England’s Reality Check

Just a few quick thoughts about yesterday’s ODI. I won’t go into too much detail because I imagine most of the games will follow a similar pattern. I’ll be repeating myself before I know it.

Essential the game went exactly as many of us had anticipated. Just call me Mystic Morgan. I didn’t quite expect England to sink to 14-3 – that’s bad even for us – but I wasn’t at all surprised that we struggled.

England have a very inexperienced team in these conditions. The UAE and the subcontinent are different worlds for many of our younger players. Teething problems are inevitable.

Our batsmen don’t get to practice on these types of wickets, against good spin bowling, back in England. It’s going to take time to adapt – and even then, plenty of players simply won’t be able to make the transition. That’s just the way it goes.

England have struggled to rotate the strike, and attack quality slow bowlers, in this part of the world for as long as I can remember. I don’t see why this team should be any different – at least initially. Bayliss will help them to adapt but it will be a slow process.

On a positive note, Eoin Morgan and James Taylor played really well. If only the same could be said about our openers. Roy got a good ball, but played slightly across it. Meanwhile Hales looked like a rabbit in the headlights. The shot he was out to – a tentative push at a ball he didn’t need to play at – demonstrates precisely why he should never open in test cricket. It was as ugly as it gets I’m afraid.

As for the bowling, maybe I’ll leave this until another day. Let’s just say it was about as penetrative as dildo made of jelly. This is going to be a recurring theme (the bowling, not dildos). At least Topley showed some promise by picking up three wickets though.

James Morgan

12 comments

  • England’s last 25 away ODIs against Test playing nations:

    LLLWLLWWLLWLWLLLWLWLLLLLL

    (The Wins are one against Australia and two each against WI, SL and India).

  • Good points on the ODI.

    How about an England football team article James? Since the WC debacle they’ve actually quietly been doing a good job and it seems like Hodgson is running the show well at the moment. Unbeaten in 15 games apparently (usual caveats about opposition, blah blah), but all in all far more positive at mo than cricket or rugby.

    Will be an interesting test against Spain tomorrow..

  • I thought the Lions spend quite a lot of time out in India these days and didn’t most of the younger batsmen come through the Lions? That might explain the relative success of Root and Taylor, even Bairstow. But there is a definite mental frailty under pressure which is surely what the coaching staff need to address.

    • They do try to expose our young players to Asian conditions on development tours, but I guess they don’t get to practice enough. It’s hard to suddenly remember how to score freely against good spinners on turning pitches. We play the majority of our cricket in completely different conditions. Only the most talented players can suddenly turn it on.

  • I’d cut my losses immediately with some of these. Hales does not deserve his place and I would either move Ali up to open or even go more attacking and open up with Willey with a free licence. Roy has shown some progress so worth sticking with.
    I’d also call time on Woakes international career.
    I’d look to bring Plunket in to add some firepower for Woakes.
    I’d also look to bring another bowling option for Hales who can come in 6/7 area. Going in with the five bowlers incl an assumed 20 from Ali and Rashid is foolhardy. I’m not sure if Patel is in the squad but he may fit the bill. Relying on Root may just finish that back off which would be great timing with SA waiting! I’d like to see what the deal is with Billings but can’t see how he fits into this side

    • I agree that Root shouldn’t bowl. That leaves the current side with just 5 bowlers, meaning that both Ali and Rashid need to bowl their full allocation of 10 overs each. That’s risky. The big problem is the injury to Stokes. He was giving the team a good balance. I agree though Yorkie that Hales isn’t pulling his weight. If Mo was to open, we could fit another all rounder or pure bowled into the side. The trouble is that the selectors are determined to give Hales a run to see what he can offer.

      • Unfortunately, Hales made a century today.
        :-)
        The experiment will persist – with predictable consequences in South Africa, probably.

        Rashid’s ten overs looked pretty decent, too – amazing what a bit of scoreboard pressure will do…

        (And yes, bowling Root seems to be taking a bizarre and unnecessary risk with the probable mainstay of our batting for the next decade.)

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