PlanetCricket
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- Jan 13, 2010
So England?s squad for the World Twenty20 has been announced, and there are a few surprises there. Michael Lumb comes in to make his debut-presumably because of his recent T20 experience in the IPL, while Ravi Bopara and Michael Yardy come back in. Craig Kieswetter?s form earlier this year has seen him included for his first major international tournament at the expense of Matt Prior, who looked to be on borrowed time with the emergence of the young South African turned English wicketkeeper. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Graham Napier?s IPL ?experience? hasn?t counted for much-the ECB selectors obviously not impressed with the way he bobs his head to the music being played over the speakers, or the permanent imprint left by his backside on the Mumbai Indians subs bench.
Paul Collingwood leads a very young side with not much to live up to, with the shambolic performance England put up in 2007, only beating Zimbabwe, and the 2009 campaign on home turf which will be mainly remembered for a stunning defeat to the Netherlands at Lord?s.
But how good is the 2010 team?
Batting wise, Kevin Pietersen needs to be on form otherwise England barely stand a chance of getting past Ireland and West Indies in the group stage.█ To be fair, they should manage that anyway but progression beyond the Super 8s depends a huge amount on KP who showed signs of getting back to his best in the Bangladesh test series.
Eoin Morgan was the star of the one day series in Bangladesh, and has had a solid IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is a classy batsman who is probably more suited to the 50 over game, but can go at a healthy rate in T20 as well.
The opening pair seems set to be Kieswetter with either Bopara or Lumb. Those two have had rather contrasting IPL?s so far, Bopara starting well-even wearing the top run scorers orange cap for a while but has faded. Lumb, meanwhile had a terrible start but has picked up as the tournament has gone on-topped off with smashing 83 from just 43 balls against a weak Kings XI Punjab attack. Expect Lumb to get the nod at the start, but that could change depending how both players finish off their tournaments in India.
Kieswetter seems a breath of fresh air to this England side, and has the potential to cause serious damage at the top of the order if his domestic form is anything to go by. He?ll be hoping to hit that form early on, with England in a fairly easy group.
Captain Collingwood is almost as useful with the ball as he is with the bat in T20 games these days and will be need to lead from the front in both disciplines for the team to do well.
Luke Wright and Michael Yardy can be considered fortunate to make the trip. Both are barely more than the ?bits and bobs? players that were so often the scourge of the one day team in the last decade and do not offer a great amount. Wright?s batting can be explosive if it comes off, which hasn?t been that often for England, and looks to always be trying to hit the ball too hard-never more evident than last summers World T20. Yardy will be of more use with the ball, and I will cover that-along with the rest of the huge bowling attack in my next blog.
Looking at the batting, there is not loads of choice when it comes to selecting who plays. The squad includes seven bowlers, plus Wright and Yardy as ?all rounders?, so it appears the selectors are looking at a bowling-heavy side to dismiss opponents for low totals and have almost forgotten about the batsmen at times. When on fire, it is a batting line-up that can test anyone, but unfortunately England rely far too much on Pietersen to win games with the bat, and his inconsistent form is a worry. Lumb and Kieswetter are untested at this level, while Bopara and Wright are far from proven quality players. However, Morgan has shown all the hallmarks of becoming a great player and has the chance to shine on the big stage come early May.
My predicted batting line-up looks like:
Openers: Kieswetter (WK) and Lumb
At 3: Pietersen
Middle order: Morgan, Bopara, Collingwood (cpt)
Floating: Wright
That leaves four bowlers plus an assortment of the above to make up the remainder, which shouldn?t be that hard as Collingwood, Bopara and Wright (just about) are competent enough bowlers. Personally, I wouldn?t have Wright or Bopara there, but you need at least one of them otherwise you have an exceedingly bottom heavy team. I?d imagine England will most likely play both to give them as much batting as possible. Dilemma, eh?
Anyway, my next article in a day or two will look at the bowling aspect of the team, or is up already posted here if you can’t wait until then.
More...
Paul Collingwood leads a very young side with not much to live up to, with the shambolic performance England put up in 2007, only beating Zimbabwe, and the 2009 campaign on home turf which will be mainly remembered for a stunning defeat to the Netherlands at Lord?s.
But how good is the 2010 team?
Batting wise, Kevin Pietersen needs to be on form otherwise England barely stand a chance of getting past Ireland and West Indies in the group stage.█ To be fair, they should manage that anyway but progression beyond the Super 8s depends a huge amount on KP who showed signs of getting back to his best in the Bangladesh test series.
Eoin Morgan was the star of the one day series in Bangladesh, and has had a solid IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is a classy batsman who is probably more suited to the 50 over game, but can go at a healthy rate in T20 as well.
The opening pair seems set to be Kieswetter with either Bopara or Lumb. Those two have had rather contrasting IPL?s so far, Bopara starting well-even wearing the top run scorers orange cap for a while but has faded. Lumb, meanwhile had a terrible start but has picked up as the tournament has gone on-topped off with smashing 83 from just 43 balls against a weak Kings XI Punjab attack. Expect Lumb to get the nod at the start, but that could change depending how both players finish off their tournaments in India.
Kieswetter seems a breath of fresh air to this England side, and has the potential to cause serious damage at the top of the order if his domestic form is anything to go by. He?ll be hoping to hit that form early on, with England in a fairly easy group.
Captain Collingwood is almost as useful with the ball as he is with the bat in T20 games these days and will be need to lead from the front in both disciplines for the team to do well.
Luke Wright and Michael Yardy can be considered fortunate to make the trip. Both are barely more than the ?bits and bobs? players that were so often the scourge of the one day team in the last decade and do not offer a great amount. Wright?s batting can be explosive if it comes off, which hasn?t been that often for England, and looks to always be trying to hit the ball too hard-never more evident than last summers World T20. Yardy will be of more use with the ball, and I will cover that-along with the rest of the huge bowling attack in my next blog.
Looking at the batting, there is not loads of choice when it comes to selecting who plays. The squad includes seven bowlers, plus Wright and Yardy as ?all rounders?, so it appears the selectors are looking at a bowling-heavy side to dismiss opponents for low totals and have almost forgotten about the batsmen at times. When on fire, it is a batting line-up that can test anyone, but unfortunately England rely far too much on Pietersen to win games with the bat, and his inconsistent form is a worry. Lumb and Kieswetter are untested at this level, while Bopara and Wright are far from proven quality players. However, Morgan has shown all the hallmarks of becoming a great player and has the chance to shine on the big stage come early May.
My predicted batting line-up looks like:
Openers: Kieswetter (WK) and Lumb
At 3: Pietersen
Middle order: Morgan, Bopara, Collingwood (cpt)
Floating: Wright
That leaves four bowlers plus an assortment of the above to make up the remainder, which shouldn?t be that hard as Collingwood, Bopara and Wright (just about) are competent enough bowlers. Personally, I wouldn?t have Wright or Bopara there, but you need at least one of them otherwise you have an exceedingly bottom heavy team. I?d imagine England will most likely play both to give them as much batting as possible. Dilemma, eh?
Anyway, my next article in a day or two will look at the bowling aspect of the team, or is up already posted here if you can’t wait until then.
More...
