Is the English Cricket Team Scripting Its ODI Revival?

The England cricket team is not really one that comes to mind when you think of ODI teams who can dominate on the world stage. The Three Lions though might just be in the process of scripting their ODI revival.

When England beat New Zealand by 7 wickets in the 4th ODI at Trent Bridge, Eoin Morgan and his team managed to do something no England team had ever done before in their 44 year ODI history - chase a target over 310. In fact, they chased down 350 and that too in just 44 overs.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum later admitted, "  

It was an incredible run chase. I thought halfway through, with 350 on the board, that's a whole lot of runs. We knew that they would have to play well to beat us and play well they did."

McCullum sounded surprised. Can't really blame him for that, can you? After all, the England ODI team, ranked 6th in the ICC ODI rankings is not one that inspires too much confidence. ODIs are just not their forte.

In the last 5 years, England have failed to dominate in ODIs, winning 60 and losing 58 of the 124 matches they have played since January 2010.

Their approach towards ODI cricket has, not surprisingly been criticised for a while. It reached a crescendo when they were knocked out of the ICC World Cup in the first round and that too by Bangladesh.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan in fact said, "We have been stupid in our approach to think that the game hasn't moved forward."

It wasn't the first time the England & Wales Cricket Board and the cricket administration of England was being attacked. Their ODI philosophy after all has been old world to say the least. While the rest of the cricketing world has moved on, the English have been stuck in a time warp. Something had to be done. England had to find a way to get themselves out of the ODI rut they were in. Positive steps had to be taken to begin the process of revival.

Eoin Morgan, who took over as ODI captain from Alastair Cook was retained. One day domestic heroes like Alex Hales were backed by the selectors and the team. More dynamism was the goal that was set.

England went into the series versus New Zealand as complete underdogs. The series was tagged as World Cup finalists versus World Cup flops, but the English stunned everyone. They began the series with a massive 210 run win, after batting first and smashing 408.

New Zealand pulled off two narrow wins after that, but another commanding performance in the 4th ODI saw England tie the series at 2-2.

The man who is in charge of the team has been leading the way. Eoin Morgan already has 322 runs, at an average of over 80, with 1 century and 3 fifties in the series. McCullum, who is a good friend of Morgan's, has said. He (Morgan) is in the form of his life. He's leading the team really well and performing strongly. He is a champion bloke, would be nice to get him out early in the next game."

A series that the Kiwis were expected to dominate has turned into an incredibly competitive battle. The last ODI on Saturday will be the series decider. You would have to be very brave to bet on New Zealand and count England out. Six of the top ten leading run-getters of the series are English. Four of the top five bowlers are from England, with the very talented Ben Stokes leading the pack.

The captain, Eoin Morgan had this to say about the secret behind England's ODI form revival, "It's more the carefree attitude. The guys are pretty relaxed in the dressing rooms. We are trying to keep things as real as possible and concentrate on the process, rather than the result and it seems to be working for us at the moment."

It's clearly working. England are showing signs of doing something their fans have been waiting for for a long time - try and prove that they belong on the world stage and can be more than just also-rans.