It can be called that old adage, what goes around comes around. Swings and roundabouts. Good guys finish last. Unfortunately, you can put each of these labels to the England Cricket team at the moment. After a glorious undefeated summer of cricket against India, where India supplanted them from the top spot of test cricket with a 4-0 whitewash followed by a 3-0 victory in the One day series. It seems that England have come unstuck on the sub-continent.
Following Friday's old friend collapse against some very run of the mill spin, England again where given a right good spanking this time by 8 wkts with a good number of the alloted overs remaining.
Admittedly, the ODI game has altered with a new ball available from both ends meaning one ball gets 25 overs of action This is interesting in that it limits the amount of reverse-swing available but the ball the batsmen faces is relatively new for the entirety of the innings - the ICC have made the 50 over format a slog-a-thon. Unfortunately, England cannot get to grips with the pitches they are playing on.
On Friday, in attempting to chase down a formidable target of 301 (a target that was probably 30 more than it should have been) thanks to MS Dhoni's rallying call; England lost four wickets in the middle of the innings in just the space of four overs. And the tail could not wag as the run rate escalated.
This time, Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat hoping to himself set a formidable target he and Kieswetter went against the grain and both lost their wickets meaning after two overs England were 0-2. Cook was caught at backward point off an off-balance drive, whilst Kieswetter wafted outside his off stump when he did not need to.
Jonathan Trott seemed to be getting to grips and looked in touch but he was caught off the last ball of the mandatory powerplay meaning initiative suddenly went to India with Pietersen and Bopara. The two most explosive hitters were together and set about building a respectful total, but both went in quick succession and the wind was suddenly out of the England sails.
Jonny Bairstow and Samit Patel accumulated runs rotated the strike, but again both were out quickly together meaning all of a sudden the tail was exposed without a batsmen. Without a Stuart Broad in the side offering a left-hander down the order, England look poor with the bat for wickets 7-10 and resistance was not forthcoming as they reached only a paltry 237.
That total was simply not good enough against a strong India line-up even without Tendulkar and Sehwag; here Virat Kohli scored 112 (off 98) and Gautam Gambhir 84 (off 90) as the bowling attack were torn apart, only Tim Bresnan having any joy as he got two wickets in his first three overs.
So why are England failing?
- For once, there fielding and catching are letting them down. Trott's drop in the first over of the first ODI set a poor tone. Ground fielding has gone lax with a lot of singles becoming boundaries after mistimed dives. And India have been making crucial run outs when it counts.
- The timing of a chase, is built on the accumulation of runs and rotating the strike. You sometimes get the impression that England would rather smash the ball as far as possible, this is alright if done properly as Bairstow showed in the warm-up match. The absence of Eoin Morgan who can time a chase is vital here.
- They miss Jimmy Anderson's ability to bowl where necessary and restrict the scoring at the start of the innings; too often India's batsmen get easy balls to dispatch and get set. Jade Dernbach is no Anderson, and his slower balls are easy to spot on these pitches.
- The batsmen need to make big scores; today KP got 46 and Patel 42, but nobody took the innings along to the higher total.
- England are also not used to playing in these conditions, in these temperatures and humidity; yet England have a whole winter in these conditions to muster with tours in UAE (v Pakistan) and away to Sri Lanka coming in the new year.
However, to blame the weather is a poor excuse. Unfortunately, England still remain a limited team when it comes to one day resources with too much reliance on Kevin Pietersen and strangely too much emphasis on brawn - hence the elevation of Bairstow, when the finesse of Morgan was getting results. England needed a like for like replacement for Morgan, Jos Buttler of Somerset has shown he has the ability to change a game with his batting as he did at Lords albeit in vain as Somerset lost that final. Buttler may well get a chancenow on this tour, as I hope does Chris Woakes an all-rounder eager to learn.
This is far from England's best ODI team, but at the moment due to injury and rotation it is the best. Blame should not be put at Cook's door who admits that his team are well below par at this moment, but three games to go and already the thought of a whitewash is on Indian minds.
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