England's Summer of Cricket 2023, Featuring The Ashes

First topic message reminder :

Wood's pace was not quite up there in that first over though he still was quick. The lengths weren't great. Fine half-century from Khawaja who is closing in on regaining the top-scorer position from Crawley for the series.

Calvin Harrison looks like one to watch. Particularly given that Dilly won't go on forever with his shoulder issues. Spins it both ways and it looks like he bowls quick enough to potentially make the step up. He's tall as well which should make him harder to sweep. A very promising set of skills for the white ball game.

Turran and Neesham understandably getting the headlines as their knocks yesterday turned things around for the Oval Invincibles to defeat the Manchester Originals in The Hundred final. However, a very tidy 2/11 off 15 deliveries from my boy Jacks also contributed to the win and, in line with recent chats with Carlos, may help him get at least a reserve spot in the forthcoming World Cup.

king_carlos wrote:Calvin Harrison looks like one to watch. Particularly given that Dilly won't go on forever with his shoulder issues. Spins it both ways and it looks like he bowls quick enough to potentially make the step up. He's tall as well which should make him harder to sweep. A very promising set of skills for the white ball game.

Hi Carlos - interesting (for a saddo like me anyway) that you mention Harrison. I watched him make his Championship debut for Notts last month against Surrey at the Oval. Reading up, he had to wait a while for that being 25 and having played a couple of first class matches for Oxford MCCU in 2019 plus second eleven games for a mix of counties and T20s and The Hundred thereafter.

Anyway, he had a fine match when I saw him and was thrown into things sooner and a lot more than might have been expected. With Surrey batting on day one, Notts' opening bowler Ball went off injured having sent down just 5 overs and never bowled again in the match. Added to that, Hutton (most improved county player of 2023?) and Paterson were off the field at various times over the four days with cramps and niggles. This meant Harrison sending down 20 overs* in the first dig and all on day one. Although wicketless, he kept it pretty dry going at under 3 an over fuelling Surrey's and the home spectators' frustrations as the Oval outfit folded for a bit above 350. In Surrey's second dig, he came even more to the party bowling 34 overs*, virtually a third of the total bowled. Again at under 3 and this time taking three good quality wickets (Smith, Foakes and Lawes) mixing it up more. In between, he made a more than competent and effective 30 odd not out, his only innings. All this helped Notts head home with a 'winning' draw, a result I'm sure they would eagerly have accepted once Ball was crocked and perhaps even before that.

What impressed me most of all was how calm and unfazed he was at all times. Certainly one to keep an eye on in all formats.

* Bar one ball both times. This oddity stemming from him having to finish the over of a bowler going off injured. To his credit, he always seemed ready and willing to step up to the mark.

England back in action tonight. Start of four T20s v NZ, followed by four ODIs v NZ.

Wow! 3 dot balls but 3 successive sixes in between from Finn Allen off Luke Wood's opening over.

NZ now in trouble as they struggle to 38/3 off 6 overs. 2 wickets for Wood who has come back well from his expensive opening over whilst debutant Carse has settled in well being tidy and bagging a wicket.

England shaping up much more like their ODI batting order. YJB opening. Buttler at 5. Clearly using it as CWC prep despite the different format.

Livingstone bowling more overs than Mo as well which is interesting.

Jacks hit some very clean shots off the pace of Ferguson.

Malan has been more Malan like. Not looking as fluent but he's still there and has caught up already in terms of SR. As I type that he hits a lovely cover drive.

England are running typically hard and NZ haven't fielded particularly impressively.

A very comfortable win for the impressive England white ball machine. It looked easier batting second it must be said. England bowled the better of the two sides though. Then the batting power took care of the rest.

Livi even promoted ahead of Jos in the end.

king_carlos wrote:A very comfortable win for the impressive England white ball machine. It looked easier batting second it must be said. England bowled the better of the two sides though. Then the batting power took care of the rest.

