There are three KEY issues with the England team right now:
1. the lack of variety in the bowling We are too predictable and once batsmen are set, they are set for the innings. I don't particularly mean ball to ball variation such as yorkers, slower balls, etc (although that also needs a lot of work). It's the fact that we have four right arm quicks and a spinning all rounder. Where is the left arm bowler? Medium pacers? Broad and Anderson look toothless. Broad and Finn are too similar in their approach, Anderson and Woakes are too similar in theirs. 2. the lack of intent in the batting England don't get enough runs in the middle overs - four runs per over for 25 overs of the innings is no longer acceptable in ODI. Most countries nowadays will be going at five or five and a half and that equates to an extra 25-40 runs per innings. We either need to hit more boundaries or squeeze more runs out of our shots. We are letting the opposition get away with too many dot balls that could be turned into quick singles as well as singles that could be twos. 3. the lack of invention in the field Field placements are too rigid. The team are too scared to move away from pre-game plans and adapt with the game situation. This is something that countries at the top of the game have become very good at.
There are three KEY issues with the England team right now:
1. the lack of variety in the bowling We are too predictable and once batsmen are set, they are set for the innings. I don't particularly mean ball to ball variation such as yorkers, slower balls, etc (although that also needs a lot of work). It's the fact that we have four right arm quicks and a spinning all rounder. Where is the left arm bowler? Medium pacers? Broad and Anderson look toothless. Broad and Finn are too similar in their approach, Anderson and Woakes are too similar in theirs. 2. the lack of intent in the batting England don't get enough runs in the middle overs - four runs per over for 25 overs of the innings is no longer acceptable in ODI. Most countries nowadays will be going at five or five and a half and that equates to an extra 25-40 runs per innings. We either need to hit more boundaries or squeeze more runs out of our shots. We are letting the opposition get away with too many dot balls that could be turned into quick singles as well as singles that could be twos. 3. the lack of invention in the field Field placements are too rigid. The team are too scared to move away from pre-game plans and adapt with the game situation. This is something that countries at the top of the game have become very good at.
So basically the bowling, the batting and the fielding. :-)
There are elements to all three that are working well and/or showing potential eg our powerplay batting is on the whole improving and was very good in this game. On the bowling, Moeen Ali is proving that he is more than just a part timer and is the only real variety in our attack at the moment.
With this squad of fifteen we have, this would be my team for the next two games (and the QF should we win both of those):
-Ballance is currently more of a hinderance than a help. Added to that, he offers nothing else with the ball or in the field. Replace him with Hales, someone who should've been in the team for the last 12 months. -Morgan is also struggling for form and 27 from 47 strike rate today is the final straw. Again, offers nothing with the ball and not sure he's doing anything inspirational with the captaincy either. Get Bopara back in the team and believe in him to bowl a few inexpensive wicket-to-wicket overs. -The one player with captain's experience and who has impressed me with his attitude while batting and in the field for England is James Taylor. He's done it very well at county level, let's get him involved sooner rather than later against associate opposition where not a lot is expected of the team. -Broad and Anderson both look average at best. I'd drop one and keep the other. At the moment I'm moving towards dropping Broad as I don't think both him and Finn fit into the same ODI bowling attack. With Anderson, you would have the option of pairing Woakes or Finn while if you hypothetically picked Broad and Finn, you go back towards the issue of variety.
Nice to see a Surrey player do well. Sadly for the wrong team.
England need to go back to square one with regards to one day cricket. It's slightly different to the early days when they just turned out the test team for ODIs but there are so many good one-day players that are not even considered.
Like Callum, I think it's the bowling that's more of concern. Where's the variation both in the type of bowler and the type of delivery? So many players get big scores against England simply because they know what's coming. Nothing wrong with Broad, Finn, Anderson and Woakes but please, not all four in the same team. When Ali came on today at least he slowed the run-rate down as well as get the only wicket.
@Callumcafc thanks a lot mate for providing the updates
No worries but as @DamoNorthStand says, I wish I had gone to bed!
Think everyone agrees the bowling is the biggest issue and at this point it's less about picking "the best" and more about making sure we have a suitable variety in the team.
