Team Changes Make The Difference

England's Cricket World Cup campaign threatened to go out in a damp squib but the rain stopped to allow England to win their second game in the tournament and equal their poor showing at the 1996 World Cup.

At least England made the quarter-finals back in 1996. Going into this year's tournament, England had hopes of causing a surprise or two but we all expected they would scrape into the quarter finals and go out in the knockout stage just like they did in 2011.

Hopes of causing a surprise or two were realised but for all the wrong reasons. Poor team selection, timid batting and ineffective bowling tactics meant a lot of head shaking and scratching. England have been humiliated in this World Cup. James Taylor's batting made the defeat against Australia look respectable, but the defeats to New Zealand and Sri Lanka were demoralising, and Bangladesh fed on a rotting carcass.

The win against Scotland didn't set the world a light with England content on setting a target of 304 when they should have looked to smash a total closer to 400. 

All of this meant that today's encounter with Afghanistan was a dead rubber with England forced to make changes to the team due to injury. These team changes predictably resulted in a more balanced team and increased the frustration of previous team selections.

The opening bowling pair of James Anderson and Stuart Broad took a wicket a piece but it was the change bowlers who led from the front. Chris Jordan put in a Man of the Match performance of 6 overs, 2 maidens, 2 wickets for 13 runs, going at 2.05 runs an over. Ravi Bopara, playing the first time in over a month took 2 wickets for 31 runs, as well as a good catch to give James Tredwell his only wicket of the tournament. 

Afghanistan made 111-7 off 36.2 overs before the rain came. England were set 101 off 25 overs via Duckworth and Lewis method. Ian Bell opened the batting with Alex Hales and they were cantering when Hales nicked off behind to the keeper. Bell made 50 and it would have been interesting to see if he had kicked on to 100 if it was a 50 over game. Taylor was circumspect coming in at Number Three and must be allowed to have that place in the team. The game was won with almost 7 overs to spare. Afghanistan, apart from a few fielding mistakes on the boundary, played well and should be proud of their showing in this World Cup with their victory over Scotland.

England, however, are left with what could have beens - explosive batting of Hales instead of the plodding Ballance (or even Bell) and variety and guile in the bowling of Jordan, Bopara and Tredwell instead of the predictable bowling of Anderson, Broad and Finn.   

England now leave Australia early but will be back in action next month in the Caribbean for a three match Test series against the West Indies. Oh, it's a hard life for an England cricketer! 

World Cup Swansong Buildup

So, a forgettable England campaign at the 2015 Cricket World Cup comes to an end tomorrow against lowly Afghanistan.

Unsurprisingly, England's head coach, Peter Moores, has been defended by his number two, Paul Farbrace, saying that Moores hasn't "cost" the team to be knocked out of the tournament.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cricket/31846284

Moores' post match interview with Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports wasn't inspiring as he lamented the lack of experience in the team and an unsettled side going into the tournament.

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/9751526/moores-weve-let-people-down#ooid=MyaDJ1czrJemnf9PfGwbEKb52Xe1lImo


The team had six months to prepare for this tournament and should have left Cook out of the team earlier. An ideal number three in James Taylor had been found yet they replaced him with the ineffective Gary Ballance at the start of the tournament. England were simply makers of their own downfall.

The World Cup was lost mainly due to lacklustre batting and bowling in the middle overs which put extra pressure on the team at the end of the innings. Batting at 4/over between the 11th and 34th overs isn't good enough and, with no variety in England's bowling, other teams milked us. 

James Taylor and Joe Root showed in the Tri-Series what an effective partnership they have out in the middle and Taylor's ability to rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking over was missed in the middle overs. England Player of the Tournament, Jos Buttler, is more than just a finisher and should bat higher in the order. His tournament strike rate of 135.57 would have a lot more impact across 20 overs instead of 10. Eoin Morgan's captaincy hasn't been special but he showed some initiative in his field settings against Bangladesh.

The opening attack of James Anderson and Stuart Broad was disappointing with Anderson only looking threatening against Bangladesh. Their bowling was simply too short to allow the ball to swing. Moeen Ali has developed in to a canny spinner who can take wickets and there is no surprise that he was England's most economical bowler going at 5.28/over. So why wasn't James Tredwell playing as well? Ali and Tredwell could have worked in tandem to frustrate other teams during the middle overs.

  

Michael Carberry, speaking on Sky Sports The Verdict, gave some valuable insight into the England set-up. Contrary to Moores and Farbrace, statistics are "very much apart of" how England play cricket according to Carberry. Carberry continued by saying none of his England playing career "made any sense" as he was told to play the percentages and not be aggressive.

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/9751858/revealed-how-england-use-statistics#ooid=dpazV1czp5Ar9gIBtWuixsxh6KPT3LTM

Analysing the percentages is better suited to Test Match cricket, not the modern one day game. The world has passed England by in the one day and T20 formats that require players to think on their feet, show initiative and adapt to the game situation.

A more pro-active, instinctive and ruthless approach is required. The next four years between now and the next World Cup should be spent on England developing young players who show these qualities in their game. A new coach with these qualities would help as well. Australian coach, Darren Lehman, has shown what a no-nonsense mindset can bring. Jason Gillespie has done well at Yorkshire and is a viable candidate.

But to the task at hand. Afghanistan await at the Sydney Cricket Ground and they surely fancy their chances. Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes will be out injured so my team would be Hales, Bell, Taylor, Root, Buttler (wk), Morgan (c), Bopara, Jordan, Tredwell, Broad, Anderson

England have only won one game this tournament and that was against Scotland. Will this be the first time England haven't won two games at a Cricket World Cup? It just could be.