Livi even promoted ahead of Jos in the end.

Yep, very comfortable win and your boy Livi impressed me showing what he can do with bat and ball, certainly got some turn.

Woods 4 overs, 3 wickets for 37 runs but 16 dot balls!! So effectively his 37 runs came from 8 balls.

There is just no way Roy and Malan are better white ball players than Brook.

I can see why Brook might just miss out on an XI. He looks more suited to the middle order than opening to me in ODIs currently so I wouldn't have him up top with YJB.

It's sometimes forgotten amongst their PP and death hitting but England's massive batting strength compared to others in ODIs has been scoring at 6 RPO in the middle overs. No other side has done that over a long period. Whereas through Root, Morgan and Stokes in particular England did so in a fairly risk free manner. Since Morgan's retirement we've seen Malan start to do similar. He has an excellent record in those middle overs.

For his insane talents, I'm not sure Brook is currently a player to rotate the strike and score at a run a ball in the middle through risk free shots. So I can see how he'd miss out on an XI. Particularly when he struggled a bit against high quality spin in the IPL. Which he'd face lots of during the middle overs at the CWC. I'd have him in the 15-man squad ahead of Willey though.

NZ did very well to slow the scoring late on there but that still looks like a very good total on a pitch that didn't seem easy to score on early. A very good innings from Bairstow after not looking that fluent for the first half of it. Whilst Brook did Harry Brook things. Some of his reverse sweeps outside leg were made to look absurdly easy. It's been remarked many times, but, KP-esque.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Atkinson bowl in particular.

Carse was impressive in his first T20i as well. He goes at 9 RPO, takes a wicket every other game in domestic T20. Not a great record. But he can bowl 90mph, hit a hard length and bat a bit. It's a selection indicative of how this England white ball machine think. They look for players to fill roles, if they see someone with the skills to perform a role then they tend to have a look at them.

And a first wicket for Atkinson. Well over 90mph in his first over too.

He was on the Wisden podcast in the week and spoke about how finding some more rhythm has allowed him to run in quicker. Which seems to be where a lot of his pace comes from. It's difficult to tell how quickly a bowler is running in from the usual angle that looks down from behind the run up. That view of him running in from front on they showed gives a much better indication of him running in quickly though.

As far as bowlers hitting those paces go it looks like a very easy action too. There's an awful lot to like there.

Think I noted Bairstow in the field pre-series - fielding a short fine/short third in that over off Livingstone. Been in the infield a lot...

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Think I noted Bairstow in the field pre-series - fielding a short fine/short third in that over off Livingstone. Been in the infield a lot...

Yeah, we both did after the CWC squad was announced I think, Olly. Part of a more general chat that this England team might not be the same outstanding fielding unit they were in 2019. Stokes on one leg, YJB far less mobile. Just in those two you've gone from two of the best fielders in the game to, well, not that. Dilly with his shoulder injury doesn't have the best arm these days either and England usually 'hide' him at fine leg or third man. Malan isn't the best fielder. It is a concern.

In the first T20i Bairstow was fielding at mid-on from memory and had to chase one that pierced the infield early on. It was a bit painful to watch a guy who was once one of the quickest sprinters in cricket struggle after it, then crouch down and fumble the pickup rather than getting a slide out.

It has got me thinking that Harry Brook is pretty nimble in the field...

Cricket nerd concerns such as that aside, England are in complete control of this game. They got a fantastic total on a track that wasn't too easy to time it on and have backed it up with a good bowling performance. Cracking stuff as the white ball machine keeps rolling.

I hate to say it as I adore the man, but, Jimmy's commentary needs a bit of work. 

An absolute tonking that

Yep, an absolute battering.

Pretty tasty debut for Atkinson as well.

king_carlos wrote:I can see why Brook might just miss out on an XI. He looks more suited to the middle order than opening to me in ODIs currently so I wouldn't have him up top with YJB.

