England are in mood to pile pressure on Pakistan
It is a measure of the progress England’s white-ball cricket has made since the black-dog days of the 2015 World Cup that a late summer series no longer feels like the party leftovers.
A string of 50-over matches in August and september were once endured rather than enjoyed. But the cricket played by Eoin Morgan’s side over the last 18 months has turned that on its head.
the five-match contest with Pakistan begins at the Ageas Bowl today and for perhaps the first time since 1992, when they reached the World Cup final, England expect more from one-day cricket than they do from tests.
While Alastair Cook regarded the 2-2 draw in the recent test series as a disappointment rather than a disaster, a close result over the next fortnight will be a genuine shock.
this is not merely because of the gap between Pakistan’s test team, ranked No1 in the world, and their one-day side, who are ninth. it is also about the transformation wrought by Morgan, together with coaches trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace.
the results since that World Cup low have been decent: 13 wins, nine defeats — three of them against Australia — and a tie.
But it has been England’s style that has really caught the eye. they have scored at 6.34 an over — quicker than anyone — and passed 300 on 11 occasions, having historically done so once every 20 innings.
While the test team fret over an opening partner for Cook, a serviceable middle order, and a world-class spinner, Morgan’s 50-over crew are spoiled for choice. sam Billings, Ben Duckett and Dawid Malan will all have to wait their turn, presenting the selectors with the definitive pleasant headache.
‘i’m loving it,’ said Morgan. ‘When a team’s doing poorly, you get very few guys elsewhere piling on runs. But when you have a side doing well, you almost have a chain reaction — so those guys are very much on the radar.’
they have been further boosted by the return of Mark Wood, Ben stokes and Jos Buttler (right). stokes, who is back after knee surgery, is unlikely to bowl until the third game at trent Bridge next tuesday, while Buttler has not played competitively since breaking his left thumb playing for Lancashire on July 8. But the greatest buzz surrounds Wood’s comeback, for his first international appearance since October — and the way he worked over Joe Root during Durham’s twenty20 semi-final against Yorkshire at Edgbaston on saturday left Morgan in awe. ‘to come back in and bowl 90-plus at one of the best batsmen in the world — you’d pay a lot of money to see that,’ said Morgan. ‘Joe just said it as it is: “He got the better of me”.’ Morgan himself is also back after an injuryinduced break, having broken a finger on Middlesex duty last month. With characteristic sang-froid, he said his lack of match practice ‘doesn’t bother me at all’.
Yet, for all their improvement, England remain fifth in the iCC’s one-day table. And even against a Pakistan side whose attack includes Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul and legspinner Yasir shah, the pressure will be on Morgan’s men to climb the ladder.
England have not lost a home one-day series against Pakistan since 1974, and have beaten them in eight of their last nine matches — including a 3-1 win in the UAE in November.
Pakistan, meanwhile, hope to do what they did in the tests — and defy the pundits.
‘there were doubts if we could win the test matches here,’ said captain Azhar Ali. ‘the boys really believed in the test matches, and we believe we can do it here as well.’
the form book suggests this may be one heist too many.