• Jos Buttler (wkt)
• Will Jacks
• Jamie Overton
• Gus Atkinson
• Jofra Archer
• Adil Rashid
• Josh Tongue