Wednesday 3 March 2010

England's One-Day Side: The Openers

Now that England's one-day series against Bangladesh has been decided (despite the third match taking place this Friday), the nation's once ridiculed side is now looking like a professional outfit.

The omission of key players such as captain Andrew Strauss and premier bowler James Anderson has given opportunity to others to stake a claim ahead of the World Cup in 2011.

However, these new candidates to be on the plane to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will no doubt pose the selectors no end of new problems.

The Openers

The position of opener looks like it will be two from five, with Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook being in pole position.

After being installed as one-day skipper, it seems as if Strauss, who is also currently England's best batsman, will be the man tasked with leading the team to World Cup glory. Therefore it would be safe to presume that his place is secure.

Cook looks the most likely to join his skipper, with his one-day game now seriously improved since his early international career; his two quickfire half-centuries in Bangladesh are a fine example of this. His current one-day average of just over 33 will need some improvement, but the changes he has made to his game should land him in good stead as he presses his claim.

Craig Kieswetter is the man who is currently in occupation of the openers role, but his two failures in his maiden one-day series mean that he has a lot of work to do to prove he is up to the task of seeing off the white ball in the 50-over format as well as in Twenty20's.

Other candidates for the role include Jonathan Trott, whose Ashes winning century seems longer than just 7 months ago and Joe Denly, whose constant failures in the Three Lions shirt have finally worn thin with the selectors.

Outsiders such as Michael Lumb, who seems destined to open the batting at the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup, and Ian Bell, a former England opener who hasn't played a 50 over game for his country since November 2008 in Zimbabwe, have just over a year to impress the selectors, but both face an uphill struggle.

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