Coach Moeen Ali has urged England to keep their cool and produce two ruthless performances to salvage their T20 World Cup defence, which is on the brink of an embarrassing first-round exit.
England’s 36-run defeat to Australia in Barbados on Saturday puts qualification for the Super Eights within reach. As well as needing to drop points against Scotland, Jos Buttler’s side will need to significantly improve their net run rate, currently at minus 1.8, when they face Oman and Namibia in Antigua this week.
“It’s important to stay calm and not let the outside noise affect us,” said Moeen, Buttler’s vice-captain. “We need to be more aggressive and not be reckless, not overthink things and beat those two teams. We just need to go at them, throw the first punch and keep going from there.”
Last week’s defeat to Scotland was painful but disappointing, while the defeat to Australia raises early questions about England’s strategy just six months after team director Rob Key handed Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott a second chance at the 50-over World Cup in India.
Moeen said: “My personal opinion is I don’t care about the 50-over World Cup as it’s over now. I think we are better in T20s but I think Australia were better than us on the day. I think when you lose a game, especially to Australia, the dressing room is never positive. But you can’t get too down and retreat into your shell and say, ‘what if this happens’. We have to be really relentless.”
Much of the attention on Saturday was Will Jacks’ mood-setting 22-run over with the new ball. It was a “gut feeling” according to Buttler but looked planned and perhaps inspired by the off-spinner’s easy defeat of Travis Head in a recent Indian Premier League game. The sub-60 boundary and the crosswind that blew in didn’t make the match at Kensington Oval any less worthwhile.
There was also the decision to prioritise the speed of Mark Wood over the left-arm swing of Reece Topley, who has excelled in the powerplay against left-handers. Topley’s father Don, who works as a commentator in the Caribbean, insisted after the toss that his son was “100 per cent healthy and full of energy”, adding: “I hope it’s not a stubborn choice!”
Either way, England’s attack has been strengthened by the arm of a fit Jofra Archer – something that would be hard to imagine if he had missed the tournament – and for Moin, it’s a case of greater discipline, whether it’s batting the first ball of an over or finishing off the last. Australia’s batsmen ended up getting four of their final six overs on the ropes on their way to 201 for seven.
“Australia were smarter than us with the ball,” Moeen said. “We kept hitting boundaries at the wrong times. I think we have to be a bit more precise, have no losers, try and make something happen rather than hoping it will happen.”
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England’s line-up, made up mainly of right-handed batsmen, was easily overwhelmed by Australia’s line-up, which made good use of the width of the ground. Moin’s promotion to No. 5 reflects this, and with Jonny Bairstow having looked poor over the past six months and his mobility on the field reduced since recovering from a broken ankle, Ben Duckett, the reserve batsman for the tour, may be a candidate.
England fly to Antigua on Sunday morning and have three full days of preparation before taking on Oman under the lights at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday night. As things stand, the next week on the island is forecast to be mainly rain-free, a small plus for an already tilting season.
