It has been a long time coming but the T20 World Cup will finally get under way in Australia on Sunday.
Two years later than scheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament will start with Sri Lanka taking on Namibia at Kardinia Park followed by the United Arab Emirates versus the Netherlands at the same venue on Sunday.
There will be six days of qualifying matches to decide which four teams will go through to the Super 12, which starts with a repeat of last year's final between holders Australia and New Zealand on October 22.
You could make a case for several teams being strong contenders to lift the trophy at the MCG on November 13.
Stats Perform picks out some of the storylines to look out for in a tournament that will be well worth the wait.
Windies and Sri Lanka should avoid shock early exit
The only team to have won the T20 World Cup twice is West Indies, but they failed to secure direct qualification for the Super 12 on this occasion.
They lost four out of five matches as defending champions in the United Arab Emirates last year, a crushing six-wicket defeat to England setting the tone as they were skittled out for a pitiful 55.
Nicholas Pooran's side will face Scotland, Zimbabwe, Ireland at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart and will be expected to advance from Group B.
Sri Lanka were crowned Asia Cup champions last month and ought to have no trouble in advancing from a Group A that also includes the Netherlands, the UAE and Namibia.
On a high from lifting the trophy in Dubai, Dasun Shanaka's men could be dangerous if they made it through to the Super 12 as expected.
Hosts in quest to make history
Australia ended their wait for a first T20 World Cup title in Dubai last year at the expense of the Black Caps, Mitchell Marsh blasting an unbeaten 77 in the final to seal an eight-wicket win.
No team has won back-to-back T20 World Cup titles, so the hosts have an opportunity to make history on home soil.
Tim David has emerged as another potential match-winner that has bolted his way into the squad and he is capable of making a big impact, while big things will be expected from the likes of David Warner with the bat.
Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are a formidable pace trio and leg-spinner Adam Zampa brings an X-Factor. Australia have a great chance of achieving a feat no other side has accomplished.
Can India make amends?
India were strongly fancied to win the rearranged T20 World Cup last year, but their challenge was all-but over soon after it had started.
They were consigned to a 10-wicket thrashing by fierce rivals in Pakistan in their first match and still looked shellshocked when New Zealand hammered them by eight wickets.
Virat Kohli stepped down as captain after that failure, with Rohit Sharma the skipper of what is another star-studded squad.
The loss of paceman Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to injury were huge blows, but India will be expected to mount a strong challenge as the top-ranked side in the world and batter Suryakumar Yadav can make a big impact.
Buttler to deliver in first tournament as skipper?
England looked unstoppable in the World Cup last year until they were knocked out by New Zealand at the semi-final stage.
Jos Buttler has since taken over as captain after Eoin Morgan retired from international cricket, and Matthew Mott was appointed as head coach.
Buttler has recovered from injury for what will be his first tournament as skipper and will look to produce the sort of form he did in the 2021 World Cup, in which he averaged a staggering 89.66.
England have huge firepower with the bat, while Reece Topley, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid are among the bowlers Buttler will be counting on to step up as they strive to lift the trophy for a second time.
Proteas a force to be reckoned with
South Africa have never been beyond the semi-final of a T20 World Cup, but there is every chance this could be their year.
Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje are a hostile trio of pace bowlers and they also have the wizardry of spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.
The absence of Rassie van der Dussen is a big loss, but the Proteas are not short of explosive batting with the likes of Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Rillee Rossouw and Tristan Stubbs to call upon.
Sunil Narine won't play for West Indies' T20 World Cup squad, confirms watching from home
Trinidad and Tobago’s Sunil Narine has made it clear that he will not be part of the West Indies squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean this June. Narine, who has not represented the West Indies since 2019, reiterated his decision after the Kolkata Knight Riders' emphatic victory over the Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Former West Indies cricketer turned commentator Samuel Badree asked Narine about his World Cup plans during a post-match interview, to which Narine responded, "I will be watching from home, Badree."
The 35-year-old Narine's absence from the West Indies setup has been notable since 2019, despite invitations to return to the team. Windies white-ball coach Darren Sammy recently indicated that the squad selection process for the World Cup was nearing completion, highlighting the exposure of over 22 players in preparation for the tournament.
“We’ve selected squads and exposed about 22 players over the last year in preparation for this main event that is coming," Sammy explained during a press briefing. "It’s based on the measures that we’ve taken and the strategic roles we have given players.”
While Narine has been a key player for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL since 2012, contributing significantly to the franchise's two title victories in 2012 and 2014, his focus remains on franchise cricket rather than international duties. He has played 51 T20 Internationals for the West Indies, showcasing his talent with 52 wickets at an economy rate of 6.01.
Narine made his debut for the West Indies in March 2012 against Australia and played his last match for the Caribbean side in August 2019 against India. Known for his mystery spin and explosive batting, Narine continues to be a vital asset for the Kolkata Knight Riders, as demonstrated by his recent impactful innings of 85 from 39 balls while opening the batting against the Delhi Capitals.
