Cricket World Cup 2015
Anatomy of Another Embarrassment II
And looking Forward
March 22nd 2015
The sad part
of England’s World Cup campaign is that so many of the criticisms are
ultimately unfair. England took a good side, packed with talent to the World
Cup. Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, James Taylor, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler
are all batsmen who can dismantle an attack. They are not poor players, or
defensive batsmen who are locked in the 1960s: they are world class players and
have shown it. However, after a dreadful pounding in their first two games, the
team went into its shell and could not find the way out. The campaign stumbled
from bad to worse with players losing confidence even when faced with inferior
opposition. The fact that the captain could not even buy a run did not help. In
Sri Lanka in November England had been competitive, even though they lost. In
the Tri-series, England had beaten India twice and ran Australia close in one
of their three encounters: in the World Cup Australia, New Zealand and Sri
Lanka annihilated England – the games were as one-sided as any in the
tournament and players with shattered confidence just could not pull themselves together for the
Bangladesh game.
The sense of
crisis in the side has returned after briefly disappearing last summer. The
selectors have three Tests in the West Indies to find a combination that works
before first New Zealand and then Australia come baying for blood. A 7-0
overall result would not be unexpected unless rain saves England in one or more
of the Tests.
The side for
the Caribbean reflects the uncertainty. Sam Robson has joined Nick Compton, Joe
Root and Michael Carberry as openers who England have tried and rejected. Root
has the satisfaction of at least still being in the side, albeit in the middle
order. For Robson, whose late summer nightmare continued on the Lions tour, the
chances are that his opportunity has been and gone. Nick Compton has gone back
to Lords in the hope of getting back in the frame and is evidently still
somewhere in the thoughts because he is in the MCC side in Abu Dhabi, opening
alongside Alistair Cook and as captain to boot (Nick Compton will be relieved
that the headlines will be of Cook’s 6-ball 3, rather than his own first ball
duck). The latest winner of the poisoned ticket of opening with Alistair Cook
is Adam Lyth of Yorshire, although the selectors have recalled Jonathon Trott
who could, potentially, open alongside Cook or even conceivably, instead of him
if Cook’s travails continue.
Previously a
tour of the Caribbean was where you experimented desperately, hoping to find
someone capable of stopping the oncoming tide more effectively than King Canute
had one thousand years previously. Now, it is where you play a few up-and-coming
players to ease them gently into Test cricket.
The
Caribbean Test squad is interesting for those who stay from the World Cup team
and those who come back.
·
New: Adam Lyth,
Adil Rashid and Mark Wood.
The
inclusion of Lyth was widely predicted. Many pundits expected a straight
shootout with Sam Robson for the opening spot – it is obvious that Robson’s
struggles on the Lions tour have altered those plans.
The inclusion
of Adil Rashid was not expected. Rashid has toured several times with England
without ever being seriously in contention. Once appearing to be the brightest
talent in English cricket, he appeared to have lost his way completely before a
good all-round season in 2014.
Mark Wood is
possibly an even bigger surprise: he is yet another of the seemingly inexhaustible
Durham factory of fast-medium seamers. Ominously though, Martin Emerson, the
resident BBC commentator for Durham, says that he will do well “if he can keep
himself fit”.
·
Recalled:
Jonathon Trott, Ben Stokes, Jonathon Bairstow, Liam Plunkett and Alistair Cook
The recall of
Trott is a risk. There is no doubt that the Australians will not be gentle with
him. Will his health stand up to the rigours of an Ashes series? If he is up to
it there is no doubt that his return will strengthen the England team and add
some steel.
Ben Stokes
will be thinking how things change. After a dreadful run in 2014 with scores of
0, 0, 0, 23, 2, 33*, 16, DNB, 6 and 11 wickets @40.8 there really were no
grounds to select him, but runs and wickets in the Big Bash and with the Lions
and the failures of others have made him look, once again, like a great
all-rounder of mythical powers. Was his relative success in the 2012/13 Ashes just a flash in the pan, or is he the real deal? He needs to deliver more regularly.
Jonathon
Bairstow is almost the forgotten man. No longer a regular, he remains in the
side as the reserve ‘keeper and batsman. He has not played since the Sydney
Test, getting in and getting out time and again against New Zealand and
Australia in 2013 and 2014 and never quite breaking through.
Liam
Plunkett only played four Tests last summer, but 18 wickets, a maiden Test 50
and some high pace suggest that, after a decent tour with the Lions, he
probably should have gone to the World Cup because he would have added
something different to the attack. His fans will hope that, like Steve Harmison
in 2005, he will break through in the Caribbean after a similar roller-coaster
career.
Time is
running out for Alistair Cook. Having resuscitated last summer, playing on in
the ODIs has tightened the noose again and a failure on his return in Abu Dhabi
will not ease the pressure. A poor series in the Caribbean and the pressure to
change captain for the summer will become overwhelming.
·
Retained: Gary
Ballance, Joe Root, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Jordan &
James Tredwell.
When your
only specialist spinner played just 4 matches for his Division 2 county, taking
11 wickets @ 38.7 and finishing 9th in his county bowling averages,
you know that you have problems. He will not win you a Test, but he might tie
up an end… you hope. Many fans will wonder why Simon Kerrigan was not given another chance.
After the
World Cup almost all of the retained players have question marks against them.
There are serious doubts about Broad and Anderson as a strike force. Ian Bell’s
annus mirablis of 2012 looks far behind – his 3x50 in the World Cup have been
heavily criticised as being runs when they did not matter while his returns
against the big sides were poor. Gary Ballance burst on the scene last summer
in the Tests, but struggled during the winter. Chris Jordan ranges from
brilliant to mediocre according to the day and Joe Root was remarkably
anonymous most of the time.
·
Miss out:
Steve Finn, Sam Robson, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, …
Moeen and
Chris Woakes were injured during the World Cup, although Moeen may yet play
some part in the Test series.
It is hard
to see Steve Finn playing for England again in the near future. The World Cup
has shown that he was brought back far too soon and his confidence has taken
another massive jolt. He needs possibly two seasons in county cricket to re-invent
himself and decide whether he wants pace, or accuracy – in the World Cup he
gave neither.
Similarly,
Sam Robson knows that his chances of a return are slim at best. A strong Lions
tour could have saved him. A century in a non-First Class match to start the
tour was followed by 1, 41, 5 & 0. Thanks very much. Don’t call us, we’ll
call you (but probably not).
England know
that they have to win the series in the West Indies big. Anything less than 2-0
will leave England in crisis going into the toughest Test year that the side
has had for many, many years. In contrast, convincing wins against the West
Indies and New Zealand would put the side in much better heart to face
Australia. For several of the side it may be a question of winning or seeing their England career end.
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