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England head to World Twenty20 on a wing and a prayer - Lawrence Booth

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England are Twenty20’s No 1 ranked team. They are the reigning world champions. But pundits not persuaded to back them in Sri Lanka for reasons of patriotism have generally steered clear. Few expect England to defend their trophy. In a sense that will be exactly as they would wish it.

If the events of 2012 have reminded us of anything beyond the fascinating formation of rain clouds, it’s of England’s preference to be among the chasing pack. Don’t take this from me: Andrew Strauss himself confessed as much following the Lord’s Test defeat to South Africa. In any case, the tour to Pakistan immediately after the 2005 Ashes had already confirmed the suspicion.

The question is, though, whether England should be entirely comfortable with their underdog status. Clearly, we would do well to manage our expectations, but this is not merely because Twenty20 is the form of the game least likely to conform to punditry. It is because England’s preparations contain an element of wing and prayer.

Skipper: Stuart Broad leads England's defence of their World Twenty20 crown

    More from Lawrence Booth...   THE TOP SPIN: It was a thrilling win but England can't bat away concerns over plodding top order 20/05/13   THE TOP SPIN: Prior's award is a deserved reward for being England's Mr Selfless 14/05/13   THE TOP SPIN: Australia will want to summon up the spirit of '89 but England should leave it well alone 30/04/13   The Top Spin: Weather warning for England's spinners - Is this a golden era for Swann and Panesar? 23/04/13   THE TOP SPIN: Compton goes back to the future to show that cricket's past and present can form a solid partnership 16/04/13   THE TOP SPIN: Let's hope there's a happy medium pace between slow turn of county game and 90mph barrage from the IPL 08/04/13   THE TOP SPIN: Hunted England wear haunted look as eyes of the world see them struggle in New Zealand 25/03/13   The Top Spin: It's the end of an era as throwback Blackwell calls it a day (and ensures he will be a permanent one-cap wonder) 19/03/13   The Top Spin: England slow out of the blocks again... but second innings shows they've nipped it in the bud 12/03/13   VIEW FULL ARCHIVE  

Forget, if you possibly can, the absence of Kevin Pietersen: England have been planning without him for several months after he announced his retirement from one-day internationals at the end of May and, therefore, Twenty20 cricket. (For all the misplaced rage about the management of Pietersen, this self-inflicted aspect has been virtually forgotten.)

His skill will be missed, of course. But England’s win-loss ratio in limited-overs cricket this year without him is 10-3 – or 11-3 if you count Monday’s warm-up win against Australia. The caveat is that this record was achieved in home conditions, and Pietersen – unlike some of his team-mates – has the game to prosper in Asia (hell, he’s got the game to prosper on Mars!). But these are not the numbers of a one-man team.

If, for example, Michael Lumb was caught on the fence in the first over for a two-ball six, then no one would raise an eyebrow. He was simply trying to do the job asked of him. This mixture of careful planning and a no-blame culture engendered the mood for success.

No doubt England have done their best to replicate the atmosphere this time: that kind of thing is second nature to Andy Flower. But how comfortable can they be with the fact that Luke Wright suddenly finds himself at No 3, having spent the last three years in the lower-middle order?

Or that Jos Buttler is being built up on the back of a 10-ball innings? (I think Buttler’s brilliant, by the way; I just wonder how often he can replicate that Edgbaston innings at this embryonic stage of his international career.)

Or that Danny Briggs, hit for three successive sixes by Mike Hussey on Monday, is expected to play a leading part with his left-arm spin following a Twenty20 international career that so far compromises 12 deliveries.  

All three are talented. They may well know what is expected of them. But how well do they know their roles? To an extent, England can only be crossing their fingers.

The team has its strengths. Eoin Morgan can touch genius. Jonny Bairstow is a dangerous presence at No 6. Graeme Swann ought not to go for many runs. Steven Finn could be one of the seamers of the tournament. And, occasionally, Jade Dernbach produces a gem of a slower ball.

