The bricks of England’s post-World Cup rebuild were tentatively laid in Antigua with a four-wicket defeat to a less than full strength West Indies that provided some causes for optimism, while also highlighting familiar frailties that hampered their miserable World Cup campaign in India.
Here are six talking points from the first ODI defeat in Antigua.
England struggle to find the balance between aggression and accumulation
England’s final score of 325 does not accurately reflect the rhythm of England’s innings. The pitch was two-stage and the bounce was variable. If the bowlers, especially the spinners, got it right, it was difficult to score runs.
Phil Salt took England to 70 in the first seven overs, but Romario Shepherd in particular was treated harshly, losing 34 in the first three overs. Gudakesh Moti then took charge of Salt, who played meek chips to cover, continuing his long-standing problem with left-arm spin. One quickly became two when Alzarri’s hard-nosed man sent Joseph Will Jacks on his way to turning 26.
As West Indies showed more control in the middle overs, their wickets followed suit. Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone all fell in the middle overs. Duckett may have succumbed to slow pitching as Crowley missed out on a round-robin win against Yannick Karaia before being bowled out for 48 due to a mix-up with Harry Brook. However, after England’s number 3 hit Karaia for the fourth time, Crawley go down to 31 as Moti had a direct chance of long-on after Moti failed to get the ball. It was supposed to be. Livingston was not responsible for the red card and was eliminated after Shepherd missed his shot.
This series of wickets left England six behind by 39 overs and put them in grave danger of not making the most of their excellent start. Had West Indies been sharper in the field, things could have been worse. A superb 66-run eighth wicket stand between Sam Curran and Brydon Kearse saved the top order. There is a lack of top players who take responsibility for capitalizing on quick starts, in contrast to, for example, Virat Kohli, who quickly racked up scoring opportunities without taking any risks after India’s equally quick powerplay at the World Cup. was. There is a reluctance to bowl deep innings like the West Indies and the fastest scorers in the World Cup.
Brook reigns it in
Brook, on the other hand, was noticeably more cautious than he was at the World Championships, where he was sent off for four of the first five shots of the 10:00-25:00 tournament. Here he picked up the pace steadily and was a much better strike rotator than Crawley during a 71-run four-wicket stand. He beat Karaia’s leg-spin, but Karaia missed his length too often and gave him few chances, before firing a slow ball into the middle from Joseph. During the innings break, Brook said the nature of the surface forced him to follow his natural instincts, but he had also worked on the rhythm of ODI batting. This effort is starting to bear fruit with his ODI innings being his most mature yet.
Curran and Carse to the rescue…with the bat
325 could easily have been 260 had it not been for the great partnership between Curran and Kaas for the eighth wicket. Kearse’s batting has improved in recent years, averaging over 30 runs in top-class cricket, and this improvement is clearly visible. England’s numbers 8 and 9 benefited from this death. It was a reminder of his enviable batting depth, one of his team’s strengths in England’s limited overs since 2015.
<iframe Loading=”lazy” style=”border-radius: 12px;” src=”https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/1XeleYXleZeyGRpmoG2Nzw?utm_source=generator” width=”100%” height=”232″ Frameborder=”0″allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”></iframe> ;
The Sam Curran conundrum
Curran was great with the bat but very disappointing with the ball. Today was a perfect example of the challenges England face when using Curran in ODI cricket. He scored important lower-order runs, but was even more expensive with the new ball, as Arik Athanadze took particular delight in Curran’s innocuous opening spell. The worrying thing for the all-rounder is that at the death, his traditional strength, he was unable to get things back on track. At this point in his career, Curran is not a reliable option for 10 overs to take charge of one of England’s five bowling spots. The prospect of him playing at No. 8 is appealing, but Curran’s batting ability is a luxury given England’s already impressive strength, with Rehan Ahmed coming in at No. 10. His figures of 0-98 were the highest ever achieved by England in a men’s ODI. Is he someone England want to build a team around?
Rehan Ahmed, comfortably England’s standout bowler
There’s always the danger of overwhelming young talent with unrealistic expectations, but Rehan Ahmed’s development is on a path that can excite even the most well-rounded expert. At just 19 years old, his game has already improved significantly since his international debut last December. He is much more confident in his leg breaks now. This has the dual effect of increasing the variety of weapons in your arsenal, while also making it harder to predict fatal mistakes. Rehan was England’s outstanding bowler. This could be the start of a life-changing few months for him as he has a Test tour of India, IPL and T20 World Cup in the Caribbean ahead of him.
Shai Hope masterclass gets hosts over the line
England were lackluster at times, West Indies needed captain Shai Hope’s fine attacking efforts to get over the line, but Romario Shepherd was more than adequate to maintain the prescribed quota. played a role. Hope likes to dig deep and is often let down by his teammates. At this time, with much support from the West Indies keeping the wickets, Hope managed to take off and eventually ended the game with seven balls to spare. This was his 16th and fastest his 100 ODIs.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
