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Follow UsEngland’s 2023 ODI World Cup campaign is the perfect case of reality vs expectations.
Everyone expected them to top the table, but none expected them to be closer to the bottom than the top. A golden era that kicked off with the run to the 2016 T20 World Cup final has now culminated in a group-stage exit for the Three Lions.
English all-rounder Ben Stokes couldn’t have been more direct in their group-stage exit assessment.
“No, I think the problem is that we've been crap. To be honest with you, we've been crap,” Stokes’ said after England found themselves at the bottom of the table.
But that isn’t the only worry for the Three Lions. The uncertainty of the format must be dancing at the back of their mind. England have now had their red-ball plans set in stone. 2024 is all about the T20 extravaganza in the Caribbean and the United States of America.
Amidst all of this, England now have to find a direction that could resurrect them from the fallen grave before the 2025 Champions Trophy.
What led to England’s quicksand-ing finish?
England’s opening woes
England openers average 34.4 in the tournament. If you remove the encounters against Bangladesh and the Netherlands, their average drops to 23.2, the second lowest for any team at this year’s ODI World Cup.
Something that was one of England’s driving forces in the years leading into this year’s event was their opening pair - Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy. They have put on three 100+ run partnerships and three 50+ run partnerships over 17 innings post the 2019 ODI World Cup.
But when separated, the results have been nothing short of embarrassment. Just three months before the World Cup, a new partnership was assembled with Dawid Malan and Bairstow. They have opened together on 11 occasions, and only twice have they had a 50+ run partnership against Bangladesh and Pakistan.
On both occasions, England turned out to be victors. It isn’t to say that the Three Lions’ hopes solely depended on the opening partnership's outcome, but it was an influential factor.
Stars not aligning themselves
Had England’s middle-order stars turned up day in and day out at the competition, their worry would have been hardly noticed at the top of the order. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
England’s batting unit has hardly turned up when it mattered in the entire competition. Barring Stokes, who showed his worth towards the last leg of the tour, the others have been nothing but disappointing.
Collectively, their middle-order (4-7) has been woeful - with their average of 22.2 - being the lowest for any middle-order unit in the World Cup. Jos Buttler and Joe Root were two of the biggest culprits in that department. Root has been dismissed several times in the powerplay, a big concern for him this year.
Also Read: Disoriented Jos Buttler’s abysmal form echoes England’s struggles
While Root’s numbers have been severely boosted after his 60 against Pakistan, there is Liam Livingstone (avg 10), Buttler (avg 15.33) and Moeen Ali (avg 15.83) amongst the worst-averaging six middle-order batters (min 50 balls).
None of those superstars - Brook, Livingstone, Ali and Buttler - have stepped up when it mattered.
How did Jos Buttler react, and what are his plans?
“The World Cup as a whole is a disappointment. We spoke together about how if this is the last game for a lot of players, then let's make some good memories at the very least….
"I don't think there'll be a drastic change of plan like we had in 2015. There are a few things we need to change and build something new. Doesn't mean there'll be a huge clearout but we have work to do to become a top team again,” said Buttler at the post-match presentation.
England have to build something new. The old folks - Moeen, Stokes, Willey, Rashid, Woakes and Malan - are all on their last leg. While some have confirmed this tournament to be their last in an England jersey, others have conceded their chances of wearing the English blue for another ICC event.
That’s the next bit of concern….
England have an age-ing problem to deal with
The Three Lions have already given out central contracts, which means that even a reset could cost England a lot. Most of the contracted players are at the wrong stage of their careers, and barring the trio of Root, Wood and Brook, there is a genuine concern over how the contracted players will turn out in the limited-overs format.
Ahead of a deep dive tomorrow into the England central contract discussion, here's a couple of charts which might be interesting...
— Dan Weston (@SAAdvantage) November 7, 2023
First of all - player age vs recent appearance numbers... pic.twitter.com/l1gIXWHDkN
Notable analyst Dan Weston pointed out the age-bracket structure and insisted on how the Three Lions’ have had a slight bias towards the age bracket of 33-35. Also on the contract are some players who have terribly under-performed at this year’s event - Curran, Livingstone and Bairstow. Do they have any replacements lined up? Or are England doomed forever?
The Three Lions have it all lined up
If we forget the contract woes for a second and think about talents, England have some real potential on their hands.
There’s Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jamie Smith, Dan Lawrence, Sam Hain, Tom Abell and potentially even someone like Will Smeed, who can cause destructive damage at the top of the order.
