This is not really a piece about the England vs Pakistan series. Rather this is a piece about England having depth in their cricket with the Pakistan series only being a side note. The performance of the English’s so called C team was so good that it beggars belief. How did this happen? Who was responsible for the renaissance? Let me try to find answers for these questions in England does have depth.
England the trendsetter
England are a force to reckon with in the short formats. This is not an understatement. They are really the team to beat when it comes to ODI and T20. Such has been their remarkable transformation. Not long ago, England were considered a complete pushover. They never cared about ODI unless it is a World Cup tournament. The English spectators, especially the older ones, were very much invested in Test Cricket. Infact, Test Cricket has a special place in the English fans’s hearts.
The English cricket team more or less became a laughing stock in the shorter formats until the 2015 ODI World Cup. They lost to Bangladesh and it did not go down well with the English establishment. They crashed out of the World Cup in the group stages without making to the playoffs. That too in a tournament of just 10 nations with the bottom 4 just making up the numbers.
None of this pleased the ECB. They set out to revamp their limited overs cricket and selected batsmen who are capable of hitting right from the time they walked into the wicket. They went for bowlers who can bat. ECB wanted to play a brand of cricket that was hitherto unknown to the cricketing world. Yes, you had certain aggressive cricketers. Richards never really cared who the bowler was or what the situation was. He was an exceptional cricketer. There were others like Greatbatch, Jayasuriya, Sehwag & Warner who played aggressively during the powerplay. However, it is England who have made it an art to play a belligerent form of the game throughout the 50 overs. They have extended this to their game in T20 cricket too. Now, other teams are playing catchup.
All of these resulted in their first World Cup win
From how they were before 2014 to where they are now is an astonishing turnaround. It has hardly taken them 4 years to effect this reversal that resulted in their first ODI World Cup win. With the depth that they possess in the shorter version, they look good to add to one more in a couple of months. The T20 World Cup in UAT & Oman is likely to be a final amongst England and one of India, Pakistan, Australia.
Depth in English cricket
There are lot of recent articles that talks about the depth in Indian cricket. Ian Chappell was pretty vocal about it in his recent article. The fact is that Indian cricket having depth is hardly a surprise because cricket is the only game played in this country. Whereas, in the case of England, it is a multi-sport nation. Infact, there is a sizeable population in that country who hardly is aware of the rules of the game or even follow the game. Football and Rugby are the top 2 sports in England. Let us also remember that they have recently become a force at the Olympics. All these essentially means that the available resources are split into various sports. Despite this, to have depth is an incredible achievement. It is another matter whether they have the same depth in Tests.
In the recent series against Pakistan, England were forced to make 7 changes because those 7 players were tested positive for Covid. So much so that, Ben Stokes, who has just come back into the team, came back as the captain. The entire playing eleven wore a new look. Players who were hitherto not known outside of England were bled into the playing eleven against a Pakistan side who had all their main players. Yet, no one was flustered. They played all the 3 games as though they have been around for a longtime. James Vince, the player the ECB had pinned their hopes on, helped himself to his very first international hundred.
The Pakistan series
The English bowlers absolutely blew Pakistan away in the first and second games. The real depth of English cricket was visible in the 3rd game. England chased a mammoth target close to 350 after losing half of the squad. Lewis Gregory, played an emphatic innings of 77 that it destroyed whatever little confidence Pakistan had of winning the game.
Phil Salt looks like a like-for-like replacement for Jason Roy. In that he is adept at destroying the opposition bowlers. Sadiq Mahmood, Brydon Carse and Craig Overton distinguished themselves with their accomplished performances. Ian Chappell had this to say about England.
“England have displayed both depth and flexibility by comprehensively blanking Pakistan in their three-match ODI series. Their prospects for the Ashes in Australia were also boosted by the skilful showing of both Saqib Mahmood and Brydon Carse, two bowlers whose pace should be an asset on bouncy pitches.”
The question remains whether England will be willing to maintain 2 separate teams so that a few can have a career outside of the regular team. The trouble is for other countries who will be wary of such an outfit.
Conclusion, rich nations can afford
All of this goes onto show what money can do. England, Australia & India are the 3 richest cricketing nations. They can absolutely afford to maintain a couple of teams at the same time. In the case of India, they can even maintain 2-3 teams for every format. As discussed in one of the earlier post, this will not only give some of the players to have a career at the international level but will also enable the respective boards to make more money out of TV rights. This can be utilised for the betterment of the game and the players. Well the possibilities are endless.
Other articles related to England can be read here, here and here.
