England's ODI Batting Dilemma

Another English cricketing summer has begun again with Sri Lanka being the first of two renowned cricketing titans to tour our country this summer.

However, England despite the new regime change with new performance director, Paul Downton; the return of Peter Moores as Head Coach and a new group of selectors, England are still making the same mistakes in 50 over team selection.  With less than a year to go before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, England are showing their hand to be feeble and weak.

For years, England have refused to join the party of having big hitters at the top of the order as is the want of every other Test side.  Whilst there is a credit in maintaining consistency of selection across all formats and familiarity of roles for players, is that not ego massaging of the order by not putting pressure on players to succeed and garner a better quality of performance.

In Alex Hales, England finally have a player who is both bombastic and exciting at the top of the order.  One of the best T20 players in the world, he requires the opportunity to be promoted to the fifty over game and yet England are seemingly content with the opening partnership of captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell. Whilst Bell is scoring runs solidly, if there is someone disposable it is the Warwickshire batsmen whose removal from the limited overs team(s) will prolong his Test career of which he is the most solid of anchors following the dismal Ashes series over the winter.

Cook has shown himself quite adept at adapting to the shorter format of the game, however, do we have to select the Test captain due to his position of seniority or is he being selected on merit? The selection of Cook with Hales would give the left and right hand combination, and allow Cook to bat his way and Hales the freedom to swing his arms much like Sanath Jayasuriya was nearly 20 years ago.

Yet is this a matter of accommodation or a matter of bad management, because the formation of a competitive batting line-up is being ignored for the sake of posterity.  Ravi Bopara is possibly the most talented individual all-round cricketer in England, and yet he is mis-managed by England seemingly.  This writer has seen Bopara score centuries for Essex at the number 3 position; his experience and now veteran status should not be undermined and utilised.

Bopara at 3 followed by Eoin Morgan at 4 then the developing Gary Ballance at number 5 will allow some solidity to the order as Ben Stokes (in a perfect world) will enter at 6 followed by the wild card of Jos Buttler at number 7, where his inventiveness and unorthodox approach at the death of a first innings can garner bonus runs or be successful in a chase.

This would mean the removal of Joe Root from the team, this is required as Root a good member of the Test side and an important component of the side going forward is being accommodated in this respect of the limited overs side.  Whilst he scored a century in the Caribbean, he nonetheless scored at close or less than a run a ball.  Until Root shows he can play and score consistently for his county, only then can we add him to the discussion.

Currently England are not sitting pretty in the ODI rankings as a team and individuals, there is still time to make a statement. How about picking the ones making the loudest noises?

England Struggling in Sub-Continent

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.

England's Cricket Selection Dilemma

England are 2-0 up against the top cricketing side in the world - and one more win will give England the place at the summit.  And yet so dominant have England been in the two tests in London and Nottingham thus far, they have a dilemma. But it is a dilemma of the nice persuasion.

Do England maintain this period of dominance and go for the jugular and the possibility of a 4-0 whitewash over the soon to be displaced world number one side.  The two remaining tests are at Edgbaston and the Oval, two pitches that again may provide England with the basis again to attack with their rip-roaring seam attack.

The question of course is where do they find space for that extra bowler, as it can be seen that no bowler really deserves to be dropped on the basis of the last four days at Trent Bridge.  Swann took no wickets for the first time in a test match for ages, but that was based more on the lack of potency of spin on a swinging pitch and an injury he suffered when dismissed in the first innings.  But it was the vital partnership of Swann and Broad that helped England recover from 120-8 to a respectable total of 221 to not end in total dismay.

Broad's hypnotic spell of 5-0 off 16 balls that dismissed India for 288, gave India only a slender lead of 67 instead of 150.  Broad is another example of the England selection policy which puts faith ahead of form.  Much was made of Broad being dropped before the first test, he responded with 7 wickets and an unbeaten 74 in the second innings which set the platform for the first England victory.

James Anderson, is in a veritable purple patch, and he has the mark of the acclaimed Sachin Tendulkar.  The Lancashire paceman dismissed him for the seventh time today with a similar lbw shout as he did at Lords, an inswinger that was too quick for the 38 year old legend.  Anderson's ability to take wickets with the new ball and potency with the reverse swing after Alastair Cook has done his handy work is proving vital on these English surfaces.

Tim Bresnan, like in Australia when he was called upon, has done a job with both bat and ball, 7 wickets for the match including 5-48 in the second innings and a bombastic 90 (off 118).  Bresnan is the power amongst the bowling attack, like Flintoff he pounds it in on the turf and provides something different to the grace and swing of Broad and Anderson.

So who to go? Well England need to make room, and perhaps Trott's shoulder injury may provide the perfect excuse.  Trott has had a long two years in test cricket since his debut at the Oval in 2009, he has played admirably in the World Cup on the sub-continent; so maybe his body is in need of a rest after wear and tear.  He is averaging only 24.50, less than Broad and Prior.  Trott is that pivotal figure at No.3, a rock like Dravid, who will not be moved yet he has been removed four times already.  Ian Bell's exquisite knock of 159 showed he can bat at first wicket down, he has the temperament and game for it.

