Liam Plunkett relieved to rediscover form as pressure builds for World Cup places

Surrey (278-8) beat Essex (213) by 65 runs

Liam Plunkett spoke of his relief at rediscovering his form as pressure builds for World Cup places among England’s quick bowlers, saying he felt he was back to his old self.

Plunkett took four for 50, easing his new county Surrey to a Royal London One-Day Cup victory over Essex and in turn restoring his confidence after a poor start to the season. Plunkett’s pace was back, a just reward for tinkering with his run-up after reviewing footage of his bowling with Surrey coach Richard Johnson, and consulting new county colleague, Morne Morkel.

One of Mark Wood, Tom Curran, David Willey or Plunkett is likely to make way for Jofra Archer in England’s final World Cup 15 if he impresses in his trial matches against Ireland and Pakistan.

Plunkett has been such an important figure for England over the past four years, taking wickets in the middle overs, bowling with pace into the ribs of batsmen. But his speed has dipped in recent months, a potentially fatal flaw for a 34-year-old when a young, exciting player like Archer emerges.

His first two matches for Surrey in the Royal London Cup were poor, conceding runs at 9.53 an over and taking only one wicket, and he needed this performance before joining up with England on Saturday for their three-day training camp in Cardiff.

Plunkett’s four wickets were good news for England, but they will be concerned about the health of Jason Roy, who retired hurt with a back spasm. Roy returned to see out the final five overs of the Surrey innings, but will be assessed on Wednesday before deciding if he plays against Middlesex the following day.

Plunkett’s first wicket was Paul Walter, after he shut off his scoring shots by cramping him for space, forcing him to slash a wider ball to third man. Plunkett took one for 15 in five tidy overs, then returning after Essex threatened victory, coasting to 142 for three chasing 279. His bounce found Simon Harmer’s leading edge before trapping Ryan ten Doeschate lbw the very next ball and wrapping up the innings with the wicket of Matthew Quinn, caught behind by Ben Foakes.

“I feel a lot better. I put pressure on myself in the first few games, but I looked at some old footage with Johnno [Richard Johnson] and spoke to Morne a bit and worked on things. I felt so much better today. I attacked the crease, my pace was late 80s and I had some snap and control,” he said.

“I have played a lot of white-ball cricket and was probably trying to force it to bowl quickly. Today I felt the ball was coming through nicely and I felt as good as my best.

“It is a relief. I work hard on my game. I have done all the one per-centers in the last few months to put myself in a good place, but if you are not performing and getting wickets, you put pressure on yourself. After today, it is nice to get that performance for the team and me because I felt like I was cranking up to where I want to be and felt like the old me of the last few years.”