England's Winter of Cricket 2020/21

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Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Wake up to hear Swann doing an Aussie impression. Can this be over in two days again?

Is that what it was? Couldn't fool me...

p.s. it was a 'nowhere in particular' accent.

On Clarke, Olly - he has been getting more and more impressive every time I see him in white ball cricket. He’s certainly put the hours in the gym in, and it’s having an effect. He has always had the ability, and was definitely more a red ball player when he started but it might have flipped the other way now! He does have the ability to go hard from ball one - unlike a lot of England’s top order, not just Malan, who need time to get in. Certainly a point of difference.

It’s been 4/5 years now since the awful incident - two years from the trial of Hepburn. Kind of think it is now or never for the ECB to pick him or he is just black listed for good.

Haseeb Hameed has been named vice captain at Notts and will lead them in the Royal London Cup when Steve Mullaney is away for the Hundred. Peter Moores must see something in the young man still. Whilst Moores had a rough time in the England job (twice) he's been extremely successful in county cricket and consistently a very good judge of talent.

T20s begin tomorrow. I think England will record a 4-1 series win and things will look rosier again, though the bookmakers are putting England out at 6/5 outsiders to win the series. Pah.

The best top six in world T20 cricket should be starting for England tomorrow - Roy, Buttler, Malan, Bairstow, Stokes, and Morgan. Pressure on Roy to perform, perhaps, with a few options queuing up to replace him. He has also seemed to struggle immensely with opening over spin in recent times, so it'll be intriguing to see how he goes in this series.

As for the rest of the team, Rashid and Moeen should be starting and probably Sam Curran as well. Wood, T Curran, Topley, Jordan likely to be battling for the final two spots, with Archer's fitness a question mark.

Eng are favorites for the limited over leg.
They have normalized a style of keep going at the bowling throughout 20 overs
Like India would normally do in first 4 and last 4 overs of a T20 game

Not so sure. Indian conditions...as long as they are set up for high scoring games (as ODI /t20 usually are) then yes. But if they are ultra spin friendly then I reckon it brings England back to the field.

Looking forward to the T20 series...England still with a few questions to answer.

I think the top 6 of Roy, Buttler, Malan, Bairstow, Stokes, Morgan is pretty settled barring a total collapse in form by someone...maybe a reserve gets a game or two late in the series to make a case.

The number #7 spot is up for grabs, between Moeen and Sam Curran. I think Moeen should be in possession of the spot, he's added some good lower order hitting in recent years, and in India, you will think England will need a second spinner. Interestingly both are signed up for the same IPL franchise...so the direct competition will continue throughout the next few months!

I'd say providing they're fit, that Jordan/Rashid/Archer are all fairly nailed on selections in the bowling department...with the final spot between Tom Curran and Wood. Again, expect both will get a go at some point!

Should be a tightly fought series, as Alfie notes, expecting the wickets to turn and be more in the 140-160 is a good score range which suits India's players more than England's...shame Bumrah is out tho

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Looking forward to the T20 series...England still with a few questions to answer.

I think the top 6 of Roy, Buttler, Malan, Bairstow, Stokes, Morgan is pretty settled barring a total collapse in form by someone...maybe a reserve gets a game or two late in the series to make a case.

The number #7 spot is up for grabs, between Moeen and Sam Curran. I think Moeen should be in possession of the spot, he's added some good lower order hitting in recent years, and in India, you will think England will need a second spinner. Interestingly both are signed up for the same IPL franchise...so the direct competition will continue throughout the next few months!

I'd say providing they're fit, that Jordan/Rashid/Archer are all fairly nailed on selections in the bowling department...with the final spot between Tom Curran and Wood. Again, expect both will get a go at some point!

Should be a tightly fought series, as Alfie notes, expecting the wickets to turn and be more in the 140-160 is a good score range which suits India's players more than England's...shame Bumrah is out tho

Also listening to the CricViz podcast preview for this series...they note, that it was expected England were going to look at Liam Dawson for this series as a potential third spinner/lower order hitter option for real turning wickets, but he got injured at the end of last summer and isn't fit yet.

