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England vs Ireland: Monty Panesar wants 'natural leader' Moeen Ali to captain England in 3rd ODI

England hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the bilateral ODI series against Ireland with the 3rd match to be played on Tuesday (August 4) at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Apart from creating a brief scare for England in the 2nd ODI.

Moeen Ali is naturally more of a leader than a vice-captain: Monty Panesar

Jaipur, August 4: England hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the bilateral ODI series against Ireland with the 3rd match to be played on Tuesday (August 4) at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Apart from creating a brief scare for England in the 2nd ODI, the Irish have failed to create an impact in this series which also marks the launch of the World Cup Super League to determine qualification for the 2023 50-over showpiece in India.

This is also the first ODI series since cricket began in early July in England with the West-Indies cricket team taking on the Three Lions in a three-match test series. In the series, Ireland's top-order batsmen have not been in the best of forms with newcomer Curtis Campher being the only positive for them who scored back to back half-centuries for them.

Former England spinner Monty Panesar previewed the 3rd match as he spoke in the inaugural episode of Sportstiger's show, "Cricket Talks with Monty Panesar". He mentions that England would not probably want to change the winning momentum by bringing in a lot of changes but also feels that winning the series already gives England the opportunity to fix its loose ends and test their bench strength in the 3rd ODI.

"It's an opportunity to play some of the youngsters and see what they are like and I think this is the perfect chance during the 3rd ODI," Monty said. He also added, "I would like to see Moeen Ali captain the 3rd ODI. I think he is naturally more of a leader than a vice-captain. Even Eoin Morgan can be rested or try a change in captaincy and see what Moeen Ali's captaincy is like".

He also backed Sam Billings who has replaced the injured Joe Denly in the series and has been the standout batsman for England saying, "Whenever Billings is playing in on the crease in an ODI he looks very comfortable. It surprises me that why isn't he in the line-up; he should be an automatic selection in the top six for the team. Now, with these performances, I would expect him to be there for sure."

Monty also feels that Ireland will have a lot of learning to take from this series, especially when playing against Test-playing nations. He commented, "Ireland will learn a lot about their cricket, where it stands at the moment and where it needs to go. One area of concern is that they keep getting out to left-arm seam bowling of David Willey and Reece Topley. So, they have not really worked out a game-plan. Irish cricket will always come up with some sort of struggles against the bigger nations. So, they will have to work out a game plan for that and also how quick learners are they."

He also added, "William William Porterfield's absence from the team for the series has come as a surprise. He is their most experienced player and only the reason for him not to be a part of the team that he is carrying an injury if not he should certainly be a part of the squad."

Monty also had a few words of advice for the England captain and wants him to bat first if he wins the toss. He added, "I think if Eoin Morgan wins the toss he needs to bat first because the team now needs to post a total. Get to 300+ and plus the fans want to see a 300-350 score."

Story first published: Tuesday, August 4, 2020, 14:26 [IST]
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