A subcontinental World Cup to close an Ashes winter? History tells us this does not end well for England. In 2014 a whitewash in Australia was followed by a group-stage exit at the World T20 with a 45-run defeat to the Netherlands in Chattogram. In 2011 the 50-over side – largely made up of Test regulars – were brutalised by Kevin O’Brien in Bengaluru before exiting with a 10-wicket quarter-final loss to Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Vic Marks, writing for the Observer, wondered beforehand if England had “anything left to give” after so many months on the road.
And so to the Premadasa again, 15 years on, this time without the goodwill of a recent series victory in Australia. The first one-day international against Sri Lanka will begin just two weeks after Alex Carey struck the winning runs at the SCG, and open the second half of England’s winter, with three T20s to follow in Pallekele. They will hope to end it on 8 March, at the final of the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad, or Colombo should they face Pakistan, such is the geopolitical mess underpinning the upcoming tournament.
The gap between tours has unsurprisingly been populated with discussion of how it all fell apart in Australia, questions of who goes and who stays and, already, Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, outlining that “our focus is on regaining the Ashes in 2027”. The English game’s unhealthy obsession with one series lives on.
Harry Brook’s own professionalism has been questioned after his coming together with a bouncer the night before an ODI against New Zealand on his first tour as England white-ball captain, a wild episode that makes him lucky to still be in post. Brendon McCullum, meanwhile, has to deal with murmurings that his job is under threat while Rob Key, who brought in McCullum and then promoted him to head coach in all forms, is likely to be in the clear. It is hard to know who within this entire setup can speak with any genuine authority at present, Brook himself admitting that he needs to regain the trust of his players.
A win or two would briefly quieten the simmering angst, but England begin this tour in their weakest format, one sidelined in the calendar of domestic cricket, the aura formed by Eoin Morgan’s squad long gone. The 3-0 loss to New Zealand in October made it six ODI series defeats out of seven since a painful World Cup showing in 2023, excluding a Champions Trophy campaign a year ago in which they finished winless. McCullum, who began as white-ball coach last January, is yet to win an ODI away from home. They sit eighth in the rankings, uncomfortably close to the spots that do not guarantee qualification to next year’s World Cup.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have won seven consecutive 50-over series at home in the last two years, Australia and India among those defeated. Wanindu Hasaranga’s fizzy wrist-spin has made him the joint leading wicket-taker in ODIs since the start of 2024. While their batting lineup is short on storied names, that does not guarantee success; just ask England.
“We’ve got five, six, maybe seven batters who would get into almost every team in the world,” Brook said in New Zealand while analysing his side’s 50-over struggles. You can see where he’s coming from, this being a team that hit 400 twice at home last summer and still includes members of the 2019 cohort. But it’s also one capable of imploding in the space of a toilet break and overly reliant on Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer (absent for this series while on the mend from a side strain) when it comes to the ball.
The XI selected for the series opener is seriously imbalanced. Sam Curran’s presence at No 8 – he made a rapid, match-winning half‑century in the Big Bash at No 5 on Sunday – suggests England will stick to their default with the bat: let’s go hard. Zak Crawley will open in his first List-A game in more than two years, the resumption of his Test partnership with Ben Duckett coming at a particularly odd time, the pair having accrued six single-figure stands in the Ashes. But, hey, at least Mitchell Starc isn’t about for this one.
Brook laid down his usual lines in a press conference on Wednesday, about wanting his side to know “when to absorb the pressure and apply the pressure back on them”, a tired mantra that will be properly tested in the coming days. Some confidence is desperately required after the misery of the Ashes, but it won’t come easy.
