Joe Root is feeling bullish ahead of England’s weekend clash with Australia, claiming he would “have this team every day” over their rivals despite wildly differing fortunes at the World Cup.
The Ashes adversaries meet on Saturday at Ahmedabad’s 130,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, which will also host the tournament final on November 19.
Only one of the two teams has any prospect of making it that far, with England propping up the table in 10th place after one win in six while Australia appear set fair for the knockouts after four victories.
But Root refuses to believe a side who came in as defending champions and well fancied to defend their crown have slipped as far as the standings suggest.
“Man for man, I’d have this team every day over the Australians,” he said, with an air of confidence that has largely eluded England since they touched down in India.
“We might not have played as well as we can do but we know when we play our best stuff the best teams struggle to compete with us.
“I look at this team and it’s more than capable of achieving way more than it has done throughout this tournament. With the quality of players we have, we should be sat right at the top of this (table). We all know that and we’re all very frustrated that isn’t the case.
“We’ve just got to look at Saturday as our World Cup final and play in the manner that’s expected of us and we expect of ourselves. We have massively underachieved to date and have three opportunities to show the world what we are capable of doing and what I know we are capable of doing.”
The statistical head-to-head makes for grim reading, with Australia boasting five centuries to England’s one, 61 sixes to England’s 27 and 47 wickets taken to England’s 36.
Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has taken 16 scalps, exactly twice as many as opposite number Adil Rashid.
But Root is relying on the competitive juices that come with every meeting between these two teams to drag his side out of their torpor.
England were 2-0 behind after the first two Tests of this year’s Ashes series but rallied to dominate the next three games and would surely have improved on a 2-2 draw had rain not intervened at Old Trafford.
“One thing that the Ashes does is, we’ve played a lot of cricket against a number of their players. If we can use that in a positive way then we have to take it into the game,” he said.
“You can always recall little things that can work in your favour. If it helps you feel good about yourself and you can be ready to use to your advantage, then absolutely.”
Relations between the teams were strained at times during the Test summer, not least over Jonny Bairstow’s controversial run out at Lord’s, and the battle lines remain drawn.
A press conference clip of Australia captain Pat Cummins smirking and suppressing giggles as he contemplated England’s World Cup struggles has been duly noted but has not raised Root’s hackles.
“Let’s face it, if it was the other way around would we be doing the same? Probably,” he said.
“If it motivates us a little bit more, great. It hurts, but it always hurts to be in this position, sat at the bottom of the table. There is no better motivator for any group of English players than to play against the Aussies.
“From my point of view, I throw everything into giving my absolute 100 per cent for England and can look people in the eye and shake them by the hand and move onto the next game. I’ve got no animosity with any of their team.”
England trained under lights on Thursday and will go through another workout on the eve of the game as they piece together their XI. The temptation to recall Harry Brook, who performed impressively against a similar bowling attack in the Ashes, must be strong and there is a decision to make over David Willey.
He was the best bowler against India last time out but has since announced him imminent international retirement. England could decide to look long-term and switch him out for Sam Curran, but Root is clear that the awkward timing of the news is not being held against Willey.
“They are decisions to be made by the coach and the captain. Only Dave will be able to tell you how he’s come to that decision and why he’s made it now,” he said.
“But the thing you can never look past is his professionalism. He likes those big-stage games and by announcing his retirement it’s made these three games as big as they can be for him.”
Pooran's unbeaten 48 in vain as Head, Sharma lead Sunrisers to dazzling 10-wicket win over Super Giants
Sunrisers Hyderabad hammered Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets with more than 10 overs to spare in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head struck an unbeaten 167 from the opening partnership to move SRH third in the points table, with LSG unable to come up with any answers to defend their own haul of 165-4.
Head plundered 89 from 30 balls, including eight fours and eight sixes, while Sharma's 75 from 28 had eight fours and six maximums, in an explosive batting display that saw the duo hit 100 inside the powerplay.
Earlier, Lucknow struggled to get going in their innings, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-12) conceding only singles and shutting down LSG's top order, who scored just 66 in the first 11.2 overs.
Former West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran continued his fine build up to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup with an unbeaten 26-ball 48, as he crafted a 99-run fifth-wicket stand with Ayush Badoni, who was also unbeaten on 55.
Pooran struck six fours and a solitary six, while Badoni's 30-ball knock had nine fours, as the two gave Lucknow a chance, but in the end, it was nowhere near enough.
Data Debrief: Sunrisers pounce again in the powerplay
Sunrisers scored 107 runs in the powerplay. In all of T20 cricket, there have only been seven instances of a team scoring 100 runs or more in the powerplay – SRH have the two top scores, with both coming this year.
Pooran and Badoni's 99-run partnership was LSG's highest for the fifth wicket in IPL, surpassing the previous record of 87 between Deepak Hooda and Badoni. However, it proved fruitless.
