England collapse to defeat in tri-series opener
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00:38 This is the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. So close of the first game for England as part of this try series. And Pakistan have beaten them by 87 runs. Set a target of 303. It looked as though England were absolutely cruising. But they lost all 10 wickets for just 124 runs to tumble in a ride-old. heap and ending up that massive margin short, which could prove pivotal come the end of this try series with net run rate and one thing and another determining who will qualify for that
01:13 final played on October 31st. Top scoring for England in their unsuccessful run chase. Tom Banton with 57. There's 45 for Ben Duckett, but nobody else really contributed with any meaningful way. Three wickets and four balls, including a comical runout to wrap things up for Pakistan, who had to thank player of the match unquestionably, Arafat Minhas, who picked up 6 for 40 with the ball and with the bat. Also 59 off 58. We saw Hassan now as scoring 79. And way back when, Fuckers Amal was out to the very first ball of the game.
01:49 So Pakistan made 302 for 9, 3 wickets for Sonny Baker, two for Gus Atkinson, but in pursuit, England all out for 215. And falling well short, Jonathan Agnes. Alex Hartley and Stephen Finn all alongside me. And first of all, Aggers, some rather worrying failings for England in various facets of the game. Yeah, well, I mean, if you'd said an hour and a half ago
02:17 that England wouldn't survive 40 overs, you'd laugh. They were romping this game. They were absolutely, they were killing it. And a magnificent opening partnership, you know, the lovely platform built there. Joe Root also 33 and 35 I think we'll excuse him criticism because he did get
02:35 a ball that kept low. Harry Brooke also I think well bowled out as it were but the others I'm afraid with starts you've got to say they gave the wickets away. Banton gave his wicked away lovely 57 53 balls duck it same thing caught out in the deep
02:50 45 off 46 Sam Cullen again rather strange half shot there he'd made 27 off 39 you know you can look down at and just say there are so many opportunities there for England to have nailed the game and they didn't do it now they haven't been out here
03:05 very long you can toss lots of things at it but the fact is this is a very good pitch they had a very good start the target was well within range and they managed to lose the game so you know they'll go away and think about it as you said I love this triangular series because
03:21 each game really does matter and they're going to go away and lick their wounds and know they're going to come back and do better or they're going to be struggling to qualify for their finals so there's lots of them to think about there but not least the fact that when you get starts like that and you're in such a position to win the game you've got to see it through
03:38 you feel like being professional. Alex, it feels as though the game is just suddenly in the blink of an eye disappeared and England have found a way to lose it as much as Pakistan have found a way to win it. Yeah, I think a little bit of both. I think Pakistan had a brilliant end to their innings. You know, I think they didn't look like
03:56 they were going to get anywhere near 300 and they had an exceptional last eight overs. You know, they really managed to accelerate to get them up to that 300. And there is such a difference of chasing 260 or 300. You know, it is a massive difference. But England had the perfect start, you know, the perfect partnership up front. And I actually think Pakistan bowled exceptionally well on this surface. You know, the spinners, Siam Ayub and Arafat in particular, obviously getting six for.
04:22 They really just kept things simple, bold at the stumps. And something that Adil Rashid wasn't able to do in the first innings. But England will be feeling very disappointed. with that because they are better than being bowled out for 250. Stephen Finn, when we look at the way that England performed with the ball, both you and I were saying off air that there's just a little bit of a feeling in the middleovers, a lack of penetration. Well, I think they would have been wise to watch the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka a few days ago.
