The World T20: England Show their Promise and their Frailty

 

The World T20

England Show their Promise and their Frailty

 

March 16^th  2016

 

When I was a kid, there was only one place to be around 6pm on a Saturday evening. Grandstand, with its miscellany of sport and results had finished. The early evening news had come and gone. It was time to get behind the sofa and watch Doctor Who in safety. It is the same for hardened England fans watching their team: you know it is going to terrify you, but any offer to turn off the TV and end the suffering is rejected indignantly – however much it leaves you a nervous, trembling wreck, you just have to watch. England’s T20 campaign promises to leave us in the same, terrified-but-unable-not-to-watch condition.

In the warm-up against New Zealand, England shipped 169-8 and looked likely to be chasing 210-220 at one stage, before reaching their target with some comfort thanks to a good start and contributions all down the order. Chris Jordan was the most economical of the seamers, with the spinners retrieving control. Against Mumbai CA it was the same story: top order runs, a good, if not imposing total and then behind on runs and wickets all through the Mumbai chase until it ran out of oxygen two overs before inflicting an embarrassing defeat.

So, the lesson from the warm-ups was that runs would not be a problem, but defending them would be and that if the spinners did not take control in the middle overs, England would be in real trouble.

And so it came to pass. Although the England start was not quite as jet-propelled as some have been recently, 92-1 after 11 overs gave a platform for the big-hitters. You would have thought that 182 would have been plenty to defend. More so even when David Willey, the marginal choice, followed two wides with a straight one and then a wicket and two massive appeals for LBW (one of which would have been umpire’s call). Four legitimate deliveries and we had already seen enough action for a whole powerplay. With the West Indians there is always that feeling that a Calypso-collapso is close – even more so in this team that has been affected by withdrawals and internal dissention – and that one wicket might bring several. When Adil Rashid came on and immediately dismissed Samuels, there was an opportunity there. Three tight overs and the West Indies could have started to self-destruct quickly. However, Chris Gayle may be a veteran who will be 37 by the end of the summer, but he can spot danger. Adil Rashid’s first nine balls left him on 1.3-0-7-1 and threatening to suffocate the West Indian challenge – his next three went for 6, 6, 1. Eoin Morgan panicked and took Adil Rashid out of the attack, removing his best wicket-taking and control option. It left Chris Jordan as his only option for control.

With Adil Rashid not seen again, Gayle was allowed to feast on Ben Stokes – economy in T20s, 9.5 – and David Willey (with an economy of 9.5, only fractionally less expensive). With Reece Topley learning his trade, also with an economy over 9, Eoin Morgan had tied one hand behind his back by playing expensive seamers when it has been the spinners who have posed the problems up to now. It is quite possible that whoever was bowled would have been severely treated, but it was significant that, despite a brutal mugging in an over that ended with three consecutive maximums, Moeen Ali was comfortably the most economical bowler on the day for England after Chris Jordan while, for the West Indies it was Sulieman Benn. For England, Willey, Topley and Stokes were all more expensive than Adil Rashid. Chris Gayle saw who the dangerman was and deliberately targeted him, while Eoin Morgan made the mistake of ensuring the effectiveness of the tactic.

England now face a match against South Africa on Friday that is not quite an eliminator, although defeat would leave England depending on other results to survive in the competition, as well as needing to win their last two matches by big margins. It would be hard to come back from a second defeat.

However, it is as well to remember 2010. England lost a rain-affected game to the West Indies. They then played Ireland and set them just 120 to win, which left England in real danger of a rapid and embarrassing elimination. Had rain not intervened or, worse, intervened just enough to set a shortened chase (as had been the case in the West Indies game), it is quite possible that England would have been out of the competition. As it was, they qualified for the second round without a win, thanks to having lost to the West Indies by a smaller margin than Ireland had. The rest is history: they won their next five matches and the trophy.