What, if anything, did we learn from the drawn ODI series between hosts England and defending champions New Zealand with less than a month to go until the T20 World Cup? That the local weather is prone to defying the seasons? Nope, it's standard. That three planned matches in a different format make for a questionable way to build up to a global 20-over tournament? Nope, that's a no-brainer.
But, while it was far from the ideal start to a landmark summer, there is a three-match T20 series between the sides starting in Derby on Wednesday and, ahead of that, both could take lessons from splitting the first and rain-hit third ODIs either side of a washout.
New Zealand are building for a different future
Suzie Bates played her 184th and last ODI in New Zealand's 17-run DLS win in Cardiff on Saturday and, while it has been known for a while that she will join Sophie Devine in retirement after the T20 World Cup, the White Ferns have been nurturing a clutch of young batters to step into the void. They showed glimpses in a series wins against Zimbabwe and South Africa with Izzy Gaze particularly impressive. But when Melie Kerr and Maddy Green united to drag their side out of trouble in Durham - ultimately in vain - it looked like returning to a reliance on the usual suspects.
But with Green, Player of the Series for her scores of 88 and 37, as well as fostering crucial partnerships with Brooke Halliday and Gaze to keep New Zealand ahead of the rate in soggy Cardiff, things looked brighter for the middle order. All three will be involved in the World Cup squad, which will be bolstered by Devine.
"The team's in a really good place and we've got people throughout our line-up who are willing to stick their hands up at different times," Green said. "Teams five, 10 years ago were probably guilty of relying on a couple of our senior players, but it feels like at the moment we've got genuine match-winners throughout our whole side and that's really exciting.
"A couple of years ago we came over here with a very young side and hadn't played a lot of cricket. We've had that core group together now for a wee while now and I think we're just in a good spot. Obviously we're moving to the T20s in a different format and hopefully we can take this momentum into that series as well."
Frontline bowlers boost White Ferns
New Zealand are also set to lose bowler Lea Tahuhu after the T20 World Cup and Rosemary Mair and Bree Illing have stepped up nicely this series. Mair took five wickets across the two games at 16.60 and Illing 3 at 20.00 and the pair joined with Jess Kerr to smother England in the powerplay after a rain-delayed start on Saturday.
Charlie Dean, England's acting captain, said: "New Zealand's bowlers bowled really well with the new ball, made it really hard for us. It can be tricky then when we came back on and looking to push things forward and keep the game going and accelerate our run rate and then we just faltered in areas so didn't quite get going towards that back end."
Edwards isn't afraid to experiment
The home side were missing some key batters for this series with Nat Sciver-Brunt injured and Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge rested. Moving on from Tammy Beaumont ended last year's experimental opening partnership between her and Amy Jones, who has dropped back down the order, allowing the head coach to restore Emma Lamb to the top after a troubled time batting out of position at the World Cup in October. She was paired with debutant Jodi Grewcock, preferred to exciting opener Davina Perrin despite usually batting at No. 4 for Essex. With Lamb and Grewcock scoring 35 runs between them, we are none the wiser as to what the best combination is.
Charlotte Edwards also handed debuts to left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman, who took two wickets and stuck with Dean at the end to see the side home by just one wicket in Durham, and Dani Gibson, who had played 22 T20Is and was making her way back from a back injury. Gibson struggled to make an impact with the bat but threatened to turn Saturday's match back in England's favour with the important wicket of Green before the weather had the final say.
"We've had a really good series," Dean said. "We've had three debutants, so we need to really start blooding some of the next generation to play in ODI cricket and I feel like that's something that we've done and there's been lots of learnings from that. Didn't get on the right side of it today, but I feel like in parts we were good in places and then there's lots to learn from as well."
Deputy Dean answers call of duty
Called upon to lead the side in Sciver-Brunt's absence, Dean was tested, first by the New Zealand middle order, then in a challenging run chase and most recently managing her side through slippery and ever-changing conditions. When she brought herself on against left-hander Halliday in Durham, she immediately removed a threat and she then marshalled her tailenders to the target with one wicket and 10 balls to spare. In Cardiff, Halliday had a hand in making Dean's job more difficult but she emerged upbeat, supportive of her team and wiser for the experience.
"Fundamentally when we needed to take wickets to win that game and that balance up front trying to get your catchers in place and bits like that, but then also not wanting to concede too many runs, it was a good balance and good conversations and I feel like these last couple of games have set me up really well to keep improving and grow my tactical knowledge," she said.
Capsey's back, potentially
But the jury is still out on England's batters. Alice Capsey's run-a-ball 45 was highly valuable to England, notwithstanding that it was her first ODI since October. But the fact that she couldn't press on was indicative of the problem in England's batting.
Maia Bouchier's 59 in Durham was their top score for the series and Dean's unbeaten 31 from No. 8 was their next best. Freya Kemp scored 30 and 27 but it was the nature of England's dismissals that were worrying, even in the face of some wily Kiwi bowling. The top three in Cardiff all nicked off after some probing lines by Mair and Illing, Capsey and Jones were caught tamely, Kemp holed out albeit to a decent catch from Mair and Gibson backed away to Nensi Patel, exposing all of her stumps.
It was similar in the first game with Bouchier, Jones and Lamb all gifting their wickets. Green, with 125 runs at 62.50, scored more than twice as many as anyone else, indicating that there's work to do on both sides.
Bell makes herself indispensable
Lauren Bell's radar was right on target on Saturday with three lbw dismissals removing Bates, Plimmer and Kerr. She took 3 for 1 in the space of eight balls to end with 3 for 29 from 5.4 overs. That was after also returning 2 for 38 in the first game. A collective gasp went up when she protected her face from a firmly struck drive by Green and copped a heavy knock to her strapped left thumb and collapsed on the pitch in tears.
It was her non-bowling hand and she finished the match apparently suffering no lasting effects but her place as seam-bowling spearhead has become all the more important after Issy Wong strained a hamstring moments before the series began. With Sciver-Brunt also recovering from injury, much hope rests on Bell and Lauren Filer, who took just one wicket for 79 across the two games.
"She took a bit of a hit on her left thumb yesterday," Dean revealed on Saturday regarding Bell. "That was a bit bruised and sore and when Maddy hit one back at her, it's salt in the wound a little bit. But she's all good. She's more embarrassed than anything. She's hard as nails actually, which maybe you wouldn't think from the outside looking in, but she's a real tough cookie. She wanted nothing but to play today and perform for England and that's what she did."