England’s rise from world embarrassment to world champions in one-day international cricket is a tale that has been well publicised, especially since that unforgettable, emotionally-exhausting day at Lord’s last July.
From ignominy against Bangladesh in Adelaide in 2015 to raising the trophy at the Home of Cricket four years later, their revolution under now-departed coach Trevor Bayliss and captain Eoin Morgan was dramatic, shifting them from one of – if not the – most outdated teams in the 50-over format to the best in the world.
Their approach has been one of expression, innovation and freedom, with players encouraged by Bayliss and Morgan to go out and play their natural game in order to put opponents on the back foot and smash them into submission – as four scores of 400+, including a world record 481/6, would suggest.
Here, we will analyse their batting line-up to look deeper at the statistics behind the ruthless winning machine they have developed, and look at why they have developed a reputation as the most destructive side in world cricket.
Most important?
Much of England’s success has come about as a result of their knowledge that whatever the conditions, whatever the challenge, more often than not their openers will get them off to a flyer. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow have formed a deadly partnership ever since they were put together at the top of the order, and have so often put their mark on opposition bowling attacks with their fluency of scoring. In 35 innings’ together when opening, they average 67.51 with a staggering 11 100-run and nine 50-run partnerships.
Both play an important role in their side’s success, with England winning 85.19% of the time when Roy scores over 50 and 86.67% of the time when Bairstow does. Their relative importance in this aspect against their fellow batsmen can be seen below, with the graph illustrating the win percentage when the given batsman scores in excess of 50, since May 2015.
Although the difference between Roy and Bairstow is minimal, their scoring at the top of the order is clearly very important to the success of the side as a whole given that they are the top two in win percentage when they score highly in comparison to their batting colleagues.
On the contrary, when it comes to looking at the failings of the team when an individual does not score well, it comes down to two of the top six for the title of arguably the most important in their respective roles to the side. When looking at loss percentage when an individual scores less than ten since May 2015, it is Joe Root who leads the list with a score of 50% – of the 18 times he has scored single figures, England have lost nine of those games. Following on, they lose 34.48% of games when Roy scores less than ten. As for their four teammates, the side has never lost when any of them have failed (although it should be noted that Bairstow has only two single-figure scores as an opener in this period).
Based on this, it is hard not to argue with Root being seen as the most vital cog in their batting wheel. He is the glue that holds the innings together, rotating strike and keeping the scoreboard ticking over to allow his perhaps more eye-catching teammates the chance to hit boundaries at the other end. Although he does not play as many of the big shots, it is clear to see that his role in the side is the one that none of his teammates can replicate. If Roy falls early then there is every chance one of Bairstow, Morgan, Buttler et al will make up for that; if Root fails, the chances are England will too.
Most destructive?
As already mentioned, the tempo set by the opening pair is usually a frenetic one, with their average runs scored per ball faced bettered only by Buttler since May 2015. Furthermore, they also hit fours on average more often than their four colleagues, although they are pegged back by Morgan and Buttler when it comes to clearing the boundaries.
When delving deeper into these figures, it is interesting to note the difference between certain batsmen’s figures when splitting it into runs by innings – and Buttler and Roy’s difference in particular.
Whilst Roy scores at 0.174 more runs a ball in the second innings compared to the first, Buttler’s scoring rate drops off by 0.155 runs per ball, suggesting that he is not as aggressive when batting second.
This conclusion is also backed up when looking at balls-per-boundary in respective innings’. Roy appears to look to be more aggressive in the second innings with a six every 26 fewer balls than the first innings. However, the opposite is once again the case for Buttler.
Although his balls-per-four drops slightly in the second innings when compared to the first – as is the case with all six batsmen here – his balls-per-six rises staggeringly from second-lowest in the first innings to second-highest in the second. This is especially intriguing when considering what an attacking, destructive player he is generally considered to be as one of the best ‘finishers’ within the modern game – something we will come back to later.
