This article was originally submitted to another website on Saturday 12th March but not published.
Cricket being the glorious game it is, after five long days in Antigua the first Test between the West Indies and England ended in a draw and both sides move on to Barbados with the series level at 0-0.
England really could do with winning in the Caribbean. They spent December and January being humiliated by Australia, a 4-0 Ashes thumping that was so bad the coach and the ECB’s managing director of cricket both lost their jobs. With the team’s pathetic top order batting causing outrage, they made the baffling decision to leave their two best bowlers at home. Joe Root remains as captain, but it would seem only because there are no other candidates for the role.
The ‘red ball reset’ began by batting first, with Alex Lees on debut opening with Zak Crawley. By lunch, England were 57 for 4. Same old story. However, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes then dug in and Bairstow completed a fine century, his eighth in Tests. From that dreadful start the tourists managed to post 311.
Pressure would have been on Chris Woakes (with a poor record away from home) and Craig Overton taking the new ball in the absence of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. They had to perform to quieten the talk about the two greats.
They didn’t. England were poor with the ball as the West Indies openers got off to a flying start. They were almost lucky to make the breakthrough, Overton having John Campbell caught down the leg side. From 83-0, the home side were reduced to 127-4. Nkrumah Bonner made an excellent 123 off 355 balls in an innings where the next highest score was 55. The Windies made England toil, keeping them in the field for nearly 158 overs. The tourists also lost the extra pace of Mark Wood, yet again injured – this time an elbow – and unable to bowl for the rest of the match.
It’s fair to say that the Antigua pitch wasn’t a shining example of a good surface for Test cricket. It was flat, slow and lifeless. England lost Lees for six in the second innings, a disappointing debut for the Durham batsman, but Crawley and Root made serene progress and both made centuries. Everyone knows the class of Root, but Crawley’s innings will give him huge confidence and likely cement his place in the team for the rest of the year at least. On the fifth morning they were looking to score quickly to set up an unlikely chance of forcing a win so they lost regular wickets but Dan Lawrence scored an enterprising 37 off 36 balls to set the West Indies a target of 286.
Reduced to 67-4, England sniffed victory but Bonner and Jason Holder dropped anchor and fairly calmly batted out what was always like to be a draw. Stokes was only supposed to be used ‘sparingly’ as a bowler, as he continues to recover from a side strain, but bowled 28 overs in the first innings and 13 in the second. Questions will be asked as to whether that was wise. Eyebrows will also be raised at England’s insistence on playing on until there were just five balls remaining in the match, when it was possible for the two captains to shake hands and agree on a draw much sooner – this sparked an angry response from Carlos Brathwaite on the TV coverage, who claimed that England had shown their hosts ‘disrespect’.
The fact that England came anywhere near winning this match after being 57-4 on the first day will give them a boost. So, too, will the performance of Jack Leach, who was the main wicket taking threat and exerted the control that had abandoned him in Australia. Foakes has made a welcome (and long overdue) return to the Test team and his immaculate glovework is a joy to behold.
Wood is unlikely to be fit for the second Test, with it starting just four days after the end of the first, so it looks like a choice between uncapped bowlers Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Fisher for Barbados – but those decisions can be made later. For now, England can reflect on a positive start to their tour of the Caribbean.
The first international cricket played since the start of the coronavirus pandemic has not disappointed. The Test series between England and the West Indies is level at 1-1 going into the final match on Friday after the home side completed a superb 113 run win today. Here are a few talking points I’ve found from the second Test.
First innings runs were key
England were bowled out for 204 in their first innings in the first Test at the Rose Bowl, a match they went on to lose by 4 wickets. They arrived at Old Trafford knowing they needed to post a bigger total and they did so, amassing 469-9 before declaring on the second evening. It was slow going – they took 162 overs to score those runs and Dom Sibley’s 120 came from 372 balls, the third slowest ever by an England batsman in a home Test. I have read a few pieces criticising Sibley for batting too slowly – frankly, that’s ridiculous. England have been crying out for a solid opening batsman ever since the retirement of Alastair Cook and now they’ve got one we must not start moaning at him. Remember, they tried to turn limited overs opener Jason Roy into a Test batsman last summer and the experiment was a total failure. The value of building a big first innings total cannot be overestimated, no matter how slowly it comes.
