‘ENGLAND TEMPLATE BOWLS TEAMS OVER’
Moeen Ali credits new attacking mindset for recent white-ball wins
STAR all-rounder Moeen Ali sees nothing wrong in teams trying to “copy” the much-talked-about England template in white-ball cricket following their resounding success in global events.
With their recent triumph in Australia, England became the first team to hold the ODI and T20 World Cup trophies in the same cycle.
Eoin Morgan brought about a radical change in the team’s mindset and playing style following England’s dismal campaign in the 2015 World Cup, and Jos Buttler is carrying forward his legacy.
An important member of the English white-ball team, Ali believed it was natural for other teams to emulate their aggressive approach to the game.
He also drew a parallel with the allconquering Australian team of the 1990s and early 2000s.
“The template was spoken about long ago. I feel we have become a better team now. Morgs (Morgan) did a brilliant job to change the mindset, which is the hardest part, to put the template there.
“Now we can adapt to different conditions, different teams, use different bowlers in the death and there is flexibility in the batting order. This team is going to get even better,” Ali said.
On the England template which has become the benchmark in international cricket, the 35-year-old said: “Whenever a team is winning, for example, Australia – they used to win all the trophies – everyone wanted to copy them. Now England has won 50-over and T20 world titles and teams want to copy us.”
England had lost to India and South Africa at home earlier this year, and Ali said the defeats were a timely wake-up call for them.
“We played South Africa and India in the summer. They beat us because they were playing the same brand of cricket we were playing.
“So we knew we had to get better and it is a good template to follow. I won’t be surprised if other teams follow that template,” said Ali.
However, England had little time to celebrate their T20 World Cup success Down Under, as they had an ODI series lined up against Australia three days after the final. The visitors lost the threegame series 3-0 to the hosts.
With franchise cricket also growing around the world, the scheduling has become more hectic than ever. Cricketers who play all three formats are finding it tough to manage their workload, leading to frequent breaks, Ali said.
“The problem is if you are a young player, you can’t play all formats now. Earlier you could. Now people are getting pigeonholed into being Test or T20 players. I don’t think it is good for them or good for the game.
“In India, Australia and England, players get paid quite well but in other countries, they don’t. So at times, they miss out on international cricket for franchise events,” he explained.
“A lot of people say IPL [Indian Premier League] is there (making the calendar more crowded) but the IPL is a massive tournament, you can’t say that. For example, a West Indies player would rather play in the IPL for money and exposure than (international cricket).”
England had lost to India at home, but they beat them comprehensively in the World Cup semi-finals by 10 wickets, leaving the Asian team waiting for their first ICC trophy since 2013.
Asked about India’s inability to win global events while they consistently do well in bilateral cricket, Ali said: “The pressure is different.
“We felt a lot of pressure this time as we were desperate to win the trophy. We also know the other teams are feeling the same pressure.
“In a bilateral series, there is a lot to consider and you can rest players.
“When it comes to ICC events, there are different venues, the pressure is different. That is where the mindset comes into play.
“If you have the team ethos where you don’t worry about getting out, that helps.
We played our best cricket against India that day. If you play a certain brand of cricket you will fail but you have to stick with the players as long as you can.”
On his T10 experience, Ali added: “T10 is fast, so there is not much time. You have to go hard from ball one and that can help in improving your game.”