Stuart Broad believes England’s white-ball team are suffering from “jaded minds” and has suggested changes should be made ahead of their one-day international dead rubber against South Africa.
England saw their hopes of ODI series victory over South Africa ended with a game to spare on Thursday, following a crushing seven-wicket loss at Headingley with a narrow five-run defeat at Lord’s, meaning South Africa are 2-0 up ahead of Sunday’s third ODI in Southampton – live from 10.30am on Sky Sports Cricket.
Those two losses in little over 48 hours came in the days following The Hundred and after a packed international summer, as England contested a hard-fought five-Test tussle against India in which every match went to a fifth day.
Joe Root, Ben Duckett, captain Harry Brook and Jamie Smith have played regularly during that draining period, while Jofra Archer has also played across all three formats, with Broad believing some in the team are due a break.
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Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid took two quick wickets for England, dismissing Ryan Rickelton and Temba Bavuma respectively
“Right now, I thought they looked quite a tired team, quite understandably,” Broad told Sky Sports Cricket. “That’s not me having a dig.
“I think The Hundred is a busy time for all of these players. They finished the final on the Sunday, a few of these players drive up to Leeds on the Monday, play, get hammered, and then you’ve got to try and reassess.
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Highlights from South Africa’s dramatic victory over England in the second ODI at Lord’s
“I think now you’ve lost this series. I’d be half-tempted to send Ben Duckett and Joe Root up the M1 (back home) instead of down to Southampton.
“They played 25 days’ solid, hard cricket against India in a Test series. Two days later, straight into The Hundred playing. Now they’re playing a white-ball series and the winter’s only getting busier, so I think there’s some jaded minds.
“I haven’t seen Ben Duckett not find the middle of the bat for as long as that, in any form of cricket, for quite a while.”
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England’s Ben Duckett was dismissed by South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj as he attempted a reverse sweep shot
No plan from ‘tired’ England?
The ODI series is England’s first in 50-over cricket since beating the West Indies at the start of June and is followed by three T20s against South Africa, before several players are rested for the three-match trip to Ireland later this month ahead of this winter’s Ashes tour of Australia.
“I think with the Test match side, Brendan was so clear with what he wanted to do,” Broad added. “Even the press, even we knew what the goal was, so we could sort of back it.
“We’ve not really heard any messages for the white-ball group apart from Harry Brook saying ‘we want to be aggressive with the bat and take wickets with the ball’. We’re not quite sure what the game plan is, but it’s not necessarily working right now.
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Jacob Bethell fired a half-century off just 28 balls to push England closer to their unlikely victory target
“I think the group look tired. I always look at body language in the field, and bowlers, and how it’s going, and it felt a pretty flat bowling and fielding performance, compared to the energy that Tristan Stubbs or Dewald Brevis brings to the [South Africa] group. That’s a bit of a problem.”
Brook backs weary England players to keep going
The suggestion that England should be shielding their leading Test players – specifically a visibly-drained Duckett – ahead of this winter’s Ashes tour of Australia was quashed by Brook, who insisted tiredness would not be used as an excuse for defeats.
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England’s Joe Root is outfoxed by a crafty Keshav Maharaj delivery and is dismissed on 61 runs.
“I’m not selecting the Ashes side, that’s up to (Ben) Stokesy and Baz (Brendon McCullum),” he said, referring to England’s Test skipper and head coach.
“We want to try and play our strongest side in every white-ball game. We’ve World Cups coming up – the T20 World Cup this winter and the one-day World Cup the following winter.
“It’s easy to say that (we’re tired), but in my eyes that’s just an excuse. We’re good enough and fit enough to be able to keep playing for the time being.
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Highlights of the first one-day international in Leeds, where South Africa hammered England by seven wickets in a one-sided contest
“There’s obviously a bit of a break at the end of this series so it’s one game at a time and try to be fit and raring to go for the rest of this series.”
England v South Africa fixtures
All live on Sky Sports, all times UK and Ireland 🕰️
First ODI (Headingley): South Africa won by seven wicketsSecond ODI (Lord’s): South Africa win by five runsThird ODI: Sunday September 7 (11am) – Utilita BowlFirst T20: Wednesday September 10 (6.30pm) – Sophia Gardens CardiffSecond T20: Friday September 12 (6.30pm) – Emirates Old TraffordThird T20: Sunday September 14 (2.30pm) – Trent Bridge
Watch England’s ODIs and T20s against South Africa live on Sky Sports, with the third ODI at Utilita Bowl on Sunday (10.30am on air, 11am first ball). Stream without a contract.
