After an intense Ashes summer that ended with grumbles from the tourists about the lack of any post-series drinks at the Oval, perhaps it is for the best that England and Australia should meet again on Saturday in the dry state of Gujarat.
But while that encounter ended up two wins apiece, there is a yawning gap as regards World Cup fortunes. Third-placed Australia can move closer towards a semi-final berth with victory at the hulking great Narendra Modi Stadium, while bottom of the table England only really have Champions Trophy qualification and pride to play for in their remaining games.
Although, as all the post-Ashes mithering reminds us, there is always plenty more on it than just points when it comes to this rivalry. Ben Stokes compared it to India-Pakistan a day out from the toss and while this felt a fair old stretch given the obvious difference in geopolitical tensions, there is certainly no love lost between these two sporting nations.
Even with tweaks dictated by the 50-over format, there are still plenty of combatants from the summer on show. One notable absentee is Alex Carey, however, with the man at the centre of the most fiercely debated incident – the stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s – having lost his ODI spot to Josh Inglis, a Yorkshire-born Australian no less.
Perhaps the friction that has played out through various recollections and soundbites since will jolt Bairstow into life, or England out of their torpor more generally. Little else has worked so far and no one in the camp has a diagnosis, Stokes the latest baffled by the great mystery of the defending champions who fell flatter than a chapati out in India.
“I think the problem is that we’ve been crap,” said Stokes, stepping in for the captain, Jos Buttler, as the pre-match talking head. “Everything we’ve tried, putting pressure back on to the opposition in a way in which we know, or trying to soak up the pressure in a different way, which we know we’ve done before and been successful with, it’s just not worked.
“If we knew what had gone wrong, we would have been able to fix it. But unfortunately, we don’t. It’s just been one of those tournaments where, yeah, it’s just been a disaster.”
While this breaks one of Richie Benaud’s golden rules – events on a sporting field, he always said, seldom merit such terms – most will agree with the sentiment. Their one win against Bangladesh aside, England have failed to piece together 100 overs of convincing ODI cricket; even when 50 came against India in Lucknow last weekend, the batting crumbled like old plasterboard in the face of an admittedly ferocious attack.
They have lost their old cruising speed of six-an-over, while the late innings fireworks have also been distinctly absent this side of Bonfire Night. Indeed, a once destructive side has cleared the rope just 27 times in this tournament – only the Netherlands have struck fewer sixes. Meanwhile, a bowling attack that used to operate with runs on the board, or the confidence of knowing any total was obtainable, has the lowest tally of wickets with 36.
Australia, by contrast, appear to have struck upon something that works after arriving with few expectations back home and meeting these initially. The batting has begun firing to the tune of three successive 350-plus scores, augmented in the most recent of these by the return of Travis Head. Little wonder Pat Cummins, in a rich groove with the ball personally, smiled so much during his pre-match press conference.
“It’s a new game and a new tournament,” said Cummins, when asked if any residual Ashes tension still lingers. “But I always think a healthy amount of rivalry is good, especially our playing group. We’re quite a chilled, calm group, so sometimes when we get a little bit more fired up, I actually don’t think it’s too bad a thing.”
England (possible): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (capt/wkt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Australia (possible): Travis Head, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wkt), Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins (campt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Extinguishing England’s semi-final hopes – still not mathematically confirmed, in something of an indictment of the tournament’s structure – would be sweet either way, although challenges have been thrown up this week. Australia’s squad is down to just 13 available players, with Glenn Maxwell out due to concussion from cricket’s latest golf-related incident and Mitch Marsh having flown home to attend to a family matter.
No Maxwell leaves Adam Zampa as Australia’s solitary spinner, a small chink of light for an England side that could swap Moeen Ali for Harry Brook and still boast more slow bowling options than their opponents. Whichever way it goes, and even without the urn on the line, we can say with a degree of certainty that beers will not be shared afterwards.