It's sometimes forgotten amongst their PP and death hitting but England's massive batting strength compared to others in ODIs has been scoring at 6 RPO in the middle overs. No other side has done that over a long period. Whereas through Root, Morgan and Stokes in particular England did so in a fairly risk free manner. Since Morgan's retirement we've seen Malan start to do similar. He has an excellent record in those middle overs.

For his insane talents, I'm not sure Brook is currently a player to rotate the strike and score at a run a ball in the middle through risk free shots. So I can see how he'd miss out on an XI. Particularly when he struggled a bit against high quality spin in the IPL. Which he'd face lots of during the middle overs at the CWC. I'd have him in the 15-man squad ahead of Willey though.

A bit of a contradiction here? Brook is more suited to batting in the middle order than at the top but also would struggle to rotate the strike in the middle overs, especially in India?

I just think it is being overthought. My go to example is niche, and of when NZ bought on Glenn Phillips off spin vs Moeen in the 21 WT20 semi - offies to a leftie - but discounted that Phillips bowling is dreadful and he got carted and Eng gave themselves a chance. Just pick your best players and they will work it out.

It's pretty clear he needs to be in the squad at worst - whether he makes the final XI or not, they can decide based on form/other factors once there...but to not have him there to be an option would be malpractice. Sorry David Willey, you're to be dropped again

Brook's best spot in ODIs would be at 5 or 6 in Buttler's role is my thought. Someone that they are ideally want to come in with around 20 overs left, push the scoring on and take advantage of the final few overs with 4 men outside the ring.

Brook is an incredible talent, England's best batting talent since Root by a distance. He doesn't have glaring weaknesses that some young batters have. Such as Pope against spin. But if Brook does have relative weaknesses to his game it's the short ball and high quality spin. Which is largely how good ODI teams deal with the middle overs.

The issue for England is that if they go batting heavy then Buttler is locked into that role at number 6. Whereas if they go for the extra bowling all-rounder by moving Buttler up to 5 they will then bring Livingstone in at 6. As he's a good back up for that role in the final 20 overs but offers a part time option that spins it both ways.

Spoiler:

I'd definitely have Brook in the 15. Just ahead of the extra seamer in Willey rather than Roy or Malan. As such a vital part of England's ODI success is that clear definition of roles  in batting and bowling. I think the experience that batters such as Roy, Malan and even the recalled Stokes have in those roles is really important.

Willey doesn't make no sense as a pick. His record between these two CWCs is very good. I believe England's second highest wicket taker after Dilly at an average under 20. Left-arm, good in the PP and he can tonk it down the order. That combination makes him useful cover for Surran and Woakes. I just think that Topley covers left-arm and PP (plus death bowling) as well. Whilst Atkinson will likely bowl more in the PP than Wood if he's covering the role of the quicker bowler. Brook has far bigger upside as that final pick whilst I think one fewer seamer isn't a big risk.

It's a long tournament and I'd be very surprised if we don't see some of the 3 reserve players called up over the course of it due to injuries.

Hoping my man Chad Bowes gets a game for the Kiwis in one of these final white ball games - especially as the openers haven’t really fired yet for them

No Bowes for Olly sadly.

Jamieson in for NZ though. It's great to see him back. Henry as well who's been very good summer with Sumerset.

Jordan and Wood rotate in for Surran and Carse on England's side. I'd have probably preferred another look at Carse but with Surran rotated that would leave them short of death bowling.

Really good knocks from Allen and Phillips has got NZ to a strong total today. It looks a good batting track so 203 can certainly be chased. It should be a far more engrossing second innings.

I thought Allen batted much smarter today than the first two T20is. More patient at the start and picked his matchups better. Phillips then teed off from a very good platform.

In a high scoring game Atkinson and Jordan were England's pick.

Atkinson's knuckle ball to Phillips was very tasty. Being able to bowl over 90mph and have a front of the hand slower ball that is so hard to pick is very useful indeed. A lot to like there.

