Fearless England CAN win World Cup on slow, low pitches
PLAYING IT SMART
England are one of the favourites to win this World Cup, and they still have the bulk of the team with the experience of winning the 50-over tournament in 2019. That can only be a positive factor.
They are used to those pressure situations — and, importantly, are used to winning on the type of pitches we will see in the UaE because England won that World Cup largely on slow surfaces they hadn’t really encountered over the previous four years.
The team I coached had to adapt to an older, slower-style game that didn’t suit the power we had seen from them and they will have to do it again now because, having been at the IPl over the last few weeks, I know these pitches will be challenging for batters.
They will be slow and can be a bit up and down, so it won’t be easy for batters to get their timing right. I’m not saying it’s impossible to play that expansive game England still favour, but we will see teams trying to make the absolute most of the first six overs when the ball is new and coming on to the bat a little better.
Then they will accumulate through the middle in the old style so they have wickets at the end to go hard.
We spoke a lot in 2019 about the need to play smart cricket. at different times we would be in situations on slower wickets that didn’t suit our strengths and what should give England encouragement now is that the players were able to deal with that. I know this is 20 overs and not 50, but the same processes apply.
If England try to play the power game, they could fall into the trap of putting too much bottom hand into the shot and hitting it into the leg-side. But the players should be smart and experienced enough to play fairly straight, with strong cricket shots that have good shape while letting the ball come on to the bat.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
ThErE were times during the five years I was with England that Eoin Morgan was light on runs, but it never seemed to worry him. he just kept playing the way he was preaching to the rest of the team and that earned him a lot of respect. It sent a message to the rest of the team that he was committed to playing that way and consequently so were the others.
I don’t see it being a problem for England in this tournament. he’s been batting a little lower in the order where it can be hit and miss in T20 cricket, but Morgan’s value as a captain remains extremely high and he is incredibly well thought of by his team, both tactically and as a leader of men.
he’s right up there with the best captains I’ve worked with. My view as a coach has always been that the captain is the boss. he’s the one in the middle who has to make all the in-game decisions and most of the time Eoin took the right option. That goes a long way to the team having confidence in their captain and going on to win the game.
an example of Morgan’s enduring leadership ability came in the IPl. Kolkata were in danger of missing the latter stages when we resumed the tournament in the UaE, but they went on a run under Eoin to reach the final and played in that same fearless fashion.
You could tell Morgs was captain and Brendon McCullum was coach. They tried to score the bulk of their runs early while the ball was new and put the pressure on the opposition that way. That will be the blueprint for England in this World Cup.
I heard Eoin saying the other day that he wouldn’t hesitate to drop himself if necessary during the tournament and that’s a measure of the man. While I don’t expect it to happen, there are not many captains who would think that way. That’s one of the reasons people respect him so much. he’s never afraid to think outside the box.
ABSENT FRIENDS
IT WIll be very hard for England to replace Ben Stokes and Jofra archer. T20 has never been Stokesey’s most prolific format, but they will miss having him around as much as anything he would have done with bat, ball or in the field. he just lifts everyone.
and Jofra’s extra pace will be sorely missed on these slow pitches. Tall bowlers getting the