England win at last as Wood adds the missing ingredient
Bowler’s pace inspires tourists to 50-over win Hales and Morgan make fifties ahead of series
A change of format brought a change of fortunes for England as they eased to a five-wicket win in their only 50-over warm-up game before the series against Australia starts on Sunday, with Mark Wood providing the pace bowling element badly missed in the Ashes.
England won their first game in Australia for two months as Alex Hales hit a half-century in his first game back after being suspended for his part in the Ben Stokes incident, Eoin Morgan top scored with 81 and Jason Roy chipped in with 40 as England made 259 for five in response to the Cricket Australia XI’S 258 for nine.
It was a comfortable victory, with 55 balls remaining when Morgan hit the winning runs, but the opposition was a sprinkling of state players not signed up by Big Bash teams and bulked up by the presence of Matt Renshaw, who lost his place as Test opener before the Ashes, and seamer Chadd Sayers, who was in the squad for the first two Tests.
Encouragingly, though there was also that missing ingredient from the Ashes series on show: raw pace from an England bowler. Mark Wood’s figures of nought for 68 do not tell the true story. His speed was back, he bowled the nastiest bouncer of the tour by an Englishman, sending the third ball of the match flying past the nose of Renshaw and looked back to full fitness after six months of ups and downs with heel and ankle injuries.
He is the surprise, aggressive element Morgan has at his disposal, which Joe Root badly missed in the Test series. “That is my role to ramp it up and be aggressive and try to take wickets by bowling fast,” said Wood. On the bouncer, he added: “It might have surprised a few people that I pitched it up and tried to swing it, but I thought I’d let him have one early and try and put a bit of a marker down.” Wood has put himself forward for the Indian Premier League auction at the end of the month, a surprise given his injury record but understandable given the high price put on bowlers with pace.
This five-match series is perfect timing to showcase what he can do before the auction on Jan 27. The change of ball, clothing and format is just what England needed and Morgan has a team of proven performers with genuine competition for places in the side.
Moeen Ali looked a different bowler working away in tandem with his friend Adil Rashid as England easily kept a lid on a Cricket Australia XI, who owed their total of 258 for nine mainly to a 31-ball fifty from batting prodigy Mackenzie Harvey, a 17-year-old left-hander who swatted Wood for three sixes.
Moeen escaped the carnage, was tidy taking two for 28 from 10 overs, and offered the control he lacked in the Ashes. Rashid’s three for 45 included two wickets with googlies, intelligently using his variations as the batsmen looked to hit him.
Choosing between Hales and Roy to open is the key selection issue. Roy flicked one six, but looked short of rhythm in making 40 off 48 balls. He has struggled in the Big Bash for Sydney Sixers, and suffered a hand injury in the field that required treatment, but stepped in when Hales was banned at the end of last summer and performed well.
Hales stroked 21 in a single over hitting Renshaw for two fours and two sixes in four balls and looked in superb touch in his 35-ball innings of 52.
Morgan slotted two sixes and four fours in making 81 not out as England cruised to a five-wicket win on a pitch with good pace and bounce, another welcome change from the Ashes.