Dom Sibley batted for more than nine hours in scoring his first innings century
Stokes just gets better and better
What a cricketer Ben Stokes is. We already knew that after last year – England would not have won the World Cup without his innings in the final and he batted them to a quite simply miraculous victory in the Ashes Test at Headingley. The way he has resurrected his career since that incident in Bristol could have so easily killed it has been incredible, and how lucky we are that we haven’t lost a player of his calibre.
Ben Stokes was the man of the match
In the first innings Stokes scored 176, but said he was ‘more buzzing’ to have faced 300 balls in his innings because ‘it’s something I never thought I would be capable of doing’. In the second innings, when England were looking for quick runs to set up a winning position, Stokes was sent in as opener and cracked 78 off just 57 balls. Later in the day, after fielding a ball on the boundary off his own bowling at one point, he took the crucial wicket of Jermaine Blackwood on the stroke of Tea – just as the West Indies looked like they might be settling in for the draw. Stokes is quite simply indispensable.
Write off Broad at your peril
Stuart Broad was dropped for the first Test at the Rose Bowl, the first time that had happened to him in a home Test for eight years. The 34-year-old said he was ‘frustrated, angry and gutted’ to have been left out, so when he was brought back at Old Trafford while James Anderson and Mark Wood were rested he was determined to prove a point. On the fourth afternoon, with the draw the most likely result, Broad took 3 wickets for one run with the new ball to turn the game in England’s favour. He took 3-42 in the second innings. His powers are certainly not waning and he is now just nine away from 400 Test wickets.
Stuart Broad is closing in on 400 Test wickets
Who do England pick for the third Test?
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the English cricket season to include six Test in seven weeks, and the third Test against the West Indies starts in just four days’ time. Do England go with the same eleven, adhering to the old adage that you ‘never change a winning team’? Or are there decisions to be made?
The batting line up was impressive in the second match, putting a big total on the board in the first innings and being versatile enough to whack 129 in just 19 overs in the second. In Rory Burns and Sibley they have two solid openers, Zak Crawley looks a decent prospect at number three although he is still finding his feet, Ollie Pope is a fantastic young talent and they are all supported by the experienced heads of Stokes and the captain Joe Root, who returned for the second match having missed the first to be at the birth of his daughter.
The England team and the selectors clearly love having Jos Buttler around, but he just doesn’t seem good enough with the bat in Test cricket to warrant a place in the side. Especially not when a top keeper and perfectly good batsman in Ben Foakes is waiting in the wings. Buttler is a magnificent player in the shorter formats but he still only has one Test century to his name in 43 matches. He was given the perfect opportunity to go full on One Day mode in the second innings as he was sent in to open with Stokes but played on for 0. It won’t happen but I’d pick Foakes ahead of him.
England may be tempted to bring back Jofra Archer for the decider
It would seem like insanity to drop Broad again so the question is whether Chris Woakes, Sam Curran or indeed both make way for Anderson, Wood or Jofra Archer. Archer would have played in the second match had he not breached the bio-secure protocols that have enabled this series to take place at all by popping home to Sussex before arriving in Manchester. His pace would no doubt have caused problems to the West Indies batsmen, and England may be tempted to bring him in.
All in all, this was a superb Test victory for England and one of the most entertaining final days you could ever wish to see. With the whole of Saturday washed out by rain, the home side have done brilliantly well to force a positive result and it feels like they may now have the momentum heading into the third match, which will decide the winners of the Wisden Trophy.
I am typing these words into my laptop, at my desk in my bedroom, facing the window. It’s exactly 9.30am and the Norfolk village of Brundall is covered in a milky white blanket of cloud. A drizzle is falling, the sort of rain that no one would describe as ‘chucking it down’ but the sort that leaves you soaked after a short while.
The summery scene from my bedroom window
It must be high summer. The weather has been warm and dry for much of April, May and June – I believe May was the sunniest since records began in this country. But, of course, since today is supposed to be the first day of international cricket in England this summer the weather is poor.
