Time is running out for England to formulate their World Cup plans and so after the third one-day international in Grenada here on Monday was washed out without a ball being bowled the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, was not best pleased.
He and the captain, Eoin Morgan, have been hoping to hand game time to all members of the touring party in this final series before the provisional World Cup squad is submitted in April. With Ben Stokes ruled out with a minor injury, Alex Hales, the reserve batsman, was due for a rare outing before the heavens opened.
Stokes was unsure he could bowl after rolling his ankle in training and Bayliss took a positive from the honesty on this occasion of a cricketer who often tries to play through the pain. But the all-rounder is expected to be fully fit for Wednesday’s fourth fixture and will likely return with the five-match series still 1-1, reducing the scope for any rotation of personnel.
“One of the things we wanted to do on this tour is not only win but, if we could, give everyone a run,” said Bayliss. “The team that wins the World Cup will probably have the strongest squad. I don’t think you’ll get through close to a dozen games to win a World Cup with the same team. Your back-up strength will have to be up to speed. Not playing today’s game is probably the only thing that’s hampered that a little bit.”
The value of Stokes to the balance of England’s one-day team is immense, such that since the last World Cup no captain has used his sixth bowler more than Morgan. Bayliss insisted they are not over-reliant on this, pointing to the series win in Australia last year when he was unavailable for selection following the incident in Bristol.
A lack of action in St George’s – bar the steel band panning out some terrific calypso music and one member of the travelling support grabbing the microphone for an enthusiastic impression of Neil Diamond – also meant England’s batsman have an extra couple of days waiting before they can atone for Friday’s collapse in Barbados.
“We’ve got to be a bit more ruthless,” said Bayliss, reflecting on the loss of six for 35 in 47 deliveries. “That ruthlessness is something we’vedone well over the last three or four years and that is why we’re in the position we are in at the moment [ranked No 1].
“The boys were talking in the changing room that it was a good reminder to them that they can’ttake their foot off the pedal. While you’d rather not have a loss, this one was a gentle reminder that we’ve got to be on our game because there are plenty of teams out there capable of winning this World Cup. West Indies, with the size of their batters and the way some of them hit the ball, can be a chance.”
Bayliss departs in September but after this current tour will see out the remainder of his contract without his long-standing No 2, Paul Farbrace. The pair have worked together since their time with Sri Lanka but after Farbrace secured a role as Warwickshire’s new sporting director, Ashley Giles, who heads up the national team, opted not to hold him to his notice period.
Bayliss said: “I feel disappointed for him that he’s not going to be at the World Cup and the Ashes. But inthe cricket coaching world a job like the one he has taken on doesn’t come up every day. He might be taking on another job but he’s still young enough [51] that in a few years time he’d be a candidate [for the role of England head coach].”