England's Cricket World Cup changes have caused confusion, says Andrew Strauss
Messrs Moores and Morgan must now galvanise the side for rest of tournament...
Friday 20 February 2015 15:22, UK
Peter Moores and the England hierarchy have made ‘wrong decisions’ at the World Cup and must stop muddling the side, says Andrew Strauss.
England replaced Ravi Bopara with Gary Ballance and dropped James Taylor down to No 6 ahead of their World Cup opener with Australia.
But Strauss also feels that the decision to take the new ball off Chris Woakes, England’s opening bowler throughout the preceding Carlton Mid-ODI Tri-Series, and hand it to Stuart Broad has caused unnecessary confusion in the ranks.
Moores’ side sit bottom of Pool A after thrashings by co-hosts Australia and New Zealand – the latter by eight wickets in Wellington on Friday – and Strauss says the coach and his captain, Eoin Morgan, must now stand up in order to salvage England’s World Cup campaign.
Asked on The Verdict whether pressure is ramping up on Moores and England bowling coach David Saker, Strauss said: “If England keep getting bowled out for 120 there are going to be a lot of axes flying around!
“They are not coming up with illogical plans but you have to weigh up whether making changes is making you better or causing confusion and I think they have got some decisions wrong.
There will be a horrible, morbid atmosphere in the dressing room with everyone worried about their place in the side, so this is where the captain and coach earn their corn.
“You can see why England brought Broad back to open the bowling as, alongside [James] Anderson, he is one of their most experienced bowlers, but it is another change from what Broad and Woakes were becoming used to and muddled things.
“What England really need is to somehow change things around quickly but there will be a horrible, morbid atmosphere in the dressing room with everyone worried about their place in the side, so this is where the captain and coach earn their corn.
“For Morgan that is more about what he does with the bat than what he might say in the dressing room, while for Moores is isn’t about giving any Churchillian speeches but encouraging playing with freedom and taking pressure off the players."
New Zealand, mainly through Brendon McCullum’s electric 77 off 25 balls, chased down England’s total of 123 all out in 12.2 overs at The Westpac Stadium on Friday.
Black Caps skipper McCullum brought up his fifty off just 18 deliveries to record the swiftest World Cup half-century of all time, clubbing Steven Finn for 20 runs in his first over and 24 in his second.
Sky Sports pundit Bob Willis was left frustrated that England were unable to play with such abandon in their innings but feels that will continue until their players are more greatly exposed to the IPL or an adapted domestic T20 competition.
“England must be at rock bottom confidence-wise and what worried me most was the defensive mindset they played with when you consider people like McCullum and [Australia openers] Aaron Finch and David Warner go hell for leather at the start of an innings,” said Willis.
“Their problem is that they haven’t experienced the IPL like many of the world’s top players, so that is why serious thought must be given to reducing the number of sides in our T20 competition."
Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior added: “You cannot argue that T20 cricket is changing the game – McCullum is a prime example of that – so England players are missing out on that and some real intense, hard, close cricket that I don’t think you get at county level.
“A franchise-based competition when you are playing against big, overseas superstars puts pressure on young guys and then when they move up to the international level it is not such a big step.”
Watch every match of the ICC Cricket World Cup, including England's clash with Scotland at 9pm on Sunday night, on Sky Sports' dedicated World Cup channel (403). You can also Tweet us @SkyCricket #fireitup with your views on the tournament.