I’ve just had to look it up, but England’s men last played a Test match in January. On the 27th of that month they completed a victory against South Africa in Johannesburg, winning an entertaining series 3-1 and looking ahead to two matches in Sri Lanka in March.
England’s men playing in Johannesburg in January – the last Test match they’d play until today
The coronavirus was around at that point. It had mostly been the third or fourth item on the news – this disease that was causing problems in China. It might have been the same week that the UK recorded its first official death from it. But no one could have predicted that it would have such a total impact on every single aspect of our lives.
163 days since that last Test, England should be playing the West Indies at the Rose Bowl – near Southampton – today. Months of planning have had to go into staging the series. It had to be worked out how to ensure everyone’s safety. The West Indies squad had to be convinced to come over. Protocols put in place. And so England’s first Test of the summer will not include that familiar buzz unique to cricket crowds. That way a day’s play starts with excited conversations going on in the background to the action, evolving into a beer-soaked chorus of chants and cheers as the day progresses. Instead the stands will be empty, everyone forced to watch on TV or listen on the radio.
The Rose Bowl near Southampton will be behind-closed-doors for the Test match
It will be strange, but at least it’s cricket. Not in my lifetime has the sport I loved been absent for as long as this. I’ve continued to read cricket magazines, watch old matches, seen a couple of documentaries about the game – but I haven’t half missed it. Much more, it turns out, than I missed football. I’ve often said that no matter what is going on in my life, everything feels alright with the world on the first day of an England Test match. And that’s exactly what I need right now.
The weather is rubbish, yes, but the forecast I keep checking on my phone for the Rose Bowl does not suggest a total washout. With just over an hour to go until the scheduled first ball, I have that familiar sense of anticipation. Cricket’s back. All is well.
37 days after it began, the Cricket World Cup has reached the end of the group stage and just the two semi-finals and the final are left to be played.
Before it started, I wrote a guide to the tournament and explained why I was so excited about it. This feels like an ideal time to look back at the five weeks of action we’ve seen and ask: has it lived up to the hype?
Rain
The World Cup got going with hosts and favourites England comfortably beating South Africa at The Oval. On day two, everyone was excited about what appeared to be the return of fearsome West Indian fast bowling as Pakistan were bounced out for 105.
On the first Sunday of the tournament, Bangladesh scored 330 against South Africa and successfully defended it to give us the first eyebrow-raising result. So long seen as minnows in the game, Bangladesh are now a competitive outfit in international cricket and look to be getting better and better.
Having beaten Pakistan 4-0 in an ODI series just prior to the World Cup, England would have been expecting to make it two wins from two when the two sides met again at Trent Bridge. However, Pakistan won by 14 runs – despite centuries from Joe Root and Jos Buttler – to give the favourites a reality check.
It was in Cardiff, the venue for Afghanistan versus Sri Lanka, where rain first reared its ugly head in the tournament. Having been blessed with the hottest and driest summer for forty years last year, things were very different in 2019 and an unusually wet couple of weeks saw four matches unable to render a result – three of them without a single ball being bowled. During this time, I spent a lot of time arguing with people on the internet who seemed to think that rain was somehow unique to the UK and that we shouldn’t be allowed to host future international tournaments. One of the matches lost to the weather was the fascinating prospect of India against New Zealand.
Rain caused havoc in the early stages of the World Cup
The first thriller
India began their campaign almost a week into it, apparently because they wanted their players to have extra time to rest after their efforts in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Their first match was a comfortable victory over South Africa – a third defeat for the Proteas, which left them teetering on the edge of elimination.
Up to this point, the World Cup had seen many strong individual performances but mostly one-sided games. Under the lights at The Oval, Bangladesh and New Zealand put an end to that. Chasing 245 to win, the Black Caps got over the line with just two wickets to spare. The following day, Australia recovered from 38-4 to set the West Indies 289 to win. Mitchell Starc’s 5-46 saw the holders win by 15 runs.
New Zealand won a close game against Bangladesh at The Oval
England racked up 386-6 against Bangladesh in Cardiff, winning by 106 runs to get back on track after their defeat by Pakistan. India beat Australia by 36 runs after the Australians took a muddled approach to chasing 353, but Aaron Finch’s side bounced back with a victory against Pakistan in Taunton.