I felt Dilly and Livi largely bowled better than their figures suggest. Dilly went for 3 consecutive sixes in his final over but was good either side of that. Livi bowled his final expensive over late on with NZ very well set. It seemed an odd time to bowl him and felt a bit like England using a bilateral game to see how a player would perform in a new situation. It wasn't a good over but certainly isn't where you'd usually be bowling a 6th option.

In England's fielding watch there was a really poor drop by Jacks off Livi that was probably Jordan catch to claim. Not quite up to their old standards there and it does concern me.

Malan is in properly honking form ain’t he - looks so out of nick

Yeah, that was fairly dismal. Malan innings can look like that when they go wrong because of the slow start. But that was dire. Only getting a single after not bothering to run on the sweep he thought was going for 6 which Phillips stopped summed it up really.

NZ have bowled well in the PP to be fair. Good plans and executed them well.

NZ very disciplined with the ball and England poor with the bat in the end. Jos threatened to do freakish Jos things for a moment but that was the only glimmer of hope.

At the halfway point I felt it was a good score but should have been in reach. As Allen and Phillips showed it was a pitch and boundaries where targeting areas for sixes was possible.

The different challenge that Jamieson can pose certainly helped the Black Caps attack. Whilst Santner is very smart and experienced bowler these days.

Bit rubbish tonight. Bairstow the only one doing heavy lifting with the bat, while Malan and Livingstone's innings were quite painful to watch. Rehan Ahmed got a couple of wickets, and L Wood executed a superb run-out, but it never looked like being enough.

2-2 series. Onto the ODIs now, which will be more interesting with the World Cup a month away.

One team goes 2-0 down but roars back to draw the series 2-2. Easily as good a series as The Ashes then, maybe better because there were some big sixes hit in all of the games

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66724714

Lot of talk about Harry Brook making the selectors think again about picking him for the World Cup and, wouldn't you just know it, he's been presented with a further chance. Originally not included for the NZ ODI series, the door has been partially opened for him because Bairstow has a shoulder problem (hopefully nothing serious) and Malan's wife is due to give birth soon, meaning Brook will now be in the squad for that series.

If he scores a century in that NZ series then the clamour to include him for the full World Cup squad, which has to be named by the 28th September, will be near irresistible.

Also named today was the squad for the three-match ODI series v Ireland:

England squad to play Ireland: Zak Crawley (Kent, captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire, vice-captain), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Craig Overton (Somerset), Matthew Potts (Durham), Phil Salt (Lancashire), George Scrimshaw (Derbyshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Luke Wood (Lancashire).

As you can see, all of England's World Cup members are sitting this one out, meaning it's just a series for the outsiders to press for inclusion. One of those outsiders is Zak Crawley, who is very keen to put his name in the ODI/T20 mix, and he's been made captain.

One thing to note is England's ODI World Cup squad is quite old. 12 of the provisional 15 are 30 or older, meaning there's probably going to be a lot of ODI upheaval between now and 2027. It will be the last World Cup for most. In that squad for the Ireland series, I don't believe a single player is 30 or older, so we may be seeing some of the names for 2027 in that low-key series.

Good to see Crawley getting a go in the ODIs. His game looks made for opening in 50 over cricket to me.

Brook may well get a chance opening if Bairstow and Malan are absent. That would be fun.

I'd guess this will be the series where England play with the XIs balance a bit.

Given they picked a 6th seamer in that preliminary squad I'd be very surprised if they aren't looking to fit 4 of them in the XI. Which is the balance I'd prefer. Regardless of conditions our seamers are better than the spin options below Dilly. I'd rather back the seamers then have the versatility of Livi and Mo to tinker with the balance if it isn't working in Indian conditions. At the end of the day we don't know what the pitches will be either. The BCCI will have a big influence of course but the ICC are also involved with pitch curation for the CWC. ODI pitches in England were absurd roads for most of 2016-2019, then for the last CWC they were more balanced.

