By CricketCountry Staff
England are likely to alter their team combination for the final two one-dayers of a series against India which they have already lost.
Published: Oct 22, 2011, 03:27 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 22, 2011, 03:27 PM (IST)
Andy Flower acknowledged the fact that England will look to test the bench the remaining ODIs against India © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Mumbai: Oct 22, 2011
England are likely to alter their team combination for the final two one-dayers of a series against India which they have already lost.
Alastair Cook-led team arrived in Mumbai on Friday for the Sunday’s encounter at the Wankhede Stadium.
England coach Andy Flower acknowledged the fact that the bench will tested in the remaining ODIs.
“We came out here to win the series, and unfortunately, after three games, the series is over as a contest,” he said.
“The shift now goes towards maximising our learning and development from the rest of the series, and we will be pursuing those twin goals of learning and winning in the next two one-dayers.”
“I think we should do that, yes – not necessarily wholesale changes, but it is a great opportunity to get learning into our younger players especially.
“Sub-continent one-day cricket is an area, and we can’t hide from this fact, that we’ve under-performed over the years.
“The most recent example was the World Cup. There is a lot of cricket to be played out here, and we need to learn as quickly as possible – so getting some exposure into some of our young, talented players that are going to be playing international cricket in the future would be a sensible option.”
Young pace bowler Stuart Meaker and more experienced batsman Ian Bell are set to play their first match in this series.
“The mood of the camp is excellent, probably surprisingly good considering we’ve just lost the series,” he said.
“This group of players and the Test squad have performed outstandingly well over quite a long period of time.
“We’ve had a little setback here.
“But we aren’t naive enough to think you can win every game and every series you go into, even though that is what you are attempting to do.”
