England have benefited from the closeness with India: Michael Atherton

England’s easy travel schedule in the on-going World T20 2016 event has made former England captain Michael Atherton feel that India has given them a comfortable travelling schedule because of England close alliance to the host.

Atherton, now a cricket commentator, believes that this happened because of ‘power play’ at the ICC gave a ‘big brother’ status for the powerful cricket boards India, Australia and England. The talks about the undisputed dominance of the three ‘Big three’ in the ICC and now Atherton feels that England is reaping benefits of that circumstance.

“New Zealand have had to play very traditional sub-continental style cricket, whereas England have been unfettered and blessed by circumstance in Mumbai and Delhi,” Atherton wrote in his latest column for The Times, according to a report on stuff.co.nz.

“Circumstance or administrative brotherly love? Take your pick, but it is probably fair to say that the closeness of the relationship between the boards of England and India of late has done Morgan’s team little harm where the itinerary is concerned.” Atherton wrote in his column for The Times.

England travel schedule has been very easy in the tournament. They have been to only two cities; Delhi and Mumbai whereas their semifinal opponents New Zealand have had a hectic travelling schedule so far. During the Super 10 stage, the Brits played their first two games of the tournament in Mumbai and then moved to Delhi where they played their remainder of two matches. England is now in the semi-final stage and play against New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi.

On the other hand, New Zealand started the tournament against the hosts India in Nagpur and then they played their next two games in Dharamshala and Mohali respectively. The Black Caps played their final group game against Bangladesh in Kolkata and will now play the semifinal in Mumbai.

According to Atherton, England got conditions in the tournament which required little predictability and they also benefitted from the fact that both the pitches in Mumbai and Delhi are relatively fast-paced than most other venues.

“While New Zealand’s players have been racking up thousands of air miles, England have been sitting pretty in conditions that have required little adaptability. They have benefited from both the (relatively) fast-paced pitches and teeming metropolises of Delhi and Mumbai, where there is enough to occupy young and restless minds.

“This intimate knowledge of Delhi, where they have already beaten Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, must be of huge benefit to England, both to the bowlers, who have an idea of the best pace to bowl, and areas of the ground to defend and, especially, to the batsmen, who will have a feel for the size of the boundaries and the pace of the pitch. It took England a game to adapt in Delhi; New Zealand do not have that luxury.”

So far in the tournament, England has beaten Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka while losing to only West Indies. They will surely carry the confidence while taking on the unbeaten New Zealand side, who have adapted wonderfully to the conditions and are already being touted as the finalists.