ENGLISH REDEMPTION??

Who would have imagined the Ashes winning England team struggling to stay alive in the World Cup? Nobody would have imagined England to be upset twice in the same tournament. When they take on the West Indies tomorrow at Chennai, they will only have victory on their minds as that only would ensure them a place in the quarterfinals unless Bangladesh beat South Africa.

England would go into the game with all intentions to win. One cannot expect a camp to be upbeat after being a victim of two upsets however, they have to put it behind them and perform tomorrow. The recent performances of England in ODI’s suggest that their heavy scheduling has taken a toll on them. They have been on tour since late October last year. They placed the five match Ashes series which was followed by the two match T20 series and the seven match ODI series.

When you look at the schedule you would see that the players haven’t had a proper break since October. They returned to England for a mere four days before coming to the World Cup. The feeling of returning home after a long tour was described by Andrew Strauss as “We feel Jaded.” Thus the World Cup preparations weren’t on track as quite a few players had rested due to injury concerns. Furthermore, four days of gap didn’t leave too much time for the team to regroup and have a few practice sessions. The result was that a very tired English side came to play in the biggest tournament.

The game at Chennai tomorrow is very important not just for England but also the group. It would help determine the various positions the teams occupy at the end of the group stages. Thus, it is a quarter final line-up determining game. Therefore, West Indies would also like to win this game and confirm their place in the quarters and wouldn’t like to leave it for the game against India.

The Chennai pitch had a lot of turn when England played South Africa. It was a dry crumbling sort of a wicket typically suited for the spinners. However, unlike the England-SA game it would be a day night game tomorrow. It would be interesting to see if there would be dew once the floodlights are on. The team that wins the toss has to bat first even if there are chances of dew. This is because the track would have turn and will wear on as the match goes on. You do not want to chase on a pitch that has crumbled even more as that would add to the pressure.

England have to go in with their strongest side. Their batting should stay the same as most of them have performed at some point or the other in the tournament. Strauss, Prior, Trott, Bell, Morgan, and Bopara should be their batting line-up. I think they should make one change in the batting order i.e. they should replace Collingwood with Yardy. Yardy brings his left arm spin into the equation and was getting turn when England played South Africa. It would make real sense to play him tomorrow in place of Collingwood if England want more firepower to back Swann on a turning track.

It would be interesting to see if they make any changes to their fast bowling attack. With the exception of Shahzad the other pacers struggled to bowl in the right channels in the last game. Thus either Bresnan or Anderson should be dropped and Chris Tremlett should come in. Chris Tremlett can give you the extra bounce because of his height and this may prove lethal on a slow pitch at times as some batsmen may try to be too aggressive. The other option they may be mulling is playing the extra spinner in place of the one of the fast bowlers. The off spin of James Tredwell may be a handful on the Chepauk turner. It is risk and England would have to be brave to take it. A factor that would affect their selection is the health of some of their players. Some of them are suffering from a few diseases and they would hope they have their full roster to choose from tomorrow.

West Indies come into this game with three comprehensive wins on the trot. Their bowling has looked good but Ireland did manage to give them a small scare in the last game. Kemar Roach’s pace can be very lethal on any surface if he hits the right channels. He has been good so far and West Indies would hope his form continues. They played Andre Russell in the last game but with Chris Gayle fit, Russell has to make way. West Indies should open the bowling with either of their left arm spinners. South Africa did that to dismiss Pietersen but managed to pick two more. If West Indies bring on the left arm spinners early on, it may put psychological pressure on the English batsmen even though Pietersen is back home. In my opinion, Darren Sammy should be the star performer tomorrow. His medium pace with nagging line and length would be difficult to pick on the slow surface.

The West Indian batting should remain the same with Gayle coming in. The form of Keiron Pollard is something to watch out for. He has performed well against the minnows and would look to get a big one against the stronger teams.

It is very difficult to pick a winner as West Indies are an unpredictable team and England have it in them to bounce back. The game should be a good one, let us hope we witness a great one.