Jos Buttler leads England's defense of the Cricket World Cup in India. Photo: Getty Images/Alex Davidson
This time will be different. After winning the 2019 World Cup, England decided the team would not follow the decline of men's football and rugby teams following their global triumphs in 1966 and 2003. The age profile and culture of the English white-ball game has bolstered England's belief that 2019 could be the catalyst for more trophies.
That ambition has been realized. After defeating Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last November, England became the first men's team to host both ODI and T20 World Cups simultaneously.
Yet England's journey from the 2019 World Cup to defense in India has not been easy. Along the way, England changed captain when Jos Buttler took over from Eoin Morgan last year, and changed coaches twice, with Matthew Mott now head white-ball coach. The ODI side has been particularly hit by the impact of Covid-19.
“If you were planning for a perfect build, it probably wasn't,” admits Mo Bobath, England's chief executive. “The 2015-2019 period felt like a strategic four-year approach. It just didn't happen. We had to really adapt and make the best of it.
England arrived at the 2019 World Cup unbeaten in their final series against all opponents in the tournament. From last summer to February this year, England went on a run of four series without a win.
England's journey since winning the championship World Cup 2019 before this one, there were definitely no victories in the series. Photo: Reuters/Jon Super
In part, England's faltering development reflects the sport's new landscape. As England recovered from the 2015 World Cup, captain Eoin Morgan was adamant that the team needed regular access to their first-choice players in ODIs. The choice was influenced by team analyst Nathan Leamon's finding in 2015 that most players on World Cup winning teams tend to have more than 75 caps.
After 2019, England's initial target was the T20 World Cup — with two championships played during the cycle, rather than just one in the 2015-19 season. As such, England used ODIs to rest their players and develop their depth of play. Like all World Cup nations, they simply haven't played enough: of the 88 ODIs between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, England have played only 42 since 2019. four years,” says Bobath.
Franchise cricket has fundamentally changed the dynamics of bilateral ODI cricket. Since 2019, the growth of short format leagues has accelerated. England have been wise to choose not to fight this trend, instead allowing players to skip bilateral series if they face more lucrative commitments in franchise tournaments. Of the two players in the 2015 World Cup squad with IPL experience, 14 players now have it (all except Gus Atkinson), up from 11 in 2019.
England are currently undertaking a project to translate T20 skills into the 50-over format. It is believed that while most of the skills required by T20 can be found in ODI cricket, the reverse is not true. Bowling and front bowling, back bowling in the middle overs; during this period he scores with relative ease, while avoiding risk; and opening against two rather than one white balls, meaning they take longer to swing, are all tasks for which the T20 is ill-prepared.
In the 2015/19 ODI season, England selected 34 players. Since 2019, England have selected fewer than half of the ODIs — 38. Between the 2019 World Cup final and the series against New Zealand last month, the three ODIs against Australia in 2020 were the only time England selected all of their best players who were not injured.< /p> 
In this World Cup cycle, the England team has changed and distributed performances more. Photo: AP/Matt Dunham
The busy schedule contributed to Ben Stokes retiring from ODIs last year, declaring the schedule «unsustainable». A few months ago, Buttler and Mott were confident that Stokes would return. Making 182, the highest ODI score in England's history, in his third game back, he underlined England's confidence that the players and methods that sustained them in 2019 will serve them well again in India. Eight players from the World Cup-winning team — nine including Jofra Archer, who is on the bench — will feature again. In some cases, England's hopes are based on pre-2020 form: for example, Root has played just 16 ODI innings this cycle, averaging 27.85.
Unusually, the ODI rules have not changed in this World Cup cycle. Yet one significant change occurred. As of Winter 2020/21, the Kookaburra's white balls have been swinging for longer. As a result, the nature of the game has changed significantly: if, say, each ball now swings for two more overs, that means an extra four overs in the innings.
England initially did not adapt to the change very well, struggling to find the right pace as they adapted from T20 back to the 50-overs version of the game. England were bowled out 26-5 against Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah last summer on their way to being bowled out for 110 at the Oval.
Although England retains a deep-seated tendency towards aggressive behavior, it has become slightly less fanatical. The introduction of Dawid Malan as the opener in place of Roy provides more stability against the swinging ball. As Malan showed against New Zealand, he can still attack the new ball, just perhaps a little more selectively.
David Malan is the leader of the England team. Photo: AFP/Ben Stansall
However, Malan's best qualities will be seen a little later. He is a master of what England call «cruising speed» during the middle overs, and takes advantage of the fact that only four men can go beyond the 30-yard circle: a skill required to win the 2019 World Cup. With Malan along with Root, Buttler and Stokes, England should be well placed to thrive again at this stage of the game in India.
The World Cup will be an encore for the golden generation of English white-ball cricket. Even with the late absence of Jason Roy, seven team members were born between March 1989 and June 1991. Six of this group performed in 2019, as did Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, who are both older; Wisden Cricket Monthly's new cover is England's Last Dance. If they win the World Cup, England will have the oldest average age of any previous winner: the average age of the team is 31, with the most likely squad including 10 players in their thirties.
The combination of the golden generation and the lack of ODIs has robbed young players of time to make their case. Will Jacks, for example, is 24, a good batsman and a good off-spin bowler: he should be an attractive option for the World Cup in India, but he had only played two ODIs by the time England selected their team.
The development of all-round players has been at the core of England's success in white-ball cricket, especially in T20. The case of Liam Livingston is particularly instructive. Ahead of the 2019/20 winter, Livingstone and England management agreed that rather than aiming for a Test place in the short term while representing the Lions in Australia, he should focus on T20 leagues to accelerate his development as a white-ball player.As during last year's victorious T20 World Cup campaign, the all-rounders will give England tactical flexibility during games, allowing them, for example, to bowl significantly more spin overs than they intended if the ball turns more than expected. It also means England have significant batting depth: Chris Woakes, who hit seven balls in the 2019 World Cup final, could easily have batted nine balls. This is seen as a particular advantage in India, where teams tend to score a higher percentage of runs in the last 10 overs than elsewhere.
Throughout the cycle, England have been looking for players to back up two of their most indispensable ODI bowlers — Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid. While the World Cup has come too early for Rehan Ahmed, leaving England forced to rely on Rashid for spin, the emergence of Gus Atkinson gives England another 90mph option along with Mark Wood in the absence of Archer, who will travel to India as a reserve and there may still be a function.
Atkinson made his ODI debut after just two List A games, presenting another new challenge for England. Top domestic players no longer play 50-over cricket as the One-Day Cup clashes with the Hundred. However, such changes are always felt with a time lag; the real effect of this graph will only be seen in 2027. “If you had a 50-player competition where counties could play full teams, that would go a long way toward helping our 50-player selection,” Bobath muses.
For four years from 2015, becoming the world's leading ODI team was seen as a major step towards winning the World Cup. With the exception of India when they played at home in 2011, all world champions since 1999 have been ranked among the top two in the world, as Limón documents in his book Impact Against Spin. In India, England need to change this trend, as well as in cricket in general. England begin the tournament as the world's fifth-ranked ODI team. However, most believe that the bookmakers who consider them second favorites are right.
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