You got Gilchrist and Hayden open the innings; they will build a fine platform for the rest of their batters. Did they get out in the powerplay? No Problem, Ponting, Martyn, and Lehmann are there to stabilize the innings. Oh, even they could not settle the things? The partnership between Symonds and Bevan will help the team to get to the respectable total. You have a fine bowling attack to defend this total, the magic of McGrath, the discipline of Gillespie, the fury of Lee, the mystery of Warne. Just how good the balance of this Australian team was, it will take teams some time to reach that world-class level.
The arguments started when the English team smashed the Australian bowling attack with the gigantic total of 481 runs, which was the highest score in the history of One-Day cricket. In the very same series, English batting order collapsed while chasing the target of 206 runs but the lower order stood out to cover the earlier mishap with Jos Buttler scoring the magnificent not-out hundred. England completed the whitewash against Australia and ended the series on a high note.
Internet was full of praises for the English side with people calling them as good as the legendary Australian side which won three One-Day World Cups consecutively.
England is one of the best One-Day sides right now but some of their weaknesses are raising questions over the comparisons made earlier after their series with their rivals. One of the most worrying things is their ability to tackle the spin bowling which has been ridiculous against the quality spin-bowlers. Young Kuldeep is having a time of his life against the Englishmen and English batting does not seem to be comfortable against the change of varieties bowled by the slow left-arm chinaman. Earlier in Champions Trophy, England was seen struggling against the young leggie Shadab which resulted in Joe Root giving away his wicket in the frustration. It was the main turning point of the game and after that important breakthrough, Pakistan did not allow England to settle their nerves on the most important stage of the semi-final.
England has appointed Saqlain Mushtaq to deal with their spin-bowling chaos because there is a long summer season ahead of them and keeping in mind the strong point of the Indian side
is a spin duo of Chahal-Kuldeep, England had to mentally prepare themselves for the circumstances ahead.
Another worrying point of this English side is their bowling line-up which is not as competitive as the other top sides. The thing is understandable that you can’t rely completely on your batting side to win you matches. There can a bad batting outing and at that stage; the team would expect their bowlers to fire so they can cover the earlier disorder.
England’s best bowler in their bowling line-up is Liam Plunkett who is averaging a wicket after every 29.28 runs. Their other five bowlers Willey, Wood, Stokes, Adil, and Moeen are averaging a wicket after every 36.11, 47.31, 38.98, 31.20, 44.44 runs respectively.
Considering how the game has changed in the recent times, the bowlers have to stand out to get the team going.
Despite their weaknesses, England is among the hot favorites for the mega event coming next year and with an advantage being hosts, they can definitely keep the trophy home by getting the momentum going and patching up their flaws.
There is not any shadow of doubt about how this England side is one of the leading sides of world right now but comparing them with the side which was once called “The Invincibles of Cricket” due to their balance, their consistency which helped them to dominate cricket for almost a decade, is a thing which is said without looking at the perspective of the things. The legendary Australian won 11 matches consecutively once and 10 matches consecutively for two times and an ODI World Cup for three times in the remarkable era of 1999-2007.
The English side has all the capability to be the best of this era but for that, they had to look upon their limitations and weaknesses.
Moreover, they also had to carry the regularity in their performances so if not the greatest of all time, they could become the best of this decade.
