Michael Atherton
Cricket Expert & Columnist
England on the right track and have yet to peak, says Michael Atherton
Last Updated: 03/04/16 10:05pm
England can take plenty of positives despite losing to West Indies in the World Twenty20 final, according to Michael Atherton.
Eoin Morgan's men were beaten by four wickets after Carlos Brathwaite smashed four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes to win the game with two balls to spare, having needed 19 off the final over.
However, Atherton insisted reaching the final, and coming so close to bringing home the trophy, is a fine achievement and shows the progress made since last year's disastrous World Cup campaign.
"12 months ago they were bundled out of the 2015 World Cup at the group stages, a long way behind in terms of strategy and selection from other countries, playing a different type of cricket really," he said.
"I think the difficulty for many of us watching in 2015 was that we felt the ingredients were there in county cricket, plenty of exciting and dynamic young players who weren't being given a chance.
"I think you can handle a defeat like that when you can see a side is playing the right type of cricket, you're going to win more games than you lose, or win as many as you lose, if you play like that."
Indeed, Atherton is confident that England can continue to progress with a talented group of players who have yet to reach their peak.
"They're on the right track," he added. "They're right when they say this side is still two or three years away from full maturity when you look at the age profile of the team and the number of games played.
"They'll always feel that they're a player or two away from being right but there's a lot of growth left in this team and the signs are definitely good.
"The Champions Trophy in 2017 is in England, the World Cup 2019 is in England so there they have home advantage to boot as well, so promising signs."
As for the match itself, the Sky Sports pundit and former England captain felt it was a fitting end to an entertaining tournament.
"An incredible end to an incredible tournament," said Atherton.
"There were a lot of things we didn't see coming there - Joe Root bowling the second over and getting England into the game, then almost the game in the bag.
"A couple of bad balls where Stokes has missed his yorker length but incredible brute power and strength from Brathwaite and there is the modern game."