Shaun Pollock feels England are a good side only on flat wickets

The 2017 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy is set to get underway on June 1 with the hosts England all set to take on Bangladesh in the tournament opener. India goes into the tournament as the defending champions while England will be eager win their first ICC ODI tournament. The hosts have one of the finest squads going into the tournament. Most of their players have largely benefitted from playing the recently concluded IPL and are high on confidence.

With the likes of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, one can expect England to be a big challenge for other teams. They have endured quite a few ODI heartbreaks in major tournaments over the years but stand a golden chance to claim their first ICC Champions Trophy on home soil. Just two years ago they endured the humiliation of crashing out of the World Cup without even extending beyond the group stages after losing to Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval. They will be very hungry to erase all those memories by winning the trophy this time.

But despite their home advantage and recent success in ODI cricket, England have earned themselves a new tag: flat-track bullies. In their past 12 limited-overs games, batting first, they made their way to 11 scores of 296 and above, which also includes a huge 444/3 against Pakistan at Nottingham. Out of those 12 matches, seven were played in their backyard – where pitches are a paradise for the batsmen.

Pollock’s opinion

South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock has called England out on their fear of the moving ball. Speaking on a Sky Sports podcast with Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton, the champion South African asked – “Do green seamers suit your current England team, or actually not?”

“I think they’re a flat wicket team now. Even the bowling side, someone like (fast bowler Liam) Plunkett is not looking to swing it around,” he continued.

Sadly for England, Lord’s Cricket Ground, which does not have a flat track, won’t be hosting any Champions Trophy games.