- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
To win the upcoming World Cup teams will need a batting line-up capable of comfortably making or chasing scores of more than 300.
Yet since the start of 2012, England have only scored more than 300 three times, which equates to once every 19 matches. Let’s compare that figure to the main challengers for this World Cup.
Australia have been the most prolific side, making 15 scores of above 300 at once every 4.5 matches.
India have registered 16 scores of more than 300 at a rate of once every 4.6 matches. South Africa have notched reg 12 totals of more than 300 at one every five matches.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, posted 12 totals of 300 plus which worked out at one for every 7.5 matches played.
These figures are skewed somewhat by the fact that teams like India and Sri Lanka tend to prepare home pitches which give batsmen silver service. But even when England have played on such lifeless decks they have battled to make the kind of big scores needed to be a heavyweight in modern ODI cricket.
The major factor is that England have been fielding three players in their top four who are accumulators rather than explosive strokemakers.
Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root have been fixtures of England’s top four for the past two years. The other position in the top four has been filled by an assortment of players who have been tasked with adding some belligerence and unpredictability.
Even when this player has come off and played a dashing innings, England have still rarely bulldozed sides because Cook, Bell and Root don’t have the ability to ram home the advantage.
As mentioned above, Australia has been the side that has most consistently made scores of 300-plus over the past three years.
When you look at their top three it is clear why. David Warner, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson are all capable of, and comfortable with, coming to the crease and immediately dismantling an attack.
That trio all possess the mindset and power to smash their first 50 runs off 35 balls or less. Opposition bowlers and captains are also well aware of this.
The threat this trio poses intimidates opponents. Bowlers begin their spells on edge and captains are quick to retreat into defensive tactics once one of them builds momentum.
By comparison, when teams are bowling to two of Cook, Bell or Root in the opening Powerplay they have little fear of being deposited into the stands.
The bowlers can concentrate on maintaining a consistent line and length and the captain can set orthodox fields. They can do this because none of those three batsman are likely to open up their stance and clout a good length ball for six, or manufacture a boundary from an innovative stroke.
All three play old school ODI cricket – get yourself set and then gradually increase the tempo of your innings. There is still room for such players in modern ODI cricket.
Australia’s skipper Michael Clarke is one such player, although still significantly more versatile than Cook. Clarke can get away with playing the role of accumulator because he is surrounded by scintillating batsmen like David Warner, Aaron Finch and Shane Watson.
England cannot afford to field three such players in their side, let alone in their top four. It leaves far too much work to be done by aggressive batsmen lower in the order like Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara.
At least one of those three batsmen needs to bat in the top three. Given Cook is the skipper it would be a huge risk to dump him so close to the tournament. Bell or Root must make way to allow Buttler, Bopara or Morgan to inject some vitality at the top of the order.
Ideally, England would have three free-flowing batsman in their top four, with either Root or Bell there to steady the ship.
Bell was omitted from Wednesday’s rain-shortened ODI in Sri Lanka and, to no great surprise, England looked a more potent line-up with the destructive Alex Hales at first drop.
Set the difficult task of chasing down 236 from just 35 overs, they won comfortably thanks to a rollicking innings from opener Moeen Ali (58 from 40 balls) and Buttler (55 from 37). They were the kind of match-changing knocks that Bell is not capable of producing.
With their long-favoured top order and tactics, it is impossible to see England challenging for the World Cup. They should jettison at least one of their accumulators in favour of a Hales type. Cautious cricket will not win this tournament.