04:51 And it was the surprise short balls through the middleovers that did get people into trouble. And I felt as though when the seamers came back, maybe a touch predictable with the way that they bowled and the way that Harry Brooke juggled his bowlers. But certainly it's a missed opportunity because they had Pakistan on the ropes. So 81 for 4 in the 19th over when Salman Aliaga,
05:14 who scored that brilliant 100 the other day, was out. And then three consecutive 50 plus partnerships then turned the screw back on England that led to them going into the halfway stage in this match, needing 302 runs to win. However, I still feel, felt as though that was a very chaseable score
05:32 if they negotiated the first 15 overs of the second inning, which they did. They felt themselves in a brilliant position, 120 for one, before that extreme collapse there. And yeah, I think they'll be sat in the dressing room now a bit confused about how they managed
05:48 to throw both of those positions away in both innings. Is much more like a true... Is it much more like a true Pakistan team though? You know, you look at the attack. You know, if we're considering what we saw in the summer and the sort of the sham that was around that test series. I feel rather sorry for Barbara Asim,
06:04 who was captain of that, and he stood here at cover most of the time, watching Shaheen captain of this team, which is a completely different outfit, playing in a different way, playing very positively, fiddney's quite right about the short pitch bowling, how effective that was on a pitch that did have some bounce.
06:22 But I also like the way, it happened too often to just have been a fluke, that they'd hit the first ball of a new spell, or the first ball of an over for four or for six. And that just seemed like a proper tactic. Whether that's Mike Hessen, who's arrived now from New Zealand to be their coach, whether that's something he's thought of.
06:39 But it really puts the bowler under pressure for the rest of that over. And it happened a number of times. It wasn't just a case of, well, you know, someone's hit someone for four or for six. It looked like a legitimate tactic. And I like that because you are then immediately on the back foot. But this is a much more positive, aggressive, Pakistan team playing much more like the sort of aggressive cricket that we're used to saying Pakistan play
07:01 I think when you look at the first innings as well and the position England were in Arafat Minhas will end up being player at the match you would imagine for his contribution with both bat and ball but it was the way Hassan noirs played hitting his first ball for six and taking the attack to England and where Pakistan had looked timid for the first 20 overs they then came out of their shells as soon as he came to the crease and you're right aggers that puts you as a bowler in a very different mentality if someone's coming after you early in the over and they get the better of you you lose that wicket-taking intent and it feels like that's what england did from that point forwards which led to them conceding 300 yeah i mean you're immediately trying to drag it back aren't you
07:41 uh and it just it just happened time and again it felt like as well when jo root was bowling at the death it's like england didn't trust it's like harry brook in particular didn't trust these bowlers to you know why are you bowling joe root in that situation you've already got six bowlers. Joe Root comes on and you go, okay, well, if Adil Rashid's going at just under sevens, what are you expecting Joe Root to do? Because he's not going to go at just under eight, is he? And he ended up going for 12 off that over and England really lost some momentum at the back innings there. And it's interesting as well. We talked about this series and the opportunity that England players have in the absence of others. Two missed out today. Banton missed
08:15 out to get 57. A terrific innings, wasn't it? I mean, he really was. And he just gave it a way he could see how shattered he was. He wants to nail down that position. I thought Sonny Baker rather missed out on his opportunity today. And he's shown in the past. He is expensive in this form of the game. He's got a lot of enthusiasm. He's got pace.
08:33 He comes tearing in. But he's not an accurate bowler, and he does go for runs. And you can just see that Joffar Archer is going to slot back into that position. But if there are two who had a chance today to show what they can do, I think they particularly missed out. What about the balance of the side, Stephen, with, obviously, the whole left by Ben Stokes is a massive one,
09:00 whatever the format, but also Moween Alley as part of that, a very successful England whiteball side. Somebody that could legitimately boil you ten overs. England do feel slightly like they're missing. Yeah, you think Chris Wokes as well in that mix as someone who isn't playing anymore but could fulfil the batting at number seven role and guaranteed to bowl you 10 overs. I would say that Will Jack's having almost redefined his role in whiteball cricket
09:27 to be that number six finisher and aggressive batter there when he is naturally an opening batter. And the way that he bowled today, I thought he bowled very accurately and very well as a finger spinner on that pitch to be able to have the return that he did. But certainly with the three all-rounders at six, seven, eight in Jack's Overton and Curran, it sometimes feels as though maybe they're trying to fit square pegs into round holes a little bit in order to make up for the loss of someone like Stokes, who is a guaranteed with both. Agass, can you see the problem England have got? Yes, yeah, absolutely.