When taking all of these into consideration, at an average of a boundary every 6.297 balls, it is Bairstow who is consistently the most aggressive in comparison to his teammates.
Pace or Spin?
One of the most important parts of this England side is their ability to dovetail with each other in order to cover as wide a skillset as possible, and nowhere is this more evident than in their opening partnership. With one averaging the highest against pace and the other the highest against spin within their top six, they are seemingly well set to combat either method of attack. At 55.92, Roy is 12.59 runs higher than the next-best scorer against spin in Morgan, whilst Bairstow seemingly relishes the battle against the quicks as he averages 46.4. Perhaps surprisingly, his Surrey teammate is the worst performing, at an average of 33.
Unsurprisingly, it is, therefore, Roy who has the biggest disparity in respective averages – although he does possess the largest combined average. With Root sitting marginally in second place for combined average and holding the lowest average difference by bowling type – i.e he is as good against both pace and spin – this adds further weight to the argument of him being the most important all-round batter in the side.
Opening Up
Taking advantage of the first batting powerplay is vital in getting the team off to a good start, and it can really set a marker down for the pace of the rest of the innings. With only two fielders allowed outside of the 30-yard circle, it is the ideal opportunity to put the bowling side on the back foot straight away.
Since the start of 2019, it is Yorkshireman Bairstow who has the lowest balls-per-four average with one every 6.457 deliveries, followed by Roy with one every 8.044, Root at 7.76 and then Morgan at 10.429. Roy hits a six on average every ten balls fewer than his opening partner, however, at once every 40.222 balls compared to Bairstow’s average of a maximum every 50.222 balls in the powerplay (Root and Morgan did not register a six in the powerplay this period). Roy also has the lowest dot ball percentage, failing to score from 51.567% of balls faced – significantly lower than his three teammates.
Overall, it is Roy who is the best at capitalising on these early fielding restrictions by scoring at just over a run-a-ball, slightly ahead of his fellow opener Bairstow.
At the death
As the innings nears a close, capitalising on as many deliveries as possible is vital in either setting a large target or closing in on the required total. With five fielders allowed outside the circle – one more than between overs 11-40 – batsmen with the ability to manipulate the field and strike boundaries are vital in all teams.
More often than not it is the so-called ‘engine room’ of the batting order – usually numbers four to seven – who are tasked with scoring these runs, providing that the top order have set a good platform.
Since the start of 2019, it is Buttler who has scored the fastest out of the middle-order trio of Morgan, Stokes and himself, striking at almost two runs a ball (1.993 RpB) compared to 1.786 and 1.277 respectively.
When it comes to frequency of fours it is Buttler who leads the way, whilst he is only marginally behind his captain when it comes to regularity of sixes and dot balls. Therefore, given his gung-ho approach, it is perhaps unsurprising that he is dismissed more frequently than his two teammates also.
The chase
Yet again though, when delving even deeper into the statistics and looking at chases only – so the last ten overs of the second innings of a game when England are attempting to reach their target – these figures change dramatically.
Buttler’s scoring drops by a staggering 0.839 runs per ball, falling well behind his colleagues. Indeed, it is only Stokes who appears to go harder when chasing in the last ten overs as opposed to in the first innings. Additionally, Buttler has not hit one six in the last ten overs of a chase in this period, and it also sees his balls-per-four and dot ball percentage rise, as well as balls-per-dismissal dropping.
As mentioned previously, these statistics go against the notion of Buttler being one of the coolest, most clinical batsmen in the game, adept at finishing innings’ with his power and innovation. However, it should be noted that he is still their most effective hitter of fours and also has the lowest percentage of dot balls – just that, by his own exceptionally high standards, it is somewhat surprising to see this significant alteration.
Conclusion
One of the reasons that England have become the best 50-over team in the world is due to the blend of expertise, skills and talent they possess in their batting line-up, with various players holding various strengths to overcome opponents in as many facets as possible with the bat. They dovetail naturally to ensure that they are always chasing their objective: to play aggressive, positive cricket.