England’s faltering pace attack under spotlight
Scotland defeat reveals team’s critical weakness Australia’s bowlers pose serious threat to hosts
In 13 months, England will be the 50-over World Cup winners for the first time. Or not. If they play like they did against Scotland in the five-match series against Australia starting at the Oval today, they will cease to be favourites – and might not even reach the semi-finals.
As England’s one-day captain since before the 2015 World Cup, Eoin Morgan has liked to say he has assembled strength in depth for the next one – a squad fit to win the trophy. That belief, however, was blasted out of the Grange in Edinburgh by Calum Macleod, who exploited the absence of Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes to highlight England’s lack of penetrative pace.
Mark Wood, David Willey and Liam Plunkett bowled their 30 overs for the gruesome figures of three for 228, and by not taking an early wicket they made life much harder for the spinners.
It is just as well for England that Australia have relatively weak lower-order batting. In this five- match series, the contrast between England’s pace bowlers and Australia’s appears to be all in the latter’s favour, even though Test trio Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are injured.
Billy Stanlake has the brainscrambling pace that Wood has produced in occasional bursts. In addition to being consistently over 90mph, Stanlake is exceptionally tall. It will be a surprise if Australia do not take wickets with the new ball, even if it comes from the current batch that is reported not to swing. Kane Richardson, Australia’s other opening bowler, and Andrew
Tye have more tricks than a barrelload of monkeys, let alone their English counterparts.
As Scotland’s batsmen hammered away, it was time for slower balls and variations, but England’s repertoire was inadequate.
Woakes, who took a wicket in every opening spell in the five ODIS in New Zealand, swings the white ball conventionally, as well as bowling pinpoint bouncers; towards the end of an innings, he gets it to reverse, in addition to his variations. Woakes will not be available until the end of this series at the earliest.
It is all too comfortable, even cosy, for England to keep the same squad for the year leading into the next World Cup. Their pace bowling needs an injection of someone new. Tom Curran offers a partial answer in his expertise with cutters and slower balls, but lacks a stock delivery to take new-ball wickets.
If Jofra Archer’s qualification period does happen to be lowered from seven to four years, Morgan and Trevor Bayliss cannot ignore him. Archer can reverse-swing a white ball by the end of a 20-over game, so he and Woakes would make as good a pairing as any.
England have other concerns. Jason Roy’s vulnerability to left-arm spin was exposed by Scotland’s Mark Watt. A gentle word in Jonny Bairstow’s ear that a century is not enough when chasing 350-plus. A louder one in Alex Hales’s.
Morgan, himself, needs runs: in 14 ODI innings since last summer’s Champions Trophy, his highest score has been 62. And, collectively, England need more inner steel to win the tight games that are inevitable in the course of 11 World Cup matches – provided, of course, they reach the final.