England might be on top of the world but they have places to go. The ranking they finally and officially achieved on Saturday by sweeping aside India for the third successive Test match is as deserved as it was belated. Now, it seems, there is progress to be made.
Although becoming the number one Test side in the ICC rankings was part of the mission statement of the England and Wales Cricket Board, there is a clear intent in the dressing room that this should be the start of something, not the end. The most immediate challenge, of course, is to complete a clean sweep over India, who England at last replaced at the head of the rankings with victory by an innings and 242 runs in the third Test at Edgbaston on Saturday.
The squad for the fourth and final match, which begins at The Oval on Thursday, was announced yesterday. It replicates the 13 at Edgbaston, Chris Tremlett and Steve Finn being added to the triumphant XI. Jonathan Trott's injured shoulder has not recovered sufficiently for him to play so Ravi Bopara has another opportunity to secure a place as the reserve batsman.
No comments:
Post a Comment