JONNY BAIRSTOW said today that Joe Root’s England are already stronger for all the travails which have come their way this winter.

Bairstow predicts, irrespective of the outcome of the final Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, that his fellow Yorkshireman’s team will begin the home summer on an upward curve.

England closed the penultimate day of a winter campaign which began more than five months ago still searching for a first Test win in seven — and set to lose a second successive series, after their 4-0 Ashes trouncing, unless they can take 10 New Zealand wickets in three sessions.