10:07 I mean, this series is also interesting and that the likelihood is that the conditions will be very different. We're pushing it to World Cup, aren't we, thinking about South Africa. and although there has been some patience of bouncing this you just feel that the makeup of the team could be different come that but yeah I argue Steve
10:28 there's three there much of a muchness and that's well maybe they'll reflect on that during the course of this series and then in Australia to come but just overall I think if you look at today that's a disappointing
10:47 performance. I liked aspects of Brooks' captaincy. I like the fact they brought jacks on it. As early as a seventh over, you know, that's pretty brave. He brought a short leg in, you know, when Overton was bowling quickly. Again, not something you see very often. And it wasn't, he wasn't done in a sort of an arrogant sort of a way. I think he just did it because it was the right thing to do. And again, you don't see that happen very often. So, you know, I think he had a good game out there in the field. And if field under him, it does look to be a pretty well-organised team, actually, out in the field. The fielding was generally pretty good.
11:25 Atkinson dropped a catch. But generally, the fielding was good. The whole thing did look organised. But, yeah, those last 10 overs particularly were expensive, and the batting has been very disappointing. Jacob Bethel, Alex, will be sitting on the sidelines, thinking about his future within this side. Has today been a good day for fans of Jacob Bethel getting back into the side?
11:51 Any time England loses a good day for a Jacob Bethel fan. I mean, the reality is, you know, if teams are losing and they can't quite figure out the middle order, it's the good thing for Jacob Bethel, isn't it? And cricket is an individual sport but a team sport all at the same time. And, you know, somebody for like Josh Tong or Liam Dawson, they'll be wanting to play Mason Crane in particular after today, I'll be thinking, okay, I wonder if I'll get a go because I deal Rashid bowed a little bit of licorice all sorts, you know.
12:19 So cricket's a savage game because as soon as anybody says, you know, I remember once saying, you know, well, when the left arm spinners don't ball well, it's good for me. And then I was the bad guy, but that's the reality of it. And yeah, so, you know, if you're a Jacob Bethel fan, it's not a bad day. You make yourself undropable, don't you? You get a chance. You're Tom Banton, and he plays some terrific shots in that innings. You don't give it away like that. You know, you have to nail it down.
12:45 It's a ruthless business. And, you know, just the way that he walked off, he knew that he had blown that opportunity there. He would have another couple, of course, more than that, in the course of this series. But, you know, you get a chance like that. You nail it down. Do you feel, Finney, that there has been a missed opportunity for somebody like Bantz? I mean, 57 or 53, you'd say normally, if he was the regular open, that's a decent enough contribution. Yes, but there are clearly three other games in this group stage for him,
13:17 but I think the big marker of when you're in a good spot as a player and as a team is that you don't leave it to other people to be the person who gets the team over the line. And I think as England were 120 for one before they lost the wicket there of Root, wasn't it, who was, sorry, Banton was second out, caught at midwicket there. I think that that is the sign that you, that you should be a permanent fixture in the team moving forward. A hundred would have done that for Bantan there. He may have other opportunities throughout this series,
13:50 but maybe not as good as he had today. This is the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. Where we put credit towards Pakistan, Arafat Minhas had a sensational day, Alex, and I'll go to you as the left-arm spinner amongst us. You said he bowled really well, really simply. I mean, he sort of did. anything extravagant in the turn and he bowled accurately enough and picked up a remarkable
14:19 six for 40 and that's all you have to do as a left arm spinning you know you attack the stumps and let the pitch do the talking and sometimes they'll slide on and sometimes they will pitch on off stump and turn outside the edge of the bat and look I really appreciate the way that he bowled today because it was simple and there wasn't any moment in his spell where you go what a ripper that was and I think that just shows how consistent he was. You know, he just kept attacking the stumps. He just kept things really nice and simple. A couple of times his pace was a little bit quicker,
14:49 but he didn't bowl very many variations. He did Brooke for pace, didn't he? I mean, he did. It was a slightly flatter ball. Brooke saw it as being short on the back foot. A little bit of spin, thanks so much. I mean, that's a classic piece of so left arm bowled. But it was only four kilometres quicker. So it wasn't it wasn't an arm ball. It was just slightly quick.
