Tremlett: Pressure off England but they’ll want Cricket World Cup glory
This feels like a pretty good situation for England as they head into today’s 50-over Cricket World Cup.
Sure, there is always pressure being defending champions – after they claimed the title with an amazing Super Over victory against today’s Ahmedabad opponents New Zealand four years ago – but it is nothing like the levels of pressure on the hosts.
India are a force of nature in cricket, they always have been and they always will be, but I do wonder whether the heat of a home World Cup will get to them.
But even a poor India will be in the mix with the likes of England, New Zealand and Australia; they’re just so good.
And as for defending champions and current T20 World Cup holders England, it is a tournament they will be able to attack.
Gone are the home fans from 2019 expecting a result and in are the hostile Indian supporters many of the English set-up have become accustomed to from playing in the Indian Premier League.
The likes of Harry Brook, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali have recent IPL experience and they’re sure to put that to good use.
Those who have played in the IPL will also know the toll that kind of competition in India can have on the body.
We saw Jonny Bairstow’s Instagram post about how it took the team 38 hours to arrive from the UK, but long-distance travel is part and parcel of playing in the country.
Matthew Mott’s men have nine fixtures in eight cities which includes over 5,000 miles of travel – that’s equivalent to London to Beijing.
It’s not easy, and players will certainly notice the difference to England where travel is never much more than an hour or two.
It will stretch England and the other squads in terms of their entire travelling party. Such huge air miles and nights in different hotels tests how a team can operate, and I imagine those teams with the best physiotherapists and backroom teams will thrive.
There’s 1,000 miles between some of England’s games; they’ll need every marginal gain they can get.
But looking at the team it is hard not to see the depth that they have developed. In terms of the batting, it takes a strong line up to leave out Jason Roy but that is exactly what Mott has done.
And even without such a talismanic opener, England still have the likes of Bairstow, Stokes, Joe Root, Dawid Malan and Brook. Their ability to bat deep is astonishing.
And looking at the bowlers, the likes of Ali in his all-rounder role and Adil Rashid will offer some sublime alternatives to the pace bowling.
If push comes to shove, and the relentlessness of this tournament comes to a head, the likes of Jofra Archer and Roy could be called upon as reserve players to add another element to the mix.
World Cup years are always exciting, and there seems to be more and more of them at the moment in cricket.
The pressure is off England; they are reigning ODI and T20 world champions, now their aim is to enhance their legacy. Winning a World Cup on the subcontinent would be one almighty feat for Mott, captain Jos Buttler and England as a whole. It won’t be easy.