Image Credit- Getty
As a work in progress, Matthew Mott has urged patience
with England’s new-look white-ball side, pointing out that they have only had
three opportunities to play together.
After a challenging World Cup campaign, England lost
their first series 2-1 after losing by four wickets in Barbados.
A team that only had four players with more than ten
ODI appearances found itself in commanding positions in all three games against
a West Indies team undergoing a similar rebuild after missing out on World Cup
qualification.
However, in the first game, England lost by the same
margin in Antigua because to a late-innings assault by Shai Hope and Romario
Shepherd, and they also lost at the Kensington Oval by the same score.
“We haven’t put a complete game together and
that’s the frustration,” Mott, England’s head coach, said immediately
after the defeat. “We put ourselves in a chance to win all three games and
come away with a series loss, so that’s not ideal.
“But there are definitely some really good signs
there that there’s a group of players who love playing with each other. They’re
some really good mates in there and I think it’ll really take the game
forward.”
Rehan Ahmed and Sam Curran were deserving of special
recognition. With the responsibility of stepping into Adil Rashid’s enormous
shoes, Rehan—dubbed a “revelation” by Mott—took five wickets at an
economy of 4.33 and an average of 23.40 during the series. Curran, on the other
hand, had an uneven series. He displayed greatness with the bat to save
England’s innings in the first One-Day International, saving them from a
disastrous 239 for 7, but he was taken for 0 for 98, the lowest ever figures
for an England player in a One-Day International.
“Sam’s definitely a player that we really want to
invest in,” Mott said, with Curran proving his qualities with the ball in
the second match where his triple-strike in the powerplay put England ahead of
the game. “He’s got a lot of qualities that we like and he’s got the game
to really play well.”