England’s dreadful World Cup exit is another low moment in what has been an extremely turbulent 18 months, but what makes this harder to take is that it was entirely predictable.

Before the tournament began, I wrote that England would make us sweat in their bid to reach the quarter-finals. In the end, it was much worse.

We knew that defeats by Australia and New Zealand could throw England into a downward spiral that would be hard to reverse. What we could not predict is just how far Eoin Morgan’s men would sink.

Chasing a target of 276 against Bangladesh on a good pitch with small boundaries in Adelaide should have been well within their capabilities.

They fell 15 runs short because this team is entirely devoid of confidence and aggression. They simply do not have the ability to impose themselves on the opposition, whoever it may be.

Let me make it clear that I am not rubbishing the players. England have some very good cricketers that either have proven records or have shown potential since arriving in international cricket.

But they are not in the right frame of mind to dominate a one-day international. One or two have the character to do that, but not enough.

This is not a new problem. England have struggled in World Cups for the best part of 25 years, since reaching the final here in Australia and New Zealand in 1992.

Since then, they have not won a knockout match and this latest failure is the third time they have been eliminated in the first round.

I have a theory as to why this might be.

England invented one-day cricket, but then the rest of the world adapted their own game as the creators stood still.

If you showed me a silhouette of a batsman, with no distinguishing features other than the way he plays, I think I could work out where he is from in about an over.

There is the wristy style of the Asian nations, the powerful back-foot strokes of the Australians, or the flourishing flamboyance of the West Indies. The archetype is that, as people, the English are quite conservative. It certainly seems that way in our one-day cricket.

It is for that reason that I feel the players on whom the one-day side will now be built need liberating.

The likes of Jos Buttler, Joe Root, James Taylor and Alex Hales could form the nucleus of a team over the next four years in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup in England.

However, I feel the change in attitude that is required can only be provided by a coach from overseas.

This is not me calling for Peter Moores to be removed. Moores, along with Alastair Cook, played his part in improving the fortunes of the Test side last summer, earning that 3-1 win over India.

But England need to keep their Test cricket and limited-overs cricket separate and a return to split coaches would help them attract the very best man for the job.

The reality is that the likes of New Zealander Stephen Fleming and South African Gary Kirsten do not want to hack around the world with England for 12 months of the year, especially when they can earn very good money in T20.

Still, that does not mean they cannot be England’s limited-overs coach, because that does not have to be a full-time role.

To get their young talent to be the best limited-overs players they can be, England need a white-ball coach that is experienced in playing one-day internationals, who understands how the game has changed and who has coached successfully in another part of the world.

The end of a World Cup campaign is the time to start again with a blank sheet of paper.

Do we have the right man to lead us for the next four years? Which players won’t be in the side by the time the next tournament arrives?

These are the questions that England need to answer.

Will Morgan still be in charge in 2019? If not, put Taylor or Root at the helm. Are James Anderson and Stuart Broad at the end of their one-day careers? Can we identify their replacements?

More widely than that, do we have the domestic structure correct? Are our limited-overs leagues providing the competition that will produce players of international quality? Should we be exposing more of our players to T20 leagues around the world?

In horrible circumstances on a glorious evening in South Australia, the opportunity to rebuild England’s approach to one-day cricket has arisen.

It is an opportunity that has come round each time there has been a World Cup failure. Now, it must be taken.

Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport’s Stephan Shemilt.

source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ireland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals suffered a blow as India sealed top spot in Pool B with a fifth straight win in the tournament.

Ireland came into the match knowing that a point would see them qualify.

Despite an opening stand of 89 between William Porterfield and Paul Stirling and 75 from Niall O’Brien, their 259 total was never likely to be enough.

So it proved as Shikhar Dhawan (100) and Rohit Sharma (64) helped India to a comfortable eight-wicket victory.

The margin of defeat is a reality check for Ireland, who have performed well above expectation in this tournament, claiming three wins (two against Test-playing nations) to give them six points and genuine hope of reaching the last eight.

They can still do so, but they will need to beat Pakistan in their final pool game or gain a point should the fixture be rained off.

Much like their game with South Africa, in which they conceded 411 runs before being bowled out for 210, the gulf in class between the sides in Hamilton was vast.

They started well, with Porterfield (67) and Stirling (42) using the pace of the opening bowlers well to amass an encouraging opening stand and suggest a competitive total over 300 was a possibility.

But India’s switch to spin bowling halted their progress as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravinda Jadeja and Suresh Raina frustrated the top order and claimed the important wickets of Ed Joyce (bowled by Raina) and Andy Balbirnie (caught by Mohammed Shami off Ashwin).

Niall O’Brien offered resistance and hit well but when he and brother Kevin both fell to Shami, Ireland’s hopes of a decent score disappeared, with the returning Indian pace bowlers cleaning up the tail.

It was the fourth time India had bowled out a team in this high-scoring World Cup but Ireland’s consolation is that they made the highest total against MS Dhoni’s side.

Ireland had two opportunities to gain a foothold early in the India innings as Dhawan twice presented difficult catching chances off the bowling of John Mooney but the bowler was unable to hold on to the first and the second eluded the grasp of Porterfield at square leg.

After that, India were ruthless as Dhawan and Sharma amassed 174 before the latter chopped on to his own stumps from World Cup debutant Stuart Thompson.

