England begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Australia in bustling Lahore on Saturday and while recent results have set alarm bells ringing, there is growing optimism that a previously lengthy injury list is at least beginning to ease. So much so, in fact, that captain Jos Buttler and head coach Brendon McCullum may even be able to select from a fully fit squad for their Group B opener, with all 15 players taking part in their first training session at Pakistan’s National Academy on Wednesday.
The outlook was far less positive last week and not just by virtue of the 3-0 hammering in India that served as their warm-up for the Champions Trophy. Ben Duckett (groin), Jofra Archer (hand), Jamie Smith (calf), Brydon Carse (toe) all picked up knocks on the trip, while Jacob Bethell saw his winter ended by a hamstring injury. But three days out from their opener against rivals Australia at the recently refurbished Gaddafi Stadium – and with Bethell already replaced by Tom Banton – only Carse appeared touch-and-go. The Durham quick did bowl in the nets at around three-quarter speed but has only just had stitches removed from a nasty toe blister.
Otherwise, a break in Abu Dhabi between tours appears to have helped the remaining injury doubts, with the groin issue Duckett suffered during the final ODI against India – the most worrying on the list – not deemed as bad as first feared after further scans. The opener’s role in the field may be the only remaining consideration. Archer, who sat out the final two games due to split-webbing on his right-hand, bowled at full pace in the session, while Jamie Smith batted and kept wicket after sitting out the bulk of the India tour with a calf strain. Jamie Overton, the one seam-bowling all-rounder in the squad, is also said to be over some recent hamstring stiffness.
As well as a heavy travel schedule, these injury problems were why McCullum decided to taper off England’s training sessions towards the back end of the India trip. It triggered criticism from Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen on commentary, as well as tapping into a wider concern that McCullum’s famously laissez-faire approach is ill-suited to an ODI side that has tumbled to seventh in the ICC world rankings.
Sign up to The Spin. Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s action. after newsletter promotion. But it may in time prove to be the sensible course of action, even if England will still need to perform a handbrake turn on their ODI form – eight defeats from their last 11 outings – to challenge for the one piece of men’s silverware they are yet to win. After the reunion with Australia come games against Afghanistan and South Africa next week, with the top two sides in each group progressing to the semi-finals.
