Stats: England's disciplined bowling in the last 18 months

England batting in the One-Day International cricket has been one of the most talked about aspects given the aggressive intent they show throughout their innings. The team has thus recorded big totals almost every time they took the field in this format. This has helped them stay atop of the ICC ODI rankings but their bowling has hardly been talked about. England have filled up their line-up with players who can bat and give them an option of bowling 10 overs.

Unlike other teams, England have concentrated on batting depth rather than taking specialist bowlers who may not be good enough to contribute with the bat. However, the most underrated thing about England’s bowling has been their discipline not in terms of line and length but in keeping their foot behind the crease while delivering the ball. It is a result of English bowlers’ hard work as they have not bowled a single no-ball in the last 18 months.

The last instance when an England bowler over-stepped while bowling in an ODI game was back in January 2017 in the Cuttack ODI against India. Liam Plunkett overstepped in the 44th over of India’s innings in that game but no player from his country repeated the mistake in the 9580 balls they have bowled in ODI format after that. Since Plunkett’s no-ball, no England bowler has overstepped even once in the 36 ODI matches.

It is not that England have not bowled no-balls in these 36 matches but none of them has been called for overstepping. They have had as many as seven no-ball calls in those 36 ODI matches. Six of them were when the bowlers delivered a waist high full toss. During the 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final against Pakistan, the England captain Eoin Morgan had five players outside the circle during the 2nd powerplay.

The umpire spotted it and rightfully called a no-ball and the bowler Ben Stokes had to deliver the free hit for no mistake of his own. In the Manchester ODI against Windies later that year, Stokes ended up bowling two waist height no-balls in the same game.

List of no-balls bowled by England bowlers in their last 36 ODI matches:

(Stats as on July 16, 2018)

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