It doesn’t end there; there’s also a case for Saif Zaib, Matthew Critchley, Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Ben Green to fill the void. Given how seriously England are taking Test cricket, there’s a serious opportunity for them to separate all three formats now and ensure that there is not a lot of overlap between squads.
Here’s how England’s team could look for the 2025 Champions Trophy
Openers: Will Jacks and Phil Salt
England’s series against Ireland before the ODI World Cup could well be their future. It showed how the aggressive duo of Will Jacks and Phil Salt at the top of the order was a bomb waiting to explode. Both of them are quite unique in their own ways with the skills they bring to the table, but they have a commonality: firepower.
There’s serious firepower in this opening partnership, like how Jason Roy and Alex Hales had in the aftermath of the 2015 ODI World Cup. The duo also have shown crazy consistency, on par with Roy-Bairstow. That’s where their ceiling is at the moment.
In the third ODI against Ireland, the duo scored 87 runs for the first-wicket partnership in just 7 overs. That was lacking from the English openers at the World Cup.
Middle-order: Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett
Root is only 32, but as things stand, he is more integral to the Test scheme of things than the ODI scheme of things. With England eyeing a reset, Root perhaps is one of the more understandable players to take a cut from the ODI squad. The Three Lions already have a tailor-made replacement for him, Zak Crawley.
Crawley has only played six games at No.3, but he has shown enough potential at that spot, averaging 30.6 with a strike-rate of 108.5 His attacking game style could align with England’s future plans.
Whenever Harry Brook was given a proper run in this year’s World Cup, he showed why there is a future for him in the ODI scheme of things. Brook is a run accumulator, an aggressor and a solid player against pace - something the format demands. Given he’s just 24, there’s a strong chance for him to cement that No.4 spot.
Duckett could round up the middle-order. The left-hander is strong against spin, can hit the ball a long way against pace, and is a well-rounded batting option in the middle overs. It was in full display during England’s five-match T20I series against Pakistan last year before the T20 World Cup. There’s a strong possibility that Duckett could replace Stokes - the batter.
Lower-order: Jos Buttler, Rehan Ahmed, Brydon Carse
Buttler’s form has been at an all-time low in this year’s World Cup, but he remains one of the best white-ball players to emerge from England. Given that he isn’t part of the Test setup anymore, there is a lot of time on Buttler’s hands - batting and captaincy - to recover England from the 2023 shambles.
Adil Rashid is 35. He is sure-shot set to play next year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies. There’s a strong possibility that he could extend his ODI career to two more years to complete the 2025 Champions Trophy, but if he doesn’t, England have a ready-made replacement in Rehan Ahmed. He’s already known for his lethal googly, and given his batting is improving every day, he could be a good bridge between the batters and the bowling unit.
After Stokes’ ODI retirement in 2022, Brydon Carse was viewed as his replacement. While injuries have severed his chances, the Durham all-rounder could be a vital cog in the England setup for the coming years. His bowling average of 33.92 and batting average of 24.80 might not prove that yet, but there’s immense potential for him to be a long-term thing.
Bowling unit: Olly Stone, Matthew Potts, Reece Topley
Given that the 2025 Champions Trophy is slated to take place in Pakistan, there’s a good opportunity for England to stick with Tom Hartley, a left-arm spinner who is quite handy with the bat, as seen in the domestic fixtures.
But in case England want to stick to their three-man pace attack, then Matthew Potts, Olly Stone and Reece Topley could be that trio.
Topley shone in the 2023 World Cup, but an injury ruled him out midway. The left-arm pacer is one of the best in England, and his ability to swing the ball both ways in the powerplay makes him a must. But if paired with someone like Olly Stone and Matthew Potts, England could be quite a strong bowling unit.
Whenever Stone has been injury-free, his bowling numbers speak for themselves. The Nottinghamshire pacer is a gun for bowling with the white ball, with a T20 average of 27.05. While injuries have worked against him, there is a strong chance that Stone could be included in England’s larger plans ahead of the next ODI tournament.
Potts looks like a weak link in this bowling unit. But the reality is far from it. The Durham pacer has a List-A bowling average of 25.22 and an average of 25.06 in T20s. He’s quick, hits the back of a length mark, and is often a tough customer for the batters.
Given how Mark Wood’s time for England has to be carefully managed, Potts might be one of the two solutions to that problem. Gus Atkinson is the other known solution, and his performance at the World Cup was a testament to his talent.
