Moeen Ali admitted the absence of several regulars is “no excuse” for England’s faltering white-ball tour of the Caribbean ahead of a must-win T20 against Grenada on Saturday.
Following a shock group-stage exit at the World Cup in India, England lost the ODI series to the West Indies and have no more margin for error in the T20s after falling 2-0 down with three to play.
This was supposed to be a dry run for the defence of their T20 World Cup in the region next summer, but the Windies’ belligerent batting has helped them to victories in Barbados and Grenada this week.
While the tourists are without Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood, Moeen pointed out the bulk of the side that won the T20 World Cup last year are in tow and should be doing better than they are.
“There’s still players to come back,” Moeen said. “Obviously with Stokesy, Bairstow and Woody.
“But there’s no excuse. Everyone’s a good player here – our guys have played quite a bit now in T20 cricket. It wasn’t long ago since we won the World Cup.
“We’ve just gotta adapt quickly to these conditions because this is what we’re going to get, it will be completely different to (last year’s tournament in) Australia. I think we’ve just got to start winning.
“There’s still a bit of time to go before the World Cup, but obviously we need to get a few things right as a side. We need to grab those moments and recognise those moments straight away.”
The Windies have muscled a combined 27 sixes so far to persistently put pressure on England’s bowlers, while Jos Buttler’s side have cleared the rope on just 14 occasions.
However, several England batters have been guilty of failing to build on their starts and gifted their wickets by being caught on the boundary in Thursday’s 10-run defeat.
Slow left-armer Gudakesh Motie conceded just nine runs in his four overs on a slow pitch and Moeen argued England’s batters do not necessarily need to look to go aerial all the time.
“It is not good enough from our point – at least, I think we can rotate a bit more if we’re not going to take him down, rotate a bit more and at least keep the scoreboard ticking,” Moeen said.
“You always target bowlers and I just think we probably didn’t get it right against their spin.
“Yes, we’ve got a lot of power and we can hit balls, but we’re just giving the wicket away a lot of the time. You can still be positive and hit the ball high, but you don’t have to always hit sixes.”
A switch of formats has not been conducive for England captain Jos Buttler, who was out for five off seven balls at the National Cricket Stadium after prodding meekly to the cover fielder in the ring.
It has been a frustrating few months for Buttler, both in terms of his performances and England’s results, but his white-ball deputy Moeen has urged for patience with the side in transition.
“My role is to give him an answer when he asks me and make sure there’s no doubt about anything coming from me and support him as much as I can,” Moeen added. “He’s led us to a World Cup (win).
“There will be a difficult period. This was always going to happen as everyone knows. It’s just getting back on it and making it clear for everybody their roles in the side.”
With a second match in 48 hours at St George’s, England are likely to shuffle their bowlers as left-arm seamer Reece Topley and uncapped paceman John Turner push for involvement.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
Bairstow set sights on swift England Test return
Jonny Bairstow bit back when asked if he was targeting an England return, insisting it is "all I want to do."
Bairstow was dropped from England's Test team for the ongoing series against West Indies.
The 34-year-old was part of England's T20 World Cup squad, and played in all five Tests of the tour of India earlier this year.
Bairstow has made 100 Test appearances, and when asked what his immediate target was, the wicketkeeper-batsman told former England captain and now-BBC Sport pundit Michael Vaughan: "All I want to do is play for England. That's end of.
"You don't need to ask me that do you? I think you know me well enough and I think you've known me for long enough to know that."
Bairstow did, however, enjoy a break away from the game, having had four weeks off before he joined the Welsh Fire for the Hundred.
He said: "At the same time it's been a great period of time.
"I had the best part of seven months away from home. Since January, I had five nights at home in my own bed since, until three weeks ago.
"That's the thing you have to sacrifice, time at home but at the same time, when you are away for that period of time, it takes its toll."
England are 2-0 up against the Windies in their three-match series, with the final Test starting at Edgbaston on Friday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
