LONDON: Spectators have long been advised to get to sporting events early and they could miss the key part of Thursday’s Champions Trophy opener between England and Bangladesh at The Oval if they aren’t in on time.

Even in June, early morning cloud cover that aids swing is often a key part of English cricket conditions.

The proof came as recently as Monday when, across London at Lord’s, England collapsed to 20 for six in five overs — the worst start in One-day International history — against the South Africa new-ball duo of Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell.

A green-tinged pitch did not find favour with England captain Eoin Morgan but even on more placid surfaces the issue of how best to bat under grey skies, which can often set in all day in England, as many a cold fan knows, remains.

Bangladesh highlighted the issue in dramatic style by collapsing to 84 all out in reply to Champions Trophy title-holders India’s 324 for seven in their final warm-up match at The Oval on Tuesday.

Defeat by 240 runs was certainly not want Bangladesh wanted any more than England, a much-improved one-day side since the Tigers knocked them out of the 2015 World Cup, wished to see their top order suffer such a spectacular slump against South Africa, even if they were already 2-0 up in the three-match series.

Yet it says something about England’s current ‘white-ball’ approach that Jonny Bairstow, their only batsman to make a fifty at Lord’s, may not play at The Oval if all-rounders Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes are fully fit.

“I haven’t seen a team win a global tournament playing defensively,” said England coach Trevor Bayliss.

“It’s always a team that backs itself and plays bold cricket,” added the Australian, looking to guide England to their first major ODI title.

“From that point of view the message won’t change,” insisted the former Sri Lanka coach.

Bangladesh collapsed to 22 for six in 7.3 overs against India, not as bad as England on Monday, but concerning all the same.

But Mehedi Hasan, who top-scored for the Tigers with 24, said they still believed they could beat England.

“Yes. We have done well in our last few matches against England and we are confident,” he said.

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha tried to minimise the impact of Tuesday’s reverse by saying: “Obviously it affects the confidence a little bit, but this is a practice game. It’s a big game for us, the first game of the Champions Trophy.

“But our preparation was good apart from this game so we are confident anyway,” added the former Sri Lanka batsman, with the Tigers having beaten both New Zealand and Ireland in a triangular warm-up event in Dublin this month.

The Champions Trophy opener is set to feature several survivors on both sides from Bangladesh’s 2015 World Cup win over England, when a hundred from Mahmudullah and aggressive seam bowling propelled the Tigers to a memorable success at the Adelaide Oval.

“Whatever you have done in the past gives you a little bit of confidence, but then you have to start again,” said Hathurusinghe.

“So whatever we do first against England, we need to start well and that’s what we are focusing on.”

England have never won a global 50-over tournament but they will not get a better chance to end their long wait than in this year’s Champions Trophy on home soil.

England’s only global one-day title came at the World Twenty20 in 2010 and they lost the 2013 Champions Trophy final to India at Edgbaston in a game reduced to 20 overs per side.

With a powerful batting lineup, including pugnacious openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales, Test captain Joe Root, Morgan, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, England usually score their runs rapidly.

Captain Morgan’s team racked up totals of 339 and 330 to win the first two matches of the series against South Africa before slumping to 20 for six in tough conditions on the way to defeat at Lord’s.

“We have put in a lot this series but this was a hiccup,” Morgan said. “It’s a lesson with the bat and ball — our bowlers to be disciplined and to our batsman that, sometimes, you have to sit in,” Morgan said.

“They made us play a hell of a lot and managed to get the ball moving around. Certainly, it’s not down to a lack of trying.”

Holders India and Australia, twice Champions Trophy winners, are among the favourites, along with South Africa who won the inaugural tournament in 1998.

The four really strong squads are England, defending champions India and perennial competitors Australia and South Africa, former Australia captain Ian Chappell told Cricinfo.

“Ever since hitting rock bottom with an early exit from the 2015 World Cup, England’s 50-over cricket has been on an upward trend. They appear to be peaking perfectly for this tournament.”

Teams (from):

England: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (captain), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Steven Finn, David Willey.

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Sunzamul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Imrul Kayes, Taskin Ahmed.

Umpires: Rod Tucker (Australia) and Sundaram Ravi (India).

TV umpire: Bruce Oxenford (Australia).

Match referee: David Boon (Australia).

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2017