On Thursday, England’s woeful winter record was extended by a 19-run One Day International (ODI) defeat to Sri Lanka. England fans, who will no doubt still be recovering from the recent 4-1 Ashes drubbing, could have been forgiven for hoping that this switch to the limited overs format would provide a welcome distraction from the questions that still hang over leadership figures in the red-ball side.
In the end, they had no such luck. Far from bringing anything in the way of relief, a strong Sri Lankan side rubbed salt into the gaping wound that is England’s current ODI form, extending their losing streak to 11 consecutive away games.
Losing the toss and being made to bowl first was, at least in Harry Brook’s view, a decisive factor in England’s defeat. Sri Lanka’s total of 271 was more than respectable and was always going to take some chasing under the lights on a slow, turning pitch with uneven bounce.
Despite this, external conditions were not entirely at fault for this latest defeat. Perhaps the greatest hindrances to this England set-up seems to have been self-inflicted. As we saw time and again in the Ashes, their inability to read moments in the contest is their undoing. It’s this lack of game awareness that continues to frustrate supporters — Jamie Overton’s inability to keep it quiet at the death, the trademark loose drive from Zak Crawley early in his innings, Ben Duckett, although he played well for his 62, going for one aggressive sweep too many, Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell charging past balls that weren’t there to be hit.
Tricky batting conditions aside, this England team have proven all too often recently that they struggle to build partnerships and take the game by the scruff of the neck. When they are ahead, as they were here, sitting pretty on 129/1, they consistently seem to cave in. Much of the work had been done by Root (61) and Duckett who managed a 117-run partnership, but they failed to capitalise on a pitch where starting an innings had been tricky.
Fair play to Sri Lanka, though, who took advantage of England’s obvious fragility. Kusal Mendis fought through a back issue on his way to an impressive 93*, proving that it could be done on this pitch, whilst he was aided by Janith Liyanage (46). Dunith Wellalage thoroughly deserved his POTM award for his vital contribution with the bat (taking Jamie Overton’s last over for 23), with the ball (2-41 from his 10 overs) and in the field, producing a spectacular boundary catch to remove the dangerous Rehan Ahmed.
Sri Lanka’s efforts aside, as Jamie Overton chipped a full toss tamely into the Colombo sky to seal his side’s defeat, one couldn’t help but recognise the recurrence of a familiar story – not just an English defeat but a product of their own making. A product of this side’s insistence on ‘running towards the danger’ rather than assessing and nullifying it, a hallmark of this talented but self-destructive team.
Shockingly, the last time England won an away ODI was in 2024 in the West Indies (one of the very few teams that rank below them in the format). With qualification for the next 50-over World Cup still in doubt, a series that should have been a mere formality in the build-up to next month’s T20 World Cup has been transformed into something infinitely more serious.
Still, there were some positives to take from the game — the performances of Adil Rashid (3-44) and Liam Dawson (1-31), the continued excellence of Joe Root and a return to form for the out-of-sorts Ben Duckett, not to mention the apparent absence of any boozy nightclub altercation on the eve of the contest.
With regards to the remainder of the series, England will be desperate not only to win, but to do so in a manner which restores some sort of confidence and belief to their battered and bruised outfit.
Image by Mark Stuckey on Unsplash.