One to keep an eye on for the squad for World T20 though. Can certainly see why they'd be considering him for real turning wickets...reminded in 2016 how New Zealand had Santner, Sodhi and Nathan McCullum playing on the real turners (think the opening game of the tournament where they bowled India out for nothing in defence of 130!).

England win the toss and field first. Big toss to win (aren't they all!) with the dew that's expected to be around later favouring the chasing side.

Interesting team with the usual top six, S Curran, Archer, (glad he's good to play) Jordan, Rashid and Wood the XI. Pace being favoured over spin.

No Rohit Sharma for the Indians (think he's rested) and they've got plenty of spin in their side, unsurprisingly.

In my head Liam Dawson is a lot older than 31 and I'm not quite sure why. I'm pretty certain he was still only about 13 when he was briefly converting into an first-class opener.

A good toss to win for England. They like chasing this white ball side anyway regardless of conditions. I wonder if they get a couple of wins under their belt in this series whether they might bat first on winning the toss to get used to all scenarios.

Great that Jof is able to play. Perhaps his elbow wasn't right for Tests but can cope with the 4 overs required for T20. Great in the short term for this series but worrying for his Test future.

in IPL teams play in this type of dew all the time...and no distinct advantage to team batting second.
BUT
Batting  second is generally an advantage to chasers in this batsman dominated game format
India has 3 seamers and 3 pacers and batting down to No.10
Ind will miss Rohit
they will rotate between Rohit, Rahul and Dhawan
I hope they have not made the pitch too much turning type....

What type of cricket have Roy, Malan and Morgan had recently?

king_carlos wrote:In my head Liam Dawson is a lot older than 31 and I'm not quite sure why. I'm pretty certain he was still only about 13 when he was briefly converting into an first-class opener.

A good toss to win for England. They like chasing this white ball side anyway regardless of conditions. I wonder if they get a couple of wins under their belt in this series whether they might bat first on winning the toss to get used to all scenarios.

Great that Jof is able to play. Perhaps his elbow wasn't right for Tests but can cope with the 4 overs required for T20. Great in the short term for this series but worrying for his Test future.

Broad speaking about Archer's elbow now..."there is definitely something going on in there" re: his elbow. Also saying he's sometimes bowled in the nets and been fine, but the next day it's flared up. Pretty much saying what you said there Carlos, can manage his way through the 4 overs in a T20, but was saying "he one day might be able to do 20-25 overs in a test, the next it might flare up, the day after it might be fine again".

On that note - good to see Broad on Sky for this series. He's been good in his brief commentary/pundit stints so far

I think Eng will miss Moeen

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

king_carlos wrote:In my head Liam Dawson is a lot older than 31 and I'm not quite sure why. I'm pretty certain he was still only about 13 when he was briefly converting into an first-class opener.

A good toss to win for England. They like chasing this white ball side anyway regardless of conditions. I wonder if they get a couple of wins under their belt in this series whether they might bat first on winning the toss to get used to all scenarios.

Great that Jof is able to play. Perhaps his elbow wasn't right for Tests but can cope with the 4 overs required for T20. Great in the short term for this series but worrying for his Test future.

Broad speaking about Archer's elbow now..."there is definitely something going on in there" re: his elbow. Also saying he's sometimes bowled in the nets and been fine, but the next day it's flared up. Pretty much saying what you said there Carlos, can manage his way through the 4 overs in a T20, but was saying "he one day might be able to do 20-25 overs in a test, the next it might flare up, the day after it might be fine again".

On that note - good to see Broad on Sky for this series. He's been good in his brief commentary/pundit stints so far

https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1370365703946178560?s=20

Segment here

Good start!

