Eoin has talent and bottle
EOIN MORGAN’S knock in Dhaka yesterday was as good a one-day innings as you’ll see. The young Middlesex batsman is blossoming into a big player on the one-day stage and the character he showed in almost single-handedly helping England to victory, shows he’s more than just a talented cricketer, he’s got plenty of bottle as well.
While it’s easy to say we’re playing against one of the weaker sides on the circuit, Bangladesh are also an improving side and very difficult to beat in their home conditions. Indeed, England are still the only Test-playing nation they haven’t beaten in 24 years of cricket.
MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
But despite Morgan’s tremendous knock and, subsequently, a morale-boosting series victory, England still have concerns in the batting department, in particular surrounding Kevin Pietersen.
He may been struggling for confidence right now, but KP remains England’s best player and it really is only a matter of time before he’s back among the runs.
What is worrying, however, is that, as a predominantly leg-side player, he is being found out all too regularly by left-arm spinners, and that has to be remedied.
Captain Alastair Cook has shown good form at the top of the order, but all too often England relying on one man to make the difference.
As a result, I don’t expect there to be too many changes for the third one-dayer in Chittagong on Friday – they’ll just be hoping that Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter can get some much-needed runs.
The bowlers, meanwhile, are discovering that these pitches are as unhelpful as you could possibly imagine. The hard clay surfaces generate no bounce or movement off the seam, but do create a spinners’ paradise.
Worryingly, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions have joined fellow seamer Ryan Sidebottom in picking up slight knocks, so look for Yorkshire paceman Ajmal Shahzad to get his chance on Friday.