15:07 It was really nicely bowed. And that was the one ball that, you know, you go, okay, well bold in that, but the rest of it kept it very simple. Agnes, you mentioned the fact that so consistently during the Pakistan batting innings, they were targeting the first ball of the over. Adal Rashid got hit all over the place, particularly those first balls of the over. Whereas Arafat Minas, 21 years old, playing his fourth ODI. Could England have been a bit more proactive against him, put him off his line? Well, I think they'll have looked at the way Pakistan played, you know, to come out.
15:37 I mean, it's often easier said than done, isn't it? And it's got to work. I mean, if you play a reckless shot to the first ball that you're facing for somebody and you get out, then the odds are you're going to get pretty strongly critic for it. The fact is that today, Pakistan did that tactic, and it worked in every case. So perhaps England were that little bit tentative. I mean, I think probably the alarm bells were ringing a bit. You know, they saw that great start.
16:02 The wickets were suddenly tumbling away. What were they were? 120 for 1, 170 for 5. you're starting to worry then about getting 300. So perhaps they were a little bit tentative in that middle order. But, you know, it's only his fifth game. I mean, he's a young, excitable bowler. This is a terrific presentation platform.
16:25 One, two, three, four, five, six. There are eight awards to be given out here. I mean, I can see them lined up on the podium. Like, you know, who's tied his boot laces up, tidiest competition? Someone's won that, I think. There's virtually every sort of competition out there you can think of. Player of the match, fielder of the match, batter of the match. What shield of the match is what I want to know.
16:47 There's everything on there. So it could be a lengthy presentation. Goodness me. Stephen Finn, where do we look at the successes for Pakistan? And I'm intrigued as to how they can go from looking quite different formats, but quite so abject at times against England in the test summer, to in front of a big crowd looking absolute world beat. Well, I think when we look at England's line up
17:12 and you look at the missed opportunities, you look at this middle order now, Hassan Noir's, 79 from 74 with four sixes. He changed the momentum of the game for Pakistan. Arafat Minhas in his fifth game, scoring 59. Fahim Ashraf, then coming in off the back of that and continuing the momentum in those last 10 overs, scoring 39.
17:34 and they saw an opportunity and a gap in the game and they took it in that first innings to drag Pakistan to what I still feel was probably a par score on that pitch, a runner ball, not too many demons, although we did see one or two keep low, as Joe Root got in the second innings. But it's nice to see it's not the same names all the time
17:55 putting their hand up in the previous game, Salman Aliaga was the one who scored the 100. He's been Pakistan's premier batter in limited overs, 50 over, over, cricket for the last few years. So good to see it's not the same people and not the experienced players all the time putting their hand up. And I think that's an exciting place to be for them as a team. And you mix that in with the fast bowlers and the enthusiasm and the energy that they bought to proceedings in the two matches that we've watched so far in this series.
18:23 It's not all doom and gloomers may have seemed at the end of that test series in the summer. Just reporting back, no England players won any of these awards yet. We're counting down. Arafat won just about everything so far They're about 200 quid a go I think if you win all of these There are so many So many awards it's funny Anyway go on
18:44 Pakistan have looked a good side in this game And they look a good size When everything clicks for them But is there a way of combating it In the way that England could perhaps be more proactive With bat and ball And they are going to get an opportunity against Pakistan again in this try series
19:04 and what will they have learned to you think England well I think they'll they'll be wary of that tactic of coming out there and blasting a boundary when a new bowler comes on the bowlers will certainly be aware of it Arafat's got another reward by the way
19:19 he's finally got player of the match he's picked up everything else and he is unsurprisingly player of the match they'll have learned that I mean look one day cricket is Of course it's about winning and you gain confidence as you go, the more games that you win.
