For a team that is known to have a conservative approach to playing limited overs cricket to showing the others how its done, it’s been a radical shift for England.
Only a person as audacious as Eoin Morgan could have found a way to bring such a shift in team culture and mindset. He led the team with the example in their first season against New Zealand and Australia at home.
He led by example but the side has seen a flurry of exciting youngsters making their debut, all of whom he has nurtured beautifully and backed the older members of the squad to the hilt.
Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, David Willey have been done well while second coming for Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett been fruitful.
Time and time again Morgan has shown no remorse for being bowled out cheaply and prefers to be 40-2 at the end of 10 overs than 20-0 over the same time.
The newfound fearless approach of England has worked for them well most of the time since World Cup 2015 as the side has best win-loss ratio until now and the team is ranked No.1 in ODI cricket.
In the last year, England, in a bid to score above the par score ended up getting out for a low score.
Three instances, firstly at Lord’s against South Africa in overcast conditions for 153, secondly for 211 against Pakistan on a turning track and in Australia at Adelaide for 196 on a pitch which had a bit of grass on it. A score of 270 or 280 would have been enough but thanks to England aggressive approach at the top they were reduced to meagre scores.
But in conditions where a total of 270-280 would be enough does going all out for 350 makes sense when you could be down five wickets for 20?
Definitely not.
One thing to note is that while chasing, England’s win percentage since the World Cup debacle is 72 per cent, as compared to 56 per cent when they set the target.
For a team known to rely much on top order for an explosive start, it was impressive how the team played early on. In the first five overs England scored only 21 runs which were still good enough but there were no expansive drives or lofting it over the bowlers head. Instead, they ran well between wickets used soft hands and only punished bad balls.
After getting the hang of the conditions, Jonny Bairstow went for all out attack. It was a patient, responsible innings, perhaps in recognition that a score above 300 would be a tough ask for a weak Australian batting line-up considering how Aussies falter in middle overs to the spinners.
The slow yet steady approach saw Jos Butler make the best use of the platform as he launched himself onto Australian bowlers for a 74-ball 91.
It was a matter of showing maturity and adaptability as England’s players seemed to learn from their past mistakes.
England will be strong. The message is quite clear just a year from the World Cup as the group marches on to more victories while keeping the ultimate goal – clinching the prized possession of World Cup 2019 – as their major priority.
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