Like Ruud van Nistelrooy at Manchester United, England’s interim white-ball coach Marcus Trescothick returns a team that looks far more cohesive than a few weeks earlier.
As Brendon McCullum prepares to become full-time white-ball coach in the new year, he will inherit a team that has shown glimpses of reinvigoration after two moribund years.
Five questions will go a long way towards determining whether England’s white-ball side can now enjoy the same improvement in results as the Test team did when McCullum took over.
The return of the old guard
Before the Champions Trophy in February, the call will once again go to Ben Stokes. Part of Stokes’ appeal lies in his two crucial World Cup final innings – in 2019 at Lord’s and in 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But it also reflects how, if fully fit, Stokes offers an unrivaled way of balancing the team: batting in the top six and giving England a fourth seamer adept at reverse swing. Without Stokes, England will struggle to fit in a fourth-seam option, unless Sam Curran – whose tour of the West Indies confirmed the perception that he should be seen as a batting all-rounder – plays in the top seven.
Joe Root presents another conundrum. England were struggling to say he was rested, not dropped, when he did not play against Australia in the ODIs in September. Facing high-quality attacks in Pakistan – or wherever the tournament takes place – one suspects Root’s technical class and adaptability will be key. But a counterargument can also be put forward. Root will be 34 before the Champions Trophy. Partly because he has played sporadically, his recent ODI returns have been meager, averaging 29 since 2019.
If Stokes and Root are recalled, with Ben Duckett returning as opener and Harry Brook returning, England will only have two other places in their top six, which would be occupied by Phil Salt and Jos Buttler himself . The captain expressed the wish that Stokes and Root could return for the Champions Trophy.
The prospect of at least one of Stokes and Root returning bodes ill for Will Jacks. Many franchise coaches consider him a rare talent, but he had a career-high 38 on the entire tour. He now averages 31.2 in ODIs and just 18.2 in T20 internationals.
Who guards?
When he was appointed white-ball coach, McCullum said one of his aims was to stop Buttler looking “a bit miserable”. Watching from afar, McCullum would have been encouraged by Buttler’s vigor in T20s.
Ditching the gloves, Buttler appreciated the way the pitch – normally at mid-off – made it easier to communicate with his bowlers. His leadership was particularly aggressive, bowling to both Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood throughout the powerplay in the middle of both T20s, and being rewarded with eight wickets in those 12 overs. Plans, like challenging Shimron Hetmyer with a bouncer just outside his field of vision, came to fruition. Buttler even fielded briefly at short leg.
“It’s been good for me to take one less thing off my plate,” Buttler said. “I liked being closer to the bowlers.” If this continues, Salt is likely to remain the T20 keeper. He could also play the ODI role, unless Jamie Smith is chosen before Root.
In this new phase of his career, Buttler has also taken on a new role in the batting order in T20 cricket, moving from opener to number three. This move allows Salt and Jacks to try to maximize the power play. Buttler can then play as he sees fit: either in attack or as anchor. An imperious 83 in the second T20 at Bridgetown suggests Buttler is back to his best.
How to continue climbing Bethell
Jacob Bethell’s first tour of England was truly a homecoming. At the T20 opener in Barbados, around 150 of Bethell’s family and friends gathered in the Greenidge and Haynes stand. They were rewarded by Bethell’s superb unbeaten 58, which showed both his ability to caress the ball into spaces and his simple raw power. The electric pitches confirmed the impression that Bethell is the next man in English cricket – and perhaps not just in white-ball cricket.
Despite a first-class average of just 25.4, Bethell was quickly included in the Test squad for the tour of New Zealand. Having worked with Bethell in the Caribbean, Trescothick believes his impact across formats could emulate that of Harry Brook.
“All the attributes are there,” Trescothick said. “If you have benchmarks to be able to go there, that’s right, you have to do this, this and this, he would knock on the door for that. And obviously, he’s now next in line on this next trip. There’s no reason why he can’t break through and succeed, as he’s flourished in both formats we’ve seen in recent times.
“It would be exciting to see him go out there and see what he can do.” We could almost see him breaking through as the next youngster after Harry Brook, the most exciting to emerge.
Develop the quick attack
In T20 cricket, England struggled to get new-ball wickets, having mustered just six in their previous six matches against Test opposition until arriving in the Caribbean. The flourishing partnership between Archer and Mahmood has therefore been a particular benefit for England from their tour. After two injury-ruined years, Mahmood’s cocktail of new ball and dangerous bouncer made him a top choice in T20. He could now also win the new ball in the Champions Trophy.
England were also encouraged by Jamie Overton’s tour. After a series of stress fractures, Overton’s workload is carefully managed; he was not fit to play every game. His 3-20 in the third T20 in St Lucia showed not only pace and bounce, but also an increasing range of white ball variations. Add to that Overton’s power at number eight and he is set to give England some rare options in their limited-overs squads. It is unclear whether England feel confident picking him for the Champions Trophy and trusting him with 10 overs. Yet with Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse returning to the ODI squad, England have an array of fast bowlers who can also bat with ease.
Preparing for life after Rashid
Adil Rashid is, as Buttler has often said, the most valuable player in the white-ball team, the man whose skills are hardest to replace. This remains true even if Rashid turns 37 before the Champions Trophy.
But England used the T20 series to give two matches to Rehan Ahmed as a front-rower, resting Rashid. Ahmed’s 3-43 in the defeat at St Lucia showed plenty of promise, although the question of whether he will abuse his google remains.
Ahmed was so precocious that it can be easy to forget that he is only 20 years old. Yet England must do everything they can to accelerate their development: Rashid will be 39 by the time of the 2027 ODI World Cup.
My Champions Trophy team
Salt (wk) Duckett, Stokes, Brook, Buttler (c), Bethell, Livingstone, Atkinson, Rashid, Mahmood, Archer
The return of Ben Stokes would allow England to field four seamers, providing crucial flexibility. In theory, Stokes’ return leaves Jacob Bethell and Liam Livingstone ousted. But this would be very difficult given the performance of the last two months, when they also offer contrasting effects. The result is that Joe Root is ousted. But Root’s ODI returns have suffered from the schedule: he has played just 28 50-over matches since the 2019 World Cup.