What we learnt from England’s warm-up
➤ Seven-wicket defeat by India gave watching captain plenty to ponder before T20 World Cup opener against West Indies
Morgan is setting about regaining form in his own way
How do you regain your form after an abject Indian Premier League season that brought 133 runs at 11.1 apiece? If you are Eoin Morgan captaining England in their first warmup match before the T20 World Cup, you choose to watch from the sidelines rather than be part of the final XI.
It was, in many ways, a quintessential Morgan answer. He has always been marked by an unusual single-mindedness, even by the standards of professional sport, concerned only with the best thing to do, not expediency. He also has a for returning from breaks from the game and immediately relocating his form. Morgan’s decision to rest, while it may appear curious, was simply his judgment about what was best, with Saturday’s clash with the West Indies in mind.
The Malan question remains
For much of the past two years, the great debate about England’s T20 side has concerned Dawid Malan – and whether the runs he scores make up for the lethargy with which he starts his innings. Five days before England’s World Cup opener, Malan chose an inopportune moment to give a reminder of the downsides of selecting him. He had reached 18 – including a fine insideout extra cover drive off Ravichandran Ashwin – by the time he was clean bowled by a googly from Rahul Chahar. As often the case with Malan in T20, the problem was less the runs that he had made than how long he had taken to make them: 18 balls. In the same period, Jonny Bairstow had reached 23 and Liam Livingstone 29.
The question about Malan is particularly acute because of a trend in the IPL and the initial stages of the first round of the T20 World Cup. On turgid pitches it has been hard for teams to accelerate, placing a premium on attacking during the powerplay. In the 31 matches in the second stage of the IPL, 23 were won by the side making more runs in the powerplay.
For a more enterprising alternative to Malan at No3, England could promote Moeen Ali, who sometimes batted there for the IPL winners, Chennai Super Kings. While his sparkling 20-ball 43 not out was a reminder of his batting qualities, Morgan will return to No6, leaving three as the only possible vacancy should Moeen bat in the top six.
Bairstow should stay at No4
The most significant tweak to England’s T20 batting line-up in the past year has been shuffling Bairstow down the order. Amid much discussion about whether Jos Buttler should be used at four, on account of his prowess against spin and power at the death, Bairstow has embraced doing exactly the role some envisaged for Buttler.
In the past year batting at No 4 for England, Bairstow is averaging 45, at a strike rate of 144. Like Buttler, he is such an outstanding T20 player that he has mastered two different roles. His rapid 49 against India was a perfect encapsulation of why, for England, he should remain at four.
Quest for new-ball wickets
In T20, wickets are more valuable earlier in the innings. With Jofra Archer injured, England’s quest for early wickets led to recalls for David Willey and Chris Woakes for the World Cup. Yet their new-ball swing did not yield a single wicket in the powerplay against India. While Willey could be content with his newball burst – which included Woakes spilling a chance at mid-on – the latter’s length was uncharacteristically awry.
A better balanced attack would be to omit one of Woakes or Willey, bring in Tymal Mills for his prowess at the death and use Mark Wood more with the new ball.