"Let’s start by making one thing clear. England’s T20 World Cup pulverising
of Australia will have absolutely no bearing on the Ashes, a series played
in a different format, by numerous different players, on surfaces the other
side of the globe to the UAE.

What it has done instead, is show in big, bold type how much the white-ball
paths of Australia and England have diverged in the six years since a team
then led by stand-in captain George Bailey – now Australia’s selection
chair – did a similar job on England in the opening match of the 2015 ODI
World Cup at a heaving MCG.

That game underlined why England had to go away and formulate a new, much
more vigorous and fearless approach to white-ball cricket. To do so they
leaned heavily on the strong views of their captain Eoin Morgan and the
assistance of a free-thinking Australian coach in Trevor Bayliss.

At the same time, the ECB made a deliberate choice to prioritise shorter
formats with a view to winning the 2019 World Cup and others beyond it.
Careful accumulation and percentage play was out; ‘‘take the game on’’
aggression and initiative was in.

Six years on, Morgan still carries the leadership flame of this approach to
an extent that it visibly liberates and invigorates England players who
take part in it.

Look at Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, both missing from the long form of the
game, but contributing well as ever at this World Cup. Look too at Liam
Livingstone, who contributed the four part-time overs that a more
free-thinking Australia might have been able to target, but instead were
the most parsimonious of the entire innings. Moeen, meanwhile, was
unperturbed to sit out his bowling spell, as Morgan said.

It was a lack of trust in Glenn Maxwell or Marcus Stoinis to do a similar
job that saw Mitchell Marsh dropped mid-tournament, after so much
investment in him this year as a solid member of the Australian batting
line-up.

Without Marsh, Maxwell had to bat higher, leaving him vulnerable to the new
ball in the hands of Chris Woakes – another player who has grown noticeably
since Morgan and Bayliss tilted England’s approach.

England’s philosophy is now so strong and clearly defined that, as Morgan
pointed out, the squad selected for the World Cup has been able to form a
cohesive and powerful unit even though they have seldom played together
lately – supposedly the big reason why Australia were so shabby.

Instead, it is the crystal clear understanding of how this England team
works, thinks and expects that means all players contribute more than their
individual value might otherwise be. That’s true even of a talent as
outlandish as Jos Buttler’s.

That kind of ethos, where opponents struggle to ‘‘target’’ favourable
match-ups because England are strong at every rung of their team’s ladder,
is reminiscent of the great Australian sides of the late 1990s and early
2000s and, briefly, the combination that thrived at the 2015 World Cup.

Bailey was a superb interim captain whenever Michael Clarke was
unavailable, the bowlers worked in concert to such an extent that a younger
Pat Cummins was required to play only a supporting role, and James Faulkner
and Maxwell produced performances they seldom matched in national colours
either before or since. What England have, then, is a clarity of mind and a
quality of performance that Australia, at least in white-ball cricket, can
only wonder at. Should they, having prioritised Test cricket so much more
than England in recent years, stumble on the Ashes stage also, it would
mean three losing home summers in four years. That is one area where events
in UAE would be related to those in the Ashes – such a sequence would make
it well and truly time for the same sort of introspection and strategic
rethinking.

Australia host next year’s World Cup. In order to win it, they will need to
derive a lot more of their approach from the sort of thinking encouraged by
Morgan than some of the muddled efforts seen in the early hours of Sunday
morning."
Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, November 01, 2021

It's no coincidence that Daniel is an anagram of 'denial'. Even though
Brettig has moved from the wasteland of cricket.com.au to the Sinney
Morning Herald his belief that no NSW player is ever to blame for an Oz
defeat remains rock-solid.

