THE honeymoon period for England's new white-ball coach Matthew Mott lasted just a week. In Amsterdam in June, his team enjoyed a joyous romp. Since, life has been rather tougher.
The transformative captain Eoin Morgan rightly retired, and they failed to win any of their four series, including losing two clutch deciders. The second of those came here against South Africa yesterday, when they were outclassed in every department. They have lost three T20 series in a row.
The month of July revealed that, with a T20 World Cup in Australia in October, England are way off the standards they have set themselves in recent years. They do not play again before they name a 15-man squad for the tournament, but do have as many as a dozen matches before the tournament: seven in Pakistan, three against Australia, and a couple of official warm-ups. The tournament team will not play together until they get to Australia.
The bowling attack is short on firepower, with Jofra Archer still missing. Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are likelier to be back for the tournament, but neither has made good progress from injuries picked up at the end of England's last brutal winter.
Denne historien er fra August 01, 2022-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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Denne historien er fra August 01, 2022-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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