England thrashed the West Indies in Southampton, bowling their opponents out for just 212 and chasing it down with more than 16 overs to spare. However, injuries suffered by Jason Roy and captain Eoin Morgan cast a shadow on the result.
India and Pakistan met at Old Trafford. A rivalry that goes way beyond sport, earlier this year there had been a threat that India would boycott the match as political tensions between the two countries escalated. 700,000 applications for tickets had reportedly been made for the game at a ground that holds around 25,000. India won handsomely.
Bangladesh chased 322 with ease to beat the West Indies, Shakib Al Hasan with an unbeaten century – the all rounder had a fine World Cup, amassing more than 500 runs.
England, and Eoin Morgan in particular, had a field day against Afghanistan in Manchester. The skipper hit a record 17 sixes on his way to 148, the hosts posting a total of 397-6 and setting up a 150 run victory. The next day, Edgbaston hosted its first match of the tournament and we were treated to an exciting finish as New Zealand chased 242 in the final over to beat South Africa. New Zealand had been 137-5, but an unbeaten 106 from their captain Kane Williamson and 60 from Colin De Grandhomme saw them home.
England captain Eoin Morgan smashed 17 sixes in his 148 against Afghanistan
Australia saw off Bangladesh in Trent Bridge’s final game, but Bangladesh got within 48 of the Aussie total of 381 to once again show that they are no pushovers.
Blown wide open
The weather had finally dried up and the cricket on show was entertaining, but it did seem like the likely semi-final line up of Australia, England, India and New Zealand was almost inevitable. Cue an English batting collapse.
England had been utterly transformed since the 2015 World Cup, playing aggressive cricket like no other. But against Sri Lanka at Headingley, they came unstuck. Restricting their opponents to a meagre 232-9, everyone was expecting England to sail to victory. They completely fell apart. Veteran Lasith Malinga took 4 wickets, the hosts were bowled out for 212, and suddenly the semi-final places were blown wide open.
Saturday 22nd June provided us with two thrillers. India were held to 224-8 by Afghanistan, but managed to save their blushes by bowling the Afghans out for 213. Afghanistan had fallen 12 short of pulling off the biggest shock in Cricket World Cup history. At Old Trafford, New Zealand set the West Indies 292 to win thanks to another Williamson hundred. It looked comfortable for the Black Caps at 164-7, but an extraordinary rearguard effort from Carlos Brathwaite got the West Indies within touching distance of victory. Needing 6 to win, Brathwaite tried to get it done in one hit but was caught on the boundary by Trent Boult. Brathwaite, who had made 101, sank to his knees and New Zealand had won by 5 runs.
Carlos Brathwaite came agonisingly close to pulling off a stunning victory for the West Indies against New Zealand
Lord’s joined the party on the Sunday and Pakistan took advantage of England’s defeat to Sri Lanka by overcoming South Africa. At the same venue a couple of days later, England were all out for 221 chasing 286 against the old enemy Australia and the prospect of England being knocked out of their own World Cup before the semis became very real. Pakistan dealt New Zealand their first defeat of the tournament the next day to rub salt into English wounds.
Semi-finals take shape
A week on from coming so close to beating India, Afghanistan came agonisingly short once again – this time against Pakistan. Needing 228 to win, Pakistan got there with just 2 balls and 3 wickets to spare. The result put Pakistan into 4th place, above England. Australia skittled New Zealand for 157 to complete an 86 run victory, making it clear that they are the team to beat.
England knew they had to beat India to stay in the race, and credit to them, they did just that. Batting first for a change, they powered their way to 337-7, the returning Jason Roy making 66. Jonny Bairstow made 111 and Ben Stokes finished the innings off with 79. In front of an Edgbaston crowd which was more than 80% India fans, a partnership between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli looked ominous but when Kohli was out for 66 the Indians never managed to get the chase back on track and ran out of overs with 32 runs still required. England had a confidence-boosting win, and had set up a huge game against New Zealand in Durham.
