England recently smashed the world record for a first-inning score in ODI cricket. England’s score of 444/3 at Trent Bridge was truly fantastic.

What can we learn from the world record holders and How do you go about amassing such an unbelievable record-breaking totals?

Team batting style

England’s simple plan (and therefore selection) is based around 3 elements:

1. A top 3 who can dominate the opposition with hard hit conventional cricket shots as well as being able to change it up as their innings progresses (Roy/Hales/Root).
2. Having a flexible 4-7 batting order who are all different types of player with a left and right handed mix (Morgan/Stokes/Buttler/Ali/Bairstow)
3. A hard hitting lower order batting line up. All Batters can clear the ropes and have a history of finishing innings strongly. Some of them are proven Domestic short format top order batters in their own right. (Options: Dawson/Rashid/Plunkett/Jordan/Willey)

This simple batting plan gives England significant batting depth.

Batting depth is crucial when it comes to batters making decisions out in the middle.

An example of this is that Roy and Hales can play in the way that they do at the top of the order because they know that 7 to 11 in the order are excellent practitioners in their own right.

The decision when faced with a thought of “shall I take this bowler down?” is now an easy one to take.

They can go for it with conviction because they trust themselves, understand that their team mates will be on side with their decision making and that there are players in the hutch who will jump at the chance to be a lower order hero if you don’t come off.

Batting role clarity

This depth helps batters to have real clarity about their roles. Clarity helps in the following ways:

• Decision making is much easier when you have a clear role.
• Your practice plans become very simple. You only have to cover your own bases. That’s a great help when preparation time is limited.
• Role clarity takes away the worry of “what will the coach or captain think if I take this option and mess it up?”.

Reading the conditions

England had a good idea that Trent Bridge was going to favour brave shot-making before they even got to the ground.

The ground's stats gave them a good indicator that conditions would be good for batting. Do you know your home ground history?

Lastly, the feel of the day is something that influences decision making:

• The look/feel of the pitch as it was being rolled.
• How the new balls reacted through the air during the fast bowler bowl-thrus ahead of the game.
• Outfield speed would have been assessed in warm up also. The Trent Bridge outfield generally runs. It was a dry day.

All of these factors were taken into consideration by the England think tank.

Once the game starts, the role of the top 3 batters is vital when laying down a big total. Communication between each other in the middle and then back into the changing room is valuable.

I encourage the sides I work with to do this so that we have an appreciation of the conditions before the middle order stride into bat.

Batting order flexibility

Do you know how your players react to being promoted in certain situations when your setting a target?

England do!

Jos Buttler is their go-to man at four when a foundation has been set by the top three. Buttler averages 38 in ODI’s and presently 106 when he comes in at four. England know he likes being promoted when the time is right. Do you know your batting position stats?

Eion Morgan slips down to 5 and they unleash England’s “not so secret” weapon into the fray.

At 281/2, it was an easy decision for England to make. But I’m sure that Jos had been promoted to at 4 for a long time before that.

Could this help you reach even higher team scores in the future?

Could these simple tips turn your team into 1st innings batting record breakers?