England CAN win... if they play it smart
IT FEELS like a lot more than two years ago since England were knocked out of the 2015 World Cup by Bangladesh in Adelaide. Now, against the same opposition, Eoin Morgan’s team have a chance to prove that their old-fashioned cricket has been banished for ever.
I remember Paul Downton, England’s MD at the time, telling us after that tournament how 50-over cricket was now more like Twenty20. The rest of the world had realised that long before: England had fallen behind the curve.
Now they’re not just up with the curve, they’re ahead of it. Morgang and the management gement deserve huge credit.t.
They have made bold selections and stuck ck by them. There have e been times whenn they might have doubted their policy of all- out attack, but Morgan has stuck to his guns.
A few months ago, , I wouldn’t have e made them favour-ites. I saw England asas a team capable of scoring coring 330 regularly, butt whose bowlers might take a pounding.di But the re-emergence of Mark Wood has been crucial, because England had previously struggled to take wickets in the middle overs.
The wicket of South Africa’s Hashim Amla at Headingley showed how Wood can blow a game open. He can also be vital at the death, as he proved at the Ageas Bowl.
Then there is Liam Plunkett. His dot-ball percentage in the middle overs is higher than any team-mate and he is adept at bowling cross-seam. Throw in Adil Rashid, who can turn the ball both ways, and England have a balanced attack. People worry about Ben Stokes’s knee but I’d only be concerned if it stopped him bowling altogether. I see him as England’s fifth bowler — maybe their sixth if it’s turning.
In one-day cricket he is capable of scoring quick hundreds and bowling useful overs. If his knee allows, we shouldn’t be too worried.
for Morgan, it will be a big two weeks. He has not had a good time with the bat at the last two global events. At the 2015 World Cup, he averagedaverag just 18 with a top scoresco of 46. In the Wor l d TwTwenty20 in India lalast year, he averaaged 13, with a bbest of 27 not oout. This time, he is in the form of his life, with hhundreds in CCuttack, Antigua aand Headingley aalready this year. l One small caveat.O I wawasn’t convinced by his criticism of the Lord’s pitchpit after England were 20 ffor sixi against South Africa.
If they bat first in tricky conditions, they are going to have to ask themselves whether blazing away is always the best way to go.
Sometimes, 280 can be a winning total. I know it’s not the way this England team play, but the best teams adapt to the situation.
I am full of admiration for the way Morgan has turned things around since that awful night in Adelaide. I just hope England show smartness under pressure when it matters. If they do, they can win the Champions Trophy.