The One Thing That Could Derail England

The World Cup is only three weeks away. Are you excited? Personally I feel quite nervous already. This is undoubtedly the best chance we’ve ever had of winning the trophy. We can’t blow it. Can we?

Unfortunately World Cups, indeed global ODI tournaments in general, haven’t been kind to England over the years. We reached the World Cup final in 1979, 1987, and 1992, and we lost all three. What’s more, we screwed up the Champions Trophy Final in 2004 and 2013. That’s five finals with diddly squat to show for it. And they say South Africa are the world’s biggest chokers!

This time, however, things are sure to be different. We’ve got a team oozing with batting talent. In fact, this particular team has compiled, or perhaps I should say blasted, the two highest team totals in ODI history: 481-6 against Australia at Trent Bridge and 444-3 at Trent Bridge against Pakistan.

Every single member of our top 6 is in the top 30 of the ICC batting rankings. There’s Root (6), Buttler (14), Bairstow (17), Morgan (19), and Stokes (29). In fact, we’ve got so much strength in depth that the selectors have jettisoned the batsman who occupies 30th position – a certain Mr Alex Hales esq. No other side has depth like that.

Although the bowling doesn’t look particularly strong on paper – only Adil Rashid (10), Chris Woakes (18), and Mark Wood (24) meet the same benchmark – I think there’s enough talent there to keep England competitive. What’s more, the likely inclusion of Jofra Archer, who had a good game against Pakistan in the recent T20, should add the extra pace and wicket taking potential we’ve been missing.

Basically things are looking good at this stage. Very good. England are 9/4 favourites with Marathon Bet. So what, if anything, could possibly go wrong? I’ll tell you what. P.R.E.S.S.U.R.E.

England will be under more pressure in this World Cup than we’ve ever had before. In fact, one might argue that we’re under more pressure than any cricket team (from anywhere) in history. Although I’m sure India fans will beg to differ.

Firstly, Eoin Morgan’s team will have to cope with the pressure of being hosts. That’s easier said than done. The host nation is always under closer scrutiny than their rivals. And sometimes this can create all kinds of mental demons. Just ask Tim Henman.

A good comparison might be the New Zealand All Blacks back in 2011. Despite being the best team in the world by some distance before the World Cup (in which they were hosts) the All Blacks very nearly blew it. They scraped home in the final 8-7 against a far from vintage France team that was nowhere near their equal on paper.

When the pressure was really on the mighty All Blacks found it incredibly difficult to get over the line. The sparkling rugby they produced earlier in the tournament completely evaporated as fluffed their lines in front of an increasingly nervous home crowd. The problem for the England cricket team is that they’re nowhere near as good at cricket as the All Blacks are at rugby.

England will also be under huge pressure because they’re the world’s No.1 ranked team and clear favourites. This gives writers like me an excuse to proffer all those familiar sporting cliches: the team will have a target on its back etc.

What worries me is that England don’t normally cope very well with being favourites. We’ve lost to a host of minnows in the past in white ball contests: Bangladesh (2015), Zimbabwe (1992), Scotland (2018), and Ireland (2011). We also lost to the Netherlands at Lord’s in the 2009 T20 World Cup.

What’s more, we didn’t exactly cope very well with being favourites in the 2017 Champions Trophy. We stormed through the group games but fell on our arses big time against Pakistan in the semis. Although this experience might help us (i.e. we could learn from our mistakes) it might also leave some mental scarring. Nobody will know until we enter the pressure cooker once again.

Finally, Captain Morgan’s men are under huge extra pressure that’s entirely of their board’s making. The ECB have sacrificed so much to win this trophy that it will be disastrous if the team fails to do so.

White ball cricket has been prioritised in recent years for the specific purpose of winning England a World Cup on home soil. The test team has suffered as a consequence, and domestic first class cricket has been pushed to the fringes of the season.

What’s more, the board desperately need England to win the trophy in order to persuade a disapproving public that they’re not completely inept (and do actually have a plan). The cacophony of criticism being directed at the ECB for launching The Hundred has been deafening at times.

England winning the World Cup will shut everyone up. At least for a bit. The England players will be all too aware of this criticism, and will be under huge pressure from their employers to deliver.

So will England cope with this pressure? That’s the million dollar question. Although it’s possible to read too much into recent events I don’t think the signs are particularly good.

For starters the ECB itself seems particularly irascible at the moment. They don’t want anything to spoil what they hope will be their perfect summer; therefore they’re really clamping down on player ill-discipline and, in my opinion, either overreacting or mishandling controversial situations.

And then there was Eoin Morgan’s curiously severe criticism of Alex Hales following his failed drugs test. We all got the message about team culture loud and clear, but perhaps his intolerance said something else too.

The usually relaxed Morgan seemed particularly upset and on edge. And this can only be the pressure the team are under to deliver results this summer.

The bottom line is this: if England come second in the World Cup, and lose by a single run in the final, then our World Cup will be considered a monumental failure. Winning really is everything on this occasion.

The problem, of course, is that uptight teams don’t always win. This was supposed to be one of the key lessons learned after the last World Cup where the intense Peter Moores wore everyone out.

