PlanetCricket
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Hello, and welcome to what could be one of four but will most likely be one of two posts about how England have got on in each stage of the World T20 in the West Indies. First of all, I’ll assess what we saw from England in each game. Then, I’ll try to rate each player out of 10 from the performances they have given so far, and give my own opinions on the team selection.
First of all, the first England match, against the West Indies on the 3rd of May. A large amount of the playing XI was unsurprising, █but Ryan Sidebottom playing was surprising, and leaving out James Anderson was even more surprising. The batting performance by England after losing the toss was also surprising. Lumb and Kieswetter showed real promise at the start of the order with 4 boundaries each, and Collingwood struggled and fell for 6. Pietersen was 4th out for 24 with the score at 88/4 at the end of the 10th over.Morgan and Wright went about building a good partnership of 95. They started slowly, but both got into their strides later on in the innings, with Morgan playing some very wristy reverse flicks down to the third man boundary and Wright playing some of his trademark slogs over cow corner.
The problem that Collingwood had with Duckworth/Lewis was slightly ridiculous, I felt. If England hadn’t given away what was to be half of the West Indies target in 2.2 overs before the rain break, mainly due to Sidebottom and Swann, the target would have been far harder for the West Indies to get and they may well have failed in their chase. █
Secondly, we’ll have a think about the half-match against Ireland. Another lost toss by Collingwood, and on a far tougher pitch than on the match against the West Indies, England proceeded to bat in an alright sort of a way! Lumb made a promising start with 3 boundaries before being out for only 14, and Kieswetter and Pietersen bumbled to 13 and 9 respectively.
Collingwood didn’t bumble anywhere, and was out for 0. Morgan and Wright rebuilt again, before Wright got fed up and hit a massive six straight down the ground before being out. Morgan carried on to reach 45, but there was no real support from any of the lower order, who (apart from Yardy who was run out for 0 off 0) struggled to get to grips with the pitch. Ireland managed to bat a small amount before it rained, but only Lumb’s exquisite catch stood out.
Now, let’s have a look at those players
Michael Lumb – 6.5/10 – Showed a lot of promise in the first two matches, but we haven’t really seen anything that might distinguish him from some other players who’ve opened for England in T20. +0.5 for that fantastic catch against Ireland
Craig Kieswetter – 7/10 – Has showed about as much promise as Lumb with the bat, but his keeping has been good and solid in the few overs we’ve seen, with a top-class stumping against the West Indies being a top highlight for him so far.
Kevin Pietersen – 5.5/10 – For a person with Pietersen’s potential, he hasn’t played too well so far. His 24 against the West Indies was a bit too slow, and his failure against Ireland doesn’t exactly boost his rating.
Paul Collingwood – 3.5/10 – 6 runs in 2 innings isn’t a fantastic return against two of the weaker teams in the tournament, his captaincy hasn’t had much time to show itself and his outburst against Duckworth/Lewis was slightly preposterous as it was a reasonably fair target.
Eoin Morgan – 9.5/10 – No-one can have a perfect start to a tournament, but Morgan could have got close. 100 runs in 2 innings exactly is a very good return, especially in T20, and he did these in extremely tough situations in matches as well, at good strike rates.
Luke Wright – 8/10 – Has had a good start to the tournament, and may now be showing his doubters why he has been constantly selected for England during the past year or two. There has been debate, which I would agree with, that Yardy maybe should have come in at 6 in the Ireland game, but Wright did okay, and that earned him an 8.
Tim Bresnan – 6/10 – We have very little to judge him on, he seemed to bowl okay in the few overs we have seen. █
Graeme Swann – 6.5/10 – Took two wickets in the West Indies game, and attempted to smash the ball towards the end of the innings against Ireland. █
Michael Yardy – 6/10 – We have little to judge Yardy on either, with selfless running in the innings against Ireland and 1 economical over against the West Indies
Stuart Broad – 6/10 – Even less to judge Broad on, I’m afraid. █
Ryan Sidebottom – 6/10 – Slightly more to judge on, and his over against the West Indies was the catalyst towards England’s demise in that game.
Okay, let’s just have a quick look at team selection before I leave you. The 4 players who have not played █are Shahzad, Bopara, Anderson and Tredwell. To me, the exclusion of Anderson is baffling. I can see why the England management have decided to play Broad and Sidebottom, but I do not see why it is felt that Bresnan should be selected. If the England lower order was Yardy (who started out as a batsman) at 7 and Swann and Broad at 8 and 9, the batting would not be lacking, and Anderson is a far better bowler than Bresnan in my opinion.
I’ll do another, similar report after the Super Eights, whether England qualify, or, more likely, don’t.