19:41 But, you know, I think they'll consider it. They've just got out here. They're playing against a Pakistan side that won on Sunday against Sri Lanka. You know, and an England will consider, I'm looking at the pitch that's about to be covered, which is to the left of the one they've just played on. It looks the same. Grassy.
19:57 There'll be some bounce in there. An England will fancy beating Sri Lanka on that, in which case we'll sit here and say well there we go they're off and running they've got a big match against Pakistan but you know you you don't want to get you know to crisis driven and they won't be they'll reflect on where they've gone wrong today they had moments to win this game lots of moments to win this game and they blew them and so it really if you want to
20:22 you can't reanalyze it any more deeply than that they had the chances that's when got out generally playing loose shots there you go. Don't do it again. You get the chance to win the game. Nail it down. A year out from the World Cup, Stephen. There's work to do for England in a way that there wasn't, say,
20:41 ahead of the successful 2019 tournament. He felt that they were sort of champing of the bit just to get on with it. There are gaps in the side. There are elements where they do need to wire and things out. This is such a wonderful opportunity at being a sort of mini-tor. It is. And look at the build-up to the 2019 World Cup. there was only ever one position in the team that was fluid.
21:02 And that was whether the fifth bowler was a seamer. And they'd play a frontline bowler in Mark Wood and push Chris Wokes up to number seven and play your five front line bowlers. Or if they felt as though the pitch was going to offer turn or spin, and Moen Ali would bat seven. And then the fast bowler would sit out. And I think that that simplicity that they had in the decision-making
21:25 that they needed with the balance of their team in the build-up to that World Cup, allowed them absolute clarity about what their role is. I still think that lower middle order in particular, Karin Jack's Overton, I think they're all struggling a little bit with their identity within this team. And I think that that's something that if they are to challenge in the World Cup, I think that's probably the biggest key or problem that they need to solve
21:52 is what they're going to do with that lower middle order. Does that feel about right, Agnes, that area of the side that perhaps was so strong in that era of 2019? Yeah, I mean, you can see where Joff Archer was slot back in. You can see where Josh Butler will slot. I mean, he's going to be down that area somewhere, isn't he? Where's Josh going to bat in that lineup? So you can see where he's going to have to slip in, what, bat, five, I suppose,
22:22 which reduces one of those all-round positions, because he's effectively in all-rounder. So, no, I mean, look, I think they'll just say, they'll look at this, the beauty of this tournament is that they do need to win the next game. They can't, you know, take any, they can't sort of give somebody a game against Sri Lanka just for the sake of it,
22:43 a croakum or whatever it may be. They've got to get out there and win the game. Just looking at the grounds, and I've been talking about the pitches, he's just, and as Stephen Fibble had done this, walked up down a pitch with a ball and bounced it on the pitch, which normally here in this part of the world, it comes up about ankle high.
22:59 Here it's coming up and above waist high. It's walking up and down the pitches. They're just bouncing a white ball onto it. That's the groundsman. And these are really good cricket pitches. So if there is some pace and bounce in it again, then you'd expect England to deal with Sri Lanka in the next game. But we should see.
23:18 I also think this England side of a very, very destructive side when things go well for them. They are one of the best white ball teams in the world and yes they've lost today but you know you look at the difference in that 2019 side to today you've got Root and Adil Rashid and everybody else
23:35 is different so you know it's a completely different team it's been a long time since that 2019 World Cup win and it's a lot younger this side and they still have a lot to learn but actually when they get it right they are such a good side to watch and such a destructive side and today because of
23:51 that inexperience of the middle order they have just thrown it away. They've got time as well That's the other point is that, yes, it's a year away. Yes, 50 over cricket is reasonably rare, but they've got these matches as part of this try series, and they go to Australia as well and play matches there. So high-quality opposition as well makes a big difference in terms of how they're going to be able to prepare for this 50-over World Cup.
