England on the right track in limited-overs cricket - Opinion - Part Two
Continued from the previous part …
Even after 10 attempts at the 50-overs World Cup, England is yet to taste success, although they came close to doing so three times, by making it to the final of the tournament.
The 11th http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 mutually and the English selectors have already started to prepare for it.
This is primarily the reason why Bell has been preferred over the youngsters, because he has a lot of international experience and also possesses the ability to adequately handle the movement and bounce, offered by the Australian tracks.
Director of the English team, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Warwickshire-c862 has the potential to fill the void left by the great batsman’s retirement.
Flower believes, "Ian Bell is a very experienced cricketer, even though he's only 30. He's got a lot of international experience and he's in great form. He is very confident at the moment. The World Cup in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 was definitely on our mind. We had to
weigh up whether to get someone younger than him in. But we think he's the best option for us and he's only 30 years old. It is safe to assume he will open. We don't want him to do a similar job to Pietersen we want him to be http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IR-Bell-c1597 and play great international
cricket."
England’s worries in the 50-overs format carried on till the early part of last year as they miserably struggled to deliver the goods in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
Their performance in the sub-continent lacked intensity and the cricket pundits slammed their lacklustre approach.
As a result of the criticism, Strauss announced his retirement from the shorter versions of the game and handed over the 50-overs captaincy to his fellow left-handed opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026.
The 27-year-old was not a permanent member of the English limited-overs team before that. However, he did not find any difficulty in adjusting and straight-away transformed his Test form into ODIs.
Apart from his ability to lead the team from the front with inspirational batting, the left-hander has changed the fortunes for England and has shown incredible leadership skills.
In the 24 ODIs he has led his country so far, Cook has won 15 matches with a percentage of 67.39, which is way better than http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013’s overall record in this format.
In the last ten months, England has beaten teams like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and India, which is no mean achievement, considering the fact that both the South Asian countries are excellent, when it comes to the limited-overs cricket.
After beating the men in blue at home, Cook’s men travelled to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 for a five-match series but were whitewashed by the home team, which remains the only dark period of the left-handed opener’s captaincy.
Cook and company are certainly moving in the right direction as they are equally potent in all the three departments of the game. The current team looks to be one of the better 50-overs units of the history of English cricket and one hopes that they carry
on with the momentum, as a strong England side is crucial for the sporting fraternity.
Disclaimer: Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: