While it is only to be read between the lines, a few teams have inadvertently started preparing for the ICC World Cup 2015 to be held in Australia and New Zealand. The recently concluded England–Sri Lanka One-Day International (ODI) series witnessed a batting line-up, which is likely to remain same for the World Cup, with the exception of one or two players in both the sides.
The Sri Lankans have rightly won the ODI series after persisting with same squad for almost a year now. The balance in the Sri Lankan squad is something which the other teams will look to duplicate with few months left for the World Cup. Keeping all teams in mind, England have the least chance of returning home as winners with a number of big decisions still to be made.
English cricket is now at a quandary for which they are themselves to be blamed. A domino effect that ensued when Alastair Cook took over the captaincy from Andrew Strauss has culminated into a gradual decline into disorder. At first it was Jonathan Trott leaving on psychological grounds, and stalling his return due to the recurrence of similar problems. It was followed by Graeme Swann’s retirement, and Kevin Pietersen’s abscission which more or less terminated his England career.
The catastrophic Ashes 2013-14 whitewash in Australia has had a deep impact on the way England’s performance panned out. A dismal ODI-leg in Australia with just one win; a scrappy 2-1 win in the Caribbean with an experimental team without Cook and most others bound to Australia in 2015; a close shave in a one-off against Scotland and now the 3-2 loss at home against Sri Lanka which will remembered for two things — Jos Buttler’s bellicose batting from 111 for five at Lord’s and him being Mankaded by Sachithra Senanayake at Edgbaston. While the legality of the incident should be to those who know about the laws better than the English cricketers, a more serious issue is the composition of their ODI side.
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Firstly, the opening combination rekindles 1980s. Cook and Ian Bell, in their respective merits, are the best batsmen whose services can be availed by the national team, but they are not by any means, the perfect people marking their guard against the new ball. They tend to consume too many balls for lesser runs and have thrown away their wickets. Modern ODI cricket cannot have two torpid innings at the top, given how every team including Bangladesh have an opener who can score runs at a run-a-ball or greater and can hit the ball at his will.
England have options like Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter and possibly, the best partner to Cook at top — Alex Hales, whose hitting prowess needs no further telling. From the days of Sir Don Bradman to Virat Kohli, major, vital cricket is played by the No 3 batsman. England’s best No 3 batsman Trott, who was instrumental in England’s ICC Champions Trophy campaign in 2013, is undergoing rehab after the second bout of his mental illness. In his absence, the best bet for England is to have their most promising youngster, Joe Root coming in at the fall of the first wicket.
The cherubic Yorkshire batsman has had a decent look in at the international stage and with the volume of limited-overs cricket played these days, and with more ODI cricket in the anvil, Root should be prodded in. England’s experiment with Gary Ballance at No 3 has not yielded much with him staying on for quite some time and getting out for less. He might very well be the sacrificial lamb in the side, should Trott make it.
Bell is an asset down the order. A very good No 4 to have in the place of Pietersen. He can keep the score ticking and also ensure that the ball finds the ropes every now and then, although not as ballistic as Pietersen. England will have to keenly wait for Trott to make his comeback, if they can afford to have two or three obdurate innings from the top four.
The middle-order is something that England can worry less about. With Root probably at No 3 and Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler to follow, and Bell to give them company at one end, the middle-overs look more or less covered with a lot of experience. England also have a decent bench to rely upon with a few names like Ravi Bopara, Ben Stokes, Luke Wright, who have been waiting in the wings.
The bowling unit is more or less going to be a constant, with James Tredwell being the lead and probably the sole spinner in the playing XI and Root as a part-time option. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Chris Jordan look most likely to form the pace options.
The English selectors have often been very mindless in their squad selection. Their esoteric methods, seen last summer when they dropped Nick Compton before the Ashes, would only mean one thing
— the sun will set on a British campaign, yet again during a World Cup.
(Madhav Krishnan is a student from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (Hyderabad), pursuing M.Sc (Chemistry) and B.E. in Mechanical Engineering)
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