I think, with regards to Archer, he'll become a limited-overs specialist. It's a shame we never saw, and may never see, his full potential in the test arena, but at least England's options aren't completely barren in this department with Wood and Stone.

Wicket maiden for Jofra.

Duty281 wrote:Good start!

I think, with regards to Archer, he'll become a limited-overs specialist. It's a shame we never saw, and may never see, his full potential in the test arena, but at least England's options aren't completely barren in this department with Wood and Stone.

Way, way too early to be making any long term proclamations like that Duty

Perfect start for England. Arguably the best white ball batsman we've yet seen at the crease early in Kohli.

Is Rohit injured, rested or just left out? He's got a brilliant T20 record.

Kohli gone. Wow. England couldn't have asked for a much better start.

Moeen missing out makes sense - with 5 right handers in the Indian top 6. Just means it is more bizarre they haven’t even bothered to bring another spinner. Just wanting Dawson to be fit for the WT20 isn’t much of a strategy!

king_carlos wrote:Perfect start for England. Arguably the best white ball batsman we've yet seen at the crease early in Kohli.

Is Rohit injured, rested or just left out? He's got a brilliant T20 record.

Rested, according to some media sources, but Kohli said Rohit would play yesterday, so who knows?

7/2 off 3 overs. Cracking start.

A lot is made of the England top six which is undoutably the strongest in either form of white ball cricket but in Archer and Rashid they also have two of the finest strike bowlers. Perfect start,

Yes KC, lockdown has driven me to follow T20.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Good start!

I think, with regards to Archer, he'll become a limited-overs specialist. It's a shame we never saw, and may never see, his full potential in the test arena, but at least England's options aren't completely barren in this department with Wood and Stone.

Way, way too early to be making any long term proclamations like that Duty

Perhaps, but it doesn't make sense for Jofra to jeopardise his fitness in the test arena, when he can set himself up for life on the T20 franchise circuit where he's currently one of the best fast bowlers in that format.

it's a slow pitch...ball not coming on the bat
cannot be a very high scoring game

Kohli continues to flounder

Brilliant over from Wood. Tight, accurate, pressure always on...eventually gets the reward.

If SCurran isn’t taking the new ball, do you just pick Livingstone? And make him and Stokes the fifth bowler?

king_carlos wrote:Kohli gone. Wow. England couldn't have asked for a much better start.

Kohli is a shadow these days
Pant, Pandya, Sundar and Shardul are the big hitting guns in this side

Stokes gets Pant. That's the big wicket. 48/4 at the halfway stage. Tough work for India to even get to 160 here.

JDizzle wrote:If SCurran isn’t taking the new ball, do you just pick Livingstone? And make him and Stokes the fifth bowler?

Would rather have Stokes as the 6th bowler, than 5th personally. Always think it's handy to have a sixth proper option, especially when in England's case, it isn't exactly hampering their batting depth

Eng alöl over India
Ind can now hope to somehow cobble 120-130
and hope the pitch grips a bit

I'd probably look to bring Surran back here and save an over of Dilly for the death.

Wood is bowling fantastically here. I'd love him to string 5 games together in a row.

pitiful show so far
this game is gone

Soul Requiem wrote:A lot is made of the England top six which is undoutably the strongest in either form of white ball cricket but in Archer and Rashid they also have two of the finest strike bowlers. Perfect start,

Yes KC, lockdown has driven me to follow T20.

Good to have you, Soul!

It may not be Test cricket but it is more uplifting than most of T2/3/4.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

JDizzle wrote:If SCurran isn’t taking the new ball, do you just pick Livingstone? And make him and Stokes the fifth bowler?

Would rather have Stokes as the 6th bowler, than 5th personally. Always think it's handy to have a sixth proper option, especially when in England's case, it isn't exactly hampering their batting depth

Yeah, I think my thing is I don’t see Sam as really any better than Stokes with the ball if he isn’t getting a couple in up top. Wouldn’t hate either option of either going front line bowler in and pushing the batsmen up one, or picking a batting option who can bowl. SCurran isn’t either to me.

