As the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 moves into gear, every team will feel they have a chance of reaching the semi finals. It is England’s tournament to lose, according to the bookies and also the ICC rankings, though Australia will not give up their World Cup dominance without a big fight.
I am passionately behind England as a home nation supporter, and whilst my mind can rationalise why they are favourites, I am conscious of their previous World Cup misery and their inexperience of enjoying success at critical stages of international tournaments.
Australia is the world’s best at winning World Cups and their players will know that other teams will fear them (now they are back at full strength) irrespective of their recent form.
Despite England’s dominance in ODI Cricket since the last World Cup in Australia & New Zealand (2015) and their strong suit of aggressive batting in considerable depth, I am concerned about the quality of their bowling when faced with the best opposition.
Will Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, or Kane Williamson play a sublime innings against England and defeat the host nation in a crucial match? Or will the likes of Chris Gayle destroy the England opening bowlers up front and cause mayhem? Hopefully not, but I fear the worst.
However, the inclusion of Jofra Archer and the (hopeful) good fitness of Mark Wood offers England a serious threat with the type of fast bowling that only other nations have possessed before.
If Archer and Wood bowl well, I think England will win the World Cup. Dismissing ‘game-changing’ batsmen is the key requirement and hostile pace provides a captain with an invaluable weapon to use at his discretion.
And, the form of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will also be vital to their prospects of success. Rashid’s ability to beat the bat in both sides of the middle creates uncertainty in the mind of batsmen. It creates fear in those who can’t pick him – of which there may be more top players than they care to admit. Rashid is superb at the death of the innings when bowling at lower order batsmen because few in the tail end of the order can pick the difference between leg spin and a googly.
Moeen Ali is a different is a different proposition – his off spin is more suited to test cricket but he is a good one day bowler too. His batting is also an asset, but he will need to be at the top of his game to offer England the luxury of two spinners who can bowl their full number of overs and take the pace off the ball as and when required. Similarly, Joe Root May have a supporting role to play with his off spinners too. Fundamentally, England will need all their bowling options to be at their best if they are to win the World Cup.
Can they do it? Yes, I think so.. But, beware the men in Yellow!!
Neil Burns