Saturday, 11 January 2014

A Chance For Players To Stake Their Claims


 

 

Ashes 2013

 

A lot to play for in the ODIs

 

January 11th 2014

 

 

Tonight the ODI series starts, with England possibly having only four survivors from the side that lost the 5th Test. For players such as Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler these games take on a whole new significance, with middle order places available in the Test side. Chris Jordan will be hoping for a chance to push his name forward for a Test place in the Sri Lanka series, although Chris Woakes will hope to get the nod instead.

In the last three Ashes series the winner has always gone on to lose the ODIs but, now, with both sides so different to the Test teams, previous form in the Tests has little or nothing to do with this series. It is not even easy to guess what England’s starting XI will be. One of the biggest issues for England will be the question of whether or not Alistair Cook can settle his addled mind and out-think Michael Clarke. If, as in the Test series, it is Michael Clarke who makes all the correct tactical calls, this could be a further dose of pain for Alistair Cook and ratchet up the pressure on his captaincy still further.

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