But the sheer relentlessness of this hellish, grueling schedule, which will psychologically and possibly physically wreck double and triple format players, means that cricket never sleeps. Don’t take a moment to savor success, move forward independently towards the next challenge. Having won the T20 World Cup on Sunday, England are turning to early preparations for the defense of their other world title starting in 11 months. That said, even the players can’t shake the aura of “contractual obligation” that hangs over it, like the pre-ordained post-band break-up tour in the upper echelons of chic. Still, there’s always a spark of interest whenever the old rivals meet and it’s the first ODIs England have played in the country for two months in five years. Not that there is much to learn about batting and bowling in Indian conditions, but given that Josh Buttler has lost three and won two of his first five 50-over matches as full-time skipper, steering the ship on a series of shakedown cruises with a different personal can only benefit him in the long run. Accordingly, in the absence of the Test players who have flown to the UAE to prepare for Pakistan, the captain can rule James Vince, Sam Billings, Olly Stone and Luke Wood, welcome back Jason Roy and have a look to Dawid Malan. , Phil Salt, Chris Jordan and Liam Dawson to assess whether they can be as effective in the 50-over game as they have been in T20 for some time. Pat Cummins captains Australia following Aaron Finch’s retirement and has been given familiar faces from the last Ashes series to star, but will have to do without his rock star Glenn Maxwell, who broke his leg after fall on a tennis court at the weekend.