24:13 And, of course, very different conditions to what they're facing in Pakistan. So a bit of adversity, Stephen, is maybe not a bad thing in terms of just building that resilience and working out the problem. No, and fundamentally it's one game of 50 over cricket that they've lost here. They played well against Sri Lanka at the back end of the summer. They had a very good series against India as well with the white ball stuff in the middle of the summer too. So there's no need for panic. I just think that this 50 over format is one that requires a balanced and settled lineup in the buildup to a world tournament.
24:47 England have plenty of games to find it, but they'll want to find it soon in order to make sure that then it's just about form going into that World Cup, nothing else. Alex, what changes do you want to see for Thursday's game, if any, in terms of personnel? I mean, I always want to see Liam Dawson play it, obviously, but I don't know how he's getting into the side, but Josh Tong for Baker for me. Agers? I'd agree with that too. I just don't think Baker is consistent enough in this form of the game, whereas Tongue's got a great Yorker.
25:19 He's a wicket taker. He's someone who can rustle up in the middle of an inning to take a, a wicked or two. So I'm a bit surprised, actually, that tongue wasn't preferred in the first place. Well, let's get some reaction now. The England captain Harry Brooks spoke after the game to Artif Nawaz. Tough loss today as well. The halfway point when he had Baghistan at 302.
25:40 Did you feel like, were you satisfied with that? You feel like you had a good chance to chase him out? Yeah, we thought they were under par. It was a good surface. I thought we bowled exceptionally well to restrict them to 300. I thought our consistency in lines and length were exceptional and yeah, we were pretty happy with that at the halfway stage. And batting out there, how did you feel about conditions,
26:02 so they get easier to bat on there? Was there anything that surprised you? It dured up. It's wet now, so we knew that it was going to get dewy and it would slide onto the bat a little bit better. Obviously there was a few periods in the game there where we couldn't quite string partnerships together, which is what we've been talking about a lot. But, yeah, it's just one of them days, really.
26:20 we couldn't quite get a partnership going and they bowled and fielded exceptionally well. You've got another game in two days' time. What do you think other things to work on? Looking to be a bit more aggressive, I think, with the bat specifically. I think we were probably a little bit too careful against spin. And yeah, we've been speaking a lot about rotation of strike against spin and through the middle phase, but we're still going to look to put them under pressure and try and hit a boundary and over. So something to talk about over tonight and over tomorrow and yeah, come back stronger against Sri Lanka. Well, hard luck today, but go well against Sri Lanka.
26:55 Thank you. Let's also get some reaction from the Pakistan camp. Captain Shahin Shah Afridi also spoke to Artif Nawaz. Shaheen, congratulations on the win today. Two out of two as captain, he must be feeling great. Yeah, feeling good. It'll be more feeling good, winning the top better score more. And yeah, there's the lower order scoring.
27:17 So far is good, especially Arafat and. Hassan Nawaz was the partnership held pass to score 300 which is good. Arrafad Minhas, you mentioned there what a performance, six wickets and a half century, just his fifth one day international as well. He's already looking like he's fitting in brilliantly to this Pakistan side. Yeah, he's a very good talent and the way he's progressed. Like first one day to now, he's bowling well. He's day-by-de-learning how he ball, how he bat.
27:45 I think especially when he's starting his batting, he was really nice. and he knew a team needed that time and he delivered for us. It's been a while since Pakistan fans saw Pakistan beat England, particularly this summer. It must have been good to give that back to the fans today, a win over this England side. Yeah, but we're not playing so many games against them. So, yeah, testes they played well. But usually when you play against somebody like back-to-backs, then you know them how to ball and how to bat against them.
