England name James Taylor as new one-day captain

The crazy world of English cricket was thrown into harsh perspective on Tuesday. Part of a squad was named for a one-day match in Ireland that is to be played three days after the end of the Test tour in the Caribbean and 13 days before the start of a home series against New Zealand.

It will be completed only after the team has been decided for the third Test against West Indies, which starts on Friday. Members of the touring party not required in Bridgetown can expect to pack their bags for Dublin.

This preposterous conflict has, however, allowed the selectors to start in earnest the necessary rebuilding of the 50-over side after a disastrous World Cup.

James Taylor has been picked as captain and, while this is nominally only for one match, with Eoin Morgan on duty for Hyderabad Sunrisers in the Indian Premier League, it is easy to see the post becoming permanent.

Taylor said: “To be given the opportunity to lead your country is a huge honour. Obviously, the circumstances mean that this is slightly different, with Morgs at the IPL and the other lads in the West Indies.

“So I doubt it’s quite the same feeling as it would be if I was the one, if you know what I mean. But never mind that, it was still a huge thrill to hear that I’d been chosen.”

It is highly possible that Taylor soon will be the one. Morgan replaced Alastair Cook as one-day captain on the eve of the World Cup but failed both to reverse the team’s fortunes and halt the decline in his own form. While he has the management’s blessing to be in India, it is still a rum business that an England captain, specifically charged with one form of the game, should be missing an international.

The match is a tricky proposition for England – whatever side they play. Ireland were much more impressive in the recent World Cup and will be seriously contemplating their first victory against neighbours who have constantly enlisted some of their best cricketers in recent years, including Morgan.

In some quarters, this will be seen as England’s first stage on the road to the next World Cup but Taylor sensibly allayed such talk. He has goals much closer to hand.

“This is a fresh start, it has to be a fresh start,” he said. “I know people are talking about the next World Cup in 2019, and that’s something that every English cricketer would want to experience, with it being on home soil.

“But that’s looking too far ahead. We’ve got a massive summer coming up, against New Zealand and Australia in both Test and one-day cricket. Then, the year after that, it’s the Champions Trophy in England, and I think we have to see that as the next step for us as one-day team rather than the World Cup – it breaks up the four years nicely.”

Taylor, badly treated by England, has nevertheless been groomed for this for years. He has regularly led England Lions teams when he has been tactically astute, as well as seeming to possess that indefinable quality of actually being the leader.

Initial England squad to play Ireland (Dublin, one-day international, 8 May) J W A Taylor (capt), Z S Ansari, J M Bairstow (wkt), S W Billings (wkt), T T Bresnan, S T Finn, L Gregory, A D Hales, J J Roy, J M Vince, D J Willey.