Seven months is an eternity in the mayflyesque lifecycle of a professional sportsperson, but that far out from October’s 50-over World Cup England’s preparations are almost done. After the completion of their ODI series against Bangladesh, their next match in the format is scheduled for just a few weeks before they head to India, and following the three T20s with which they conclude this tour the white-ball group will not meet up again until September.
This trip was originally scheduled for the autumn of 2021, but its eventual place in the calendar has proved far more useful. “This was our last opportunity to get together, and we’ve been exposed to the conditions that we want to be exposed to,” Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball coach, said. “If we’d come over here and had flat, belting wickets, it wouldn’t have been the same experience. We’ve had to work for everything and you can’t buy that. I mean, if we were asking to construct the perfect series, this is the perfect series for us.”