28:13 One foot in the final already. Maybe a bit of experimentation going forward? Let's see how is Lahore wickets for us and then we can see if the team required we can. Well, well played today and go well in Lahore. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. So defeat for Harry Brooke today, but he has got plenty of good memories of previous experiences playing in Pakistan.
28:37 Earlier this week, Jonathan Agnew sat down with Brooke to reflect on his roller coaster year and discuss what he wants to get out of this try series. For Brooke, it's a welcome return. to Pakistan, a country where he's enjoyed plenty of success. Got some very fond memories playing out here, as have a lot of the other players. We actually really enjoy coming out here and playing cricket. Crowds are always very passionate, and hopefully we can get some good crowds in this series
29:03 and put on some good performances. Yeah. Is there anything about this place that does it for you? I mean, your record here is unbelievable. Yeah, I first came here in PSL. I had a good tournament. I've got some very fond memories of playing. the PSO here we actually won it that year as well so to contribute to a winning a title my first
29:23 title in the PSO was was an amazing experience and then whenever I've come here with England I've performed fairly well and I've really enjoyed playing cricket out here like said that the passionate fans the crowds the atmospheres have always been amazing and I look forward to to what this series presents yeah I think fairly well is a bit of an under understatement Harry I mean 300 on that first series He's a triple hundred last time around. I mean, that's a lot of runs to be scoring. Yeah, yeah. Thankfully, I got a few out the middle,
29:54 and I was striking the ball nicely. And it's always nice to contribute to a winning series and winning any match. Yeah. That was kind of when things are really going England's way on the field, wasn't it? I mean, really positive cricket, 500 a day here.
30:09 There's been a, I don't know, what do you tell me? Has there been a bit of a change of pace? again after everything happened in the summer. And I'm talking about test cricket now a bit, I mean, which course you're obviously very much involved in. Has there been a change of gear since Brendan and Ben Stokes? I think that was naturally coming about anyway.
30:32 Even when Baz was in charge, we were trying to evolve as a team, trying to play what's in front of us as much as possible, rather than the crash-bang wallop that we did for a couple of years, which is very entertaining. and we did exceptionally well. But we were trying to really evolve as a side and I think we saw that at the back end of the summer
30:55 playing under Routi's first series back. We can take a lot of confidence from that in that series against Pakistan and take it into South Africa. Obviously we haven't played under Flem yet and I'm really looking forward to working alongside Flem and Routi as well. I thought the way that Routi started his captaincy he couldn't have asked for anything more really.
31:16 I think we're really trending in a good direction with that test side. And South Africa is going to be a completely different challenge. But I have full faith in everybody who steps out onto that field. Yeah. Have you changed gear a bit? Have you played a couple of innings there in that second half of the summer? That looks if perhaps you were raining in your more of attacking instincts a bit. I mean, is that fair comment or not?
31:40 That's the way that you played in those couple of innings? I just tried to play what's in front of me, really. I want to play the situations and the conditions as well as possible. There'll be a day where I have to go out there and try and look to take them on, and that depends on the conditions, really. I want to be that player that looks at the conditions and plays them as well as possible and can adapt to what's in front of me as quickly as I possibly can. And it's not going to be the prettiest innings every time,
32:11 and it doesn't really matter to me as that much. I just want to be as effective as possible and try and get our team into the best position to win the game. Yeah. Has it been a tough year for you? If you take back the 12 months and Australia going to Australia and everything off the field stuff, has it been a hard year for you? I wouldn't say it's been a hard year now.
32:34 I think there's been some ups and downs. But every time I step out onto the field, every time I'm wearing the England kit, I'm living my dream. As a youngster watching cricket, growing up watching cricket, you always dream of getting out onto the field and representing your country. And that's all I can ask for at the minute. I'm absolutely loving playing cricket for England.
