England vs South Africa: Harry Brook’s one-day side left with work to do by Proteas

Sympathy for England will be in short supply.

Alternating between formats is part of the modern game and South Africa had their own hurdles, having been in Australia nine days ago and needing to deal with a journey from Mackay to Brisbane to Sydney to the UK via Singapore.

Still, England’s preparation was non-existent: there are no team meetings with Brook’s England.

“I’ll never have a meeting,” he said on Monday. “Most overrated things ever.”

And while some may agree, a change from the shortest to the longest white-ball formats requires a recalculation somewhere.

For Jacks and Joe Root, two of the five England players who drove up to Leeds on Monday after playing in the Hundred final, that will have to have been done on the M1.

Their journey meant only eight players were in attendance when England trained on Sunday – the day they hold their main training session is two days before any match.

Brook’s opposite number Temba Bavuma may have been celebrating Liverpool’s victory at Anfield as they did, but at least South Africa had been playing those 50-over matches in Australia.

After this chastening defeat, Brook said: “At the end we almost used it as a practice session once we knew the game was dead. Lads were practising their skills.”

They may have benefited from doing so 48 hours earlier.

Such is the schedule, there is no time for England to do any serious work in the nets before the second match on Thursday.

Brook’s most important task will be his management of 22-year-old seamer Sonny Baker, who returned the most expensive figures by an England one-day debutant.

After Baker’s first four overs cost 0-56, Brook recalled him to the attack for three more – simply an attempt to get him a wicket and brighten a day which began with Baker’s family joining the England huddle pre-match.

It did not work. Baker ended with 0-76, to go with his first-ball duck with the bat.

Now Brook, a man of few words, needs to find a way to ensure Baker, a man of many, does not overthink in the days inbetween.

After Lord’s, the ODIs conclude in Southampton on Sunday, before three T20s against the Proteas across five days and three more against Ireland in Dublin three days later.

This squad’s Ashes quintet – Brook, Root, Ben Duckett, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse – may be missing those matches in Ireland but there is still barely more than a month between the final match against South Africa and the journey to New Zealand for more white-ball matches which precede the Ashes.

It was announced on Tuesday morning that Australia captain Pat Cummins will take the next two months off to try to be fit for the first Test in Perth.

A necessity to turn around their white-ball fortunes means England cannot afford to do the same with their key men.

They managed to look both under and overcooked in Leeds.

The former is concerning. The result of the latter continuing could be even worse.