Paul Farbrace is adamant the one-day revolution that has seen England go from World Cup embarrassments to firm favourites for their home tournament this summer could easily have been over before it even began.
‘It could have been so different,’ said the man who kickstarted England’s white-ball improvement as interim coach four years ago when Peter Moores paid the price for the latest and worst of their World Cup humiliations.
‘We were 202 for six with 20 overs to go in the first game of that summer at Edgbaston against New Zealand,’ said Farbrace. ‘They had just lost to Australia in the World Cup final while we’d had an absolute stinker.
Paul Farbrace believes England's rise could have been over before it even began
‘Then Adil Rashid, who had come back into the set-up, hit his second ball from Nathan McCullum back into the pavilion for six, Jos Buttler made an unbelievable hundred and we ended up with 408 — with Liam Plunkett hitting two of the last three balls into the Hollies Stand.
‘It was extraordinary because we’d been struggling and could have been bowled out for 230 or 240. Who knows what might have happened then. Nothing would have changed. Certainly what has happened since wouldn’t have been anywhere near as straightforward.
‘We could have been stuck in our old ways but from that moment on it was unbelievable. Later in that series we chased 350 at Trent Bridge with seven overs to spare and the tone was set. The momentum grew and the players started to believe they could play fantastic one-day cricket.’
He claims the win over New Zealand kickstarted England's white-ball revolution
Trevor Bayliss arrived later that summer, Eoin Morgan started to grow into a captain of immense stature and Farbrace settled back into the role of assistant coach where he has been such an influential figure in England’s spectacular rise to the top of the world one-day rankings.
Now the journey instigated by former team director Andrew Strauss, who had got fed up with England’s perennial white-ball struggles, will culminate with a World Cup that could well see them end almost 45 years of 50-over hurt since the first global tournament in 1975.
But the man who was there at the start and has done so much to get England to the brink of creating World Cup history will not be there this summer to complete the ride.
The man who began the World Cup journey will not be there to complete the ride
For Farbrace, 51, can now be found at the same Edgbaston ground where the one-day shackles were thrown off so thrillingly in 2015, in his new role as Warwickshire’s sporting director having jumped off England’s horse at the last fence.
‘Over the last year I’ve looked at other things and it’s been a case of finding the right job to get my teeth into and really develop,’ said the man who turned down head coaching roles with, among others, Surrey and Bangladesh while with England.
‘This opportunity came along at a fantastic club with a lot of good quality younger players who want to play international cricket. I’m keen to be part of that and it really attracted me.
‘Once I started talking to the club about their aims to be up there with the best in the world, I thought, “I’ve really got to give this a go”. Everything about Warwickshire is set up for success.’
The 51-year-old spoke to Sportsmail to give his take on his England exit
It does seem wrong, though, that Farbrace will not be part of the World