Recovery is interesting here. Got to do something with it now and Hardik has got out mid-sentence

Scurran gives some imporynat variety as the left armer. Without him england have 4 right arm seamers, one of whome has a medicore t20 record and isn't always fit to bowl, a leggie and some part time spin.

As with Willey before him scurran will be hard to drop, especially when they don't feel able to pick Mo.

I'd consider Surran a better T20 bowler than Stokes but ideally would want him taking the new ball as you say JD. He was batting top order with a bit of success in the IPL last year as well.

Stokes is a very good 6th choice bowler for me as Olly says. He can take vital wickets but can also go for runs and always has in all formats. If he goes well as here then things would look rosy with Stokes as 5th choice but if he goes for runs in his first over things get more difficult.

Overall I think I prefer this England side having a bowling all rounder at 7 rather than a batting one given how good the top 6 is.

Jordan is so good in the field. Up there with the very best.

Limiting Pandya to a SR of 90 is good going.

JDizzle wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

JDizzle wrote:If SCurran isn’t taking the new ball, do you just pick Livingstone? And make him and Stokes the fifth bowler?

Would rather have Stokes as the 6th bowler, than 5th personally. Always think it's handy to have a sixth proper option, especially when in England's case, it isn't exactly hampering their batting depth

Yeah, I think my thing is I don’t see Sam as really any better than Stokes with the ball if he isn’t getting a couple in up top. Wouldn’t hate either option of either going front line bowler in and pushing the batsmen up one, or picking a batting option who can bowl. SCurran isn’t either to me.

I'd disagree on Curran/Stokes with the ball, I think Sam is better, and after his IPL last time, certainly deserves a run at that 7 spot in the XI, up against Moeen.

king_carlos wrote:Overall I think I prefer this England side having a bowling all rounder at 7 rather than a batting one given how good the top 6 is.

My thought as well. The strength of England's top six allows them the luxury of a player like Curran at 7.

England's fielding, as ever these days in the white ball stuff, superb

A masterful bowling display from England, yes, and backed up by some superb fielding and catching, as Malan has just demonstrated.

Overall a world-class 20 overs from England in the field. Archer, Jordan, Wood and Rashid all fantastic with the ball. Now a simple matter of getting over the line with the bat to make it 1-0.

Brilliant bowling performance by England. 125 needed to win. There is something in this pitch for the bowlers though.

Not anywhere near enuf.....but something to bowl at...on what to me looks like a sluggish pitch where ball is not coming on...especially if you take pace off the ball....not easy to hit across the line.

terrible from top-3 set India back...and then by the time Ind could get off the block, 2/3rd of the game was over

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:England's fielding, as ever these days in the white ball stuff, superb

Malan has improved a lot in that regard since establishing himself in the side.

I've said it many times but Bairstow has developed into one of the best boundary fielders as well. He's absolutely rapid so covers a lot of ground and has a very accurate arm. The sort of boundary fielder that turns twos into ones.

They are now very good in the field.

50-0 off the powerplay for England, perfect start to the chase.

Good innings for Roy, just brought to an end. Pleased that he's got some runs in his column.

A shame for Roy to not get a half century but great to see him playing well again.

That bowling display followed by Roy showing form is about the perfect game so far for England.

Well this has been a right old carve up , has it not ? England bowling was excellent and they've had little difficulty in chasing down the meagre target.

England five pace bowlers , India lots of spinners...apparently this was the pitch England expected for the pink Ball Test

T20 can be fun though it just doesn't carry the significance of a Test Match. Some of the fielding is just fantastic.

Absolute demolition job from the world's best. Powerful statement of intent with the World Cup looming, now need to back it up with further strong performances in the series.

Well done, England.

An excellent all round performance from England. The nature of T20 cricket is that everything could change rapidly in the next match though. This should be a very good series to watch.