Last Thursday’s opening game of the Cricket World Cup saw England roundly thrashed in Ahmedabad, by what looked on paper to be a fairly average New Zealand.
Posting a stuttering 282 for nine off 50 overs, England threatened to dominate but too often threw wickets away. Jonny Bairstow clipped the second ball of the innings off his legs for six, Root hit a typically fluent and mostly composed 77, and Jos Buttler showed glimpses of the form that made him one of the IPL stars of his generation.
The Barmy Army is still gamely selling pricey tour packages for the semi-finals in Mumbai and even the final
This apparent batting ease, however was coupled with sloppiness. England still commands immense riches in the batting department, but their bowling looked innocuous and at times poor. The spinners bowled too short. For all their skill and commitment to the England cause over many years, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali appear just a little past it. Chris Woakes has a nice action and looks good on seaming English pitches. He may yet adapt but arguably doesn’t have the pace or the box of tricks needed to get results in India. Mark Wood bowled fast, as he always does when fit, but wayward. Sam Curran is tidy enough and gets swing early on, but has perhaps lost the mystery factor.
New Zealand’s top order was imperious, in fact, romping home for the loss of just one wicket, and breaking another record along the way. Devon Conway reached 100 runs at a New Zealand ODI best of 83 balls, only to see his batting partner reach three figures soon after, from just 82. Both finished not out, 152 and 123 respectively, an unbroken 273-run partnership.
A curious game of cricket in many ways; the result was almost a foregone conclusion after ten overs of the second innings, the main talking point became the embarrassingly empty stands at the Narendra Modi Stadium. It did fill up a little after working hours with the sun’s heat fading, but there may have been only 4,000 people present to witness Sachin Tendulkar parade the trophy and Jonny Bairstow face the first ball.
Some English counties might be pleased enough, but this is the World Cup and the Modi stadium is the biggest in the world: an enormous concrete bowl that can host up to 130,000 people. Views of the actual cricket often feel remote, and folks complain about the facilities. The Modi stadium may tell us more about the self-regard of the Prime Minister than India’s undoubted love of cricket.
Behind the scenes, a bigger debate is underway about the viability of the 50-over format. It allows neither the space for twists, turns and sometimes epic human drama that makes test match cricket so compelling, yet rarely does it match the thrills and spills of the high-octane T20 format, which is what really fills both seats and coffers.
Despite the tiny crowd, the Times of India reported 81 people at the ground requiring an ambulance. One thing they were not suffering from is excessive alcohol consumption. Cricket grounds in India are dry, save for the most exclusive and pricey ‘executive’ boxes, which can set you back over £200. For the rest of us, it’s flat Pepsi all the way. Think of a giant family enclosure at The Hundred and you’re some way there.
The Barmy Army is still gamely selling pricey tour packages for the semi-finals in Mumbai and even the final, back in Ahmedabad on 19 November. If England were to make it, travelling England fans will find not just the stadium but the entire state of Gujarat to be an alcohol-free zone. Consular officers will be pleased but expect travelling support to complain about this, alongside the difficulty in accessing tickets and zealous security guards on entry.
Meanwhile, England regroup. Their next venue is Dharamshala, where they play a spritely Bangladesh today. Bangladesh has good spinners and some powerful middle-order batting.
It may be ‘too early to panic’ but the scale of the defeat to New Zealand leaves England’s run rate in very bad shape. After the first phase ‘round Robin’, only four teams progress. New Zealand looks to have been under-valued, and South Africa has most definitely turned up with their 428 runs off 50 overs against Sri Lanka. The powerhouses of India, Australia, and Pakistan are soon to come. There are no reserve days for the group stage and a rained off game, with points shared, could also disrupt England’s advance.
At 1,457m above sea level, Dharamshala is the highest international test cricket ground in the world. Bangladesh have been acclimatising for more than a week and already comfortably beat Afghanistan at the same venue. Mountain air is of course good for restoring vitality. But visitors to the foothills of the mighty Himalayas have also been known to take time to overcome the altitude-induced lethargy that sets in. No such luxury for Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and his men. England need to wake up fast. A second loss today and their World Cup is all but over.
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