WI show England the T20 way

Mar 11, 2014 Sports

The road to Bangladesh from Barbados is so far looking smoother for West Indies than England. Conditions in the first T20 may actually have given a fairer indication of what is come that some expected before the match today in Barbados. Spinners, and those taking pace off the ball, were the most effective bowlers: West Indies had by far the better balanced side.
Selection issues can, of course, be tweaked but it remains to be seen if that is enough for England whose short-form cricket has take a significant step back of late. They have now notched four defeats on the bounce – all comprehensive. The biggest issue is the batting and the fact that it still seems to sway from either block or bash with not much in between.

Badree celebrates the wicket of Wright

There are added issues for the visitors, too. Stuart Broad is sitting out the rest of the series and his stand-in as captain, Eoin Morgan, is not fully fit either. One of the spare batsmen in the squad, Ian Bell, has not played a Twenty20 match since January 2011 and the reserve seam bowlers are the inexperienced pair of Chris Jordan and Harry Gurney.
Everywhere you look in West Indies’ line-up there is power with the bat, from Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle at the top down to the captain Darren Sammy who was not needed in the first game.
Marlon Samuels has called Samuel Badree West Indies’ “trump card” going into the World T20 and that is some call considering his fellow spinner is Sunil Narine. Badree sped through this four overs two days ago and in the blink of an eye had 3 for 17 as England’s top order flayed hopelessly. The tactic can’t be just to play him out, somehow plans have to formed to score off him otherwise the Powerplay will go to waste.
Are England making the best use of Ravi Bopara? While he is adjusting to the finisher’s role in the ODI side, it appears a waste to have an in-form batsman down at No. 6 in the Twenty20 outfit. Bopara, himself, has said he would like a chance higher up the order and he also possesses the power to clear the rope, but it is pointless him doing so when the team is already in a mess. The impact of his medium-pace cutters highlighted the error of England’s selection in the opening match.
Sunil Narine did not need a scan on the knee he jarred on the first game, but there remains a chance he could be rested as a precaution. With an eye on the World T20, West Indies may switch their pace-bowling options around and have a look at either Krishmar Santokie or Sheldon Cottrell, the two left-armers in the squad. Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher are the batsmen waiting in the wings.
West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Samuel Badree.
Broad’s injury and the need to adapt to conditions they misread on the opening game will mean changes for England. It could be the introduction of two spinners, Stephen Parry for Broad and perhaps Moeen Ali for the struggling Luke Wright. The form of Ben Stokes is also an issue. With Bell now confirmed in the World T20 squad the management will to give him some game time, too.
England (possible) 1 Alex Hales, 2 Michael Lumb, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Jade Dernbach, 11 Stephen Parry.