The last time England were at The Oval it concluded with some of the
players urinating on the pitch during their late-night celebrations of
the Ashes series victory. Even if it was a 'lads' moment in the
afterglow of success, and they were perhaps unlucky to be caught in the
act, that is not the point: it was crass and disrespectful.
In hindsight, the malaise which was to destroy their winter had already
started to set in during last summer, both in terms of how England
played their cricket and perceived themselves. The success which led to
that late-night leak on the 22 yards now feels a lifetime ago, after six
months around the world where England were battered, beaten and broken.
They are now back in south London to begin their new home season. The
team did what they had to do in Scotland - show willing and avoid defeat
- and now the summer begins in earnest with a T20 against world
champions Sri Lanka before five one-day internationals and two Tests
ahead of the visit of India.
The players will walk out in front of a packed 24,500 at The Oval.
Surrey have reported a weekend rush for the final batch of tickets,
perhaps a combination of the warm weather (which, as if on cue, is not
set to last) and the start of the T20 Blast to whet the appetite for the
format. However, London venues rarely struggle to fill up to the
rafters for England matches so the ECB - and this case its public face,
the team - would be foolish to rest on their laurels and believe the
punters will continue to turn up regardless.
Eoin Morgan,
leading England for the T20 in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad,
was aware how lucky the team was to have loyal support but acknowledged
that they needed to be given something in return.
"We have always had great support, even when we travel around the world
and the arenas are not full, and every time we come home it has always
been to a packed stadium," he said. "That's great, it shows how much we
cherish the game
"Having heard it will be a sell-out, there's always great support here
from the English fans and it's great to see it's no different this
summer. To repay a little bit of what happened in the winter, a win
would go a long way tomorrow and start off our season properly."
In the bigger picture there is little riding on the game, especially as
England have declined the opportunity to throw caution to the wind and
play a young side with an eye on the next World T20, staged in India,
during 2016. Recalling Michael Carberry, however deserving, is not a
revolution.
Still, it is a match against the team who recently walked away with the
world title during which England were the only team they were beaten by,
courtesy of Alex Hales' unbeaten 116 - although Sri Lanka do not
appeared overly perturbed by that reversal given how the tournament
panned out for them. "We had a tough match against them, but it is in
the past now," Lasith Malinga said. "It feels good to be world
champions."
The opposition will have a notably different look this time, Sri Lanka
having lost the retired Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara while
Rangana Herath is rested, but victory would still be a good marker to
lay down.
"There's huge confidence to take from the game we played in the group
stages of the World Cup," Morgan said. "They're a notable T20 team; they
have great variations. We've seen and played against the majority of
their side and to turn them over in the World Cup was a great effort. If
we can put in a similar performance tomorrow that will go a long way."
With that aim in mind, England have been trying to gain an extra
advantage by tapping up the inside knowledge of Paul Farbrace who, until
a few weeks, was Sri Lanka's coach. While the visitors have continued
to toe the line that his move to the opposition makes little difference
-Malinga said it was just down to the players to perform in the middle -
England have certainly been making use of the information available.
"He has been key in our preparation," Morgan said. "He knows their guys
inside out, as he should do, and his knowledge and applying our skills
in countering things they do has been really good. He has gone through
the majority of their players and probably given us a bit more
background than we would be able to access, which is brilliant."
However, even if Farbrace's dossier on the Sri Lankans helps England
secure a victory, the only reason one of the players will be caught
short this time will be going for a quick single.
Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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