Dawid Malan: Ashes defeat to Australia is still fresh in our minds... we need to pitch up now

It is four months since the England cricket team started the First Test of the Ashes series against Australia and we are still here and we still have much to prove.

There have been some comings and goings and some of us who don’t play in all formats of the game have spent a few weeks at home in between.

But this has been a long haul for players, coaches and staff alike and yet, in so many ways, the success of the winter seems to hinge on how we perform in the two Test matches against New Zealand.

Win the series and this emerging England Test team will move briskly on from the Ashes defeat and prepare with confidence for the summer series against Pakistan and India. Lose and a corrosive sense of uncertainty will grow, and doubts will spread.

It feels like the last lap of a marathon and the result still hangs in the balance.

With impeccable timing, our second wind has arrived in the form of Ben Stokes. He may or may not be fit enough to bowl in the First Test, which starts at Eden Park in the early hours of tomorrow, but the mere presence of this world-class player inspires confidence.

He has a rare talent, an ability to change the course of the match in an hour, and it’s great to have him back.

Our first day/night Test match in New Zealand feels, literally and figuratively, like a step in the dark.

Nobody knows how the ball will behave in the twilight hour and the unpredictability of a drop-in pitch at the iconic rugby stadium adds to a sense of mystery.

We can be certain that the Black Caps will provide serious opposition.

In Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, they have two experienced and proven batsmen who are capable of scoring big runs and taking the game away from us; and they will also a field three top-class seam bowlers capable of exploiting the conditions.

Make no mistake, we will need to play near our potential to win this short series. The 4-0 defeat in the Ashes remains fresh in our minds, and it doesn’t much matter now that we played some decent cricket at various stages and created genuine opportunities in each of the Tests only to falter in almost all the key moments.

As a squad, we need to take responsibility for the disappointment. We need to pitch up at Eden Park this week and then in the Second Test at Hagley Park in Christchurch next week.

We must deliver a strong all-round performance — bowling in the right areas and holding our catches, giving nothing away with the bat and building significant partnerships.

It’s true that some of us have not played much cricket since the end of the Ashes series but our preparation in Auckland has been meticulous. The net sessions have been well prepared, accurate and intense, and everybody is keenly aware that, collectively and individually, the overall judgment on the winter may hang on our performance in these two Tests.

This may seem like a nervous moment, as if all the chips are being moved to the centre of the table, but then you see Ben Stokes batting in the nets, striking the ball so cleanly — and somehow the nerves settle, and it feels as if all will be well.