Saturday evening saw England take on Sri Lanka in the latest world cup match and for once I was able to sit down and watch part of the game. Had I known how frustrating this experience would be I wouldn't have bothered. Mathews captained his side well and his bowlers kept to plan. England posted a reasonable total of 309-6 built around Joe Root's 121 but I went to bed in the certain knowledge that this would not be enough runs. And so it proved, Sri Lanka cantered to a 9 wicket win with Thirimanne and the brilliant Sangakkara both making centuries.
It's time to face the facts. The top ODI teams are playing a different game now and England have been left miles behind. The plain facts are where England are pushing singles the likes of Australia, New Zealand, India & South Africa are clubbing boundaries. England's innings stuttered along without any momentum and whereas 309 would have been considered a decent score once upon a time, nowadays it is 30 runs short.
The daft thing is England still have a chance of going on to the next stage of the competition with a win of Afghanistan, despite losing three games without even being competitive. It would take an absolute miracle for England to make any meaningful contribution to this tournament thereafter. England have gone into this World cup without the first clue of what their best team is, with a strategy that is a decade out of date and with a fear of failure rather than confidence in their abilities. Moeen Ali and Gary Balance aren't up to the task right now, Bell seems to be feeling the responsibility of his senior position in the side and Morgan is not producing the goods. Our bowlers look toothless compared to the attacks of the other leading side. Lurking in the shadows is the KPego. We don't want him back but we could hardly be worse if he was.
Peter Moores has been in charge of England for around a year now and has had indifferent results, just like he did in his first tenure as coach. Is Moores unlucky to get the job at difficult times? Or is he simply not up to it?
The daft thing is England still have a chance of going on to the next stage of the competition with a win of Afghanistan, despite losing three games without even being competitive. It would take an absolute miracle for England to make any meaningful contribution to this tournament thereafter. England have gone into this World cup without the first clue of what their best team is, with a strategy that is a decade out of date and with a fear of failure rather than confidence in their abilities. Moeen Ali and Gary Balance aren't up to the task right now, Bell seems to be feeling the responsibility of his senior position in the side and Morgan is not producing the goods. Our bowlers look toothless compared to the attacks of the other leading side. Lurking in the shadows is the KPego. We don't want him back but we could hardly be worse if he was.
Peter Moores has been in charge of England for around a year now and has had indifferent results, just like he did in his first tenure as coach. Is Moores unlucky to get the job at difficult times? Or is he simply not up to it?
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