DEFYING THE GOOD (?) OLD TRADITION

 “13^th March 2015”; a date, which perhaps, seems quite unremarkable to any of us. It might be some random day when some random incident might have occurred for most of us. Yet it’s the day which might be hidden somewhere in the back of the mind of every English fan, as it was the day of gloom for them as well as for the representatives of the Union Jack in this lazy little game. It marked the lowest ebb in their limited over legacy and consigned them to a bunch of personnel in complete tatters, eerily similar to their previous southern summer Ashes Tour down-under.

Although 13^th was that dreaded, wretched day, it didn’t fashioned the unlucky havoc by the virtue of it being 13. Rather, the nail on the coffin of England’s maiden ODI World Cup ambition was nailed 4 days before. On 9^th March, the perennial underdogs as well as underachievers of world cricket, Bangladesh, did its job in an impeccable fashion against an utterly hapless and clueless English outfit, who squandered their relative mid innings advantage in an insipid display of batting.

Batting, an art which is pioneered by these very gentlemen from the British isles – in fact this whole ball game of cricket – was so drab and uninspiring that they appeared to be emerge out of a whole different era. An era when 6 series test matches used to be end in nil-nil draws, when Sunil Gavaskar used to score 34 runs in a whole innings of 60 overs. It was not about only this world cup, every ODI involving England, after the dawn of a new dynamic era in 2000s, appeared to flow completely against its new stream of accelerated run scoring and a liberal approach than a “laboured” or “conservative” one. Perhaps the political structure of the isles had a say.

England was down and out, battered and bruised. Not because they lost to a “minnow” Bangladesh. They’ve lost to them in a more humiliating fashion in the previous World Cup. Also not due to the fact that they’d faced another early World Cup exit. They were never reckoned as a force, not at all during the present times. It’d more to do with the future. The future of the English limited overs prospect looked utterly bleak. They tried everything from putting an experienced team under a seasoned skipper to fielding a young side under the watch of a young leadership, in order to gather some momentum. They tried every combination over the last three or four World Cups, but to no avail. They were exhausted, perhaps sick of coloured jersey cricket. And then for every Englishman gossiping about weather, limited overs ain’t their cup of tea, and they’d keep singing the praises of good old test cricket.

Still that doesn’t alter the truth, the truth that limited overs cricket has become an integral part, perhaps, arguably the dominating slice of cricket. The T20 WC win in 2010 should’ve ushered this nostalgic nation into embracing the new era of this game. Yet it did nothing remarkable. English priorities stayed with tests, which isn’t the wrong thing. Yet overlooking of shorter formats, especially during the lead up doesn’t auger well for any World Cup ambitions. Also, sacking your skipper and the most experienced member just before the tournament on the basis of a series which was played in entirely different conditions in Sri Lanka is not the hallmark of a serious team.

Now, fast forward to 2^nd July 2016. Joe Root, the pivotal mainstay of English batting order in any format now, issues a statement that any of the top 6 of England ODI batting order can score a double century on a given day. An outrageously audacious statement considering the shambolic state presented earlier. Though, if you’ve followed English cricket recently, you know he isn’t completely irrational in his assessment. England, at this moment is, certainly the limited overs team to watch. Since world cup, their batsmen have smashed most number of centuries. And they’ve literally smashed their old nemesis, the white ball all around the park.

Starting with the series against New Zealand, England breached the 400 mark for the first time, no one expected them to do so, especially in the first match after that WC debacle. Jos Butler rightly was the poster boy of that match, he had already shown glimpses of his extraordinary match winning abilities, bringing in a fresh air of attacking variety after his debut in an increasingly suffocating English setup. But what followed next was so un-English, their close observers hardly found that believable. New Zealand wasn’t a team to give up after a 210 runs defeat, they retaliated like a venomous Cobra and posted an almost 400 score. That would’ve been enough for any team, leave Kiwis, to win the rest of the series against the old England in their usual self. This was an England, never seen before. This energetic bunch, hungry for learning the tricks and trades of taming this beast of English Cricket, probably took a leaf out of the Kiwis’ book and scored 355, chasing a revised target of 370 odd giving them a mighty scare. Not only that, they chased another 300 plus target and most importantly held their nerve to thrash the Kiwis in the final ODI. It was so unlikely, yet it happened.

