Eoin Morgan sees the challenge of facing world champions Australia over five one-day internationals, starting in Southampton on Thursday, as the perfect test for a young England side that lit up the early part of the summer with a no-fear approach to white-ball cricket.
Fresh from Monday’s Twenty20 win over the tourists in Cardiff, and with memories of a 3-2 series victory against New Zealand from their previous 50-over outing back in June, the captain views Steve Smith’s No1-ranked side as the ideal yardstick by which to judge the progress of his young team.
“I think it’s going to be very tough,” said Morgan. “Certainly, we’ll need to be close to our best to beat them. As with New Zealand, we’ll need to find a way of trying to put them under pressure. They’re both very good and we are in a completely different phase of development with our squad. It will be a really good test.”
Morgan was cagey on selection but is now expected continue with the top three that featured in their five-run Twenty20 win over the tourists on Monday, with Moeen Ali, who struck 72 from 46 balls, to continue at No3 in the absence of the rested Joe Root and provide an additional spin option with the ball.
“Obviously, Root being left out leaves a huge gap – the weight of runs, the way he scores them and an option with the ball as well,” said Morgan. “We don’t want to be chopping and changing too much. We want to reinforce the confidence we have in a player and the responsibility on them to go and play the way they want.”
Both captains must adapt to yet more changes in the one-day playing regulations that now see the batting power play dropped and an extra fielder allowed outside the circle in the final 10 overs the innings – tweaks that could mean the monster scores of the past two years are brought down a notch.
England’s last outing at the Ageas Bowl – a three-wicket defeat to New Zealand –saw them bowled out for 302 with 28 balls unused, although Alex Hales, who looks set to continue his opening partnership with Jason Roy, insists historical precedent has not been on the minds of the players since their group stage exit from World Cup. “Previously we settled for 280 or 300 being a score we could defend but we wanted to get rid of that this summer,” Hales told the Guardian.
“We didn’t want to go out there thinking about par scores and what’s gone before but just play each ball as it comes in an attacking, positive way. In one-day cricket every game is a new game on a fresh surface. What’s happened in the past is irrelevant. Beating New Zealand earlier in the summer was a great effort – a career highlight really – but it has to be the starting point because we have a new challenge against Australia who are the best in the world. We will have to raise our games further.”
England’s post-World Cup mindset has not been lost on the Australian captain Smith, who is likely to be just one of five of their World Cup finalists on show. He will also wait to see the pitch before deciding on whether to include left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, a player last seen during the 2013 Ashes.
“I think our boys are ready for the challenge,” Smith said. “England are going to play that same positive brand of cricket they’ve been playing and so for us, as a bowling group, we’ve got to make sure we’re challenging their defence. They’re going to come quite hard so we’re going to get opportunities – we’ve just got to make sure we take them.”