Touch of class: Eoin Morgan is a key figure in England's middle order

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But England need every one of their bigger guns to fire – and they can ill-afford the rest to produce blanks. Which Craig Kieswetter, to name but one, will show up? The man capable of bashing 50 off 32 balls, as he did against South Africa at Edgbaston last week? Or the player whose T20 strike-rate of 115 betrays a failure to rotate the strike?   

England will take on Afghanistan on Friday with as many questions as answers. This voyage into the relative unknown may just be liberating, and in Stuart Broad they have a thoughtful, aggressive captain. But not every voyage into the unknown has a happy ending.

WINNERS OF THE TALIBAN CRICKET CLUB COMPETITION

Last week we asked you to name the other two teams in Afghanistan’s World Twenty20 group. The answer, as none of you needed telling, was England and India. And three of you were lucky enough to be generated at random from the Top Spin’s inbox and to win a copy of Timeri N. Murari’s The Taliban Cricket Club, published by Allen & Unwin. Congratulations to James Chapman, Matt Stephens and Oliver Tobias, and many thanks to everyone who took the trouble to enter the competition.

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WASA sticky start

Jimmy Anderson and Alastair Cook are best of mates these days, but it wasn’t always thus. According to a story in Anderson’s new autobiography, Jimmy (published by Simon & Schuster), the two players crossed swords during a Championship match between Essex and Lancashire towards the end of the 2005 summer, with Anderson’s animosity towards Cook even persuading the normally mild-mannered Mark Chilton to give him an earful.

A few months later, the feuding pair found themselves on a round-the-world flight together after being summoned to the senior tour of India from a Lions tour of the Caribbean. At first, the mood was frosty. But Cook – showing the man-management skills that would later earn him the England captaincy – broke the ice. ‘We haven’t spoken much before,’ he said to Anderson. ‘But the last time we did, you called me a ****.’ Nowadays, Cook is godfather to Anderson’s daughter Lola.

Sticky start: Cook (left) and Anderson (right) did not get off on the best of terms

Behaving like adults

Few evenings convey the uneasy truce that exists in the upper echelons of the world game more mercilessly than the annual ICC awards. Three years ago, the South Africans boycotted the evening in Johannesburg after their players failed to make the various short-lists. In 2010, England complained after Graeme Swann was omitted; he was hurriedly reinstated.

This year, FICA – the players’ international trade union – was said to have been forced out to appease the BCCI. And then Pakistan made a song and dance about the absence of Saeed Ajmal from the player of the year shortlist. Is it any wonder cricket seems incapable of getting its house in order?

We’ll always have Bloemfontein

Kabir Ali may have been a last-minute selection for the Hampshire team in Saturday’s CB40 final against Warwickshire at Lord’s, but was it any surprise that he held his nerve in the last over against Ian Blackwell and Neil Carter, two of the biggest hitters in the county game?

Rewind more than seven years to Bloemfontein, and Kabir is bowling the final over of a one-day international, with South Africa needing eight to win with five wickets in hand. It looked a doddle, especially when his first delivery – a chest-high full-toss – was pulled for four by Mark Boucher: three to win, then, off six balls.

Man of the moment: Kabir Ali bowled a fine death over for Hampshire in the CB40 final

Kabir now served up a leg-stump full-toss, which Boucher helpfully whacked straight to Ashley Giles on the square-leg fence. Shaun Pollock managed only one run from the next two balls, at which point – with two needed off three – Ashwell Prince contrived to be run out. Another single for Pollock brought the scores level, before Andrew Hall was stumped by Geraint Jones off the last ball. Some will tell you South Africa choked. But the best stories are the least expected.

Old school man-management

To central London on Monday for the annual Cricket Writers’ Club lunch, where former England captain Mike Denness was interviewed by MC David Fulton. With Kevin Pietersen somehow dominating the agenda yet again, Fulton asked Denness how he had dealt with difficult players, such as – ooh – Geoff Boycott, during his time in charge.

Denness instantly recalled the 1973-74 tour of the West Indies. ‘I think every single player on that trip came up to me at some stage and asked me to send Geoffrey home,’ he chuckled. As Tuesday’s squad announcement confirmed, it’s a problem Cook will not have to deal with in India.

  More... Lawrence Booth's expert guide to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka Your essential guide to the players to watch at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka




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