Will Ben Stokes play another ODI? Are Dawid Malan's days numbered? Should Matthew Mott stay as head coach? Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton and Eoin Morgan look at what is next for England after a dreadful World Cup campaign - listen on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast
Monday 13 November 2023 18:02, UK
The Cricket World Cup is over for England, so bring on the reset.
Just six players from the dreadful campaign in India have kept their place for the three-match ODI series in the West Indies in December - captain Jos Buttler joined by Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook and Brydon Carse.
Dawid Malan has been dropped - England's leading run-scorer at the World Cup is not even involved in the T20 leg of the trip - and David Willey has retired, while Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Mark Wood have been rested ahead of the five-Test tour of India early next year and red-ball skipper Ben Stokes is unavailable as he goes under the knife to fix his chronic left knee problem.
Ollie Pope and Josh Tongue could make their one-day international debuts in the Caribbean with Hampshire seamer John Turner in line for his first England appearance in any format.
Former England captains Eoin Morgan, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton joined host Ian Ward on the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast to pick the bones out of Buttler's side's disastrous World Cup - at which they lost six of their nine matches - and look what could be next for the ODI team.
Listen to the episode in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts - or read below for Morgan, Hussain and Atherton's take on how England might move forward in 50-over cricket…
Eoin Morgan: "Jos did this in The Hundred [for Manchester Originals when Phil Salt kept wicket]. He led and played without the gloves, so is that a viable option looking to the Champions Trophy in two years' time? If it is a viable option, you might see Jos move up the order and seeing other guys take on different roles. You need to do that now and not in a year and a half's time."
Eoin Morgan: "He is one of the very few players I have played with or watched that has outshone his domestic career on the international stage, which is unbelievably difficult to do. He has gone from strength to strength so can you utilise him more, can you harness one of the upsides of this tournament and bring it forward? At 36 years of age, you would imagine it is going to be very difficult for him to get back in."
It’s fine identifying talent but you have to identify roles and then fill in slots. I think it has been a massive mistake in the World Cup and one you can learn from. If you identify the role you need, it whittles down the highly-skilled talent pool quite easily.
Nasser Hussain: "The reason Willey was left out of the 2019 World Cup is because he did not bowl in every phase whereas Jofra Archer did. I think [England managing director of men's cricket] Rob Key has seen how other sides are going about it and wants people who can move the new ball around, perform in the middle and then bowl at the death. There is pace in there [with Atkinson and Tongue] but you need them to peak at the World Cups, so it is about management as well."
Nasser Hussain: "[That is a very good question] physically and with the amount of cricket. I know from being England Test captain how much that takes out of you - you live every day thinking about it all the time. It takes so much out of you, especially the style of Test cricket England are now playing. But I wouldn't retire [from ODI cricket]. Willey retired and that was an emotional decision. Keep yourself available for everything and put the ball in the selectors' court."
Michael Atherton: "We are not drawing a line under Root. I don't see any sporing team that has ripped up everything, thrown it all out, started again and been successful quickly. I think the regeneration has to be smart and there is still a place for your best player even if he is 33. England are going to bring in fresh blood but there is a place for Root over the next two or three years."
Michael Atherton: "I think they should give him until the end of the T20 World Cup, even though this World Cup hasn't gone well.
"The only question I had in terms of his selection as coach was that he was seemingly picked to keep a good thing going, the thing Morgan had built. That did not happen in India so now they are looking to regenerate and rebuild.
"Therefore, you are asking a coach to do something different but coaches should be able to change their modus operandi for what is required and I don't think now would be right to get rid of Buttler and Mott.
"I think there is enough credit in the bank from the T20 World Cup."
Watch every match from the Cricket World Cup live Sky Sports, including the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday November 19.
