How England surpassed the reigning champions

Scoring gap

It was only a little more than three years ago that England were the laughing stock of one-day cricket. Bundled out at the group stage of the 2015 World Cup by Bangladesh, the side played an outdated brand of cricket. Their leading run-scorer at that tournament was Ian Bell whose strike rate was 77. England's batters scored at 5.48 runs per over while the champions, Australia, scored at 6.82. 

Now, the shoe is on the other foot. England's emergence as a 50-over force on the back of their cavalier batting approach has been swift, while Australia have stagnated. Take a look at England's average run-rate by year compared to Australia's since the World Cup.

RUNS PER OVER IN ODIs:

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Australia have only marginally lifted their pre-World Cup scoring rate, hovering between 5.7 and 5.8 runs per over in the ensuing years, which equates to an average score (batting first) of 285-290. That's well off the new pace setters England, who are regularly blazing past 300 and have twice set world record scores in excess of 400. So why is it England, and not five-time ODI world champions Australia, that’s leading the pack? Here are a few possibilities. 

Making the T20 leap

Australia's T20 form saw an uptick in their tri-series against England and New Zealand last summer, fielding a team almost entirely bereft of their Test players. Instead, they picked many of the KFC BBL’s leading lights, a competition many regard as the best domestic T20 league in the world. Yet the majority of the country’s best T20 batters have struggled to translate their game to 50-over cricket as well as their English counterparts have. 

The likes of Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler all made their marks in T20 cricket before thriving in the longer white-ball format, and England’s ODI approach reflects that. That trio torched Australia during the recent ODI series and all three are among England's leading run-makers since the last World Cup.

Aaron Finch and David Warner aside, Australia's T20 stars haven't had the same impact. Glenn Maxwell hasn't made an ODI ton since the last World Cup and has been dropped on multiple occasions. Chris Lynn has battled injuries. Travis Head has shown glimpses but his numbers pale in comparison to England batters afforded similar opportunities over the same period. Other Big Bash stars like Usman Khawaja, Moises Henriques and Cameron White have failed to make standout contributions, albeit with limited opportunities.

Marcus Stoinis, whose ODI batting average (45.85) ranks second and strike-rate (101.10) sits third among Australians since the World Cup (min. 10 innings), is arguably the only regular piece they've added to their top order that's had an above-average impact. Accordingly, getting the most out of recent debutants Alex Carey and D'Arcy Short, BBL|07's best two batsmen who are both very new to international cricket, looms as vital ahead for next year’s title defence.

Wrist-spin to win

Once viewed as a luxury, wrist-spin might now be a necessity in 50-over cricket. Four of the top five ranked ODI sides regularly feature one - two, in India's case - wrist-spinner (not including New Zealand, who played Ish Sodhi in four of their five most recent ODIs after a spell out of the team). A third of the world's top 15 ODI bowlers are wrist-spinners, as are four of the top 10 leading ODI wicket takers since the last World Cup. 

Australia had one but now they don't. It's been well documented that Adam Zampa was the leading ODI wicket-taker in 2016. But since the start of 2017, Zampa has taken 12 wickets at 52.08 and finds himself on the outer. England on the other hand have Adil Rashid. Despite having contentiously axed him during last year's Champions Trophy, no bowler has taken more wickets since the 2015 World Cup than him. It might be the first time in history England have had an advantage over their Ashes rivals in the leg-spin stakes.

Outside of Zampa, Australia are limited in their wrist-spinning options for next year's World Cup. Mitchell Swepson's impressive BBL form was rewarded with selection in Australia's T20 squad, but he's still yet to play international cricket and it would be a massive call take an untried leggie to a major tournament. Fawad Ahmed and Cameron Boyce have each tasted international cricket but both have lost their state contracts recently. 

Left-arm finger-spinner Ashton Agar had an encouraging campaign in the UK with both ball and bat in his first full series as the lead slow bowler, while Nathan Lyon was also threatening when handed a recall for the final two matches. While the absence of wrist-spinning options is alarming, Australia's spin stocks might actually be stronger than they were at the last World Cup, which, it shouldn’t be forgotten, they won without a specialist slow bowler for all but one match.

