The England squad set off for Australia in pursuit of the World Cup on Tuesday. The campaign has been meticulously planned: the England and Wales Cricket Board even contrived to change the Ashes schedule so that its side could prepare with fresh, uncluttered minds for a tournament England have never won (the nearest they came was in 1992 in Melbourne when they were winning the final against Pakistan for at least half the game; unfortunately it was the first half).
There has been the odd hiccup. The captain was sacked just before Christmas and, with six weeks to go, the selectors do not know their best XI. One might expect enlightenment from the new captain, Eoin Morgan, on Tuesday before the flight from Heathrow except that he is already in Australia plying his trade for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash. Instead Peter Moores will speak for the first time since he declared in Sri Lanka that, whatever the other selectors might think, Alastair Cook was his choice to take the side to Australia. There is no disgrace in changing one’s mind but it is preferable not to have to do it quite so publicly.
England have a minimum of six ODIs before taking on Australia in Melbourne on Valentine’s Day in their first match of the World Cup – four games in the Tri-series with India and Australia, with the possibility of a fifth in the final, plus warm-up matches against Pakistan and West Indies in February. It does not look long enough to knock the team into shape.
Some consolation may be found in England’s solitary success in ICC tournaments. In 2010 they won the World T20 in the Caribbean, a triumph which came from a few scrawls on the back of a Dubai envelope – “Open with Kieswetter and Lumb and then just bloody go for it” – and a surge of confidence. No doubt Paul Collingwood, England’s captain in 2010, will be conveying that experience to an eager team in the Antipodes, albeit a Scottish one.
Even now England are not sure who will be their opening batsmen for this World Cup but it will certainly be a raw combination. Like Morgan Alex Hales has been playing in Australia – for the Hobart Hurricanes – and he would be the cavaliers’ choice. Also like Morgan and most of the other Poms out there, Hales has yet to take the Big Bash by storm.
Even so, if England were to send him out alongside Moeen Ali, then fans would be well-advised to turn up on time while the No3 might wait his turn with gloves and helmet at the ready. Anything could happen with a Hales-Moeen combination at the top of the order, which is one of its attractions.
The more conservative route would have Ian Bell reverting to the role of opening batsman. Alternatively Bell could be given the No3 position but this has become much less likely since James Taylor’s success in Sri Lanka.
It remains a puzzle that Bell, now incontrovertibly England’s most senior batsman, has spent so much of the last 18 months as a peripheral squad member in white-ball cricket.
This is not just the fault of the selectors and the prolonged presence of Cook at the top of the order in the ODI side. Somewhere along the line Bell might have made himself unassailable and therefore undroppable but he has never quite managed that in one day-cricket.
Meanwhile there will be the usual agonising about the contribution of the new one-day captain. Morgan’s recent record is worse than Cook’s but there is one difference: if Morgan plays well, his performance might easily decide the outcome of the match. That was less likely to apply with Cook. Even so it would be a relief to everyone concerned if England had a white-ball captain who scored a few runs.
The stock of Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson rose while the team was in Sri Lanka. But now they must start playing again. Their experience will be invaluable but it would help matters even more – especially for Anderson – if the white Kookaburra cricket ball would show a greater inclination to swing than has been evident recently.
Morgan will lean heavily on this pair while the other fast bowling place will be contested by Chris Woakes, Steven Finn and Chris Jordan. After Sri Lanka Woakes may have edged ahead of his peers. There may be occasions when England opt for four pacemen rather than playing James Tredwell but this is unlikely to be the norm. Recent evidence indicates that such a lineup will lead to the captain being fined and/or suspended because of a slow over-rate.
Given England’s recent record as well as their lack of success in World Cups since the first one 40 years ago, there is not much to be optimistic about except that the flawed format of the tournament enables a team to race up on the rails in the final 10 days to general consternation. Let us hope to be consternated.