Pressure is not usually something that England teams deal with well. In any sport, English sides have a reputation for failing when it matters. So it was to their cricket team’s credit that, faced with having to beat India and New Zealand in succession to resurrect their World Cup campaign and make the semi-finals, they did just that. Winning the toss and batting first again, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow showed no nerves as they got off to a fast start. By the time Roy was out for 60, England had 123 on the board inside 19 overs and a platform had been set. They didn’t really capitalise on it, ending up with 305-8, but Bairstow did reach back-to-back hundreds.
New Zealand never really looked like chasing 306. Things were clearly going England’s way when Ross Taylor played the ball straight back from where it had come from, brushing the tip of Mark Wood’s finger on the way to hitting the stumps at the non-striker’s end, where New Zealand’s captain and most dangerous batsman was well short of his ground and therefore run out for 27. The Black Caps were all out for 186. England were through.
A century from Jonny Bairstow helped England qualify for the semi-finals
Another close one for Afghanistan, but another defeat as they finished their World Cup with a 23 run defeat by the West Indies in Leeds. All out for 288 chasing 312, the Afghans will only get better and better but leave the tournament with nine defeats from nine matches.
Pakistan were left bemoaning the use of Net Run Rate to decide league positions after their victory over Bangladesh at Lord’s wasn’t enough for them to take a semi-finals spot. They have a point, it seems odd that in a format in which everyone plays each other head-to-head results are not given greater importance than run rate. But there was nothing they could do about it, so New Zealand claimed the last place in the semis.
The final day of pool stage matches on Saturday 6th July was all about who would finish top of the table. India played in the early match and emphatically saw off Sri Lanka, both of their openers scoring centuries – Rohit Sharma with his fifth of the tournament – as they made light work of chasing 265.
The day/night match was between Australia and South Africa. The South African captain Faf du Plessis made a hundred as they posted a challenging 325-6 from their 50 overs. Despite a century from David Warner and 85 from wicketkeeper Alex Carey, the Aussies were all out on the penultimate ball of the innings ten runs short of their target. The Proteas had finished a disappointing World Cup on a high.
South Africa beat Australia in the last pool stage match
The semi-finals
After 45 matches, we now know the semi-final fixtures:
Tuesday 9th July: India v New Zealand, Old Trafford Thursday 11th July: Australia v England, Edgbaston
Of course, the winners of these two matches will play each other in the final at Lord’s next Sunday, 14th July. There is no third place play-off.
My awards
With the pool stage complete, here are my ‘bests’ of the tournament.
Best match
New Zealand v West Indies at Old Trafford was a great example of the best of ODI cricket. Superb individual performances, a good contest between bat and ball and one side almost pulling victory from the jaws of defeat. Watch the highlights below.
Best catch
This World Cup has been littered with fantastic catches. Martin Guptill plucked one out of the air for New Zealand against Australia. Sheldon Cottrell of the West Indies juggled the ball on the boundary to dismiss Steve Smith. But, for me, the award has to go to Ben Stokes, who took a catch which genuinely took my breath away way back in the first match of the tournament. I play village cricket, and catches like this are an example of how the professionals are superhuman compared to us. Watch the catch below.
Best innings
For the most part, the world’s best players came to the party. From the ‘big four’ – regarded as the best international batsmen in the world – of Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith, all performed well. But it was the innings of New Zealand captain Williamson against South Africa at Edgbaston, guiding his team home from 137-5 chasing 242 with an unbeaten 106, that personified the notion of a captain’s innings. Watch highlights of the match below.
Most disappointing team
South Africa should have put on a much better show than they did. They looked to have one of the stronger squads, but never really got going. The great fast bowler Dale Steyn was sadly ruled out without bowling a ball, then factors such as muddled team selection and Hashim Amla’s old fashioned batting contributed to their downfall. They laboured to a win against Afghanistan to put their first victory on the board, and it was only when it was too late that they showed what might have been with a thrashing of Sri Lanka and a victory over Australia.
Worst part of the tournament
I thought about giving this award to the concept of someone playing a guitar made out of a cricket bat over the PA system at regular intervals during matches. It sounded horrendous. But the worst part of the World Cup for me has been the weather. Two particularly bad weeks in early June saw four matches called off and really put a halt to the party atmosphere. Thankfully, it has improved significantly since then.
