Middle-order Woes for England Ahead of Second Ashes Test

Middle-order Woes for England Ahead of Second Ashes Test

England will have a lot of unanswered puzzles regarding their own batting order especially the middle order ahead of the second Ashes Test which starts on 14 August. Notably, England won the 50 Overs Cricket World Cup final and lifted the Cup for the first time ever in the history of the game after a final which was tied at both 50 overs and the super over but England edged past by virtue of scoring more boundaries.

Jos Buttler, especially, has been reportedly affected by the World Cup win. He seemingly appears tired and exhausted after a roller coaster of a World Cup campaign which first somehow saw them making a place in the semi-finals and then later saw them tie arguably the greatest final ever played to take the match in the super over.

In an interview post the World Cup, Jos Buttller has admitted that he had an emotional breakdown during the course of the tournament. This was especially high when it looked like England might even crash out of the tournament. He then played a crucial role in ICC Cricket World Cup final, stitching a match saving partnership with Ben Stokes and then playing a part in the run out of the last ball which meant England would have lifted the Cup. He said in this particular interview that he was also scared that losing a World Cup final at home turf and that too such a close game might leave him no reason to try and go and perform again. The stress and the pressure of the final made him do things he normally won’t- he

smacked his team physio’s table in frustration and he admitted to kicking something with every dot ball.

Although it is true that England was able to win the World cup, after that their pressure of meeting arch-rivals Australia in the much-coveted Ashes Series seems too much to handle and perhaps players like Jos Buttler definitely need some time out of the game.

The other concern in that esteemed England batting order is the form of Joe Denly. With him being 33, definitely he is not a prospect for the future and England will need to decide how much game time they can afford to give him before he starts converting his potential into performances.

With James Anderson being ruled out of the second test because of his calf injury, England definitely need to make a few changes and who knows perhaps the omission for Joe Denly can one of those with someone like Sam Curran sitting in the benches, eager to take his place.

Jofra Archer is all set to make his Test debut as well with Anderson being ruled out and it would be wonderful to see Archer running with the red ball.