Why Morgan’s fearless men eclipse even Beefy and the boys from ’92
There is not a single batsman in england’s one- day side who would not walk into any team in the history of our limited- overs cricket.
Who could you leave out of any previous england one- day team? Alex hales? Jason roy? Joe root? Jos Buttler? eoin Morgan? Ben Stokes? They are by far the most powerful and thrilling unit we have ever had.
It is difficult to make comparisons with england’s best one-day team before now — Graham Gooch’s 1992 World Cup runners-up — because it is such a different game.
But, with caveats, you have to say Morgan’s side must be regarded as being better. however good Gooch’s side were — after all, the iconic Ian Botham was a member — the current side would beat them.
The bowling may not be quite as exciting as the batting but there is proper pace in the form of Mark Wood, Stokes, Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes, wrist- spin in Adil rashid and an excellent death bowler who is not even in the team at the moment in Chris Jordan.
It is a big call when you look at Gooch’s side. Allan Lamb was one of the great one-day batsmen and Neil Fairbrother was a magnificent limited- overs finisher. Not to mention the captain himself.
The question is whether Gooch, Lamb or Fairbrother would get into this XI. And who you leave out.
Gooch must play but good luck to the selector who has to tell roy, with 162 against Sri Lanka, or hales, who hit 171 against Pakistan, that they miss out.
In defence of the 1992 team who lost to Pakistan in Melbourne you must remember that they had to cope with top- quality spin from Mushtaq Ahmed and the brilliant reverse swing of Wasim Akram.
After the clampdown on ‘mystery’ spinners with dodgy actions, there is nothing like the slow-bowling challenge for modern batsmen.
Would Buttler, for instance, have been able to drop to one knee and scoop Wasim and Waqar Younis with their extra pace and late swing over his head as he does today? he’d find a way because he’s a phenomenon, but for me the debate is settled by the fact that Buttler has made the three fastest hundreds in england one-day history.
Yes, it’s a different game but it can be no coincidence that all these records are tumbling, as we saw at Trent Bridge on Tuesday when hales hit the highest 50-over score by an englishman.
What Morgan’s team have to fear is not being seen as the best ever but being the best they can be. With that in mind, there are concerns.
england are still too sloppy in the field, dropping far too many chances. They also have to prove they can score quickly against topquality spin in overseas conditions, as Gooch did when leading england to the 1987 World Cup final in India.
Given the right conditions england are not far off being the world’s best one- day side but now they need to show they can do it in tournaments under pressure, starting with the 2017 Champions Trophy.
The 1992 World Cup was the end zone for Gooch’s team. They were mostly coming towards the finish of their careers.
This is just the start for Morgan’s vintage — and that is an exciting thought.