Michael Atherton says there are positives for England from their 3-2 ODI series defeat to Australia, with Ben Duckett “perfect” for the top order.

Duckett hit a century in Bristol to take his total across the five matches to 305, seven short of Harry Brook’s top-scoring 312, before rain stopped play and the visitors were awarded a 49-run series-defining victory using the DLS method.

England were on the brink after Australia won the first two matches but took them the distance with an inexperienced side.

“They have done well to come back from 2-0 down given the side they are playing against who are almost at full strength,” said Sky Sports’ Atherton.

“They were two quite heavy defeats, England looked very much second best in those two games. It took some character and resilience. They will take some pluses from the series.

“Ben Duckett looks just about right at the top of the order and it will be very interesting to see who opens with him.

“It is easy to say in hindsight, but what clearly happened is that the selectors showed too much faith in the World Cup-winning side of 2019.

“So, when Duckett came into the Test side, he did very well at the start of Bazball, I was very surprised he wasn’t then the first choice for ODI.

“England then stuck with the tried and tested for a while. He just looks perfect at the top of the order for me.”

Despite the encouraging signs for incoming head coach Brendon McCullum, not everyone will benefit when big names return.

“With the players to come back in, I don’t know if that will be Phil Salt,” said Atherton. “There are some options there.

“Jacks has shown flashes but with the likes of [Ben] Stokes, [Jos] Buttler and [Joe] Root to come back, it is going to be very competitive in that top order.

“[Liam] Livingstone coming back to some kind of form after been originally being omitted from the ODI squad. [Brydon] Carse has been promising. He could perform that Liam Plunkett role in the middle overs.

“It has been a highly competitive series and England have introduced some players. Although they are not the youngest side they don’t have much experience.

“It is a slightly disappointing end here given they were 205-2 at the halfway mark.”

‘Duckett has cemented place in top order’

Former England ODI captain Eoin Morgan:

“Duckett has been brilliant, he’s had a magnificent summer and is cemented at the top of the order looking ahead to the Champions Trophy and World Cup.

“Harry Brook, the weight of captaincy hasn’t weighed him down whatsoever, his contributions with the bat were brilliant. He mustered up tactics and strategy that allowed him to muster up something from nothing.

“The fitness of Jofra Archer just continues to improve. The spell at Lord’s was super impressive. Very intimidating and when he’s firing like that, he’s one of the best. Will he be able to maintain this skill with this level of pace?

“The guys in the middle order are probably playing for one position at the moment. You have either [Jacob] Bethell, Livingstone or [Jamie] Smith. They will hope they’ve made the most of the opportunity in this series.”

When are England next in action?

England travel to Pakistan for a three-match Test series starting on October 7 with the first two Tests taking place in Multan before the teams head to Rawalpindi.

First Test: Multan – October 7-11

Second Test: Multan – October 15-19

Third Test: Rawalpindi – October 24-28

Every match from the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup is also live on Sky Sports from October 3-20 with Australia aiming for a third straight title and seventh overall and England seeking to triumph for the first time since the inaugural edition in 2009.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.