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England the real deal after stunning transformation in white-ball cricket

Watch the 2019 World Cup final on Sky Sports from 9am on Sunday

Eoin Morgan, England captain, Cricket World Cup semi-final vs Australia at Edgbaston
Image: England captain Eoin Morgan hit the winning boundary in the semi-final win over Australia

It was great to wake up this morning and see cricket dominating the headlines.

England's performance against Australia was truly remarkable - the game was done and dusted after six overs as Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer tore the heart out of Australia.

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Highlights from Edgbaston as England hammered Australia to reach Sunday's Cricket World Cup final

The reaction to their win shows there's real pride in this team. People have waited a long time to see England play this brand and style of one-day cricket.

Now they are doing it in a major tournament and in knockout games. England are not bluffers; they are the real deal.

The transformation in the side over the last four years has been astonishing.

England did not select particularly well leading up to the 2015 World Cup and lessons were learned.

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Various cricketers had been rewarded with white-ball call-ups for their Test match form but that quickly came to an end under Andrew Strauss, Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss.

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I cannot speak highly enough of them and the way they have changed the mind-set.

What did surprise me was how quickly the transformation happened; by the time New Zealand toured that summer after the World Cup, England's whole approach had changed.

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Seamer Chris Woakes says home support will help England in the World Cup final

Morgan, in particular, has never doubted the team he wants his road to go down and he's led in a very calm, assured manner.

Others might have doubted the path they have taken but England never have.

Andrew, for his part, has done a lot of great things for English cricket; he's a person I admire hugely - both for what he's achieved on the field and off it.

England have hit more sixes (74) in this World Cup than in the previous five put together

He quickly realised Morgan was the right man to lead this revolution.

When neither of us are commentating, we sit watching the cricket and I can assure you he's been living every single ball in this tournament.

He's been cheering every wicket England have taken, huffing and puffing when a close lbw shout does not go England's way or the ball goes into a gap - and rightly so, because he's been instrumental to the sea change.

Andrew Strauss
Image: Andrew Strauss admitted he was emotional watching England's victory over Australia

Strauss will always pay tribute to Morgan and the players first but here is a guy who was brave enough to make the changes required and go with a white-ball specialist coach when everything we have ever done in English cricket has been primarily focused on success in Test cricket.

He stood up and said 'no' despite being the guy who won three Ashes series with England, twice as captain, and took the side to number one in the rankings!

Sky shares final with Channel 4
Sky shares final with Channel 4

Sky will partner with Channel 4 to make the Cricket World Cup available for the whole of the UK to watch.

It would have been very easy to continue down that path but he said 'the area we need to look at - the area where we have been under-performing for far too long, is white-ball cricket' and he had the courage of his convictions to do something about it.

No one will cherish, or deserve, an England victory on Sunday more than him.

Watch the World Cup final between New Zealand and England live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup and Main Event from 9am on Sunday.

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