Aggressive Approach Can Only Benefit England in World Cup Quest

It’s not even the last two months of World Cup preparations yet but already all eyes are on the chances teams have of winning the tournament. England are about to embark on a seven-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, in search of a magic formula that might see them win.

In fact, as per The Guardian, Alastair Cook believes the 2015 tournament is England’s best chance of winning 50-over silverware. That might be true, but they are not going to get anywhere if they do not change their approach and their thinking.

Having made the final of the Champions Trophy last year, England have struggled in the one-day format, losing four out of their last five series.

Ian Bell has called for the team to be more aggressive in the one-day format. He was quoted by ESPN Cricinfo as saying:

"

We're lucky to be able to pull on the England shirt and go and have a crack. There is a lot of hard work to be done but when we get out there we've got to be aggressive, we've got to be fearless and give it everything. I think people would rather see us be aggressive and lose instead of be timid and come away with nothing. Everyone's mindset is to play aggressively.

"

Bell is spot on. Modern day one-day cricket needs teams to consistently score more than 300 when batting first in order to be sure of victory. Since January 2012, England have managed to score over 300 on just four occasions out of 54 matches. They won three of those matches.

Overall, England have one of the lowest runs per over tallies for ODI cricket since January 2012. On average, they score just 5.20 runs per over, lower than even the Netherlands and Papua New Guinea.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	W/L	Runs Per Over	HS	LS
India	75	45	25	1.8	5.57	404	105
New Zealand	45	17	23	0.739	5.43	373	156
South Africa	58	34	20	1.7	5.36	358	140
Australia	64	33	25	1.32	5.32	362	74
P.N.G.	2	2	0	-	5.28	264	-
Netherlands	9	3	4	0.75	5.26	268	143
Sri Lanka	88	43	39	1.102	5.25	348	43
England	54	29	23	1.26	5.2	325	99

England's win/loss ratio is not terrible, they are fourth when pitted against other Test playing nations, but their approach is lacking. Former skipper Andrew Strauss has attributed their struggles to being “fearful of getting out”, according to the BBC.

That, once again, is true. England often approach ODIs like they are “short Tests” instead of “long T20s” which means they are often too cautious, especially up front when the ball is new and the powerplay is there to be taken advantage of.

While Cook insists there will not be any radical change to the way England play their cricket, Bell could be the one who is ousted from the side, despite his view of needing to modernise their approach.  

Bell, who usually slots in at No. 3, is in competition with both Joe Root and Moeen Ali for his place. Ali and Root both offer a part-time spin option to their captain, too, so if Bell is to make a comeback, it might be lower down the order.

To leave Bell out would be a big mistake. He is England's highest run scorer in the format since January 2012 with 1,627 runs at an average of 43.97. Significantly, he also has a fairly high overall strike-rate in the format. Out of the players who have scored 500 runs or more in the format since 2012, Bell is one of just five players with an overall strike-rate of higher than 80. Jos Buttler tops the list with a strike-rate of 119.35, followed by Eoin Morgan (90.05), Ravi Bopara (85.86), Kevin Pietersen (84.03) and Bell (82.04).

Bell, though, is by far the more consistent of those players with 12 fifties in his 40 matches, more than any other player with a strike-rate of above 80.00.

It’s quite clear that Bell forms an integral part of an aggressive England and while he’s not played regular ODI cricket this year, if England are going to revolutionise, he needs to be at the heart of it.