Cricket to the rescue for England? Fourth ODI preview

What a week: A referendum vote to leave the European Union, the resulting resignation of a Prime Minister and England losing at Euro 2016 to Iceland. Cricket has never had to fight harder to be heard.

Which is a shame because England are playing some good cricket, both in the one-day and Test formats. Eoin Morgan's men, like some of their footballing counterparts, are young and exciting and have proven their worth domestically. The difference? The cricketers are delivering on the international stage too.

It was not always the case. Minds wander back to the aftermath of the last cricket World Cup when England’s performances were shambolic, they changed their plan and selection at the last moment resulting in confusion over how they wanted to play and the coach Peter Moores ultimately lost his job as a result. Sound familiar football fans?

The washed out third ODI at the weekend means England are one up with two to play. A result at The Oval will seal another one-day series win for Morgan’s men and will continue their good work in short form cricket since that World Cup disaster.

Unlike Roy Hodgson, England’s coach Trevor Bayliss knows his best team and they are clear as to how they want to play. They may only make one change to the side from the previous game.  Chris Jordan replaced Moeen Ali in Bristol as the skies and pitch dictated an extra seamer was required but Ali is likely to return at The Oval where conditions will be far better for batting and pace off the ball important.

The form of Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett with the ball, sharing 12 wickets between them, means that Jordan, one of England’s stand-out bowlers in the World T20 in India, is currently behind them in the pecking order. Plunkett’s form has been particularly pleasing and is just reward for a wholehearted cricketer who has sometimes been dealt harshly by the selectors.

There are unlikely to be any further changes with the series still at stake. Any temptation to rest players should be avoided because England's performances have been workmanlike rather than spectacular. There have been few opportunities for England’s batters to show their worth; a win by ten wickets and an abandonment after four overs of their innings followed the poor performance of the top order in the first game.

The Oval pitch should be a belter for batting though and Joe Root, Morgan and Jonny Bairstow will be hoping the forecast wet weather stays away and they can spend some time in the middle. Morgan’s form has been middling for England in 2016, averaging just 17 from eight ODIs and 16 from the same number of T20Is. While his captaincy has been generally good, he will be aware he has a job to score runs too.

Bairstow’s position in the side will come under scrutiny once Ben Stokes has recovered fully from his injury more for the strengths – explosive hitting, the extra bowler, brilliant fielder – of Stokes than anything Bairstow has done wrong. In most international teams, Bairstow would be certain starter and a score or two could put pressure on Morgan.

Where England have strength in depth, Sri Lanka have had further injury troubles to add to their wretched luck. Batsman Lahiru Thirimanne has been ruled out of the tour with a back injury and the tourists are rather limping to the end of the series.

Half centuries from captain Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis in Bristol were bright spots for the Sri Lankans but it was a subdued batting performance from them, rather in-keeping with how they have played so far in the series.

They have not seemed to be playing the free and expressive cricket they are known for, concentrating instead on competing and posting scores that keep them in the game rather than blasting away an opposition. That will not be enough at a free-scoring ground like The Oval.

Upul Tharanga, who has opened in 156 of his 185 ODIs and has had a decent series batting at number seven so far, may be a candidate to move up the order to add some flamboyance to Sri Lanka’s order but they have kept faith with their line-up and plan of action and will likely do the same in south London.

The bowling attack is more of a worry than the batting. The Bristol game did not let Sri Lanka’s bowlers show they had recovered from the hammering Alex Hales and Jason Roy had given them at Edgbaston in a 256-run partnership which won the game for England by 10 wickets and set a new record partnership for England in ODI cricket.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers will not find much solace in the pitch at The Oval either.

England lost to New Zealand here last year but beat Sri Lanka the previous season with a top three of Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Gary Ballance. If anything describes England fresh approach to one-day cricket, it is the change in selection policies from then to now, something that evidently needed changing during the last World Cup.

With plenty of rain forecast, the likelihood of a full game is poor which will frustrate both sides as it has cricketers up and down the country in the past two weeks. The gloomy weather has summed up the mood of the British people in the last few days too. Cricket needs to come to the rescue.

© Cricket World 2016