Similarly against the World Champions Kangaroos, who’d humiliated them the whole year before. After showing those typical English performances scoring 240 odds while chasing 300 plus scores, they seemed to be clueless against their nemesis. In another unlikely turn of events though, they humiliated Australia in the next two and not for a collapse in the final ODI, would’ve won another series 3-2. That New Zealand series wasn’t certainly a fluke now. Then came one of the most significant proving ground for the Three Lions. The series against Pakistan in UAE defied all expectations. After expectedly losing to Pakistan in the first match, they came from behind and trounced their opposition and decimated their plans of stifling the archetypal ineptitude of the English batsmen with spin and impressive pace. They turned the tables as their batters and bowlers fired in unison to give Pakistan an absolute hiding. It was a big boost in overcoming the Asian mental barrier as well as turning around the tide in their favour after having their back against the wall.

The South African series, which followed, gave the poms another chance to witness a near 400 score, 399 to be precise, as they ran amok in the Proteas camp in the first two matches. Complacency crept in and they squandered winning positions in the last three to lose the series but at no point were they overwhelmed. The recent series against Sri Lanka proved that this is an entirely different team we’re witnessing. The hiding in the 2^nd and 4^th match when Jason Roy (both times) and Alex Hales (2^nd match) stamped their authority all over the Lankan bowlers. The old England would still have huffed and puffed their way in a 246 chase and would’ve never dreamt of chasing 300 plus in 41 overs.

And to cap off all that, the 1^st match provided another stark factor in this phenomenal rise, as against all hopes and expectation, Liam Plunkett struck that final ball six and along with Chris Woakes, snatched a stunning tie from the jaws of defeat. That displayed the depth of this team, a batting order that continues right till the 11^th man, interspersed with genuine all-rounders and have their bases covered in all departments. They showcased this in the World T20 as they’d all but won it, had it not been for those Marlon Samuels and Carlos Brathwaite specials. The way Ben Stokes was consoled, it revealed a side of English cricket seen never before.

And as for Root’s claim, this batting order is special. The Mightily daring game of Jason Roy, his explosive exploits with his attacking partner Alex Hales, who’d suitably tempered his initial natural flair with admirable maturity, at the top of the order. The serene stability of Joey Root at one drop, the calming, and at the times of requirement, fiery presence of skipper Eoin Morgan followed by the prolific Jonny Bairstow, pivotal Butler and Ben Stokes makes it arguably the most power packed line-up at present. And if you’ve the likes of Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey and Liam Plunkett to follow, with many more on the fringes, then you’ve a real chance at any stage of the game to force your way back or blow away the opposition. As Paul Farbrace, the coach, rightly mentioned that there are at least 20 players right away ready to represent England, gone are the days of English submission.

Andrew Strauss has played a major role in this change of mind set after he assumed the ECB post, as he stressed on the importance of one day cricket and set their priorities right. And even though Eoin is nowhere comparable to one of the limited over masters of captaincy, he had at least one factor similar to MSD in his maiden voyage of WT20 2007 had – a young and eager team for whom, he is a decision maker, who has the freedom to guide, and not had to deal with the aura of a star player. He has just let his team to express themselves and let their self-belief take over. This approach would pay rich dividends for them in the near future and for their CT2017 and WC2019 ambitions, in which they’d have the home advantage. They just need to stick with it.

And for the Brexit, England cricket team have to keep their faith on this new found liberal approach so that such exaggerated English myth doesn’t prove a roadblock to their success!