Before the tournament began, I thought Australia, England and India would sail into the semi-finals leaving one place up for grabs. England made rather more hard work of it than I had anticipated, but they are there, and it was New Zealand who join them for what promises to be an exciting final week. It’s almost time to say goodbye to the 2019 Cricket World Cup – will its enduring image be the Aussies being crowned world champions for the sixth time?
England have become only the third team ever to go to Sri Lanka and whitewash them in a Test series. They may not have their great players any more, such as Mahela Jayawardene or Kumar Sangakkara, but Sri Lanka remain a very difficult opponent in their own conditions. They beat South Africa 2-0 in a Test series back in July, thrashing the Proteas in both matches, so it is without a doubt a fine effort from Joe Root’s team. Here I have picked out five key things for England to take away from the tour.
Openers
Rory Burns was the popular choice to succeed Alastair Cook at the top of the order, but he leaves Sri Lanka with only one half century to his name. Burns is probably best suited to facing pace bowling, which there was precious little of in this series. He needs to be given the chance to show what he can do in the Caribbean, and I can see him opening the batting in next summer’s Ashes.
Keaton Jennings might have considered himself fortunate to be on the tour but there was a logic to his selection. He is actually a very competent player of spin, and he showed that in his century in the second innings in Galle. Jennings is much maligned and clearly has a weakness against seam bowling, so it’s hard to tell whether he’ll be lining up against Australia next year. What is not in doubt, though, is his fielding ability – some of the catches he took at short leg over the three Tests were nothing short of ridiculous.
Number 3
Jonny Bairstow made a statement with his century in Colombo
England have not had a settled number 3 in the batting order since the retirement of Jonathan Trott, and it remains a problem position for them. I suppose this links in with how fragile the openers have been, as the next man in has had to do a lot of the early work. They used three different batsmen in the role in the three Tests – Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow. Moeen just doesn’t seem to be up to it, Stokes was only given the one chance, but Bairstow made the most of his opportunity with a hundred in Colombo.
He might not even have been picked for the match if Sam Curran had been fit, but the Yorkshireman was clearly determined to make a point after slipping out of the side following his ankle injury. The injury, picked up during a game of football, prompted a lot of moaning about cricketers warming up in such a way. The fact is, Bairstow could have turned his ankle over anywhere – walking down the stairs in the team hotel, for example. Football is a good way of loosening up the muscles and getting the blood flowing, and the players love it. Personally, I think a lot of the complaints had a snobbish air to them. A lot of people don’t want the gentleman cricketers playing such a common game. There has also been the frankly ridiculous argument that ‘you never see footballers warming up with a game of cricket’. Well, if cricket was a proven way to prepare the body for exercise, you may well have done.
Whether Bairstow is England’s number 3 going forward is not clear. He may just have been so set on scoring big runs in the third Test that he would have made them wherever he batted in the order. I do think he will be in the position in the West Indies, and this may have to be his new role in the team now it looks like he won’t be getting the wicketkeeping gloves back.
Wicketkeeper
Ben Foakes was the best thing about the tour for England. He had been on the fringes of the team for a while, without ever breaking into it. Having not even been in the squad when it was initially announced, few would have expected him to end up the leading run scorer in the series. But he started off superbly in Galle with a debut century, showing the top order how to bat, and has made wicketkeeping a thing of beauty with his flawless glovework. Sorry Jonny, but England have found their wicketkeeper. Foakes has been widely regarded as the best gloveman in the country for a while now, and in the year he was a county champion with Surrey things are certainly going well for him.
Adil Rashid
Adil Rashid took career best figures in Colombo but is a luxury bowler
England played three spinners in every Test in the series, and it is hard to imagine them doing that anywhere other than the subcontinent. Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Adil Rashid all had major roles to play, bowling the vast majority of the overs and taking nearly all the wickets. Moeen found a happy knack of getting regular wickets, and was vital in the second innings in Galle to seal the win for England when it looked like Sri Lanka had a chance. Leach is a very tidy bowler, and took his maiden five wicket haul in the second Test. He also seems to love every second of playing for England, pretty much to the point of not being able to stop smiling, which is great to see. Rashid bowled the fewest overs of the three spinners, and goes for a lot more runs than the other two, but he showed his worth with a five-for in Colombo which enabled England to take control of the match.