This allows Kevin Pietersen to remain at No.4 and then Eoin Morgan at No.5.  The only problem being that Morgan is averaging 22.25, and has two ducks.  Many felt he was batting for his position in the second innings, and his 70 did answer many critics (me included); the problem remains that there is no-one making big noises in the county game with big scores (unless you count Marcus Trescothick), admittedly Bopara did score 178 for Essex this week, but his average is above 40 in spite of some numerous single digit scores this season. 

Other players like James Hildreth and James Taylor could be thrown in at the deep end.  The selection team have done this before with Trott most notably, who came in and delivered.  Maybe if England win the 3rd test and take an  unassailable lead, perhaps that might be the opportune time to inject a debutant but when a Test match still needs to be won England should stay with what they know. 

So who comes in as England have an embarassment of riches in the bowling department.  Chris Tremlett seems the most likely as he only missed one test owing to injury and did a valiant job when nursing a hamstring strain, or Steve Finn who has a long career of him but has not let England down when called upon.  There is even Graham Onions who is doing good work with Durham following his back operation which cost him a year of his career.

In spite of that, if I was to pick a 5 man bowling attack for the 3rd test in Warwickshire it would read like so:
Strauss (c), Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Morgan, Prior (w), Broad, Bresnan, Swann, Anderson, Tremlett.

The reason being that Matt Prior has elevated his game in the last year, and in this series he has shown himself more than adept to lead a counter attack and if it is for two games only he can bat at 6.  And then with Broad, Bresnan and Swann coming in later, the security and solidity is there to provide valuable runs if need be.

All in all, it is a pleasure though to see an England cricket team playing as a team.  With everyone making valuable contributions up and down the order, answering the call for their country.  And they are interchangeable with players come in and out when need be.  Also they have not had to suffer a long-term injury to somebody which has allowed people to cement positions, this has been helped by the faith shown by a solid and itself stable selection committee.

We are number 1, but we could be dominant which 5-7 years would have been unheard of.

Ravi to the Rescue

It is with sadness that England cricket's leading figures confirmed today that Eoin Morgan is to miss the World Cup in the sub-continent which starts in the next two weeks, his replacement has been named as Ravi Bopara, the Essex all-rounder.

This is a positive step-forward for the England one day team, that has taken a step back after the Ashes down under, well make that six steps back, as they lost the series to Australia, 6-1.  Admittedly, they could and maybe in hindsight, should have won the first two but unlike the test matches were scoreboard pressure led to the dominance of the test victory; the batsmen came undone when having to chase a target or even create that scoreboard pressure.  Only twice did they bat out the complete 50 overs allotted to them.  Part of the problem was the extra pace on the ball supplied by Shaun Tait and Brett Lee in this series, but too often players would reach 30 and then get out to a loose or lazy shot; only Jonathon Trott, who was thought to be a weak link for the line-up, has batted with conviction scoring two hundreds, but he himself had three single digit scores.

Personally, I was worried by Morgan's form, having been the 7th batsman on the test tour and waiting forever to make an impression on the tour it seemingly seemed to pass him by, his highest score came in the first T20 game and he got found out by Australia, who plugged his gaps.  Whereas, he was to be solid on the subcontinent working the gaps off of spin; Australia would try and attack him with pace which proved his undoing.  Last winter it was a century against Bangladesh that brought him to prominence, there his ability to hit over the top against spin and slow bowling led to the opinion that he would be more key to England's success than Pietersen.

However, with the inclusion of Bopara, England maintain the ability to have a heavy hitter down the order against slow bowling on slower pitches.  Bopara's favourite area is leg side with pulls and heaves over square leg as his maiden T20 century for Essex last summer was proof, but he has improved his scoring shots down the ground and through and over cover in the last year.  He is a plus because he can either open with Strauss, or come in down the order at 7 providing power down the order; he is interchangeable with Prior dependent upon feel and unlike Morgan he offers another bowling option and his ability to take pace off the ball and possibly bowling in tandem with Collingwood can put pressure on middle orders, his bowling has improved three fold in the last two seasons, he can bowl at the death (much like England wished Luke Wright would) incorporating a clever yorker into his repetoire.

The team now reads: Strauss, Prior (wk), Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Bopara, Swann, Yardy, Broad, Anderson.  With the option of Bresnan for Bopara or Yardy depending on pitch and opponent.  I would question the role of both Colly and Ravi, virtually the same player, but having six bowlers, seven if Trott can continue developing that area of his game; means the workload must be spread about but puts pressure on Broad and Anderson to get wickets first up and not have England rely on Swann and Yardy, where their tandem offence is where England's chances may ultimately lie.

Bopara is a plus for this squad and a welcome addition, but in spite of my headline stating he is coming to the rescue; he will not be the reason why England either fail or succeed in this World Cup.