The importance of Morgan
Eoin Morgan began the tour by saying he would be prepared to drop himself during next summer’s World Cup if his form was flatlining. But by the end of the series win – England’s ninth in a row – the captain’s importance was again underlined beyond just his batting (which after regaining some stillness at the crease, was the best on tour with 195 runs). Leaving himself out of the 219-run DLS hammering in Colombo was probably a bit too funky. Dead-rubbers may afford experimentation but why unbalance the team? And if a batsman really did have to make way, why not switch Joe Root’s thoughts to the Test series early? But what it did do was demonstrate what the players have been saying for a while: when the ball is travelling to all parts, Morgan’s icy demeanour holds things together more often than not. In the sapping humidity England lost their cool too easily and bickered away for what was their sloppiest fielding display for some time. Morgan’s stand-in, Jos Buttler, has stepped up well in the past. But having struggled a touch behind the stumps on tour, and gone into the match short of time at the crease, he could probably have done without it in this instance.
Seam bowling is still a problem
While England already know their best World Cup batting group, a disappointment for Morgan and his head coach, Trevor Bayliss, was that none of the fringe seamers truly grabbed their chance. Conditions and lack of match action were factors, admittedly. But there are now only five ODIs remaining before the provisional squad is named on 23 April and beyond Chris Woakes (typically slick with the new ball) and Liam Plunkett (a favourite of Morgan, albeit rusty after his late arrival on tour) things are not much clearer. Tom Curran appears to relish tight situations but does he have enough quality up front? Olly Stone caught the eye with his pace but took one wicket in 16 overs and is light on experience, while Mark Wood and Sam Curran were both knocked about a bit during their one-off appearances. David Willey, ready to return after ending a solid summer with a back injury, will likely replace the latter come the Caribbean but overall, seam bowling is the final squeaky cog in what is an otherwise well-oiled machine.
Confident Rashid on song
The true challenge on tour may yet be to come in the Test series but the value of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali to the one-day attack is unquestionable, such that Morgan now happily describes them as “our best two bowlers” without qualifying this assertion. As regards Rashid, it had previously been said that it was a case of his wicket-taking ability mitigating some profligacy runs-wise. But here the leg-spinner was second only to Woakes in terms of economy rate while remaining a constant threat. His googly should be well known to opponents by now but still it deceives, in part because it is deployed more thoughtfully. Fittingly, Rashid’s body language is unwaveringly confident at present.
Football is going nowhere
Jonny Bairstow’s twisted ankle gave rise to suggestions that football, as a pre-training warm-up, should be parked. But Morgan and Bayliss are having none of it (even if the latter doesn’t quite get this English obsession). During the three years since it returned to the daily routine, Bairstow is the sole player injured. And with tackling banned, the fact is his slip could easily have occurred when turning during shuttle runs or something equally innocuous. The squad are borderline obsessed with the game and this tour has seen the ante upped by a fantasy scoring system in which individuals are assigned transfer values. The coaches may still have to rein in some over-enthusiasm at times but as a source of camaraderie, the benefits continue to outweigh the risk.
Don’t play in Sri Lanka in October
The sight of the blue tarpaulin covers spread over the various outfields became pretty tedious, with all five matches affected by the monsoon rains. The England management reckoned more time was spent training than playing during the series, hence the final selection was as much about getting players such as Buttler and Ben Stokes more time in the middle. Granted there was an element of misfortune, with dry days in between matches, but there is a reason Sri Lanka rarely play at home in October. The ECB’s statement about the packed global schedule did not cut it, frankly. Boards chasing broadcast revenues create this situation, it is not handed down from above. And if you are going to chance your luck, at least have the common sense and flexibility to notice that the storms tend to arrive later in the day and switch all five games to morning starts.
