Wounded and worried after 10 losses in 11 matches and a humiliating Champions Trophy defenestration, England’s men’s white-ball set-up needs answers.
They are short of at least one captain, a host of in-form batters and fit seamers, and any real sense of identity and future. The one-day international side is declining faster than it is ageing and the Twenty20 group is bloated and uncertain.
But without a bilateral ODI until the end of May and no major limited-overs tournament until February 2026, there is at least time and opportunity to rebuild and redevelop. The question is whether anyone actually knows how.
With all this in mind, Rob Key faced the media at Lord’s on Thursday to outline a plan. Here’s what we learned.
In Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton, alongside prospects like Josh Hull, Josh Tongue, Dylan Pennington and Sonny Baker, England’s managing director has forged the “battery” he desired. There was even the suggestion they were “over-resourced” with seamers in Pakistan.
Key confirmed Archer is on course to play Test cricket this summer and also said Dan Worrall will join that group of fast-bowling options.
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And so there’s a new target: spinners. Across India and Pakistan, England largely only started one frontline spinner in Adil Rashid, with Rehan Ahmed the only other twirler in the squad.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re able to hit them with the sort of weapons that they’re hitting us, which we haven’t got at the moment,” Key explained.
“A lot of the time we talk about our batting against spin. We’ve got to get better at bowling as well. I’d love it if we could find loads and loads of spinners, mystery spinners, guys who can bat in the top six and do the same sort of thing. That’s what we’ve got to find there.
“We’ve got our best spinner, Liam Dawson, there’s no question about that. You’ve got Tom Hartley as well. Dawson doesn’t have to develop, he’s definitely a runner going forward. But we’ve got to start building because that’s maybe only a short-term fix. You need something that’s going to sustain us for a long period of time.”
Dawson’s inclusion is something of a wildcard given he hasn’t played international cricket since November 2022, a bilateral ODI in Australia. But what this does highlight is a fresh priority for Key and England.
Stokes could become all-format captain
Key says Stokes is ‘one of the best captains I’ve ever seen’ (Photo: Getty)Another revelation was that Ben Stokes is a candidate for the white-ball candidacy, despite not playing international limited-overs cricket since November 2023. This was always likely to be the case given his pre-existing relationship with Brendon McCullum.
“I think nothing’s off the table,” Key explained. “He is one of the best captains I’ve ever seen, so it would be stupid not to look at him. It’s just considering the knock-on effect of what that means.
“We’re just going to try to find who is the best leader to take this team forward. Who can manage that? Who is actually going to drive this forward?
“He’s an unbelievably good tactician, which we’ve seen in Test cricket, but he’s a leader of men. He’s someone who gets the best out of people.”
Key also said there was a possibility the ODI and T20 captaincy could be separated, alongside highlighting Harry Brook as an “outstanding” option – although he admitted Stokes “might bring out the best” in Brook.
Key also revealed Eoin Morgan is regularly consulted by McCullum, despite not having an official role within the England set-up.
“What I would say is that don’t underestimate how much we speak to these people,” Key explained.
“[Morgan’s] very tight with Brendon. There’s a lot of trusted people we bring in and we try and get a view from outside of us. Morgan is always someone we welcome any input that he has and I’d imagine him and Baz probably speak quite often anyway.”
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Somewhere within all this was the admission that despite sitting fourth in the Test rankings, seventh in ODIs and third in T20Is, England’s aspirations have not been knocked.
Key insisted the aim is still to top the world rankings across every format, a dream which feels not so much unrealistic as downright impossible in an era where conditions and tournaments are so heavily stacked in India’s favours.
“That’s the gold standard, right?” he said.
“That’s what you want to be able to do. Yes, it’s going to be tough, but we’re trying to build a battery of bowlers.”
This perhaps says more about the potential dangers of England’s relentless positivity than it does about the idea itself.
Stokes’s coaching career fast-tracked
Key explained that England are ramping up the development of coaches, with Stokes at the forefront of that.
The Test captain is being fast-tracked through an elite coaching programme and has spent time working with Andrew Flintoff’s Lions squad in Abu Dhabi in recent weeks.
The aim is that as soon as his playing career ends, he will be prepared to take on a senior backroom role.
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Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Five key takeaways from England’s Champions Trophy autopsy )
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