Their main challenge over the next nine days will be adapting to a format that they have hardly played. Between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, England played 88 ODIs; in the last four years, they have played 36, and rarely with anything near a full-strength side. That reflects the global trend: only three of the 10 teams competing in India have played more in this cycle.
“Naturally, there’ll be conversations around, ‘well, you’re not playing much 50-over cricket together’ and all this stuff. But the guys have been playing Test cricket or T20 cricket… to have the skillset to play both of those is a skillset that you’re able to take both parts of into 50-over cricket. It can throw different bits at you.
“It is going to be good fun. I don’t think there’s too much worry about cohesion, or people not having played together for two, six, 12, 18 months – whatever it may be. I don’t think that’s too much of a worry when the group has played together for seven or eight years. It’s one of those where you just fit back and you slot back into your roles.”
Related
England keep eyes on prize with World Cup(s) on horizon
-
Brydon Carse makes his mark on debut as England power to seven-wicket victory
-
Harry Brook quietly makes his case as England brace for World Cup buyer’s remorse
There are four weeks until the same teams get the World Cup underway in Ahmedabad on October 5, and these four ODIs will be England’s most important preparation. They are likely to rest the vast majority of their first-choice squad for the three fixtures against Ireland later this month and their two warm-up matches in Guwahati will be relatively low-key.
The World Cup is a long tournament in its current guise, and England learned four years ago that dropping a game or two early in a nine-match group stage is not terminal. “We’ll be able to call upon some tough experience we had during that competition,” Bairstow said.
“It wasn’t just plain sailing: having to win four out of the last four games in order to win the competition. We’ll be able to call upon those experiences in the big moments in the big games during the World Cup.
“Everyone wants to go back-to-back. It’s something you dream of. But we’re under no illusion that in India, it’s going to be very tough. There are some quality teams around the world. There will be some exciting games; there will be some upsets; there’s going to be some interesting pitches, I’m sure, at times. There will be different conditions around the country and it’ll be the team that adapts the best that gets the best results.”
Bairstow also played down the severity of the injury that kept him off the field during New Zealand’s run-chase on Tuesday night, having experienced some pain in his right shoulder while batting. “We’ve got a lot of cricket ahead of us… it’s better to take slighty more precaution than not,” he said. “It’ll be absolutely fine.”
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
Source: ESPN Crickinfo