No more talking – it’s time to prove that we are the best
There will be no hiding place if England cannot realise their dream in the Champions Trophy
Apart from Roy, every single player in the team is in good form. Confidence is sky high
England are favourites to win the Champions Trophy – and the only thing that can trip them up is complacency. The hammering by South Africa at Lord’s on Monday should serve as a wake-up call. They played without their brains. They batted in a one-dimensional way, throwing the bat at the ball when all the situation required was common sense to work through the first 12 overs of the new ball and then play some shots.
After the match Eoin Morgan refused to criticise his batsmen for getting out to bad shots. Instead he blamed the groundsman at Lord’s for leaving a little bit of grass on the pitch. So, is he saying his England guys can only play on dry, grassless, flat batting pitches? Is he saying they can’t adapt or won’t adapt to the conditions, and they are a one-dimensional batting team?
I hope not, because it should not be difficult for international batsmen to bat with better shot selection or for a team to have a ‘Plan B’ for building a score. It was a worrying sign and let’s hope it was just a blip because nobody remembers who comes second or third in a tournament.
After the 2015 World Cup humiliation in Australia the England and Wales Cricket Board targeted success at the Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup because they are both being held in this country. We were shocked we played so badly in Australia. Everybody was aware that we could not afford to play that badly in two home tournaments because it would drive kids away from the sport.
We lagged behind other teams with our safety-first and oldfashioned method of batting. It had to go. A new attitude had to take hold and the players bat more aggressively. It has all changed in the two years since the World Cup. We have started to play thrilling, exciting, one-day cricket. England now play without fear.
We have bowlers who can bat, which lengthens the tail. All of our bowlers have wicket-taking ability and variation. The days of medium-pace, defensive seamers have long gone because pitches are so well prepared now.
They are dry and fantastic for batsmen who have big bats in their hands and whack it everywhere. One-day cricket has become a purely batting game. The little medium-paced seamers who used to tie batsmen down years ago have gone because there is no lateral movement. It is no fun being a bowler in the modern game. Instead of trying to tie batsmen down with defensive bowling you have to get them out to slow down the run rate.
England have a wrist-spinner in Adil Rashid, an off-spinner in Moeen Ali and an occasional spinner in Joe Root. They have two guys, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett, who can bowl fast deliveries. They also have the all-round ability of Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes.
England have one of the best batsmen in the world in Root, who has a good cricket brain and a wide range of strokes. In the middle order they have Stokes, Ali and Jos Buttler, who are destructive batsmen capable of taking the game away from any team.
Morgan is in the best form of his life, which should give him confidence when making captaincy decisions. He has been talking about how adventurous our batting has become. It has been a joy to watch, but all the hard work thrills and good performances we have enjoyed will not mean much if they do not win.
Apart from Jason Roy, every single player in the team is in good form. Confidence must be sky high with the team playing great and winning. Every time Jonny Bairstow plays for England he scores runs. The public love him and he has charismatic appeal. He has to be given a chance sooner or later. They cannot keep ignoring him. His batting is doing the talking for him.
We all want and expect England to win the Champions Trophy but do not underestimate Australia. They have three high quality bowlers in Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. For some reason they do not seem to know their best batting line-up but they should do well with Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell.
In the past India have had trouble with the moving ball on UK pitches. They are not used to a lot of swing and seam. But pitches have been getting better for batting across the world, which should suit the Indian batsmen here. If the pitches are dry, they have two quality spinners, Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Virat Kohli is a class act and MS Dhoni a fantastic elder statesman and finisher. They are used to pressure from playing in the Indian Premier League for 10 years. Kohli, as captain, lifts the players with his energy, exuberance and playing on the edge with high intensity. Dhoni is wise and unflappable.
South Africa are No1 in the world but so often they have bottled it in major tournaments. The ability is there with superb batsmen in Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers. But they are hampered by the government’s insistence on a quota system and having to play six non-whites in the team irrespective of ability.
So no more talking, no more excuses. England are playing at home in front of adoring fans – so go and damn well win the thing.