Hussain backs Morgan's men to shine at World Cup
Nasser Hussain believes England’s long batting line-up can finally turn them from World Cup bridesmaids to being the bride on the biggest stage.
Eoin Morgan’s side go into this summer’s World Cup on home soil as one of the favourites having totally reinvented themselves since their humiliation at the last tournament in Australia and New Zealand four years ago.
England have lost three World Cup finals – in 1979, 1987 and 1992 – and never won the tournament and despite being No.1 in the world in 2015, crashed out in the pool stages following defeat by Bangladesh.
The team are back at world No.1 but this time former captain Hussain believes that with batting options going right down the order, England have a serious weapon in their armoury.
With the likes of Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Morgan, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, England possess some of the most exciting batsmen in limited overs cricket and Hussain believes this is one of the key reasons why they can finally win the World Cup.
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He said: “I think the batting line-up is key. If you can have a line-up where you could possibly have (Adil) Rashid at 10 and (Liam) Plunkett at 11, if I’m captaining against that I’m thinking ‘crikey’.
“The opposition will be thinking ‘we’ve got to get past Buttler and then even if we get past Buttler they keep coming at us.’ It is so dynamic, it’s so explosive, you’re never through them.
“The style and brand they’ve been playing is dangerous but also I think in the last year or two they’ve been a bit smarter.”
But Hussain – who played in the World Cup the last time it was on home soil in 1999 – has warned that England must also read the conditions better than they have done in the past.
Morgan’s men were one of the favourites for the Champions Trophy in 2017 and fell short at the semi-final stage when they were bowled out by Pakistan for 211 at Sophia Gardens, completely misjudging the conditions.
Pakistan subsequently went on to win by eight wickets and beat India in the final.
But Hussain believes England have become smarter since that Champions Trophy defeat and have learnt from their past mistakes.
He added: “They’ve played in games and on pitches where you can’t just play gung-ho cricket. 250 might be a pass score, not 350.
“And that was what was missing in that Champions Trophy semi-final in Cardiff.
“They didn’t read conditions; they neither did one nor the other.
“And they froze a little bit and if they can get over that in a knock out game and read conditions well, I think that’s the missing bit in the jigsaw.”
ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour, driven by Nissan, commences 100-day tour of England and Wales and will be at over 100 locations and events before arriving back in London ready for the opening match on May 30
