Just a couple of years ago, England had endured probably their worst moment in One-Day International cricket. The pioneers of the game had exited the 2015 World Cup after suffering a humiliating loss at the hands of Bangladesh.
Fast forward two years and the Three Lions are now boasting arguably their finest limited-overs side of all time. And the record speaks for them. Since the disastrous 2015 World Cup, England has scored a staggering 23 scores of 300-plus in only 46 matches. During that time, they also scored their highest-ever score in the ODIs when they plundered 444 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge last year. What is even more impressive is that eight of their 10 highest ODI totals have come since the last 50-over World Cup.
England skipper Eoin Morgan, who is the flag-bearer of this remarkable turnaround, has now shed some light on the reasons which helped his side to become such a formidable force in the limited-overs format. And one of the reasons that he gave was his interactions with former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum when both of them played together for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
The former Kiwi batsman had done something similar with his team and had played a key role in their transformation when they reached the final of the last World Cup and Morgan has said he took out a leaf or two from McCullum’s book that has helped England to become a force to reckon.
“He (McCullum) has certainly been an inspiration for me,” Morgan told cricket.com.au on Saturday (June 10). “Three years at Kolkata (Knight Riders) with him, in which we sort of grew pretty close together, and I learned a lot from him. Watching him lead within a group and his sort of tactical cricket brain and how he goes about things.
“He always has an an alternative view regardless of whether it’s right or wrong, which makes things very interesting when you chat to him about cricket,” he added.
Morgan further said the brand of cricket played by the four semi-finalists in the last World Cup, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India, had set an obvious template for his team to follow in order to improve as an ODI outfit.
“The brand of cricket they (the four semi-finalists) played was completely different to everybody else,” said Morgan.
“They were aggressive, they could score 350 if needed and they always went for an attacking bowling line up. Nothing they ever did was a step backwards. So that, as a template, as opposed to just singling out New Zealand, I think is more relevant,” he added.
England, meanwhile, has become the first team to make it to the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy and will be taking on Australia in their final group game on Saturday (June 10) at Birmingham, Edgbaston.