Thompson, whose first over went for 18 before he was hastily withdrawn, also claimed the wicket of Dhawan, who miscued one to Porterfield at deep cover, but these were the only high points of the innings for Ireland as Virat Kohli (44) and Ajinkya Rahane (33) saw the reigning champions home with 79 balls to spare.

Listen to highlights from Test Match Special’s and 5 live Sport’s 2015 World Cup coverage.

Ireland captain William Porterfield: “I don’t think it can [knock Ireland’s confidence]. There are a lot of good things to take. We were disappointed to come off having not capitalised on a good situation. You have to give credit to India and they way they came back.

“It was a very good pitch and there wasn’t a lot of help for the seamers. We just couldn’t kick on like their opening pair did. Ashwin bowled very well. We just lost some wickets in that period. All in all I think we played very well.

“We have put in a lot of yards in the last few weeks. It is all about being fresh for that game [against Pakistan]. It is winner takes all so we need to mentally prepare and be ready. If you can’t get up for these games you won’t be up for any.”

India captain MS Dhoni: “We’ve been here four months, the guys put in a lot of effort in the Test series so I knew we had to step up the intensity from the one-day series, and all the boys have done that.

“We’re a little jet-lagged after coming from Perth, the boys were a little sleep-deprived so that’s another reason this game was important.

“Our bowlers are really doing the job for us, they’ve stepped up – not just the three fast bowlers, the spinners are complimenting them and when we’ve used part-timers they’ve done well.”

source: www.bbc.o.uk

England crushed Australia by 347 runs at Lord’s to take a 2-0 lead in the series and tighten their grip on the Ashes urn.
The hosts bowled Australia out for 235 late on the fourth day, having set them a notional 583 to win after declaring on 349-7 when Joe Root was dismissed for 180.

The tourists’ last-wicket pair frustrated England for an hour and threatened to take the match into a final day.
But with just four balls remaining before a delayed close, Graeme Swann trapped James Pattinson lbw for 35 to send England’s players into delighted celebrations.

The off-spinner finished with 4-78, and nine wickets in the match, while Tim Bresnan, James Anderson and Root took two wickets apiece.
Once again, the day featured controversies over the decision review system – Steve Smith and Ashton Agar fell to marginal calls – but there was no masking the gulf in quality between the sport’s two oldest rivals.

The resounding victory, England’s third biggest in terms of runs, puts Alastair Cook’s team in a commanding position from which to win their third Ashes series in a row.

Don Bradman’s 1936-37 Australians are the only team in the 136-year history of Test cricket to have come back from 2-0 down to win a series.
Should Australia fight back to draw 2-2 – something neither team have ever managed – England would still retain the urn, having won the last two series between the sides.

Despite an overnight lead of 466, England chose to continue batting in an effort to get Root to his double-hundred and further wear down the pitch.
But, after Jonny Bairstow had been caught behind cutting at Ryan Harris, Root attempted a ramp shot and scooped to Smith at third man, providing the cue for Cook to declare and set about dismantling the Australia batting order for the fourth time in the series.

Shane Watson’s innings followed a familiar trajectory, a trio of fours followed by an lbw dismissal as Anderson nipped one back. Ex-England batsman & Test Match Special summariser
“When you win in four days and are so much better than the opposition, you can’t criticise England. I think Australia will hope to get better but I’m not sure they can. England will just win again.”

Swann removed left-handers Chris Rogers and Phil Hughes in quick succession on a pitch tailor-made for his spin-bowling artistry.
After two sharply turning balls had fizzed past the outside edge, Rogers played no stroke to a delivery that went on with the arm and knocked over off stump.

A similar delivery accounted for Hughes, who played for spin that was not there and was trapped lbw. For the second time in the match Hughes used up one of Australia’s reviews, which established the ball would have hit leg stump.
On 36-3 at lunch, and with Swann turning the ball considerably, Australia were in danger of crumbling to a lower total than their first-innings 128, but Michael Clarke and Usman Khawaja battled hard in a stand of 98.

Clarke was struck three times by Stuart Broad, with one ball thudding into the badge on his helmet, and showed good footwork to the spinners before he glanced Root to leg slip to depart for 51. The part-time off-spinner, generating some alarming turn from the rough outside the left-hander’s off stump, accounted for Khawaja for 54 in the next over, when a thick edge was caught by Anderson at second slip.

When Bresnan removed Smith and Agar either side of tea – both to thin edges that were given out by the third umpire despite no obvious Hot Spot marks on the bat – the game was as good as up. Swann collected his third wicket when Brad Haddin padded up and was given out lbw. With no Australia reviews remaining, Haddin was powerless to overturn what turned out to be an incorrect call.

Anderson castled Peter Siddle to break a partnership of 30 with Pattinson and move England to within one wicket of glory. The resistance of Pattinson and Harris, however, frustrated England and forced them into taking an extra half-hour. Seven more overs came and went, with plenty of near misses, until Swann got a ball to fizz past Pattinson’s outside edge and clatter into his back leg to deliver the final act of a compelling drama.

Given the vast margin of victory, it is easy to forget that England were reduced to 28-3 on the opening morning of the match after winning the toss under cloudless skies. A classy 109 from Ian Bell helped them recover to 361 before Australia were blown away in an abject, and at times comical, display of batting.

England stuttered again at the start of their second innings, but such was the margin of their lead that it only needed one innings of substance to all but ensure a home win. Root was the man to oblige, with a masterful century that ground Australia into the Lord’s turf and set the stage for England’s bowlers to bring home the match – and quite possibly the series.

Source : www.bbc.co.uk