England’s cricketers trained at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here before what will be their first international of any sort in this ancient city famous for its siege at the Residency during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
As Jos Buttler and his troops prepared to take on the rampantly in-form hosts India, it was all too easy to draw comparisons between two bedraggled groups of Englishmen, fighting lost battles against overwhelming odds. All bets are off on the outcome, although that has not stopped the hotels being crammed with local supporters.
On reflection, it is not hard to see why this World Cup has gone badly, even if the scale of the failure is shocking. Coming here, England had played only six ODIs in India in ten years and arrived with only a week to get ready — a week plagued by rain. Last year, they played ten matches against Pakistan and Australia in a month leading into a T20 World Cup they went on to win. The head coach, Matthew Mott, concedes they underestimated how tough conditions would be. With better preparation they might not have done.
India’s late announcement of the schedule, and earlier than expected start date, was unhelpful, but England’s World Cup squad could have set off as soon as their home ODI series with New Zealand was over. Instead, they left 12 days later. In that gap, India hosted three matches against Australia, who have also looked better for the recce.
A more specific problem is that several players are going past their peaks at the same time, a situation that was likely to arise at some point given their similar ages, unless action was taken. How this will now be addressed remains to be seen, but those hoping for a clear-out may want to reflect on the ECB last week placing 29 players on contracts lasting one, two or three years. Of these, 11 are aged 32 or older.
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Players are simply not moved on as easily as they once were. They don’t want to quit because the money is too good and the ECB wants to keep them on the books because it fears a brain-drain to T20 franchises. Holding on to resources trumps prudent regeneration.
This is the biggest test facing Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, who presides over both contracts and selection — two things with the potential to pull him in opposite directions.
That said, such has been the scale of the failure here that there is going to be some sort of review. Key said last week before the Sri Lanka defeat: “When the dust settles . . . we’ll work out what we can do better next.” Mott said: “When you hit rock bottom, it’s an opportunity to take a look at everything — how we train, how we pick our teams.”
There are two good reasons for a clear-out. One is the age issue — many of this group are simply too old to make the next World Cup in 2027 — and the other is that having shown such timidity here they have betrayed the philosophy that underpinned the white-ball teams’ successes at tournaments from 2016 to 2022.
If the batsmen are not committed to all-out aggression, they no longer deserve to be in the side. If they are no longer prepared to take risks — and white-ball cricket is a high-stakes format — then let others who are braver have a go. If the bowlers lack the skills to stem the flow of runs, try others.
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The selection process needs looking at, especially in respect of the white-ball teams. When Key came into the job in April 2022, he decided to oversee selection — the role of national selector had been disbanded — in conjunction with the captains and coaches of the red and white-ball sides.
In reality, this handed the captains and coaches an unusual degree of power, which they have generally used to keep faith with players they know (look at how James Anderson kept his place in the Ashes last summer despite struggling for wickets). History shows that captains who are given too much power in selection tend to come unstuck; they sacrifice long-term planning for short-term expediency, and players who are dropped know whose fingerprints are on a decision, and don’t like it.
With the white-ball teams, things were complicated by Eoin Morgan’s sudden retirement in June 2022, only five weeks after Mott had been appointed. Coming from outside the English system, Mott naturally deferred to Buttler, Morgan’s successor, when it came to judging players.
The upshot is that an unusual amount has rested on Buttler, and he has kept his trust in those who delivered success in the past. Jason Roy, it is true, was sacked from T20s last year. He should probably have also been removed from the ODI team, but survived until last month. Had a new opener been given a chance 12 months ago, England’s top order might have had more dynamism than it has shown here.
If Key gives Buttler and Mott his backing, as he surely will, they must all move quickly to stop the T20 side suffering a similar implosion. The five T20 internationals in the West Indies in December present a chance to meld a team before the World Cup in the Caribbean and United States next June.
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The series would provide vital reconnaissance of the sort that was missing for this World Cup. Any idea of resting players — Ben Stokes included — should be scrapped. They either go, or they are out of the reckoning.
