For England and Captain Cook

Beating Sri Lanka (who were after all World Cup finalists) is no mean feat, especially when you have to come from behind. In the last two One Day Internationals then, England managed to do the unthinkable and turn a 2-1 deficit into 3-2 victory. A good win for England and an even more monumental one for their new ODI Captain, Alastair Cook. Under enormous pressure from the get-go (in fact from the minute he was announced as Andrew Strauss’s successor), Cook has not only handled himself impeccably in a wave of media negativity, but shown his true class as a One Day batsmen. With his total series runs amounting to 298 and a with a strike rate of nearly a run a ball, surely Captain Cook has silenced many of his detractors. To add to his well constructed hundred at Lords, Cook shared an unbeaten partnership of 171 with Craig Kieswetter at Trent Bridge, with the same opening duo then smashing 83 runs off the first 13 overs at Old Trafford. If these two innings are a sign of things to come, England’s One Day prospects look considerably more promising.

One debate which this series may not have ended though, is the issue of having two orthodox (i.e. slow) batsmen in England’s top three. As Cook has continued in the same rich vein of form he left the Test Arena in, the focus has inevitably fallen onto Jonathon Trott - England’s frustrating number three batsmen. Trott is a one-off; an expressionless, superstitious, old-fashioned batsmen who gets runs - valuable runs. With a One Day strike rate of 78.4 and with no other batsmen in the world having scored more runs than him this year, Trott simply must play. The issue, however, for me, is that Cook and Trott should never be at the crease at the same time. They are both accumulators who job is it to take the single and rotate the strike while the more expressive batsmen bat around them. To have them both in together then, would, I feel, cause undue problems. Namely, suffocating the scoring rate and putting pressure on each other to up the ante (such a scenario actually occurred in England’s innings at Lords with Trott out for single figures). Flexibility will thus be key. To give an example then, should Cook happen to go within the first five overs, Trott would be the next man in; being able to take over (and hopefully fulfil) Cooks role. If, however, Keiswetter should lose his wicket, then Kevin Pietersen or (judging by current form) even Eoin Morgan should be the next man in. These are two world class players who are more than capable of playing the big shots and keeping the run-rate ticking at a decent level. Such a plan would, however, depend on the willingness and form of Pietersen. Having never previously taken the initiative to come in at three in a fifty over match before, one can only assume he doesn’t much fancy the idea. More importantly, however, his form of late and his ability to go on and score big is of real concern. One feels that the India series will be massive for KP.

As we say goodbye to Sri Lanka then, (who, considering the fact that it pretty much rained for most of their tour, must be glad to leave the English ‘summer’ behind) our attention turns to India. With four Test Matches up first, the issue over who while occupy the number eight spot is intensifying. Tim Bresnan’s performance in the One Day Series has been exceptional. While, in contrast, Stuart Broad has been badly out of nick. It all depends on how bold the selectors want to be.