Cricket News: Time for England to replace their icons - Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes
England has struggled in white ball cricket for the last few months. Their dominance and aggressive nature in red-ball cricket are intact, but in ODIs and T20Is, the team looks in little trouble
Eoin Morgan : End of an Era
After the Indian Premier League, the white ball team for England has received a few major setbacks in terms of retirement. First, England Captain Eoin Morgan retired from all forms of international cricket and now Ben Stokes from one-day internationals. In the last seven white ball games played by England, they have been able to win just 2.
"We've been improving through the games we've played, and we're missing experienced guys, but that creates opportunities for others. Very confident in the team", said England Captain Jos Buttler when asked if there is pressure on senior players with Morgan and Stokes gone after the defeat in the first ODI against South Africa.
Has England found the alternative to their old guards?
Since the legendary bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson terminated their white ball careers in 2016 and 2015, England failed to produce another pair of specialist bowlers to match record-breaking partners. Though the decision was taken into consideration of their excellence and longevity of career needed in Test cricket, the white-ball bowling unit suffered a lot as they couldn't find a perfect long-term replacement for this duo. Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, and Ollie Robinson did become England's vision to see long-term pace bowlers, but frequent injuries never gave them a stable bowling combination. In the current generation, Sam Curran and Matthew Potts look promising seamers for the future.
Earlier their former skipper Eoin Morgan announced retirement from all forms of international cricket. He was England's firm middle-order batter, leading them to many glorious wins. Currently, the middle order is handled by Joe Root, Jos Buttler, and Liam Livingstone in ODIs. In contrast, in T20Is, Liam Livingstone and Dawid Malan struggle to find other perfect players. They had shown their preferences in Harry Brook and Phil Salt, who impressed their performance in County cricket. But are yet to fix a permanent spot.
Taking inspiration from the bowling duo, Ben Stokes retired from One Day International hoping to have a long and sustaining career in the red-ball format. His aggressive intent and all-rounding display in every match were admirable. Currently, England can utilise the combination of Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran to fill the space as the replacement of Ben Stokes cannot be a one-person job right now. The combination has worked pretty well in the last few games, and England will be giving them enough matches so they can get stable with the role.
Two ICC World Cups are lined back-to-back now, with the T20 World Cup this year in Australia and the ODI World Cup next year in India; there is a lot of white-ball cricket waiting for England. They will have a good time experimenting and filling the shoes of these old guards and make a solid team to win the title.