THE VULTURES ARE CIRCLING ENGLAND
New-look Aussies want to open any cracks in Morgan’s world No.1s after Scotland proved they are not invincible
ENGLAND could be stripped of their World No.1 ranking after just two games if they lose to Australia tomorrow.
Sunday’s stunning defeat by Scotland was a body blow to Eoin Morgan’s side, who will put their reign at the top of the table on the line at The Oval against an Aussie side enjoying their embarrassment north of the border.
With plenty of attention on the Aussies trying to restore a battered reputation, England’s shock reverse to 13th-ranked Scotland is a welcome diversion.
The Aussies have two confident warm-up wins under their belt to take into the first Royal London ODI of five and they reckon England’s spirits will be shaky after Sunday.
“You’d hope to be able to exploit any hit in confidence,” said spinning all-rounder Ashton Agar (inset, bottom). “It was a really interesting game and it was good for us that England lost that game because you always like to start things off with a win.
“At the end, England didn’t finish the job. It is about momentum coming into these tours and to play a couple of practice games and get a couple of wins is great for us.”
The defeat by Scotland should concentrate English minds after a stellar run of results that has seen them win six series on the bounce.
Losing to the Auld Enemy will be viewed as a blip by Morgan and his players, but it would be careless if they did not conduct a detailed inquest into how they lost a game they should have won.
“If you get to No.1, people are going to want to beat you,” said century-maker Jonny Bairstow.
“But you want to be No.1 in the world. That’s what we set our stall out to do and that’s where we are. There are areas we could have been better, but we go forward against Australia and we know the challenges they’re going to pose. “It’s an Australian team that have got a lot of new guys and they will want to be competing for their places for when other players return. We know how dangerous that can be when people are pushing for a permanent place in that team.” Bairstow (inset, top) was one of those competing players until recently, but since his elevation to opener and a regular spot he has been superb. Three hundreds in a row and five since last September are a testament to his class as a white-ball batsman and makes the possibility of chasing and setting giant totals that much more likely. He added: “I’m pleased with the way I’m striking it. I was disappointed not to go on against Scotland, but I’m happy with the way I’m playing up the order.”