I'm leaning further towards the 2019 route of our 6 best batters then 5 best bowlers. Then try to get a few overs out of Root as a 6th option. From the original squad that would look like:

1.YJB 2.Roy 3.Root 4.Malan 5.Stokes 6.Buttler 7.Surran 8.Woakes 9.Wood 10.Dilly 11.Topley

It's becoming increasingly difficult to think that Brook doesn't have a place in there though. Given Roy's form having Brook opening as the very aggressive partner to Bairstow could be that place.

I really rate Topley but on early showings Atkinson might push him hard too. He's good in the PP, seems to have the raw skills to succeed at the death and has that extra pace.

king_carlos wrote:Good to see Crawley getting a go in the ODIs. His game looks made for opening in 50 over cricket to me.

Brook may well get a chance opening if Bairstow and Malan are absent. That would be fun.

I'd guess this will be the series where England play with the XIs balance a bit.

Given they picked a 6th seamer in that preliminary squad I'd be very surprised if they aren't looking to fit 4 of them in the XI. Which is the balance I'd prefer. Regardless of conditions our seamers are better than the spin options below Dilly. I'd rather back the seamers then have the versatility of Livi and Mo to tinker with the balance if it isn't working in Indian conditions. At the end of the day we don't know what the pitches will be either. The BCCI will have a big influence of course but the ICC are also involved with pitch curation for the CWC. ODI pitches in England were absurd roads for most of 2016-2019, then for the last CWC they were more balanced.

I'm leaning further towards the 2019 route of our 6 best batters then 5 best bowlers. Then try to get a few overs out of Root as a 6th option. From the original squad that would look like:

1.YJB 2.Roy 3.Root 4.Malan 5.Stokes 6.Buttler 7.Surran 8.Woakes 9.Wood 10.Dilly 11.Topley

It's becoming increasingly difficult to think that Brook doesn't have a place in there though. Given Roy's form having Brook opening as the very aggressive partner to Bairstow could be that place.

I really rate Topley but on early showings Atkinson might push him hard too. He's good in the PP, seems to have the raw skills to succeed at the death and has that extra pace.

I like the look of this side a lot. I hadn't considered them dropping Mo, but this would certainly make the 6 seamers make a lot more sense

I think Malan is currently at most risk from Brook - the bloke looks like he can barely hold a bat, coupled with India not being his preferred general type of wickets/conditions...he really needs a good few ODIs in this NZ series. For me it's even less about scores, just more looking like Dawid Malan!

Malan really does have that curse of looking absolutely awful when he's out of nick. Some players look like they're only a few boundaries from it clicking. Others look like they're deriving how to bat from first principles. Malan is the latter!

Whilst I think Brook's playing of spin is a reasonable concern from the IPL, it probably hasn't had the focus required that Malan isn't great against it either. In the first T20i he did well against the favourable matchup of two spinners with stock balls turning into his arc. Thereafter, not so much. Santner in particular but also Sodhi are quality T20 spinners but it's still a concern.

I'd just have Roy, Malan and Brook in the squad so they can react to form and the conditions come the tournament. 5 seamers might mean them having to go into a group game with 3 seamers, Dilly + Livi and/or Moeen but I'd prefer that to not having the option of Brook's power.

First of four ODIs begins tomorrow for England against New Zealand. With the Ireland series being used for fringe players, it represents the last real chance for the World Cup squad, and the ones just outside, to find form/compete for places.

England's XI for tomorrow is very undecided, according to Cricinfo:

1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow / Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali / Brydon Carse, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Mark Wood / Gus Atkinson, 11 Adil Rashid

I'm still a fan of Malan and would have him starting over Roy for the World Cup. He did get a 50 in the most recent T20 series, so can't be that out of form. Stokes to return and Bairstow might be rested due to injury struggles.

