WILL THE REAL ENGLAND PLEASE STAND UP?
South Africa may have provided the ongoing 2019 World Cup with it the most disappointing yet most analysed talking point of the competition and understandably so.
Yes, it was an ageing squad. Yes, it was a group of players who, perhaps, were not at their prime and it didn’t help that they were hampered by Dale Steyn bowing out and the AB de Villiers saga.
Even as the world contemplates over how they stand up and get back to being a force again, a little subplot seems to have emerged for another side on the table.
For a good part of the last three years, the fraternity has been talking of England and it’s sensational resurgence as a limited-over side. And as the time for the World Cup neared, the talk of they finally breaking the duck by winning their first ODI World Cup got stronger and stronger.
Except that, after having gotten off to a promising start in their initial matches, the tide seems to have shifted a bit against their favour.
Prior to the start of the tournament, one of the things that was spoken of was how England will cope with the pressure of playing at home and not allow that to get to them.
The answer is they haven’t allowed that to get to them, but one crucial aspect to their success has been missing in the last few matches.
In the last 12 months, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, have as a pair, put on 716 runs in 12 matches at an average of 59.66 with three centuries and three half-century stands. Just in comparison with other opening pairs in the same duration on the list, they stand fourth, but crucially each of the other three have played more than they.
Suddenly, with Roy’s injury, that luxury which the rest of the batting unit has got for the past year is gone. James Vince may have had a good county season and have sealed his place as the reserve opener, but clearly, he doesn’t create the same fear in the opponent’s mind as Roy does.
Would England have been better off by having Moeen Ali open with Bairstow? Perhaps. The left-hander did show he could score at a rapid pace in the IPL and with teams, barring Australia, having bowlers who swing the ball away from him, he could have been used to get the side off to a quick start.
The psyche plays such an important role in a game like cricket that the dimension often grossly undervalued when talking about the eventual result.
England have so gotten used to chasing or setting tall scores that in a sense, getting to a below-average score minus risks seems to have bruised their ego the wrong way, as was seen against Sri Lanka when chasing 232, they slipped, when all they had to do was play sensible cricket and the game was in the bag.
As they get set for what is possibly the most challenging time they have had as a side since they rebranded their style of play, they must return to do exactly that.
Combine their core strength of aggression with sense. Try, even if required to assign specific and defined roles to players and go out and express.
The first aspect is what has gotten them this far as a side and perhaps could help them turn things around and get them to look like the favourites that they have been touted to be.
