It is a very old-fashioned total in the first innings of a one-day international: 260 for six. In this decade it is very rare for any team to post such a score. Far more likely would be 260 all out from 42 overs with all those attacking instincts contributing to a flurry of wickets; or 320 for six after mayhem in the last 10 overs.
In the 20th century a fielding captain would be rubbing his hands together optimistically with 260 on the board. There would have been a fair chance of victory. It would not even have been necessary to bowl the opposition out. It was possible to contain a side to less than 260 in 50 overs. There were some days when Geoff Boycott and Mike Brearley strode out to open the batting for England rather than free spirits like Jason Roy.
In 2016 there was no doubt at the halfway stage of the first ODI that Pakistan’s 260 was deemed to be insufficient by one and all. Pakistan were unlucky with the weather. The first rain interruption, although brief, could not have come at a worse time for them. After 42.1 overs they were 218 for four and the WASP, an innovation designed to predict scores of no obvious virtue (when we go to the theatre do we want an ever-changing forecast of what is going to happen in the next act?) was anticipating a total in excess of 300.
Sarfraz Ahmed, often Pakistan’s most impish batsmen, was ready to launch his assault. But after a delay of 25 minutes the juices were no longer flowing. In their last 47 balls – to the embarrassment of WASP, if he/she has a heart – Pakistan scored 42 runs for the loss of two wickets. There was something old-fashioned about that passage of play as well, a reminder that it is not absolutely inevitable that batsmen will always smash the ball all around the ground in the final fling of the first innings.
This was partly because of the traditional values of the trio of English pace bowlers. They did something that can be risky in modern white-ball cricket, but something which retains a certain potency whatever century we are in. They bowled fast.
The ball was speeding towards Mohammad Nawaz and Imad Wasim at around 90mph. This was not the case every ball. Chris Woakes, in particular, displayed a variety of slower balls. But the batsmen were kept honest by the sheer pace – and good direction – of the bowlers. Many of the runs, mostly scampered ones and twos, came from sliced mishits.
Woakes was consistently England’s fastest bowler in the Test series against Pakistan. But here he often seemed the slowest of the trio now that Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood were his pace partners.
The power of speed and the apprehension that this quality can cause – especially among lower middle-order batsmen – should never be underestimated. Such batsmen often crave to foster a reputation that they are vulnerable to the yorker or the slower ball, deliveries infinitely more welcome than the well-directed bouncer.
Wood’s fastest balls were actually propelled in his first spell when he exceeded 90mph. Trevor Bayliss and James Whitaker will have made a note; they recognise the power of pace no matter which format is being played. Yet there was no guarantee that Wood would have been selected for this squad if Steven Finn had been fit. England like their pecking orders and they are rarely inclined to disturb them.
Injuries can act as a catalyst for change in the make-up of any side. In comes the replacement who performs in such a way that he suddenly becomes undroppable. Despite the reassuring words of Eoin Morgan before the ODI, the same applies to other forms of absence. Morgan has been at pains to point out that there will be no pressure on his players to tour Bangladesh against their will if the England and Wales Cricket Board deems it safe for its players – and presumably their supporters and devoted press corp.
“There’s always room for a personal decision,” Morgan said. “You never put anyone under pressure to go on a tour.”
It is not quite as simple as that. It depends who you are. If Joe Root opted not to go to Bangladesh in October for a two-Test tour we can safely surmise that he would be back in the England side immediately after it. If Alex Hales decided he was not available for Bangladesh then the situation is rather different. He has been struggling against a red ball recently and there was no renaissance against a white one at the Ageas Bowl. Who knows?
England might welcome the necessity of finding an alternative at the top of the order in Bangladesh. So for Hales and a few other less established players an already tricky meeting with the ECB and its security team on Thursday evening to discuss the projected tour to Bangladesh becomes ever more complicated.