FBC reliance – a blessing or a curse?

Another upshot of England's early exit from the 2015 World Cup has been their brave move to sideline Stuart Broad and James Anderson, two of the greatest bowlers in their Test history, from their ODI side. The move has paid dividends; Anderson and Broad remain two of the world’s most dangerous bowlers with the red ball, while Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes have thrived in the 50-over format. The likes of Mark Wood, David Willey and, more recently, Tom Curran, have also had success, though not quite to the same extent as their batters.

In contrast, Australia are all in on their star trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, aka the 'Fast Bowlers Cartel', and it's hard to blame them. It's arguably the best pace battery in the world. But their absence this month revealed the inexperienced underbelly of Australia's pace stocks. Many commented that had all three been fit England may not have won 5-0, and that may well be true. The whitewash did however expose Australia's reliance on their Test bowlers compared to England. They too didn't field any of their three best Test bowlers in Broad, Anderson and Woakes, and they coped just fine.

There are two camps of thinking when it comes to how Australia's best ODI pace attack ought to be constructed. The traditional approach would be to pick and stick with all of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood: if your best ODI bowlers are also your best Test bowlers, why not go with them? Look at Pakistan; they took out last year's Champions Trophy – held in the UK – largely on the back of disciplined fast bowling. Quality seamers have time and again won major tournaments.

Few would dispute that final statement, but another line of thinking has emerged in recent years. This camp believes the bowling skills that are valuable in T20 are now more important in the 50-over game than the line-and-length, run-in-all-day requirements of a good Test quick. They're convinced the gap between what's required to be an effective fast bowler in limited-overs cricket as opposed to Tests has never been greater. As a result, few bowlers, even ones as good as Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood, can be successful in both white and red-ball formats, proponents of this philosophy argue. James Pattinson, another exceptional fast-bowling talent, hinted at this line of thinking last week. 

Australia’s search for a keeper continues

England's wicketkeeping riches were laid bare to their visitors during this five-game series. Jonny Bairstow, England's Test gloveman who couldn't get a game in England's ODI side last year, has quietly emerged as a star 50-over batsman. Buttler has done so more loudly. The fact Sam Billings, another capable keeper, is waiting in the wings is a blessing.

Australia meanwhile are at a crossroads on the wicketkeeping front. They won the last World Cup with Brad Haddin batting at eight (though he would have batted higher in a weaker side) and Tim Paine has slotted in for a similar lower-order role since his return to the ODI side earlier this year. Paine had the worst five-match ODI series ever by an Australian captain with the bat and while that stat glosses over the fact he was too often asked to bail out the struggling top-order, selectors will consider if it’s worth trading out his leadership for the hope of some more runs. 

Carey, who played the final two matches of the series as a specialist batsman, projects as a player that can have an impact in the top six. But the left-hander is unproven; he hasn't hit a century at domestic one-day level and has only played 15 List A games for South Australia.

England’s deep impact

Adil Rashid, who batted at 10 in this series, has 10 first-class centuries to his name. Woakes, who regularly bats at eight, has nine, Plunkett has three while David Willey has scored multiple hundreds in all three formats at domestic level. The knowledge they often bat all the way down to 11 undoubtedly feeds into the fearless approach England's top-order has been emboldened with. It proved telling in the series finale when Australia looked to have all but sealed a consolation win when Rashid came to the crease at 8-114 with 92 runs still required. But the 'tail-ender' held up an end and helped put on a match-winning 81-run stand with Buttler.

Conversely, Agar was the only bowler in Australia's ODI squad with a first-class hundred to his name and he batted as high as five during the series. Getting Starc and Cummins back, as well as another all-round option in Mitch Marsh, will improve the lower-order but closing the gap on England's lower-order in time for next year’s World Cup will be a big ask. 

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: England won by 242 runs at Trent Bridge

June 21: England won by six wickets in Durham

June 24: England won by one wicket at Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final