alvey

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On Sunday, October 31, 2021 at 8:50:45 PM UTC, alvey wrote:
> "Let’s start by making one thing clear. England’s T20 World Cup pulverising
> of Australia will have absolutely no bearing on the Ashes, a series played
> in a different format, by numerous different players, on surfaces the other
> side of the globe to the UAE.
>
> What it has done instead, is show in big, bold type how much the white-ball
> paths of Australia and England have diverged in the six years since a team
> then led by stand-in captain George Bailey – now Australia’s selection
> chair – did a similar job on England in the opening match of the 2015 ODI
> World Cup at a heaving MCG.
>
> That game underlined why England had to go away and formulate a new, much
> more vigorous and fearless approach to white-ball cricket. To do so they
> leaned heavily on the strong views of their captain Eoin Morgan and the
> assistance of a free-thinking Australian coach in Trevor Bayliss.
>
> At the same time, the ECB made a deliberate choice to prioritise shorter
> formats with a view to winning the 2019 World Cup and others beyond it.
> Careful accumulation and percentage play was out; ‘‘take the game on’’
> aggression and initiative was in.
>
> Six years on, Morgan still carries the leadership flame of this approach to
> an extent that it visibly liberates and invigorates England players who
> take part in it.
>
> Look at Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, both missing from the long form of the
> game, but contributing well as ever at this World Cup. Look too at Liam
> Livingstone, who contributed the four part-time overs that a more
> free-thinking Australia might have been able to target, but instead were
> the most parsimonious of the entire innings. Moeen, meanwhile, was
> unperturbed to sit out his bowling spell, as Morgan said.
>
> It was a lack of trust in Glenn Maxwell or Marcus Stoinis to do a similar
> job that saw Mitchell Marsh dropped mid-tournament, after so much
> investment in him this year as a solid member of the Australian batting
> line-up.
>
> Without Marsh, Maxwell had to bat higher, leaving him vulnerable to the new
> ball in the hands of Chris Woakes – another player who has grown noticeably
> since Morgan and Bayliss tilted England’s approach.
>
> England’s philosophy is now so strong and clearly defined that, as Morgan
> pointed out, the squad selected for the World Cup has been able to form a
> cohesive and powerful unit even though they have seldom played together
> lately – supposedly the big reason why Australia were so shabby.
>
> Instead, it is the crystal clear understanding of how this England team
> works, thinks and expects that means all players contribute more than their
> individual value might otherwise be. That’s true even of a talent as
> outlandish as Jos Buttler’s.
>
> That kind of ethos, where opponents struggle to ‘‘target’’ favourable
> match-ups because England are strong at every rung of their team’s ladder,
> is reminiscent of the great Australian sides of the late 1990s and early
> 2000s and, briefly, the combination that thrived at the 2015 World Cup.
>
> Bailey was a superb interim captain whenever Michael Clarke was
> unavailable, the bowlers worked in concert to such an extent that a younger
> Pat Cummins was required to play only a supporting role, and James Faulkner
> and Maxwell produced performances they seldom matched in national colours
> either before or since. What England have, then, is a clarity of mind and a
> quality of performance that Australia, at least in white-ball cricket, can
> only wonder at. Should they, having prioritised Test cricket so much more
> than England in recent years, stumble on the Ashes stage also, it would
> mean three losing home summers in four years. That is one area where events
> in UAE would be related to those in the Ashes – such a sequence would make
> it well and truly time for the same sort of introspection and strategic
> rethinking.
>
> Australia host next year’s World Cup. In order to win it, they will need to
> derive a lot more of their approach from the sort of thinking encouraged by
> Morgan than some of the muddled efforts seen in the early hours of Sunday
> morning."
> Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, November 01, 2021
>
> It's no coincidence that Daniel is an anagram of 'denial'. Even though
> Brettig has moved from the wasteland of cricket.com.au to the Sinney
> Morning Herald his belief that no NSW player is ever to blame for an Oz
> defeat remains rock-solid.
>
>

he cant be an australian. surely nobody in oz speaks like that.

when oz beat england in the 3rd t20 in 2020 they became no 1 in the
ICC T20 rankings and most of the team now is the same. if finch had won
the toss, it might have been a very different story. plus this is probably
the last time oz will lose to england for the next 4 months :(

mike