"The flashbacks hit immediately when Jamie Overton took the new ball for the first time in his ODI career, a middle-overs-man miscast, the same way Brydon Carse was when he opened in the Tests. Sri Lanka's fielding late on in the chase Dunith Wellalage's hopscotch grab on the boundary to end Rehan Ahmed's pyro-party, Dhananjaya de Silva's swooper at backward point to get rid of Liam Dawson was clinical, reminiscent of Australia."
"With the bat, the decision to recall Zak Crawley more than two years since his last ODI meant England played their Test top five, Jacob Bethell and Joe Root swapping at three and four. Like the Ashes the opening stand was brief, the dismissal familiar, Crawley undone on six by Asitha Fernando's ploy. After jagging the ball into the right-hander, very nearly rattling the stumps, the quick opted for a wide outswinger with his next delivery; Crawley was lured in and edged behind."
"The timing of Crawley's reappearance in this format, reuniting him with Ben Duckett is curious. England announced their squad for this series after the fourth Test of the Ashes, the previous few weeks having been some of the most difficult of a three-year-old opening partnership, with five single-figure stands in their eight previous innings. The hope, you assume, was that a change of scenery and the absence of Mitchell Starc would get things working again."
England lost the series-opening ODI to Sri Lanka, extending their away one-day international losing run to 11. Jamie Overton, usually a middle-overs bowler, took the new ball in his first ODI opening assignment, echoing Brydon Carse's Test role. Sri Lanka produced clinical fielding late in the chase, including Dunith Wellalage's boundary catch and Dhananjaya de Silva's backward-point stop. England recalled Zak Crawley after more than two years without an ODI, aligning their Test top five with Jacob Bethell and Joe Root at three and four. Crawley was dismissed for six by Asitha Fernando's outswing ploy. Selection timing and those positional choices highlighted wider structural issues in English cricket.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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