Can England Win ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010 ?
The announcement of a new squad for an international sporting tournament, offers hope for players, coaches, and supporters of every participating nation. For England Cricket, the need to win an ICC Global Event for the first time will be uppermost in the minds of their administrators in return for their significant investment in the England team and the ‘feeder’ system, in recent years.
Today Geoff Miller, ECB National Selector, announced that he and his fellow selectors had picked a balanced squad to meet the needs of the format, and in an interesting use of the double negative, said: ”there’s no reason we can’t perform well” . Miller’s England squad included a contoroversial new pair to open the batting in former South Africa Under 19’s players Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter, adding more weight to the argument about England’s lack of home-grown players.
In a month’s time, it will be down to the players to deliver against the objective of winning the tournament in West Indies. The rugby players won their version of the World Cup in 2003 under Sir Clive Woodward and Martin Johnson’s leadership, while Sir Alf Ramsey and the late, great Bobby Moore, led England’s footballers to World Cup glory at Wembley in 1966.
Can Andy Flower and Paul Collingwood inspire England to victory in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in May? Or, will Andrew Strauss’s return to the helm for the 50 over World Cup in March 2011, make the difference to England’s dismal record at recent World Cups?
Pakistan have excelled in the first two Twenty20 World Cups, losing to India in South Africa (2007) and winning at Lord’s against Sri Lanka in 2009. They will be serious contenders to win again, despite being short of cricket.
Every team will believe in their chances, because the nature of sport is that the shorter the contest, the more even it is. Twenty20 Cricket makes it more possible for an outsider to emerge victorious in a World Cup event. England has a chance to break their duck.
My concern for England is that they do not have enough ‘match-winners’ in their squad in comparison to other teams. The slow pitches in the Caribbean and the lack of either conventional swing, or seam movement, for the quicker bowlers, makes sheer pace through the air, and reverse swing, critical components for a team’s bowling unit to possess. Other countries have quicker bowlers than England, and also possess individuals who have more experience, and success, in the art of reverse swing.
From a batting perspective, most countries have proved to be superior than England in their ability to find the boundary frequently at the start of the innings, especially since the international retirement of Marcus Trescothick, but Kieswetter and Lumb may prove to be a winning combination. However, dominating opening bowlers in domestic cricket is a different proposition to ‘tee-ing off’ against the world’s best, especially when the stakes are as high as they are at a World Cup event.
With regard to the prospective winners, the field is remarkably open.
The Sri Lankan team has great variety with the ball, and a selection of batsmen who are capable of destroying international bowling attacks. The South Africans have a tendency to under-perform at crucial stages of international tournaments, and may have a reduced expectation of their chances for success. However, they are a top team with some hostile bowlers, powerful hitters, dynamic fielders, and exciting young players to complement the experience of Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher. West Indies will have home advantage, and a couple of dangerous batsmen in Kieron Pollard and Chris Gayle who can make a mockery of chasing down any total. New Zealand are always competitive on slower surfaces, and will be shrewdly led by Daniel Vettori. Whilst not wanting to be dis-respectful of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, this leaves the powerhouse that is Australia, and my favorites to win the event for the first time in their history.
Having won the World Cup (50 overs) on the last three occasions, (2007, 2003, 1999, and lost in the previous final) they have been slower than their contemporaries to embrace Twenty20 as a credible format of the game. Captain Ricky Ponting, in particular, has publicly expressed his lack of respect for the newest form, and is so committed to restoring Australia’s supremacy in Test Cricket that he removed himself from his involvement with the IPL.
One of the reasons why I am backing Australia is that Michael Clarke is their Captain and is keen to make his mark. They have selected several specialist players such as left arm quick bowler Dirk Nannes, all-rounder Cameron White, and opening batsman David Warner to bolster their campaign. The pace of Nannes and Shaun Tait will make Australia a real handful for opposition batsmen looking to hit boundaries at the end of an innings against them, while Michael Clarke’s all-round talents could make him a tip for player of the tournament.
I hope England can make a big impact, but the bookmakers won’t be getting rich at my expense!!