The sooner we look at being busier between the wickets too, the better. We are wasting too many extra runs at a World Cup where 330-350 is a par score.
We got a decent score for once. That total was at least par.
We were doing okish at the start of their innings, then Broad started bowling too short, as he has been doing for donkeys years and starts getting thrashed around.
Then the other pace bowlers also started bowling too short.
Is it that the bowlers are incapable of keeping the ball up, or is it the coaches ?
309 was an ok score and with a better bowling attack, we could have defended it.
The problem is that with key bowlers such as Anderson and Broad out of form, we need to score more than that to put any kind of pressure on this generation of batsmen.
And that's where my point about the middle overs comes into play. Between 10 and 35 overs England scored 99 runs while, in the same period, Sri Lanka scored 142 runs.
Watching the full 97.2 overs of play last night, it was easy to see where England's multiple problems were. At this point, it's just about whether they have enough to correct them.
Anderson and Broad have bowled as badly as each other and virtually identical records: 2-182 @ 6.5 an over so both deserve to be dropped.
Equally, Bopara really doesn't give us a viable bowling alternative as evidenced by his figures for his last 10 bowling spells of 1-199.
Where England missed a trick is by not including Stokes instead of Ballance in the squad because, if you can excuse the pun, balance is exactly what he would have given us.
We would have had six front line bowlers, a more flexible batting line up AND been able to play the extra spinner in Tredwell thus making us less predictable.
The team would look something like this though, yet again, I would empasise the need for flexibility in the line up with Ali/Morgan/Stokes/Buttler at one end and Bell/Taylor/Root at the other:
Bell Ali Stokes Root Morgan Taylor Buttler Woakes/Jordan Two from Broad/Anderson/Finn Tredwell
Unless Morgan does something spectacular in our remaining games I can see a situation where he is dropped and the one day captaincy given to Joe Root.
Overall, Root averages in excess of 40.29 in 52 ODIs and since November on the tour to Sri Lanka, the tri series involving India and Australia and this WC he has scored just under 642 runs at an average of 53.33. Giving Root the captaincy in ODIs would then, assuming he succeeds, be the stepping stone to doing the same in Test matches where he averages 50.94.
Buttler should come in much higher than 7. No fixed position for him - he should bat dependent on the march situation. We're too rigid with our thinking and our structure. The best teams have more than plan A or B.
Our players come into the England side and lose all shot making capabilities. Clear the ropes, be inventive. Have a bloody go for Christ's Sake!
Comments
58/3 from 20 overs
1. the lack of variety in the bowling
We are too predictable and once batsmen are set, they are set for the innings. I don't particularly mean ball to ball variation such as yorkers, slower balls, etc (although that also needs a lot of work). It's the fact that we have four right arm quicks and a spinning all rounder. Where is the left arm bowler? Medium pacers? Broad and Anderson look toothless. Broad and Finn are too similar in their approach, Anderson and Woakes are too similar in theirs.
2. the lack of intent in the batting
England don't get enough runs in the middle overs - four runs per over for 25 overs of the innings is no longer acceptable in ODI. Most countries nowadays will be going at five or five and a half and that equates to an extra 25-40 runs per innings. We either need to hit more boundaries or squeeze more runs out of our shots. We are letting the opposition get away with too many dot balls that could be turned into quick singles as well as singles that could be twos.
3. the lack of invention in the field
Field placements are too rigid. The team are too scared to move away from pre-game plans and adapt with the game situation. This is something that countries at the top of the game have become very good at.
20 from 30
Two hundred partnership.
10 from 24
6 from 18
Poor.
There are elements to all three that are working well and/or showing potential eg our powerplay batting is on the whole improving and was very good in this game. On the bowling, Moeen Ali is proving that he is more than just a part timer and is the only real variety in our attack at the moment.
With this squad of fifteen we have, this would be my team for the next two games (and the QF should we win both of those):
Hales, Bell, Bopara, Root, Taylor (c), Ali, Buttler, Jordan, Tredwell, Anderson, Woakes/Finn
-Ballance is currently more of a hinderance than a help. Added to that, he offers nothing else with the ball or in the field. Replace him with Hales, someone who should've been in the team for the last 12 months.
