T20 World Cup success can help England cement white-ball greatness, believes Sidebottom

By Sports Desk November 15, 2022

England's T20 World Cup success can be used as a springboard to cement their status as one of the all-time great white-ball sides, believes Ryan Sidebottom.

A five-wicket win over Pakistan in Melbourne means Jos Buttler's side are the first men's team to hold both major ICC titles, having won the 50-over World Cup in 2019 on home soil.

Victory in Australia means England become just the second team to win the T20 World Cup twice, with Sidebottom having been a member of the 2010 title-winning side.

A failure to capitalise on that initial success meant it was the best part of a decade before they triumphed again in limited-overs cricket, but the former Yorkshire bowler thinks they are primed to push on this time.

"When we won it in 2010, we had an opportunity to go on and build, get better as a nation and we kind of got left behind again," he told Stats Perform.

"But now we have a huge opportunity to become the best, [to be] number one in the world in all formats. We've got the players, we've got the facilities now.

"I think we've got everything. We can achieve great things. I really believe that if we keep moving forward and keep striving to get better and better."

No small part of England's success came from the performances of Sam Curran, with the Surrey all-rounder named player of the tournament for his performances with the ball.

Having been far from an assured first-choice pick before arriving in Australia, the 24-year-old has effectively cemented his place, with Sidebottom feeling he is an invaluable piece of the puzzle now.

"I think he's been amazing," he added. "He's improved so much as a cricket. You throw the ball to Sam Curran, and he makes things happen.

"That's quite a rare commodity for someone. You know he's either going to take a wicket or do something very special. [England] have so many left-armers, but he's been the pick of everyone."

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    The Three Lions gained a measure of revenge for their loss to the Azzurri in the final of the last European Championship at Wembley with a victory in their Group C opener at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

    Declan Rice opened the scoring and Kane become England's outright leading goalscorer with a penalty at the end of the first half in Naples on Thursday.

    A debut goal for the Argentina-born Mateo Retegui in the second half and Luke Shaw's late red card could not prevent England from securing a first away win over Italy since May 1961.

    It was a special night for Kane, who broke a record he shared with Wayne Rooney by scoring his 54th goal for England.

    A commanding first-half display enabled Southgate to become the third England manager to celebrate 50 victories in charge of the national team after Alf Ramsey (69) and Walter Winterbottom (78).

    Southgate hailed his captain, who stepped up to make history in the Three Lions' first game since he crucially missed a spot-kick in a World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in December.

    He said: "Kane was extraordinary. Breaking the record in these conditions demonstrates all the mental strength he has.

    "It's truly an exceptional achievement; the players cheered for him and this is a reaction both to the record and what he had to go through in Qatar."

    England were a cut above Italy in the first half, but it was a different story after the break and Southgate felt they made life difficult for themselves following such an impressive start.

    "We had an exceptional first half, while it was a very tough second half," he said. "We showed two different faces; we controlled the game very well in the first half as soon as we escaped the first line of pressing and at the interval it might have been 3-0.

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    Argentina-born Mateo Retegui marked his debut with a goal to get the European champions back in the game and there was further hope for Italy when Luke Shaw was sent off in the 80th minute.

    England held on to gain a measure of revenge for a defeat in the Euro 2020 final, securing their first away win over Italy since May 1961.

    Gareth Southgate's side ended Italy's run of 40 European Championship qualifying matches without defeat, leaving the holders with work to do in order to return to a major tournament in Germany next year after missing out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

    Azzurri head coach Mancini said: "We knew it was going to be a difficult game, then we conceded two goals from two set-pieces; we should have been more careful. 

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    Harry Kane savoured the "magical moment" of becoming England's outright record goalscorer in a 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifying victory over Italy.

    Kane made history in the Three Lions' Group C opener at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday, breaking a record he had shared with Wayne Rooney by converting a penalty just before half-time.

    The captain's 54th goal for his country doubled England's lead after Declan Rice had opened the scoring in a repeat of a Euro 2020 final that Italy won at Wembley in July 2021.

    Argentina-born Mateo Retegui pulled a goal back on his Azzurri debut, and although Luke Shaw was sent off in the 80th minute for a second bookable offence, Gareth Southgate's side held on for their first victory away to Italy since May 1961.

    Kane told Channel 4: "It means everything. We're so excited to put the England shirt back on, get the campaign started for the Euros next year. It had to be a penalty, of course, but once it hit the back of the net there was so much emotion.

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    Tottenham's record goalscorer Kane suffered the agony of a missed penalty that saw England crash out of the World Cup with a defeat to France at the quarter-final stage in December.

    The striker felt it was important to show a positive response to that heartbreak in Naples.

    He said: "It was tough to finish in that way, but we spoke this week about getting back to it. We feel like we are one of the best teams in Europe.

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    Italy's defeat was their first in 41 European Championship qualifying matches.

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