One of the reasons why Paul Farbrace and then Trevor Bayliss were able to turn around our white ball fortunes is because they created a relaxed environment in which the different personalities could thrive, enjoy their cricket, and play with freedom.

But will it be possible to continue playing in this vein during the World Cup? It must be a concern.

Big finals (whatever the sport) are usually won by teams that do the basics well and make the fewest mistakes. They’re also won by players that think clearly and keep their head at crucial moments.

England’s highly aggressive and high-risk approach therefore might not be suited to the pressure-cooker of knock-out cricket. Our strategy is to take risks rather than play the percentages. And that requires a level of skill that might not be sustainable in highly stressful situations.

James Morgan

Written in collaboration with Marathon Bet

24 comments

  • Don’t forget the weather – Duckworth-Lewis-Stern could derail anyone.

    • Good point. The forecast for the next few weeks is unsettled accross the whole country, so the World Cup could well be affected.
      If Duckworth Lewis does play a part we need to be batting to chase these targets, rather than bowling to defend them, which makes the outcome even more of a lottery. This is the issue with such an unbalanced unit which has a history of high scoring matches. We generally have to score big runs both to have a chance of defending a total or passing it.

  • Pitches. Flat batting tracks we should win with our firepower. Pitches doing a bit? I doubt we’ve got the patience and will try and hit ourselves out of trouble just like many recent Tests. And it’s one day cricket, anyone of six could win this on the day. Favourite? Probably. Winner? I fancy India.

  • Flat roads and England will be fine as they are a tonk tonk team

    If this weather continues or curators produce sporting and interesting wickets.. lol England .. mainly because they are a one trick pony of a side

  • Sadly because of this white ball mentality that’s infecting the game I’d like to see England come unstuck and lose. Only because the destruction of red ball pro formats and draw amateur games in favour of bish bash bosh is hurting the game

    Sure some are blinkered and judt want England to win but a lot are very indifferent with this englsnd side and set up in general. They simply are not liked

    • To be honest I have some interest in this but feel that it’s basically their for people who can afford to lash out £150+ a ticket. It’s not for the average fan, you’d need a lone to take the wife and 3 kids! I’m fortunate to be able to afford it, but I don’t think it’s good value; like the game on now even at £65, it’s already been reduced to 41 overs aside and they’ve just gone off again. Mucks up the whole rhythm. And as we all know there are not many one day games that stick in the memory. Too many duds, you know Ist Innings all out for175 etc. Game over. Mine was Ali Brownes unbelievable 268 in 2002. But It’s tests and 4 day cricket that etches in the memory, Morkel hitting the winning runs against Worcester for instance to win the Championship last year (sorry James!) and Malcolms 9 wickets against SA in 1994 going back a bit to name but 2. It’s ebb and flow of the long game that is cricket for many of us. Ok you get a bit in 50 over, but the very exciting games are few and far between. It’s why T20 is so crap. Anyway £150 membership gets me 7 Championship Games at Surrey plus at least 4 RLODIs. Yes at £5 a day! Alright James Surrey have been very poor this year and Worcester have done better! And I like going to Worcester.

    • They are the best ‘tonk tonk’ team around and favourites for the tournament, not bad for a ‘one trick pony’.
      The timing of this World Cup, before summer sets in, makes it difficult to prepare flat tracks, so we may have to bat and bowl in typically dodgy county spring conditions, yet we are still favourites, as swing and seam could well come into play, helping our bowlers to be more effective. Another thing that’s rarely mentioned is we are a brilliant fielding side, don’t see a better in the tournament.

  • Morgan has always seemed like a fairly laid back captain to me. I think he was probably severe on Alex Hales because he wants no off field distractions in the run up to the tournament. England will start favourites but if some of the key players don’t perform in the early stages of the tournament, that’s when the real pressure will start to build.

  • Have to say i agree with Cricketx3. Part of me hopes England lose and the ECB get hoist with their own petard.

    White ball cricket is so overated.

    No doubt i will be subject to all sorts of fire for saying this but to be honest i couldn’t give a @#$&.

    • What I’m finding interesting is there is literally no one talking about the World Cup.. at all.. excluding the media who Re obviously trying to drum up traffic/money by it. There seems very little interest currently out there.. outside of corporates, sponsors etc

      • In case you haven’t noticed the climax to the footie season is pretty interesting with the Premiership and European Cup extending the season. Once this is played out the soccer obsessed media will get stuck into the cricket and general interest will rise. Soccer is our national game, not cricket, which just provides a diversion during the summer. Attendances at International cricket matches are significantly populated by footie fans who like the idea of being able to drink all day and watch sport at the same time. The same thing happened with the last World Cup in this country.

  • England imo will either hit 400 or get all out for 200, they seem to have no other gear, and this to me is their greatest weakness. The bowling isn’t that goodeither, perhaps Archer might shake things up a bit? The current bunch seem rather too clique-y.

