Legendary West Indies captain Clive Lloyd has questioned the team’s level of planning, particularly when it comes to its batting line-up on the back of two dismal performances to start the T20 World Cup.
The defending champions have been handed back-to-back losses at the hand of England and then South Africa. Both losses were underpinned by underwhelming performances at the crease, which first saw the West Indies dismissed for 55 and then in the second match collapsed to 143 for 8 all-out after a promising start at 73 for 1.
Following its substandard showing against England, the team tinkered with its batting line-up promoting Nicholas Pooran up the order while pushing Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer further down.
“I think the planning season to be all over the place,” Lloyd said in assessing the team’s performances thus far, on the Mason and Guest radio program.
“I think if you look at what has happened. Fifty-five runs, we are much better than that. Our planning seems to be terrible. (Against South Africa) We had a wonderful start, and we didn’t promote people in the proper order,” he added.
“You expect the captain to come up when you are going at 9 an over, to continue, but you send Pooran who hasn’t been batting well and you have Hetmyer who has been batting well and making very good scores. So, the batting order seems to be all over the place.”
Lloyd believes that for the team to be successful someone has to take control of the batting order.
“At one stage the prediction was 174 and we were down to so, but somewhere along the line, we feel like this game is about hitting sixes. We are getting caught on the boundary, it’s a big ground. If I’m at 58, I’m looking to get to 80 or 90, get more runs and take the game away from the opposition.”
Hosts USA win dramatic super over to upset Pakistan in their World Cup opener
The US produced an all-time World Cup upset with a dramatic five-run win in the super over against Pakistan on Thursday.
It was a nervy start by Pakistan, who lost two wickets in the first three overs, but captain Babar Azam eventually finished as their top scorer, limping to 44 after a slow power play.
However, the US bowled well, with Nosthush Kenjige proving a particular thorn in their side as he finished with 3-30. Pakistan ended on 159-7, with the help of Shadab Khan's 40.
Monank Patel brought up his 50 off 38 balls at the end of the 13th over before being caught by Rizwan, with the home fans starting to believe they could be watching a major upset.
Though two wickets in seven balls slightly dented the mood, the US finished the second innings strongly, with Aaron Jones plundering 36, including two boundaries, before Nitish Kumar struck a four on the final ball to keep the game alive.
Jones and Harmeet Singh caused more problems in the super over, impressing with an 18-0 as Pakistan failed to find any composure.
Ultimately, it was Kumar who proved the hero once more, as he caught out Iftikhar Ahmed as Pakistan failed to chase down the target, and the hosts sit top of Group A after two victories.
Data Debrief: Pakistan stunned
Another pick of the bunch in the US' bowlers was Saurabh Netravalkar, who finished on 2-18, before taking the all-important wicket in the super over. He has now become the top wicket-taker for the US in T20Is with 29, going past Nisarg Patel's 27.
Steven Taylor has also broken the record for the most catches by a fielder (10) in T20Is for the US, going past Patel's nine.
And despite being on the losing side, Amar created some history of his own as he became the top scorer in T20Is with 4067 runs, surpassing Virat Kohli's 4038.
Southgate 'excited' by final England squad for Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate says he is "excited" by the players he has picked after confirming his 26-man squad for Euro 2024.
It was announced earlier on Thursday that James Maddison, Curtis Jones and Harry Maguire had already been cut from the 33-man preliminary party.
It was later revealed that Jack Grealish, James Trafford, Jarell Quansah and Jarrad Branthwaite would also miss out on the tournament.
Despite leaving some big names out, and losing some tournament experience along with them, Southgate says he is particularly looking forward to seeing the attacking threat his team possess.
"I'm excited," he said in a press conference on Thursday. "The other night [against Bosnia-Herzegovina], we had a lot of experienced attacking players not on the starting grid. And we had a lot of goals in the team still.
"We saw some fantastic performances the other night which underlined some of that and in the attacking area of the pitch we're blessed with a lot of options and they're all slightly different.
"In terms of where we are, we're excited about what we have. There's always the unknown of that in a tournament, but there's a lot of experience of tournaments in the group, and of big matches with their clubs as well.
"It's impossible to say if it's the squad you wanted. It's the squad we've picked that we feel is best equipped in this moment in time.
"Sometimes you have to regenerate the group more than you're expecting, but that has already brought a hunger and a competitiveness."
Maddison and Grealish were two of the big-name omissions, while Maguire confirmed in a statement that he would be missing out due to a calf problem that has kept him out since April.
Asked about the decision not to include them in the tournament, Southgate admitted it was tough, but he had to base it on recent form.
"They've all been amazing with how they've dealt with it, but I know it's a difficult day for them and their team-mates," Southgate said.
"The fact is we've got some players who have been playing extremely well all season in the league, and we just feel other players have had stronger seasons - particularly in the past six months or so.
"Madders [Maddison] and Jack [Grealish] would have provided us with something different as well, and they've been tough calls. They're calls we've gone over and over and over as a group of staff to try to be fair and to try to use the right rationale.
"The decision on Harry [Maguire] is totally about his physical condition and his recovery from the injury. There is no other reason, as he is one of our strongest centre-backs."
Along with Maguire, Southgate left out two other centre-backs in Quansah, who will remain on standby with the squad for the Iceland game on Friday, and Branthwaite, while the injured Luke Shaw remains as the only recognised left-back.
"It's a bit early for Jarrad [Branthwaite]. He has had a fabulous season; it was good to get him on the pitch the other night," Southgate added.
"But of course, in an ideal world, you'd like that balance of left-footers. For him to be in ahead of the others, I don't think it would have been the right call at this stage.
"At left-back, that's why we've taken what I think is a calculated risk with Luke Shaw, one which I think is worth taking."
England will play Iceland in their final friendly before beginning their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia in Group C on June 16, before coming up against Denmark and Slovenia.
Final England squad: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Karry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
Maguire 'devastated' to miss out on Euro 2024
Harry Maguire has confirmed that he will not be part of England's squad ahead of Euro 2024 due to injury.
Maguire was called up to Gareth Southgate's preliminary 33-man party but joined James Maddison and Curtis Jones in leaving camp ahead of Friday's friendly meeting with Iceland at Wembley Stadium.
The 31-year-old has not played since April due to a calf injury, but it was hoped he would recover in time, having been key for Southgate in previous tournaments.
Maguire trained individually on Thursday before reports claimed he had not been selected, and that news was confirmed by the player himself.
In a post on X, Maguire wrote: "I am devastated not to have been selected to play for England at the Euros this summer.
"Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to overcome an injury to my calf. Maybe I pushed myself too hard, to try and make it. Simply, I am absolutely gutted.
"For me, representing England is the highest honour. It means everything to me. If I can’t help the team as a player, I will support them as a fan – along with the rest of the country. Go and win it boys.
"Next, I will return to the supervision of the Manchester United medical team in order to prepare for next season."
Reports also suggested that Jack Grealish has been cut from the squad.
The Manchester City winger was reduced to a substitute role in England's friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday, but impressed after coming off the bench to assist Trent Alexander-Arnold's goal.
However, he struggled for form last season, scoring just three goals in 36 appearances in all competitions.
James Trafford, Jarell Quansah and Jarrad Branthwaite are the other players expected to miss out on a place in the Three Lions' squad, which had to be cut down to 26.
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