Cricket November 3, 2019

England T20 warm-up form all over the place

It seems obvious that Jonny Bairstow has a point to prove and he can’t help commenting on his omission from the Test squad picked to face New Zealand in the forthcoming series to be played down under.

His inclusion in the white-ball squads, recognition for his excellent form in both England’s 50 over World Cup triumph and his recent T20 form, gave him a platform to make a statement both on and off the pitch.

In England’s opening T20 warm-up match played against a New Zealand XI at the Bert Suttcliffe Oval, Lincoln, saw the home team amass a creditable 174 for their 20 overs with Devcich getting 62 and Kitchen 50. Pleasing to see from England’s bowling attack was the continued form of Rashid who took 2-25. After the match, he revealed that before this summer’s World Cup he was in so much pain that he couldn’t lift his bowling arm and required steroids to getting him able to play:

“I had an injection just to get me through. I’ve been recovering for two and a half months now – I’m still getting rehab.”

So his recovery of fitness and wickets is good news for England fans leading into this tour.

Bairstow makes his England T20 presence felt

England’s batting response was capped by a blistering Bairstow who smashed six fours and four sixes sharing stands with Sam Billings (28) and Sam Curran (28 not out) finishing on 78 off just 45 balls. England canter to victory with 11 balls to spare.

Afterwards Bairstow said:

“I’m on this tour to naturally score as many runs as possible, that’s what’s going to be the key to winning games of cricket. Selection is gone now, I’ve got some things to work on, I’m working very hard and I’m really enjoying that challenge.”

The second T20 warm-up match proved to be a reversal of fortunes with England roundly thrashed by a New Zealand XI the following week.

This time around it was England who batted first, with a somewhat changed batting line up (no Bairstow). Malan and Banton proved a fairly innocuous opening pair totalling 20 between them. England finished off on 188 for their twenty overs with Vince top-scoring on 46 followed by Denly (39 not out). Eoin Morgan, England’s captain managed just 12 runs. Verma was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers on 3-46.

New Zealand in blistering T20 form

A devastating hitting performance by New Zealander opener Colin Munro saw England’s hope of second successive victory fadeout of vision. Munro smashed 107 not out off just 57 balls, hitting nine fours and seven sixes on the way. New Zealand XI ending up victors by a whopping 8 wickets with 9 balls to spare.

Downplaying the significance of this wild fluctuation in results, England vice-captain, Sam Billings said of Munro’s knock:

“He came out and played a brilliant knock, we know what a quality player Colin Munro is.”

And commenting on England’s overall rusty performance, he added:

“Bit of cobwebs as well, I think, with a few plans and people finding their feet probably, but as long as we rectify that going into the first game, I think we’ll be fine.”

Runners up in the ICC World Cup 2019, we all know how devastating a cricket team New Zealand can be, so England will need to find more consistent form and quickly, if they are to avoid a significant act of revenge by the Kiwis on their home turf.

Based on the two opening games it seems clear that England do better with an explosive Jonny Bairstow at the top of their order. And with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove to the England selectors, he may well stamp his authority and stake his claim for an early Test recall with some white-ball explosives on this tour.

The first T20 between England and New Zealand starts this Friday 1st November.