FROM CHUMPS TO CHAMPS
England’s chance to complete amazing journey
It never looked as if it would happen. not when england were stinking the house out time and again at World Cups after losing the 1992 final.
Four years on from that they were totally unprepared for the pinch-hitting onslaught of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sri Lanka, and ended up using Phil DeFreitas’s off-cutters in desperation because they lacked any decent spinners.
Who could forget the shemozzle of the last time england staged the 50-over jamboree in 1999, when they were eliminated the day before the World Cup song came out and the man from The Sun summed it up by writing: ‘Let’s get things fully in proportion. this was only the most catastrophic day ever for english cricket.’
We can grant them a little more sympathy over 2003, when captain nasser Hussain was let down by the eCB over the robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.
By 2007 it was back to farce when Andrew Flintoff’s ill-fated attempt to climb into a pedalo off the coast of St Lucia summed up everything that was wrong with england, while 2011 was an after-thought after the high of winning the Ashes in Australia.
then came the nadir of 2015, humiliated in Wellington by the same new Zealand side they meet at Lord’s tomorrow in a display so abject Andrew Strauss decided enough was finally enough.
there have, of course, been glimmers of hope along the way, not least when Paul Collingwood became the only england captain to lift a men’s global trophy of any kind in 2010 on a glorious day in Barbados against Australia.
But the World twenty20 title is just not the same as the ‘proper’ World Cup eoin Morgan’s side will play for tomorrow.
‘ I don’t want that tag,’ said Collingwood, who will be with england as an assistant coach tomorrow. ‘I don’t want to be the only england captain to do it. there’d be no greater feeling for me than to see eoin lift that trophy. nobody deserves it more.’
Collingwood, who is expected to become one of three assistants to the new head coach when trevor Bayliss leaves after the Ashes, has immense admiration Morgan, who has become one of the most influential of all england captains. ‘What he has done for this team is remarkable and winning the World Cup would be the perfect end to this journey,’ said Collingwood.
‘eoin has done a fantastic job, not just these past four years but with the way he has revolutionised our whole approach with his attitude and how we play the game. His legacy will last a lot longer than this World Cup. We’re the benchmark now and that approach will carry on.’
It has to be now, though. england really have to end those 44 years of hurt in the longer form of the limited- overs game at Lord’s tomorrow. the 50-over format is about to be downgraded domestically and from now on it will all be about twenty20 and the eCB’s controversial new Hundred.
Yes, there will still be one- day internationals en route to 2023 in India but england will never get another chance like this, especially with such a vibrant, diverse, multi-cultural and likeable side.
this england team, with free-toair television coverage of tomorrow’s final the cherry on the cake, can inspire a new generation of cricket fans by winning the World Cup more than any new contrived format ever will.
‘this team are seriously talented and all you want for them is a chance,’ said Collingwood. ‘now they have a chance to win a World Cup. they are a breath of fresh air in how they go about their cricket.
‘the message to them is to go out with pure freedom, no restrictions. We want them to feel like they’re playing in their backyard, that’s when you love cricket the most. You’re playing with your friends, your brothers and sisters, and you’re not thinking about the consequences. You can sense over the last three games that their mojo is back. the belief is back.
‘It’s powerful when you see that in a team, it puts the opposition under pressure.’
now all england have to do is play in the same way they did against Australia on thursday. that was not just a beating. that was an absolute lesson.
‘We put a lot of trust in these boys and there will be nerves,’ said Collingwood. ‘But the opposition will feel the same. I remember before our final doing photographs with Michael Clarke and I sensed he was nervous. that gave me a lot of confidence. But once you get over the white line, it’s amazing how those nerves just go.’
now it is down to Jonny Bairstow and Jason roy, the odd couple at the top of england’s order, who have become the most prolific opening partnership in one- day cricket history.
It is down to their brilliant new spearhead, Jofra Archer, and the highly popular supporting seam cast of Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett.
It is down to a leg-spinner in Adil rashid who has been england’s most important white-ball bowler over the last four years and who suddenly regained his old fizz after struggling with a shoulder injury
just in time for the thrashing of the Aussies.
It is down to the gifted Jos Buttler, quiet so far in this tournament, the reformed talisman Ben Stokes and the most consistent batsman in the side — Joe Root. But above all it is down to the Irish architect of this England side in the cool, calm and sometimes enigmatic figure of Eoin Morgan.
‘These lads have grabbed the imagination of the public, ’ added Collingwood. ‘I’m not taking anything away from what we achieved in Barbados, but the magnitude of a World Cup final at the home of cricket, with the game on free-toair, it’s almost a perfect storm.’
This is England’s moment. This is their time to become one of the most storied group of sportsmen in England’s history. That perfect storm must surely end with an England victory tomorrow. Then their journey will be complete.