Rashid looks the most likely to miss out when conditions necessitate more seamers in the side. He is something of a luxury spinner, who will bowl the occasional unplayable delivery but will leak runs in the meantime. Moeen will probably be in the side more often than not, as he will nearly always take wickets and England like players who can do a bit of everything. Leach looks like he could well be the long term spinner in the side, the kind of go-to bowler that Graeme Swann was. His ability to keep it tight and hold up an end will be very useful.
Anderson and Broad
While the Sri Lanka tour has been very successful, it has taught us nothing about how England will deal with life after Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad. Anderson played in the first two Tests and took just the one wicket – not unexpected in a country with conditions that so favour spin bowling. Broad came in for the last match and bowled only 14 wicketless overs. Many saw the Colombo Test as the opportunity to give Ollie Stone a go, with the series already won and the pressure off. There was an argument for this, but it’s hard to see what knowledge of Stone we would have gained from playing him in such difficult conditions. Decisions will have to be made sooner rather than later as Anderson and Broad head towards retirement but I am really not sure Sri Lanka was ever going to be the place to find solutions.
The West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 36 runs in Colombo to take the 2012 World Twenty20 title.
The West Indies are a side who for so long can be seen to be in great decline but always show the potential to pull off a shock. As it turned out, their triumph at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka wasn’t so much of a shock as a well deserved victory for the best team in the tournament.
Before the competition began, this blog picked Australia to be the champions, defeating the hosts Sri Lanka to win the tournament in Colombo. I was close – Australia lost to the West Indies in the semis, who went on to pip Sri Lanka to the title.
It was a tournament that did struggle to get going with the very odd format of having three teams in each group. This meant that poor old Zimbabwe were out, having lost to both Sri Lanka and South Africa in the space of three days, before a lot of the teams had played their first game. This was simply a way to almost guarantee the top Test nations would progress and not be eliminated by an associate team pulling off an upset. Sadly, this meant there was a few dead games at the end of the group stages.
The Super Eights were where the tournament got going – except for England. England didn’t really mount much of a defence to their title won in the Caribbean in 2010. Dogged by the ongoing saga surrounding Kevin Pietersen, they thrashed Afghanistan in their opener before being pummeled by India and beaten by the West Indies in a game that had Eoin Morgan – who scored 71 off 36 balls – been sent in earlier they would have won. Victory over New Zealand kept their hopes alive but their inability to play spin in subcontinental conditions meant they were knocked out after losing to Sri Lanka.
The crowds tended to wait for the latter stages of the tournament before making an appearance – a lot of the early games were played in front of almost no one inside the grounds and that was with the cheapest ticket being just 14p. Yes, 14 pence. Their interest grew when the big guns took each other on and when the Asian sides were in action. There was a wonderful atmosphere at the Sri Lanka v Pakistan semi-final.
The rain didn’t help either. The fact that this event was played in the rainy season in Sri Lanka left a few pundits wondering whether the ICC were here for the cricket or for the cash. At this time of year in that part of the world the rain tends to stay away until the evening – so what did the ICC do? Schedule the matches for the evenings of course. This meant the TV revenue could be maximised, but meant that more than one match was ruined by the weather – most notably Ireland were eliminated without getting a fair crack at the West Indies when the rain brought a premature end to the game and to their tournament.
The West Indies have had internal struggles recently but no one can deny they have a frightening set-up for Twenty20 cricket. Chris Gayle, who is far more than just a slogger, showed his class by averaging 44 over the 7 matches he played, including a wonderful 75 not out carrying his bat in the semis against Australia. Marlon Samuels carried on his great form for 2012 – not least with 78 off 70 balls when his team were struggling in the final. They do tend to rely on the batsmen to build a massive total though – their bowling wasn’t the best and only spinner Narine was in the top 5 bowlers in the tournament.
The World Twenty20 was a quick tournament for the game’s shortest format. It’s a bit of fun that isn’t taken too seriously, but means a lot to the players involved. For the West Indies supporters, who have had nothing to cheer since the ICC Champions Trophy victory of 2004, this will have come as welcome relief. We’ll do it all again in Bangladesh in two years’ time.
LEE PAYNE 