32:55 And every opportunity you get to play for England is a dream come true. Yeah. And captain C, now that it's kind of full-time with this, has that been good for you? Definitely, yeah, I've absolutely loved it. I love the extra responsibility. I feel like as a one-day side we're really trending in the right direction. I think we're playing some exceptional cricket. We're doing everything that we want to do in terms of talking about adapting to conditions
33:25 and playing what's in front of us. I think we've done that exceptionally well. Every surf is going to be slightly different, so you have to be able to read them conditions and play what's in front of you. As a T20 side, we're arguably the best side in the world. We keep on fluttering between one and two with India, but... We're playing some unbelievable cricket there and we're really coming together as a whiteball squad. Are we getting ahead of ourselves to look to the World Cup?
33:53 I mean, are you looking that far ahead or is it, you know, this is just stages along the way in that journey? Naturally, you're always looking towards the World Cup, I think. It's a big competition. We want to go out there and we want to be competing for the title, really. At the end of the day, we want to go out there and be a team that people, fear. We want to make use of the series that we've got coming up as well and I think this is a great start. A tri-series, I've never played in one, I don't know, I don't know if many lads have played in one before and it's a great opportunity to play against two strong sides in conditions that they know fairly well as well, probably better than
34:31 us and that's what we're talking about. We want to be able to manufacture wins when conditions aren't in our favour and this is a great start, especially if we get to the final in a pressure situation where we might face that in the World Cup next year. Yes, because each game matters. I mean, I'm not saying a five series doesn't, but actually a triangle where a defeat can actually cost. That introduces more of that World Cup mentality, doesn't it? Definitely, yeah.
34:59 And every ball is a pressure ball as well. And it just shows, it can show where we are as a squad. It can show where we are as a group of players. And I do think it's a great opportunity playing out here, again, against. two very strong sides in conditions that they know very well. And as far as this tournament goes, Harry, I mean, there are a couple of those Joffre Archers
35:19 and here, Josh Butler. There are some one or two positions that people could jockey for, aren't there? Is the emphasis totally on winning games? Or is this an opportunity to look at one or two players as well? I think it's a perfect time to try and figure out the formula that we're going to have for the World Cup. But I know the conditions are completely different and it's probably going to chop and change.
35:44 But we want to be a side where we're picking 11 and 11 on the conditions. And I feel like as a squad now, we really have that. If someone does go down five minutes before the toss, we know that someone could come in and fill that space exceptionally well. And that's an awesome thing to have as a captain and the coach. Yeah. And finally, I mean, winning this creates confidence, isn't it? I mean, you keep winning games, you believe you're going to win every game.
36:12 It doesn't always happen, but that confidence really starts to grow, isn't it? Yeah, and winning is a habit. It's always been said, really. And the more games you can win, the more confidence you can build. And that will only hold us in good stead going into next year. You can find out much more about today's game on the BBC Sport website and app. We'll also find a special podcast on BBC Sounds with test coach Stephen Fleming. We're back on air on Thursday morning 845 a.m.
36:39 game in this try series. It's a big one for England having lost their opener. They're taking on Sri Lanka. This is the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. So much sport today for all the goals as they go in up and down the leagues. This is Five Live Sports. It's all right to the lights and foot not to stopper. Everyone standing around the 18th green. Oh, my God.
37:08 He shows to the centre. And they'll do it. Life Sports. The home of the world. world's greatest sporting events. Listen on BBC Sounds. The Hubble Space Telescape was designed to peer deeper into the universe than ever before, unlocking some of its greatest secrets.
37:45 But after launch, a devastating flaw emerged. The significant spherical aberration appears to be present in the optics. National disaster. Hubble launched with flawed mirror. The BBC Space Podcast 13 minutes is telling the inside story of how NASA rescued Hubble. The future of space astronomy depends on it. From the BBC World Service, 13 minutes, trouble with Hubble.
38:10 Listen now on BBC.com, the BBC app, or wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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