CPL's Russell urges greater collab between franchise leagues to avoid frequent schedule overlap
Caribbean Premier League (CPL)'s CEO believes scheduling arrangements through collaboration by the various T20 leagues should be routine to avoid the frequent tournament clashes, which forces players to fly from one tournament to another in a short window.
Russell’s suggestion came during an interview with ESPNcricinfo, as he called for regular meetings among franchise leagues owners and administrators to solve cricket's global scheduling crisis. This, as CPL and the Hundred have overlapped in the past, but will avoid a clash this season, following dialogue with England Cricket Board (ECB) earlier this year.
“[The ECB] have a defined window that they have to play in, and it happened that we could move everything out to ensure that we didn't clash [with the Hundred]. It makes absolutely zero sense if you've got [Sunil] Narine and [Andre] Russell having to fly back the day before the final of the Hundred. That's in no one's interests, and certainly not the Hundred's,” Russell declared.
"I hope that [collaboration] continues. It's not rocket science; it's what should happen with all leagues. It's just nonsense that we've got all this overlap when it just needs to be worked through. Scheduling is a challenge, I know, but it can't be that you have two leagues going at each other at the same time. To my mind, it doesn't make any sense,” he added.
While there is a precedent for leagues negotiating to manage potential clashes as shown by the PSL and ILT20, there were a number of leagues that ran simultaneously earlier in the year. Australia's Big Bash and New Zealand's Super Smash finished in mid-January; South Africa's SA20 and the UAE's ILT20 started in January and ran into February; the Bangladesh Premier League started in January and finished in March; and the Pakistan Super League ran from mid-February to mid-March.
With the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled for a return next year February, it is expected to further complicate the schedule where franchise leagues are concerned. It is for that reason why the general consensus among players worldwide is for global scheduling windows for franchise leagues and international cricket, to limit overlapping between the two.
While representatives of national governing bodies meet regularly at ICC level - most of whom control their own leagues - there is no specific forum for the owners and administrators of franchise leagues to discuss scheduling.
"It's the logical way to go - because we're all maturing, and we're all getting to a point where we are sustainable. They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played,” Russell said.
“I think it is a case of, 'OK, let's have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone. I think it's workable. Others might think it's not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there's no clash],” he opined.
Russell used the recent release of Major League Cricket (MLC)'s 2024 fixture list –two months before the tournament starts – as evidence of a shortage of "joined-up thinking" among administrators. MLC is scheduled to begin on July 5 and, as such, is on a six-day overlapping course with the Hundred.
"They've only just come out with their schedule. Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out,” he noted.
That said, Russell also encouraged administrators to find a solution to the perverse incentives that emerged for players earlier this year.
"It can't be right. I saw the other day that where leagues were overlapping, a player who got knocked out before the semi-finals or finals could actually make more money by going to another league. That shouldn't be a thing,” he stated.
Barbados to welcome Oman early for preparation camp ahead of T20 World Cup
As the much-anticipated ICC Men’s T20 World Cup draws closer, Barbados will welcome West Asian team Oman to the island for their pre-tournament camp ahead of the global showpiece to be hosted jointly in the Caribbean and United States.
While in Barbados, Oman’s camp, scheduled for May 14-24, will also include three T20 matches – two against a Barbados Select XI, and one match against University of the West Indies –as they fine tune preparations for the June 1-29 World Cup.
The camp is being organised by former England batsman and West Indies Senior Men’s Selector Roland Butcher, who saw it fit to assist Oman in getting acclimatised to the Eastern Caribbean Island, which will host a number of games throughout the tournament, including the final.
“It is great that the Oman team will be coming out to Barbados early for their pre-tournament camp. They will use the period to get acclimatised to the conditions, as quick as possible. We are delighted to have them in Barbados – this country is the ideal place to start their preparations,” Butcher said.
“We believe the time spent here will be hugely beneficial towards them putting on a good showing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024,” he added.
Duleep Mendis, the former Sri Lanka captain and Oman’s Head Coach expressed his team’s delight and anticipation ahead of their arrival in Barbados.
“It is one of the cricket locations which we all dream of visiting and we want to make the most of our time as we prepare. We have high ambitions in this tournament, and we want to focus on our plans from the moment we touch down in a country which is known for its cricket culture and heroes,” Mendis shared.
Oman recently named their World Cup squad, which will be led by all-rounder Aqib Ilyas, who takes the reins from Zeeshan Maqsood. This year’s World Cup will mark Oman’s third appearance in the last four editions of the tournament, which underlines their success and consistency in performing at the global level.
Oman enjoyed a dazzling 2023 campaign, as they copped the Gulf Cricket Cup, followed by an unbeaten run in the ICC T20 World Cup Asia qualifiers, which secured their spot in the upcoming tournament. They were also runners-up in this year’s ACC Premier Cup.
The West Asian team, drawn in Group B alongside Australia, England, Scotland, and Namibia, will open their T20 World Cup campaign against the latter, in Barbados, on June 2.
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