West Indies v England 1st IT20 at Bridgetown.

As you know i have a dislike for this form of cricket but do appreciate the merits of it regarding money, spectators {money}, new audiences {money}, lesser nations {money} and Chris Gayle {also money}.

But if England were to win the WI series 3-0 would that have any effect or not for their WC chances just a few days later?

Or like me you think T20 is a total lottery, and the team that gets the performances, lucky breaks, good fielding on a particular day will be the beneficiaries at the end or like when England won it, KP stood out and made all the difference that year.

England are ranked eighth with SL first, but as always in T20 who could predict a winner?  NZ could be World Champions in this form. Does that not say it all?

WI's won it on SL's tracks last time so the BD tracks should not decide a likely winner.

Sri Lanka	26	2848	129
India	19	1843	123
South Africa	29	2418	123
Pakistan	40	3638	121
West Indies	26	2330	111
Australia	29	2526	110
New Zealand	29	2475	108
England	31	2522	105

But for a total guess who do you think will be this years winner?

Losing root is a big deal

Massive, massive loss. He's a giant in this format.

Linebreaker wrote:Massive, massive loss. He's a giant in this format.

 

England 1 Alex Hales, 2 Michael Lumb, 3 Luke Wright, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad (capt), 10 James Tredwell, 11 Jade Dernbach

Yes JD  

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Samuel Badree

Get Gayle out early and that is half the battle won in this format


WI's won the toss and will bat.

Pitch flat, so big scores predicted.

Gonna record this one... and watch it later on today.

All the best mate!   

Broad getting clobbered here in the first. Pitch looks good though.

Good tight first over from Broad   

19 from Broad's first over 

skyeman wrote:

Linebreaker wrote:Massive, massive loss. He's a giant in this format.

 

Root's got a pretty good record in T20 internationals, averages over 50 with a high score of 90

Stokes has a lot to learn with his bowling.

Tredwell went well in his four   Good spell.

Slower bowling on this pitch is producing the goods.

Stokes is a far better first class player than limited overs

Dernbach

Good last over from dirtbag. Only 3 wkts down so not too bad from England.

WI's finish on 170/3.

Jeez we suck

Dreadful effort in this one from the England batsmen, but no reason why England can't win the WC.

Since Stokes Test 100, not had it easy.

Bops with the only decent score.

skyeman wrote:Dreadful effort in this one from the England batsmen, but no reason why England can't win the WC.

Skye - I don't wish to be overly pessimistic but playing dreadfully going into the World Cup doesn't give me too much encouragement.

We've got to stop playing Dernbach for the love of god

He somehow managed to bowl pretty well today and go at 9 an over! Although some would argue it takes a special talent to achieve that

Ah and now Broad is out for the rest of this series and potentially the world t20 with a knee injury

Anyone willing to put their hand up and admit Bopara actually does deserve a place in the side?

That aside ...jesus what a car crash England are at the minute. One step forward, now two back with the injuries. Waiting so long to bring on the slower bowlers seems odd too with Dernbach and Stokes getting creamed so heavily.
Im also unsure as to how theyve gone from having 3 spinners in the ODI side to just one in the T20. (Roots injury aside)

They can ill afford to be losing senior figures to injury. Perhaps does help give Giles the excuses he needs though.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Anyone willing to put their hand up and admit Bopara actually does deserve a place in the side?

That aside ...jesus what a car crash England are at the minute. One step forward, now two back with the injuries. Waiting so long to bring on the slower bowlers seems odd too with Dernbach and Stokes getting creamed so heavily.
Im also unsure as to how theyve gone from having 3 spinners in the ODI side to just one in the T20. (Roots injury aside)

They can ill afford to be losing senior figures to injury. Perhaps does help give Giles the excuses he needs though.

Peter,
Yes, but - as you might say - a hand up for Bopara is the equivalent of a thumbs down for the side. As you do say, a car crash at the minute.

Just read the cricinfo write up which largely agrees with me.

They also point out that Wright has played 8 internationals now without making double figures, and isnt even bowling. Its horrible. Ali would be a far better option, given he can also offer another spin option.
Id look to drop Dernbach for another bat as well and go with 3 specialist seamers, a specialist spinner, a part time spinner and a part time medium pacer who has a better bowling record than most of the specialists. Surely 6 bowling options is enough?
England are a bit hamstrung with injuries but cant afford to keep sticking by guys like Wright who have such appalling recent and career records despite occasional moments of glory. I cant believe theres another "top" nation who have capped anyone 100 times with such poor results, even Sammy has done better.

Samuels....
  
T20 is not a total lottery...this format caters to players with certain skills, and until England realise that, one-sided results like this match will continue to be the norm.

There's a pretty good reason why there are 12 WI players in the IPL, and only one Englishman.

Yeah, their board doesnt pay them much or on time.

shivfan wrote:Samuels....
  
T20 is not a total lottery...this format caters to players with certain skills, and until England realise that, one-sided results like this match will continue to be the norm.

There's a pretty good reason why there are 12 WI players in the IPL, and only one Englishman.

No reason why England could not win it again as they did in 2010, the 50/50 nature of T20 makes it possible.

