ODI World Cup 2023: England performance review

Coming to the ODI World Cup, England were one of the favourites to lift the trophy. They had a perfect squad to repeat the 2019 heroics but the Jos Buttler-led side lacked character and their strategic failure led to a disastrous campaign for the Three Lions. After an epic failure in 2015, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) appointed Eoin Morgan as the captain and it was under his leadership that the team started playing an aggressive brand of cricket, which eventually became their USP.

Later, they applied the same in red-ball cricket as well and became successful in becoming one of the dangerous sides in Test cricket. Cometh to the 2023 World Cup, England did not change their strategy at all and that probably cost them the cup. '

They looked to be in a hurry as their batters played an aggressive brand of cricket but it resulted in them losing quick wickets as England did not bat 50 overs in five out of their nine matches. They were under constant threat of missing the Champions Trophy 2025 but managed to win their final two league matches against Netherlands and Pakistan to confirm their ticket. Overall, the Jos Buttler-led side won three out of their nine matches and finished seventh on the points table.

Could they have done a better job? They had everything that was required to succeed. All the players were well accustomed to the Indian conditions and a better result was expected from the defending champions. They had quality players in the mix, stars who could win the match single-handedly on their day but it did not go their way. 

The good, bad and not so pretty

Barely anything went right for England in the tournament and inding out positives for them in this campaign incredibly tough. However, Dawid Malan’s was one of the positives for the team. The swashbuckling opener hit 404 runs in nine matches, 100more than the second-best batter Ben Stokes. Notably, Stokes had a very mediocre tournament but he hit 64, 108 and 84 runs in the final three matches  to help England wins in the last two. However, it was too late.

Adil Rashid was impressive with the ball as the spinner picked up 15 wickets in nine matches. Other bowlers did reasonably well but their economy rates were a concern. England definitely missed ace pacer Jofra Archer in the tournament, who was ruled out due to a series of injuries.

Coming to skipper Jos Buttler, the 33-year-old should have opened alongside Dawid Malan. A few months back, Buttler decided to bat in the middle-order in ODIs, which has not worked for the team. He has given multiple good starts to Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and could have done the same job for England but he preferred Jonny Bairstow in the top. England also missed Jason Roy as Bairstow failed to live up to his potential.

The moment that mattered

England were at the bottom of the table at one point and were at the risk of missing the Champions Trophy. However, with back-to-back wins in the last two matches, they secured the spot and Stokes’ contribution in both matches was crucial.

The southpaw hit 108 runs against Netherlands and built a crucial partnership with Chris Woakes to help the team post 339. In their final game against Pakistan, he hit 84 off 76 and built a good partnership with Joe Root as England ended up posting 337 and won the match by 93 runs.

Remember the names

Dawid Malan saved England multiple times in the tournament. When none of the batters managed to get going, the 36-year-old kept giving good starts which saved the team from further embarrassment. He finished as the top-scorer for and the opener could be proud of that. 

Stokes did well towards the fag end of the tournament but he was not impressive throughout. Had he not retired from ODI cricket previously, he would have had more game time under the belt which could have helped him. However, the two players along with Adil Rashid impressed the most from England.

Future fermentation

A change in strategy and personnel in the coaching staff is the way forward for England. The duo of Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott has not worked well and England might consider making Brendon McCullum a full-time coach for all formats if Mott does not lead the team to success in the coming time. They have got a tremendous amount of talent in the mix and should back them to get the job done in the coming years.

The pundits have said multiple times that it is probably the end of an era and England should start thinking beyond certain players. The likes of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and a few others are match-winners but they are heading towards the end of their careers. Thus, the road forward should be with a proper strategy and the right players that fit into it - just like it happened after the 2015 World Cup.

Coming of age

Harry Brook should be the face of England cricket going forward and the team should be built around him. Previously, Joe Root carried the same role in England and Brook needs to do the same in the future. He barely played in the ODI World Cup but even so, he gained experience which can come in handy in the future. The same goes for Sam Curran who was the Player of the Tournament in the T20 World Cup 2022. England have the players, they just need to polish them well.