England favourites, but Sri Lanka may surprise - first ODI preview

Had it not been for Carlos Braithwaite’s savage assault on Ben Stokes’ bowling in the World T20 final, England would have been entering these one-day matches against Sri Lanka - five One-Day Internationals and one T20 - as World Champions in a white ball format.

As it was, Braithwaite’s extraordinary performance with the bat means that the West Indies hold that crown but England’s improvement in one-day cricket continues unabated. It has been quite a turnaround since the debacle of the 50 over World Cup in 2015.

Australian Trevor Bayliss’ prowess as a coach in one-day cricket with Sri Lanka and various T20 franchises was a key reason for his appointment and his impact has been important in showing a guiding hand to Eoin Morgan’s side with his experience and knowhow.

Allied with Balyiss’ appointment has been a new, inclusive attitude to one-day cricket from England’s powers that be and a selection committee that has finally picked explosive and athletic young players suited to the demands of the modern one-day game.

The improvement has been as rapid as that of England’s rugby union team, also coached by an Australian in Eddie Jones, who have themselves recovered from a disastrous World Cup to become one of the pre-eminent teams in the world. Maybe an Australian should take charge of England’s football team?

Selection is rarely simple but this England squad is settled in one-day cricket and would not have taken much time to pick. All those included in the ODI squad have tasted one-day action for England before and Morgan, Liam Plunkett, Chris Jordan, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Adil Rashid and David Willey all come in for their first England action of the season after not being involved during the Tests.

There will be some debate over the make-up of the final XI with Stokes’ absence through injury causing an issue with the balance of the side. It means that Moeen Ali will likely bat at six with Chris Woakes replacing Stokes and Jordan, Finn and Willey making up the rest of the seam attack.

Bayliss likes playing two spinners because of the variety it gives England’s attack so Rashid is likely to join Ali in the side although the wet and overcast conditions forecast this week may dictate that an extra batsman, probably Jonny Bairstow, is picked for the first game in Nottingham where the ball may swing around.

England’s top five will be Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Morgan and Buttler who will keep wicket. In time this may come to be regarded as the most dangerous and skilful one-day batting order England have ever had.

The danger is that without Stokes at six, England’s order may be one batsman short if they lose early wickets but Ali is a more than capable fill-in and in most other teams would be batting higher than seven anyway. England’s crop of all-rounders should mitigate Stokes’ loss too.

After their Test match travails, Sri Lanka will welcome a return to coloured clothing and a format they feel more comfortable in. They have had recent success in England too: they won the 2013 series 3-2 and whitewashed England 5-0 in 2006.

That was a different Sri Lanka and this is a different England. Whilst Angelo Matthews and Dinesh Chandimal are two of the pre-eminent white ball cricketers in the world, Sri Lanka will be without five players who have been the mainstays of their side in recent times.

Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Rangana Herath have all retired, Lasith Malinga is injured and Tillakaratne Dilshan is missing due to personal reasons. That is 1,441 ODI appearances missing and a whole lot of runs and wickets.

To address that, Sri Lanka have recalled all-rounder Farveez Maharoof after more than four years out of the side and experienced batsman Upul Tharanga and off-spinner Suraj Randiv have also returned. Only three out of the 15-man squad are under 25.

They should not be lacking in confidence after two commanding performances against Ireland over the weekend. Sri Lanka scored 303 and 377 in those games, banishing the memories of the batting horror shows seen at Headingley and Chester-le-Street in the Tests.

Chandimal scored an unbeaten hundred in the first ODI in Ireland, Kusal Perera scored one in the second and there were some explosive cameos that hinted of good things to come too: Seekkuge Prasanna hit 95 off 46 balls in the second game of the weekend against Ireland and Dasun Shanaka smashed 42 off 19 in the first.

The seam bowling attack is serviceable but depleted. Dushmantha Chameera, who played the first Test, and Dhammika Prasad are injured and Shaminda Eranga has been hospitalised because of a racing heartbeat during the second ODI in Ireland on Sunday.

A replacement is likely to arrive from Sri Lanka’s A team but the seam attack feels workmanlike at best with medium pacers Matthews, Shanaka and Prasanna complementing Suranga Lakmal, who has 63 wickets from 43 ODIs and is clearly the leading light of the attack.

Sri Lanka’s relative success in one-day cricket since their 1996 World Cup win has been in part due to the development of unique cricketers. Whether it be Malinga’s slingshot yorkers, Muttiah Muralitharan’s mesmerising doosras or Sanath Jayasuria’s flashing blade, Sri Lanka have had one-day variety and skill that has at times dumbfounded opposition teams. This squad is rather orthodox is comparison.

England will do well not to underestimate Sri Lanka though especially at Trent Bridge where England have lost five out of the last ten ODIs played at the ground and where Sri Lanka’s medium pacers may get the ball to nip around in the overcast conditions forecast.

If Morgan’s men play to their best, they should win the first game and the series comfortably enough but Sri Lanka have always produced feisty and competitive one-day cricketers and it would not be a surprise to see them push England more than expected. A series win would be a tremendous, if unlikely, achievement.

© Cricket World 2016