Key events
Some learnings are bigger than others
“His attitude towards training… every ball was 100% intensity!” 🔥
Will Jacks on the experience of playing alongside Virat Kohli in the IPL 👑 pic.twitter.com/dO99Bhf4yD
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 28, 2024
The rain is forecast to clear around 7pm, after which the radar looks clear for at least an hour. I’m sure Andrew Miller will be able to find a radar that has the apocalypse pencilled in for 8.01pm, but for now let’s accentuate the positive.
What’s in an average?
“I enjoyed reading the article about the teams in the World Cup: it got me contemplating the relative merits of averages in T20 internationals,” writes Tom Van der Gucht. “When I’d looked the other day, I’d spotted that six of the top 10 averages are from Associate nations. I then began contemplating whether that was fair or not.
“If you’re playing for a lower tier national team, you’re likely to not be as good a player from one of the Test nations due to the facilities and opportunities available during your formative years, yet, the leveller there would be that your lack of class is nullified by their opponent’s similar level in a qualification tournament, meaning a high average is, maybe, fair under these circumstances? Or actually, if you’ve averaged 40 against PNG, you’d probably average less against India or even Surrey in the Blast… Meaning a T20 average when against lower standard teams is not a fair average when taken universally against all international nations.
“I suppose the proof will be in the pudding after England have been dumped out of the tournament having lost to Namibia, Oman and Scotland…”
Some of the averages certainly aren’t representative, but I think that’s a price worth paying for giving full international status to T20 matches involving Associate nations. The benefits of that far outweigh the discomfort felt by stat weirdos like me.
On that note, the episode of Athers and Nasser’s podcast about the Associate nations at the T20 World Cup was a real joy, thanks mainly to the knowledge and passion of their guest Andrew Leonard. Give it a listen. It’ll make you smile, or your money back.
Usman Khawaja interview
If you’d like to hear three grown-ups talking about the richest Ashes series since 2005, with no consideration of clickbait or likes or any of that life-denying crap, this podcast is unequivocally recommended.
County cricket
In other views, here’s the estimable Gary Naylor on a weather-affected but still fascinating round of County Championship fixtures
I still have occasional nightmares about Andrew Miller’s tweets during last summer’s Old Trafford Test, mainly because they all contained rainfall radar maps that crushed whatever hope remained of England winning the Ashes.
Alas, the grim tweeter has returned, though he can at least tell the difference between English and Welsh mizzle.
“I assume you’ve already had 3125645 angry emails from Llanelli about this,” writes Andrew Cosgrove, “but if Rob Key has no influence over the English weather I assume he is no better placed with the Welsh weather either.”
Ah yes, point taken. Will you at least concede that it takes rare talent to unwittingly offend an entire country inside two paragraphs of an introduction to a match nobody really cares about, and which might not take place anyway because of the Scottish weather?
Erm, about that weather forecast
T20 World Cup team-by-team guide
If you’re at a dinner party this week and you need to fill an awkward silence or change the subjects, there are loads of nuggets and insights in here.
“The thing is, Maximillian, while David Wiese, an all-action gun-for-hire on the franchise circuit, receives much of the attention when Namibia play, one should keep an eye on the returning Ruben Trumpelmann, a muscular left-arm genuine quick who can rough up the best.The highest-ranked associate – they sit 12th – Scotland went unbeaten in the European qualifier last summer, pipping Ireland to top spot by virtue of a high-scoring eight-run victory over them in the final match.”
Preamble
Good evening. After experiencing the crushing realisation during last year’s 50-over defence that it won’t always be alright on the night, England’s white-ball team have prepared for the T20 World Cup with the utmost care. They recalled their IPL players early, a deceptively brave gesture, avoided any confusion over whether their preliminary squad was their actual squad and monitored every infinitesmal movement of Jofra Archer’s elbow.
Alas, not even Rob Key has any influence over the English Welsh weather. Their warm-up series against Pakistan has already had one washout, and tonight’s match in Cardiff has a big cloud hanging over it. The forecast is improving so we should get some cricket, maybe even a full game, but it’s not going to bear much resemblance to what happens in the Caribbean from next week.
England be without Jos Buttler, who is on paternity leave, so Moeen Ali will captain the side. England have such flexibility that any of the four players who missed Saturday’s victory at Edgbaston – Ben Duckett, Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Tom Hartley – could replace him.
There might be one or two other changes anyway, with talk that Archer could be rested after his successful return at Edgbaston on Saturday. Such rotation is a natural part of World Cup preparation, weather permitting.
