England readyto rule the world ...

FROM what I have seen of England’s one- day cricket recently, you would have to make them favourites for next year’s World Cup.

They have won 19 of their last 22 one-day internationals and if they can continue the way they are going, maintaining that win ratio, keeping the energy with which they play and the same personnel together, they are going to be hard to beat, especially on home soil.

One word of caution, though: if their planning phase has begun, as appears the case, now is not the time to peak. England face a challenge not just to stay at this level but to get better over the next 12 months.

But the way this team is developing, you get the impression that is something they will do. Eoin Morgan is doing such a good job as captain. There seems to be a real confidence in the team and a freedom to go out there and just play. That’s exactly the attitude you want in 50-over cricket.

England had a great series in Australia, the 4-1 scoreline tells you that, but it was the way they played rather than the margin of victory that impressed me most. They dominated the majority of the games and this format just seems to suit them.

They seem a lot more relaxed, a lot happier than the Test team are right now and that means they go out there and back themselves to perform.

Their batting line-up is so strong and they all know their gameplans. Joe Root is perfectly suited to that No 4 spot, coming in and holding the innings together. He is not a blaster like the others in the top order and he can just work the ball round to make sure his team makes a big score. He has the freedom to play without the pressure of captaincy and that’s great for him.

He’s one of the best batsmen in the world, but whether he needs the additional responsibility I am not sure.

I am not close enough to it and don’t know Joe well enough but it feels like there was no one else for the Test captaincy so he simply had to take that on board.

Moeen Ali bowled so much better and Chris Woakes batted like we had never seen him bat in Australia before, and that tells you what a different game one-day international cricket is compared to Test cricket.

These players just weren’t able to impose themselves on the Ashes. And the selection of Mark Wood added the bowling firepower England had lacked.

For me, what England seem to have done well in building this team is look at Twenty20 players and bring them up into one-dayers. The way that Jason Roy batted, he didn’t have any fear of getting out. In Tests, you can play that way but the consequences are a lot graver.

It doesn’t mean you cannot transfer those natural instincts, though. Everyone who reaches the top level has the ability to play Test cricket. Just look at David Warner.

When he started, critics said he was just a limited- overs player. Yet he moved up and became a quality player who is arguably now a better batsman in the longer version.

When you look at someone like Roy, there are comparisons to be made to Warner and I could see them playing against each other in the 2019 Ashes.

Like Warner, Roy backs himself to dominate the bowlers and, although I am not sure he would have the same luck in Test cricket, you could see that style of play being the way of the future.

While England need to change the way they play in the traditional form of the game, though, their template in white-ball cricket is worth copying.

And if Australia can change their mindset between now and next year I can see them being the other team in with a chance of winning that World Cup. If they keep heading the way they are at the moment, they won’t be near the top.

The Australians play a solid brand of one-day cricket but it’s too similar to how we have always played it. Nowadays it has to be somewhere between the old ODI style and T20.

That is what this impressive England team have got right. And that’s a sentence I have not been able to say too often this winter.