England Need An ODI Revolution

First of all, a quick welcome back after my May holiday.

But now there is business.

In the ODI series against New Zealand so far – admittedly not the mot important series – England have been fairly pathetic.

But I am not going to pass this by as a simple, momentary lapse in concentration with minds more focused on the Champions Trophy. No.

I think the two performances are proof of deep fissures in this England ODI side.

Although injuries give the bowling some pardon, the English batting should take a huge amount of criticism. So far, it has exhibited the kind of poor shot selection which has become England’s bane throughout the formats recently.

Players have seemed too desperate to score quickly that they have forgotten to stay in. Indeed, England excelled in terms of run-rate in the most recent game against NZ. At the point when they were bowled out by the Kiwis, England had amassed more runs than NZ had at the same time.

The promise this shows makes the loss all the more disappointing.

I blame this to being toned into a ‘T20’ kind of mode, and in part I blame this to the coach selection. I think there should be separate 50 and 20 over coaches, if just to help the players mentally.

So my solution to the batting problem is the above, but also a changing in batting personnel and order. Here is my proposed England batting line-up (this includes KP’s injury).

Alaistair Cook

Ian Bell

Jonathan Trott

Eoin Morgan

Joe Root

Matt Prior

My explanation for this I will attempt to fit into a few points.

Big-hitters must be alternated. Of course, the ideal batting set-up in the middle, especially in limited-overs,  is to have one man anchoring and amassing runs via singles, twos and threes, while another man – or perhaps a succession of men – hit the bowlers around and out of the park.

All rounders are pointless. I really think there is no use for an all-rounder, especially with a five-man bowling attack in force. This is reinforced by England’s current lack of in-form, quality all-rounders; none of Samit Patel, Chris Woakes and Ravi Bopara really inspire the imagination. If you play fifty overs, that suits perfectly – five bowlers bowling ten overs each. And if one really messes up, you always have Root and Trott to turn to.

Prior must play. When the best wicketkeeper/batsman is available to you – and one with a ridiculously high run-rate in Tests, good skills with the gloves and a talent for leadership – you do not leave him out of ODIs. Especially when you consider the alternatives: Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler (unrefined, weak handling and unreliable batting) and Craig Kieswetter (majorly out of form).

And now I turn to bowling.

It was really poor against New Zealand.

Jade Dernbach and Chris Woakes leaked runs like a colander, while wickets were sorely missed from Tim Bresnan.

I think the main problem for England here is depth.

With Broad and Finn out, England look crippled, not only bowling, but as a side in the whole.

But this is an unrepairable issue, so I turn to another main problem.

I think the England selectors have given Dernbach and Woakes too many chances.

They cannot afford to carry men.

Even an unproven player like Stuart Meaker, Boyd Rankin and so on would be a better alternative to that troublesome duo.

I am troubled.

Joe

McCullum’s Wicket Is Key

In what has so far been a rollercoaster tour, one man has decided games: New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum.

Let me tell you some facts.

In England’s first game (a T20) – which they won convincingly – McCullum faced just 5 balls, scoring 10 runs.

In England’s second game, another T20, they were crushed depressingly by the Kiwis, and McCullum faced 38 balls, hitting a game-winning 78.

In England’s final T20, the tourists limited McCullum to 20 balls and 26 runs, and subsequently took the series witha strong win.

And in the most recent game, an ODI, NZ won convincingly, and unsurprisingly, a Mr. Brendon McCullum stayed in for 61 balls, facing an ODI-oriented 69 runs no – figures a T20 batsman would not be ashamed of.

I see a pattern.

Whenever McCullum manages to properly bed in for a decent period, New Zealand do well.

So a question, one that England players and coaches will be asking, arises.

How do you get him out?

I turn to stats for an answer, sifting through electronic scorecards.

The only analysis I bring of the info on McCullum’s three wickets so far this tour, is that he gets out to catches a lot. 100% this tour. And how to exploit this weakness?

Simple.

Drop butter-fingers like Samit Patel, and do everything you can to get super-catchers and sometimes wicket keepers Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Craig Kieswetter.

And get lots of men on the boundary.

Oh, and be careful how much pace you play, it has got 2/3 of his wickets (if you count Jade Dernbach as pace), but it costs runs, ad the longer you can stop McCullum from getting up to his run-scoring stride, the more susceptible he is.

Plenty o’ caution, in short.

Joe

Five Things That England’s Tour Of India Taught Us

My summary of what has overall been an excellent tour for England

1. Steven Finn is now England’s second best pace bowler. Going into this tour, Stuart Broad would have held this gong, but a string of good performances from Finn and poor ones from Broad mean the almost-title is now Finn’s. Third place, which will become more important in the more pace-favouring conditions of New Zealand, is still contested between Tim Bresnan and Broad.
   
2. Jade Dernbach is not good enough. Anyone deluded enough to think that the tattooed Jade Dernbach can cut it at Test level must surely now, a string of poor performances and subsequent dropping from the ODI squad later, have been put back in their place.
3. Alastair Cook is serious captain material. The England captaincy transition from Andrew Strauss to Alastair Cook has been unbelievably smooth, due to fine performances, ‘man of the series’ winning performances, from the latter. He has led England wonderfully, making good decisions, playing well, and saying the right hings in interviews.
4. Joe Root can cut it. If you’d asked me before this tour who I thought would be the young player of the tour, I would probably, as most would, have said Virat Kohli. However, despite only one Test appearance, I would give this prize to Joe Root. He has consistently been one of England’s best players, with crafty bowling, patient batting and reliable fielding. That is simply player for a player of just 21 years of age.
5. Virat Kohli is not yet the finished article. As I said, many were looking forward to seeing Kohli this tour, but he has not really impressed. He needs a lot of work, maybe in foreign country, before he can deal with the captain role many suggest for him.

Joe