There are NO England players in this years IPL.

Hopefully Ali in for Wright, Two for none as so to speak. Probably Jordan for Broad and Parry for JD.

Two out of three but Wright and JD stay in. Narine will be a big loss to WI.

West Indies Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Ravi Rampaul, Samuel Badree, Krishmar Santokie

England Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (capt), Joe Buttler (wk), Ravi Bopara, Luke Wright, Tim Bresnan, James Tredwell, Stephen Parry, Jade Dernbach

England win toss and will bat.

3 down inside 6 overs, for under 30 runs!! #sameoldstory

Buttler and Hales led a good recovery, hales gone now though. Bopara in

104-4 off 14 overs

Jesus when you said 4 down I kinda assumed that meant Wright had gone...but England are effectively 5 down then.

Selections seen to have gone insane again, flipping from one spinner to 3 but keeping Dernbach. Hardly any batting depth either.

Yeah yeah injuries blah blah but this is a heinous side.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Jesus when you said 4 down I kinda assumed that meant Wright had gone...but England are effectively 5 down then.

Selections seen to have gone insane again, flipping from one spinner to 3 but keeping Dernbach. Hardly any batting depth either.

Yeah yeah injuries blah blah but this is a heinous side.

But this is T20, i bet England win 

Santokie and Badree....
  

Even the cricinfo reporters take T20 with a pinch of salt. "It is still raining at the ground but has apparently got lighter... So, yes, feel free to send in your back-of-a-napkin advice for my fortnight in Chittagong."

T20 is, as always instantly forgotten after the sugar burst, might as well have a kit-kat.

At least the weathers better than the cricket

"Would it be too controversial to suggest that for 2 weeks at the World T20 you took a couple of DVD's of classic Test matches, just so you don't forget what real cricket is?" Oh, Ben, you churl... but, yes, YouTube will doubtless be consulted.

I love Ben 

SERIOUSLY, a dot ball?

Buttlerdid his bit again, gave the team a chance.

Need a twenty run last over!!

Santokie in for Narine gets 4/21.  

The joys of T20.

Well thats Wrights best score for a while   

Bailed out by Buttler, almost his highest ever score in well over 100 T20 games. lets hope its the sign of more to come, England desperately need his best if they are going to cope in Bangladesh.

Looks like Buttler is injured.

Can't catch a break at the minute

19 from Bresnan's last over to give the WI's the win.

Well done WI's.

skyeman wrote:

shivfan wrote:Samuels....
  
T20 is not a total lottery...this format caters to players with certain skills, and until England realise that, one-sided results like this match will continue to be the norm.

There's a pretty good reason why there are 12 WI players in the IPL, and only one Englishman.

No reason why England could not win it again as they did in 2010, the 50/50 nature of T20 makes it possible.

.

I hate to say I told you so, but...I told you so.
 
To win T20s, you can't just rely on luck...you need a certain skill set, and England don't have it without KP.

shivfan wrote:

skyeman wrote:

shivfan wrote:Samuels....
  
T20 is not a total lottery...this format caters to players with certain skills, and until England realise that, one-sided results like this match will continue to be the norm.

There's a pretty good reason why there are 12 WI players in the IPL, and only one Englishman.

No reason why England could not win it again as they did in 2010, the 50/50 nature of T20 makes it possible.

.

I hate to say I told you so, but...I told you so.
 
To win KP, you can't just rely on luck...you need a certain skill set, and England don't have it without KP.

But who will win the WC, could still be anyone?

I am putting it out there and going for Australia. But a total lottery.

Its whoever hits form at the right time, as shown by our win in 09??

Anyways our death bowling is a joke, same old same old

Olly wrote:Its whoever hits form at the right time, as shown by our win in 09??

Anyways our death bowling is a joke, same old same old

100% correct.


Absolutely no empathy from all for this cheap brand of a sport, done and forgotten after the conclusion.

T20, 5 a side, 7's rugby, not many remember it.

Apart from Gayle's 60 odd ball 170ish IPL blitz last year  

I saw it, so i remembered it, but outside IPL, who else? And who cares?

skyeman wrote:Apart from Gayle's 60 odd ball 170ish IPL blitz last year  

I saw it, so i remembered it, but outside IPL, who else? And who cares?

Well who set up the thread and made the most comments? It seems someone cares.   

I can see Shiv's point and some of yours, skye.

A lottery implies total randomness which I don't think applies in T20. Sure, there is great potential for some teams to have have fluctuating performances... even within the space of a few days. It's quite a ruthless format in that you only get the 20 overs and the 10 wickets but there is also considerable skill involved (whether slogging at bowlers who only have 24 balls to deliver, pressure in the field, etc) ... and maybe some of the usual luck as may or may not occur in any sport.

A team like Pakistan, or WI, or even SA, India, SL, NZ, England can get on a roll in the upcoming tournament. In some ways... Eng and WI have a bit of a head start in that they are already in T20 match mode. Australia (for all their talk) could of course do very well... or crash and burn like any of the others. I still believe they (or half a dozen or so teams) would have more chance of winning when it counts (and therefore the whole thing) than you or I would have of winning the lottery or powerball.