NZ's team might be: 1 Will Young, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Matt Henry, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult

Williamson still quite a way from fitness. Will Young appears to have been given the nod ahead of Finn Allen for the World Cup. Trent Boult set to return to NZ for the first time since the T20 World Cup...he only plays the big games these days!

Should be a good series, but I'm hopeful of England winning well with that powerful top six.

Roy's suffered a back spasm, so Brook and Malan will open. Which should be fun. Both fighting for a World Cup spot.

Willey playing instead of Curran. Atkinson making his debut, with Topley also starting. Livingstone, not Moeen, playing. And Ben Stokes making his ODI return.

England will be batting first after the Kiwis won the toss. They've favoured Ravindra over Santner, and Boult doesn't get in the team today.

Malan looked much better against the pacers today, but out very very softly in the first over of spin he faces. Looked much better today than he did in the T20 series though

Malan edged the opening battle with Brook. Malan getting a fifty, but he'll be sorely annoyed at his soft dismissal, especially against spin. Stokes has got a 50 on his return, Buttler's top scored, and Livingstone has added some brisk runs down the order to strengthen his starting credentials.

248/4 after 45. Might still get 300.

I only turned on around the 40 over mark. It feels like Buttler and Livi are being relatively conservative for death batting, presumably targeting a 2 or 3 'big overs'. Those big overs just aren't quite coming though. There was the 22 runs off Jamieson but since then it's been really good from the Black Caps.

I rate Livi in the 6 role but it does feel like Buttler just hasn't been getting back on strike here. If top batters like Jos don't get a boundary they rarely go through many dot balls. Whereas Livi seems to be setting himself to hit it to space and it's either a boundary or a dot.

Livi goes for 52 off 40. He came in at 189-4 and leaves at 266-5 9.4 overs later. So no doubt a good innings and partnership.

Ahh. Buttler goes too.

Doesn't seem the easiest to bat quickly on? Not too much being timed out the middle in this innings.

A really useful burst from Willey to bring it up to 291 there.

I missed most the innings so can't comment that much on the pitch but Buttler certainly didn't look as fluent as he usually does after facing that many balls.

Having gone bowling heavy with Woakes at 7 and Livi as a 6th bowler I'd hope England can defend that.

I'll be interested to see if Root bowls. If he does then how well and how much becomes the question. He's reportedly worked on his bowling a lot since moving out of the Test captaincy as he wants to see what he can achieve in T20s before his career ends.

GSC wrote:Doesn't seem the easiest to bat quickly on? Not too much being timed out the middle in this innings.

Not it seemed quite slow - NZ certainly went into the pitch and lots of slower balls throughout. Decent effort from England, some decent knocks albeit think Malan/Stokes will be a tad annoyed to not go big there having done the hard work

Woakes has been very accurate without presenting much threat in PP.

The other end has been a bit all over the place though. Topley and Willey both finding swing but lacking control.

A bit disappointing. Atkinson not getting a chance up top so clearly being saved for that Plunkett and now Wood role in the middle.

Oh, Dilly. That's a beaut first up.

He's still so important to England. The only front line spinner in the squad for a CWC in India. Since Plunkett retired it's felt like England are even more reliant on him in the middle overs. They really need that shoulder to last the tournament.

Looked a fairly scratchy 290 odd but NZ have blown that total away.

Yeah, looked as though it would be a tricky target, but Conway and Mitchell (him again!) made light work of it.

Quite concerning how toothless England's bowling looked. Rashid was smashed to oblivion, and none of the attack really offered any threat.

Conway gets player of the match, presumably for carrying the bat, but I'd have given it to Mitchell for his far quicker ton and seven sixes.

Yeah I'd hope the batters have an extra gear to go to. Not sure about the bowling

Basically, pray Mark Wood is fit for the big games and that Archer can play a telling part in the latter stages.

That is pretty terrible in the end, England really don't seem to have a clue how to bowl to Shai Mitchell!