Settled line-up or experimentation - Morgan opts for balance

In the lead-up to a major tournament, weighing up competing priorities in selection can be tricky for teams to get right. There is a balance to be struck after all. Winning is important but it is not everything in the months before a World Cup. Learning about different players is vital to build a well-rounded squad. Experimenting with who does what and when clearly has benefits in building a range of multi-faceted players. Then again, regularly selecting a settled team, allowing players to understand and groove their roles so that when showtime comes, they know exactly what to do, has its merits as well. It is a delicate balance to strike.

With less than a year to go ahead of next year's T20 World Cup in India, England are in an interesting phase of their development. It might have been thought that now was the time to identify a combination and stick with it until the tournament itself, allowing the team to build up a body of success and confidence together as the 50-over side did in the lead up to last summer's World Cup. Instead, England are charting a slightly different course for next year's T20 edition.

By captain Eoin Morgan's own admission, they are trying to build that sort of winning momentum. Yet they are also still trying to learn about various players and settle on the best roles for the individuals at their disposal. Morgan admits he does not yet know his best eleven in T20 cricket. He currently thinks there are "seven or eight" strong candidates for that best team and is looking forward to the series against South Africa when, for the first time in a long time, he has all England's leading players available to him.

Nevertheless, rather than having most things set in stone at this stage of their preparations, it seems that plenty is still up for grabs.

Morgan suggested England are likely to adapt their approach to T20 cricket over the course of the next 12 months. They will likely only have their best team available for the series against India in early 2021, which will replicate World Cup conditions, and in the immediate lead-up to the World Cup, and then have a depleted squad for other assignments where they can both rest their all-format players and continue to give opportunities to a range of other who still have credentials to state. Morgan said he thought it unlikely, for instance, that Jofra Archer would play much T20I cricket between now and next year's tournament.

By using both approaches, England aim to arrive at the World Cup in the best of both worlds, with a strong first choice eleven who know the roles expected of them allied to depth and coverage in all positions.

Part of the reason that the approach is necessary is that 50-over cricket was prioritised ahead of last summer's World Cup and the Test format has been given greater recent prominence too. When England's all-format players have been rested to manage injuries, it has usually been from T20 cricket. That has meant that the learning and experimentation Morgan might have done earlier has been delayed. It's not that the preparation for next year's tournament has been overlooked or will now be rushed. The run-in has been clearly thought through.

Anyway, the churn of players over the past two years has not impacted results. England's recent record of 12 wins from their last 17 completed matches is impressive. Despite missing their best players for most of those games, they have still found a way to win. It is testament to the strength in depth of England's white-ball stocks and also Eoin Morgan's leadership.

Even though next year's World Cup is nearing ever closer, there will still be time for experimentation. While Morgan said England would be picking a team to beat South Africa, he also confirmed that he thought it was more important that he and the management learn about the potential make-up of their best side - and the individuals who might be in it - than winning the series against the Proteas.

"Winning at the moment would be great but for us, given the luxury in players we have at our disposal, it's more important that we get their roles right and they feel comfortable within that," he said. "If we manage to solve that problem, the results will look after itself. The process of going through what is best for our team and best for our players to try and beat the opposition is extremely important."

One of the selection decisions to be settled for this series is whether Sam Curran or Moeen Ali will be selected in the number seven spot or whether both will play at the expense of one of the frontline bowlers. Next year in India, England will certainly need two spinners but in South Africa, particularly if the Newlands pitch has some grass left on it, Curran's left-arm seamers may get him the nod. The 22 year-old is certainly in good form after having a successful IPL for Chennai Super Kings.

"We are playing what we think is our best eleven to beat South Africa here and now," Morgan said. "I also think, looking ahead to the World Cup, that we will need the option of two spinners. But also, if we have the luxury of two all-rounders in the side in Ben and Sam, that's huge. Coming off the back of the IPL, Sam has certainly grown in confidence, probably even more so with the bat than the ball.

"He was certainly thrown in in all sorts of circumstances and had all sorts of challenges but came out the other side glowing. Which is great and very difficult to do in a side that really didn't compete at all. He's grown a huge amount in confidence. But when it comes to selection we will be selecting based on who we think is best to win this series."

That will always be the aim for England in whatever series and whatever format they play of course. But in the next year before the T20 World Cup, they are happy to continue learning about their T20 cricket, experimenting and rotating in a bid to identify the best formula to go one better than they did in the World T20 in 2016. Winning in between times is important but is not the most important thing. Holding the trophy aloft in India next year is.