PS – This was meant to be posted at around 10PM GMT yesterday, but the site didn’t seem to be working. Performances against Pakistan have not been included.
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First of all, the first England match, against the West Indies on the 3rd of May. A large amount of the playing XI was unsurprising, █but Ryan Sidebottom playing was surprising, and leaving out James Anderson was even more surprising. The batting performance by England after losing the toss was also surprising. Lumb and Kieswetter showed real promise at the start of the order with 4 boundaries each, and Collingwood struggled and fell for 6. Pietersen was 4th out for 24 with the score at 88/4 at the end of the 10th over.Morgan and Wright went about building a good partnership of 95. They started slowly, but both got into their strides later on in the innings, with Morgan playing some very wristy reverse flicks down to the third man boundary and Wright playing some of his trademark slogs over cow corner.
The problem that Collingwood had with Duckworth/Lewis was slightly ridiculous, I felt. If England hadn’t given away what was to be half of the West Indies target in 2.2 overs before the rain break, mainly due to Sidebottom and Swann, the target would have been far harder for the West Indies to get and they may well have failed in their chase. █
Secondly, we’ll have a think about the half-match against Ireland. Another lost toss by Collingwood, and on a far tougher pitch than on the match against the West Indies, England proceeded to bat in an alright sort of a way! Lumb made a promising start with 3 boundaries before being out for only 14, and Kieswetter and Pietersen bumbled to 13 and 9 respectively.
Collingwood didn’t bumble anywhere, and was out for 0. Morgan and Wright rebuilt again, before Wright got fed up and hit a massive six straight down the ground before being out. Morgan carried on to reach 45, but there was no real support from any of the lower order, who (apart from Yardy who was run out for 0 off 0) struggled to get to grips with the pitch. Ireland managed to bat a small amount before it rained, but only Lumb’s exquisite catch stood out.
Now, let’s have a look at those players
Michael Lumb – 6.5/10 – Showed a lot of promise in the first two matches, but we haven’t really seen anything that might distinguish him from some other players who’ve opened for England in T20. +0.5 for that fantastic catch against Ireland
Craig Kieswetter – 7/10 – Has showed about as much promise as Lumb with the bat, but his keeping has been good and solid in the few overs we’ve seen, with a top-class stumping against the West Indies being a top highlight for him so far.
Kevin Pietersen – 5.5/10 – For a person with Pietersen’s potential, he hasn’t played too well so far. His 24 against the West Indies was a bit too slow, and his failure against Ireland doesn’t exactly boost his rating.
Paul Collingwood – 3.5/10 – 6 runs in 2 innings isn’t a fantastic return against two of the weaker teams in the tournament, his captaincy hasn’t had much time to show itself and his outburst against Duckworth/Lewis was slightly preposterous as it was a reasonably fair target.
Eoin Morgan – 9.5/10 – No-one can have a perfect start to a tournament, but Morgan could have got close. 100 runs in 2 innings exactly is a very good return, especially in T20, and he did these in extremely tough situations in matches as well, at good strike rates.
Luke Wright – 8/10 – Has had a good start to the tournament, and may now be showing his doubters why he has been constantly selected for England during the past year or two. There has been debate, which I would agree with, that Yardy maybe should have come in at 6 in the Ireland game, but Wright did okay, and that earned him an 8.
Tim Bresnan – 6/10 – We have very little to judge him on, he seemed to bowl okay in the few overs we have seen. █
Graeme Swann – 6.5/10 – Took two wickets in the West Indies game, and attempted to smash the ball towards the end of the innings against Ireland. █
Michael Yardy – 6/10 – We have little to judge Yardy on either, with selfless running in the innings against Ireland and 1 economical over against the West Indies
Stuart Broad – 6/10 – Even less to judge Broad on, I’m afraid. █
Ryan Sidebottom – 6/10 – Slightly more to judge on, and his over against the West Indies was the catalyst towards England’s demise in that game.
Okay, let’s just have a quick look at team selection before I leave you. The 4 players who have not played █are Shahzad, Bopara, Anderson and Tredwell. To me, the exclusion of Anderson is baffling. I can see why the England management have decided to play Broad and Sidebottom, but I do not see why it is felt that Bresnan should be selected. If the England lower order was Yardy (who started out as a batsman) at 7 and Swann and Broad at 8 and 9, the batting would not be lacking, and Anderson is a far better bowler than Bresnan in my opinion.
I’ll do another, similar report after the Super Eights, whether England qualify, or, more likely, don’t.
PS – This was meant to be posted at around 10PM GMT yesterday, but the site didn’t seem to be working. Performances against Pakistan have not been included.
More...
