England will continue to back young players - Trescothick

3 weeks ago 6
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England will continue to invest in youth despite a 12th defeat in 18 one-day internationals, says interim white-ball head coach Marcus Trescothick.

The inexperienced tourists, featuring four debutants, were humbled in Antigua on Thursday when West Indies cantered to an eight-wicket win.

But Trescothick, who is in charge until Brendon McCullum combines the role with his job as head coach of the Test team from January, said: "I think you can see from the plan of the England team in the last year how much we want to invest in the next generation.

"Coming into these sorts of environments is new, fresh and exciting. Anyone making their debut is not thinking about the amount of games England have lost at white-ball cricket in the last year and a half.

"They're probably so nervous they can't think about any games that have happened in the last six months. It's an opportunity for them to show what they can do.

"It's a great time to get these players in. I appreciate you'd love to bring them in after winning 10 games in a row, but that's not always possible."

The second of three ODIs is at the same venue on Saturday (13:30 GMT), before the final match in Barbados on Wednesday. A five-match T20 series will follow.

England are missing several regulars, with skipper Jos Buttler injured and a large number of the Test squad resting after the recent series loss in Pakistan.

In their absence, a number of untried and untested players have been chosen, rather than lean on the experience of players such as James Vince and Sam Hain, who have impressed in domestic 50-over cricket for numerous seasons.

In Antigua, spinner Adil Rashid outnumbered the caps of the rest of the line-up put together, with 140 to 127.

Furthermore, some of England's debutants lacked experience of 50-over cricket, with Jordan Cox, 24, and Dan Mousley, 23, playing their first List A games in 20 months and three years respectively.

Of the other new caps, 21-year-old all-rounder Jacob Bethell had played 21 times in List A cricket, with fast bowler John Turner, 23, appearing 17 times.

It appears to be increasingly difficult for England's best young players to experience List A cricket because of the scheduling of the domestic One-Day Cup at the same time as The Hundred.

"You can see the direction of where we're trying to go, and that means blooding the next guys coming through," added Trescothick.

"Playing people who have played before probably goes against the mantra of what we're trying to do. I could give you five different examples of where we could go, but that's not what we are trying to do.

"The opportunities are there for the guys to come in. That's what they're going to get. They're going to pick up what it's like to play in the Caribbean and they'll be better for it."

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