-Morgan is also struggling for form and 27 from 47 strike rate today is the final straw. Again, offers nothing with the ball and not sure he's doing anything inspirational with the captaincy either. Get Bopara back in the team and believe in him to bowl a few inexpensive wicket-to-wicket overs.
-The one player with captain's experience and who has impressed me with his attitude while batting and in the field for England is James Taylor. He's done it very well at county level, let's get him involved sooner rather than later against associate opposition where not a lot is expected of the team.
-Broad and Anderson both look average at best. I'd drop one and keep the other. At the moment I'm moving towards dropping Broad as I don't think both him and Finn fit into the same ODI bowling attack. With Anderson, you would have the option of pairing Woakes or Finn while if you hypothetically picked Broad and Finn, you go back towards the issue of variety.
England need to go back to square one with regards to one day cricket. It's slightly different to the early days when they just turned out the test team for ODIs but there are so many good one-day players that are not even considered.
Like Callum, I think it's the bowling that's more of concern. Where's the variation both in the type of bowler and the type of delivery? So many players get big scores against England simply because they know what's coming. Nothing wrong with Broad, Finn, Anderson and Woakes but please, not all four in the same team. When Ali came on today at least he slowed the run-rate down as well as get the only wicket.
How Broad keeps getting picked amazes me.
Think everyone agrees the bowling is the biggest issue and at this point it's less about picking "the best" and more about making sure we have a suitable variety in the team.
The sooner we look at being busier between the wickets too, the better. We are wasting too many extra runs at a World Cup where 330-350 is a par score.
We were doing okish at the start of their innings, then Broad started bowling too short, as he has been doing for donkeys years and starts getting thrashed around.
Then the other pace bowlers also started bowling too short.
Is it that the bowlers are incapable of keeping the ball up, or is it the coaches ?
This has been going on for so long it's untrue.
The problem is that with key bowlers such as Anderson and Broad out of form, we need to score more than that to put any kind of pressure on this generation of batsmen.
And that's where my point about the middle overs comes into play. Between 10 and 35 overs England scored 99 runs while, in the same period, Sri Lanka scored 142 runs.
Watching the full 97.2 overs of play last night, it was easy to see where England's multiple problems were. At this point, it's just about whether they have enough to correct them.
I know we've been playing Bop as a finisher at six, but I've always found that a problem, where for most of his career at Essex he plays 3
Dinger:Ali:Bop:Root:Taylor:Morgs:Buttler would be my front 7
Equally, Bopara really doesn't give us a viable bowling alternative as evidenced by his figures for his last 10 bowling spells of 1-199.
Where England missed a trick is by not including Stokes instead of Ballance in the squad because, if you can excuse the pun, balance is exactly what he would have given us.
We would have had six front line bowlers, a more flexible batting line up AND been able to play the extra spinner in Tredwell thus making us less predictable.
The team would look something like this though, yet again, I would empasise the need for flexibility in the line up with Ali/Morgan/Stokes/Buttler at one end and Bell/Taylor/Root at the other:
Bell
Ali
Stokes
Root
Morgan
Taylor
Buttler
Woakes/Jordan
Two from Broad/Anderson/Finn
Tredwell
Unless Morgan does something spectacular in our remaining games I can see a situation where he is dropped and the one day captaincy given to Joe Root.
Overall, Root averages in excess of 40.29 in 52 ODIs and since November on the tour to Sri Lanka, the tri series involving India and Australia and this WC he has scored just under 642 runs at an average of 53.33. Giving Root the captaincy in ODIs would then, assuming he succeeds, be the stepping stone to doing the same in Test matches where he averages 50.94.
De Koch 1 (4)
Amla 159 (128)
Du Plessis 109 (109)
A B V 24 (9)
Miller 46* (23)
Rousseau 61* (30)
What's the bet A B V takes the gloves when Duminy is fit?
Duminy 121.00
Miller 113.00
A B V 80.33
Rousseau 70.00
Amla 64.25
Du Plessis 62.50
Koch 6.50
Oh that England had that decision to make!
Our players come into the England side and lose all shot making capabilities. Clear the ropes, be inventive. Have a bloody go for Christ's Sake!