Tuesday 3 March 2015 14:34, UK
After a third heavy defeat of the World Cup, this time to Sri Lanka, England's one-day cricket has never appeared so lost.
Ahead of their two remaining, must-win Pool A games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, we've indentified five key areas England must change in order to turn their fortunes around.
Many would argue England could do far worse than change the entire 11 based on performances so far. The late decision to bring Gary Ballance in for Ravi Bopara before the first game of the tournament brought criticism - a confused move exposing a lack of confidence in their plans - and England have been reluctant to change things since, seeing it perhaps as an admission of their error. But with an unthinkably embarrassing group-stage exit a very real possibility, their pride will have to take a beating and changes have to be made. Alex Hales is a must and Bopara should be considered, as well as Chris Jordan and James Tredwell with the ball. There should also be a rethink in player roles, with both James Taylor and Jos Buttler perhaps moved up the order and Chris Woakes given back the new ball.
Ideally, England would bat the same way in every game - start conservatively with the bat, keep wickets in hand, before some lower-order hitting pushes them up to a score of 270-280. That’s the approach they like and trust. But it has become painstakingly obvious that not even a score of 300 represents par anymore. Their win over Scotland is a prime example of England cautiously looking to reach the target they set themselves, rather than the one that will win them the game before they even have to bowl a ball. The batting order remained rigid with Buttler arriving at the crease with just 31 balls remaining, as it did against Sri Lanka when he came in with 27 to go. This is a guy who scored 121 off 74 balls against the same opposition 10 months ago, while the one who scored 116 from 64 balls in the 2014 World T20 against them, Alex Hales, stayed confined to the bench.
There have been seven scores in excess of 310 so far at this World Cup. England’s 172-1 at the 30-over mark of the game against Scotland was more than any of those side’s had reached by the same point, yet England barely scraped over 300. Even in the more positive batting display against Sri Lanka, England scored just six fours between the 30th and 40th overs. The side's 123 all out against New Zealand has had them fearful of losing a game with the bat rather than winning one, attempting to just keep themselves in the contests instead. Michael Clarke described his Australian side’s batting against the the Black Caps - when bowled out for 151 - as horrendous, yet their approach will undoubtedly be as attacking as ever for the remainder of the tournament.
A one-paced attack, lacking in variety. The worrying form of James Anderson, a fear of bowling yorkers and Steven Finn’s pace (or lack of). These are some of the main concerns with England’s attack and the criticisms being levelled at not just the bowlers but the coaching staff, in particular David Saker. England have said on many occasions that bowling short is often part of their plans in ODI cricket, so how can you really blame the bowlers if this is what they’re being told to do. More worrying is while the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult are getting the ball to talk on the pitches down under, Anderson isnt. And while other young, raw fast-bowlers like Mitchell Starc are encouraged to bowl at express pace even if it means they go for a few runs, Finn appears to have had the pace coached out of him - again reflecting a conservative attitude and a muddled approach to the shorter format.
The same is said every four years. Regardless of whether England qualify for the quarter-finals, or by some sort of miracle progress further, they really do need to identify where things have gone wrong to this point and ensure this kind of embarrassing start to a tournament is never again repeated. England, rightly or wrongly, identified Alastair Cook as their man to lead the ODI side after the last World Cup. Sure his form dipped in the build-up to the tournament but England’s stubborn refusal to change things was somewhat admirable, until they did relent and stripped him of the captaincy at the 11th hour. While England’s failure so far at this World Cup hasn’t been a result of losing Cook, the change was made too late and the leadership, approach, team and their roles were all disrupted when they should have been set in stone. England must build around the obvious talent they have at their disposal – Ballance, Taylor, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Jordan – and persist with them so that in four years' time they aren’t all fighting for places in the side but are confident of their roles within it.
Watch England's next game against Bangladesh, live on Sky Sports World Cup from 3am on Monday.