    • I guess you could say that Ramsey’s 1966 and 1970 squads were ‘rather too clique-y’ but they were pretty much unbeatable at the time. I don’t see ‘this current bunch’ losing many. They’re not the favourites for no reason. Having a consistent selection in any sport helps develop team spirit. Chopping and changing seldom creates a winning mentality. Just get behind the team and stop this glass half empty mentality. If the team had that they wouldn’t be favourites. They’re not stupid, they know their strengths and weaknesses and play to them. At the same time I see no arrogance, they just have a way of playing they’re comfortable winning with. Yes they’ll lose the odd game and may not win the World Cup, but they’re always interesting to watch.

  • What could derail England? Not calling up Liam Dawson, then….

    The draft ECB script if they don’t win:
    1) Blame Hales.
    2) Blame Rashid.
    3) Say the rankings and the more entertaining style justify everything anyway.
    4) Blame an umpiring decision (like Jordan’s run out cost England the WC or Moeen Ali’s stumping lost the last Ashes).
    5) Blame the County Championship.
    6) Blame the fans for something (probably for being too polite and not creating an intimidating atmosphere).
    7) Throw in some obvious distraction.
    8) Blame KP.

      • It is too long, let’s go back to the original John Player 40 over format. No dead periods in an innings. We got rid of the 60 over for that reason, so there is a president.

  • If not winning the World Cup is the price to pay for proper cricket taking it’s rightful place in the British summer then so be it.

    A price worth paying 10 times over…

    I … might… feel differently if it was going to be shown on free to air, to get more kids into the game.. Undoubtedly if England make a good fist of it then people will notice… But let’s be honest we’ve been here before and Ian Austin didn’t exactly shine.

    We’ve had the best batting lineup in World Cup’s before… Hick, Gooch and Fairbrother spring to mind… Only to be blown away by the better bowlers whilst we navel gaze our ‘medium pacers who can score useful lower innings runs’. On the whole our bowling doesn’t impress me… Nor would it anyone else who saw the chap thus far excluded from the squads opening spell against Pakistan.

    Trouble is it is all on Sky subscription, so not many kids will be watching. And the money from that TV deal isn’t exactly evident.

    Whilst the, no doubt mainly public schoolboy, team are well prepared I suspect the ECB spends more on PR for it and G+T’s for themselves than they ever have on the https://www.play-cricket.com/ website as used by the mere recreational proles.

    Clearly designed by a colourblind retarded farmhand with a btec in being someone important’s cousin somewhere around 1994 it has been unchanged since the turn of the millenium. It borders more on the openly contemptuous than even the slapdash, chock full of missing records and unusable features. Because even uploading a photo of an old scorebook is beyond the wit of man these days, dontcha know.

    So let’s be honest the ECB only wants to win the World Cup in order to make more money, which seems to be an end in itself rather than a means to nourish the wider game.

    Following English cricket isn’t a chore, yet somehow the ECB manages to make it feel like supporting a fascist regime with genocidal tendencies.

  • The World Cup is fun! The last two have been won by the home teams so as well as for being ranked no1, England are bound to feel confident. At least you can be sure the Aussies won’t win this one.

  • No-one I know is talking about it, in fact I don’t think anyone except super keeno cricket fans even know its happening. The players in my club are far more interested in talking about the Ashes.

    I watch most cricket, but I won’t go out of my way to watch the England games. I have never given a monkeys about ODI cricket and I’m not about to start now. We’ve actually scheduled an friendly game to coincide with the final, because literally no-one gives a fuck.

    • If we get to the final you might find that changes. After all amateur cricket, which is what most cricket fans play, is more akin to 50 over ODI than anything else.

      • More people play T20 cricket than all other formats added together. There are works leagues, school leagues, college leagues, university leagues, inter-mural leagues, church leagues, pub leagues, junior leagues, adult leagues, club leagues, community leagues, up and down the country, all playing some version of T20 cricket.

        Meanwhile, Saturday league 40/45/50 over cricket struggles on, every year with a few less clubs and a few less players than the year before.

        • Whilst your point about less people playing sat is true and it’s also true that there are 2020 games. If you remove the people who play both, you ar eleft with a very small pool of sat only and 2020 only players. Whether each pool is significantly enough bigger than the other is not proven and very much guesswork.

          The areas I know, 2020 really isn’t that popular and is dying just the same as sat and sun Cricket. Again, when you remove those who pay both rather than count the same people.

          Onto the World Cup.. meh, it’s not being talked about even before the football finish and won’t be that big even if englsnd win. It’s no ashes 2005 after all however many much sky, the media and the ECB want it to be

      • Tbh I’d say the amateur 45/50 over game is more akin to a pro test match than a pro ODI. An amateur 2020 is more similar to a ODI than a amateur one day game is.

        Quite simply amateurs don’t have the bowling, don’t have the hitting or the depth of players to make t anything like a pro game.

  • I have two tickets to non-England matches and will be cheering on Sri Lanka in both. Nice people out there and they need a bit of a boost given events recently. In an England sense I’m just waiting for the Ashes to start. I never really got caught up in all the hype about England’s one-day renaissance. I rarely watch the one-day side.

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