Despite his absence from international duty, Narine's contributions in franchise cricket underscore his prowess in the T20 format. As the T20 World Cup approaches, West Indies will proceed with a squad that reflects the strategic planning and player exposure outlined by Coach Sammy, with Narine choosing to focus on his IPL commitments while supporting the regional team from the sidelines.
Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack critical of distribution of ICC finances
India’s financial stranglehold on world cricket is the top target in the latest edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, as it once again ponders the health of a sport held down by a global postcode lottery.
The 161st edition of the beloved yellow book takes a typically sober look at the state of the game, majoring on the distorting effects of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s latest grab of the purse strings.
In his 13th year at the helm, Lawrence Booth uses the influential platform of his editor’s notes to rail against last year’s decision to increase India’s share of central ICC funds from an already swollen 25 per cent to a bloated to 38.5 per cent. He brands the latest settlement “all the harder to stomach” when pitted against the money troubles of others like the West Indies, whose own take represents just 4.58 per cent.
Booth concludes that fear of upsetting those behind cricket’s biggest commercial market is poisoning the well that all nations drink from and calls for an urgent rethink.
“This is where cricket finds itself, in dreary thrall to the notion that market forces must be obeyed,” he writes.
“Is it really beyond the wit of the administrators to distribute it (cash) according to need, not greed?”
Wisden is critical of the BCCI’s conduct as hosts of the recent men’s World Cup, deeming the politicisation of the tournament “faintly Orwellian” and an example of “insidious nationalism”. Booth touches on the delay in granting England’s Shoaib Bashir a visa for the new year Test tour, the latest hold up to impact a player of Pakistani heritage, and the fact that a principled boycott by his team-mates never got off the ground.
“The answer to too many questions in cricket is now: because we mustn’t upset India. And don’t the BCCI know it,” he concludes.
On the field, there was a full-throated reprisal of the previous volume’s support for ‘Bazball’ and the revitalising effects of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum as stewards of the red-ball format.
Reflecting on the thrills and spills of a vintage Ashes summer, Booth decides: “For the first time since English cricket vanished behind a paywall, it felt like the people’s sport.”
The comparison with England’s fading fortunes in the white-ball arena is predictably grisly following the defending champions’ World Cup wipeout. There is an opportunity to right some of those wrongs close at hand, but Wisden’s warning over the stakes for the captain and coach is cold and clear: “(Jos) Buttler and (Matthew) Mott must mount a better defence of this year’s T20 World Cup if they are to keep their jobs.”
Elsewhere, Stuart Broad casts a long shadow. Not only does the retired seamer grace the cover for the second time, he also warrants special mention from Booth at the front of the book and a farewell essay from Jonathan Liew.
There is a joint tribute to two more departing greats of English seam bowling, with Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Anya Shrubsole receiving a send off from former team-mate Ebony Rainford-Brent.
The wider historical context of game is served by pieces on England’s 100th women’s Test, the first nation to reach the milestone, and a look back on 250 years of the lbw law, and there are entries from both ends of spectrum of seriousness.
Michael Collins, one of the co-authors of the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket report, contributes a thoughtful and scholarly update covering the thorniest matters of discrimination. In it he reiterates many of the most difficult findings – chiefly the lingering presence of ingrained racism, classism and sexism within the sport at large – but strikes an optimistic tone about the chances of renewal.
“History need not make us prisoners of the past,” he writes.
“Recognising and understanding the weight of what has gone before is also a route to creating a new and different future.”
At the opposite pole is a healthy slice of playfulness, from Emma John’s appraisal of Wisden’s history on Desert Island Discs to the pleasingly irreverent social media review of the year and the enduring ‘index of unusual occurrences’.
:: The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2024 is published by Bloomsbury on April 18.
Eight centuries, six five-wicket hauls recorded in round six of West Indies Championship
Big scores and wickets were the name of the game as both batsmen and bowlers thrived in round six of the 2024 West Indies Championship.
Across the four matches played from April 10-13 last week, eight centuries were scored and six five-wicket hauls were recorded.
The biggest knock came during the game between the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and Combined Campuses & Colleges at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground where Amir Jangoo belted the CCC bowling all over the place on the way to a wonderful 218.
His knock, his first century in first-class cricket, came off 238 balls and included 15 fours and 10 sixes.
In that very same innings, 37-year-old Jason Mohammed recorded his 13th hundred in first-class cricket with 157 off 228 balls including 22 fours.
The game between the Barbados Pride and the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Queen’s Park Oval saw the teams combine for four centuries between them.
West Indies Test Captain Kraigg Brathwaite scored the biggest of the match with a marathon 400-ball 189 including 17 fours.
His opening partner Zachary McCaskie, who was a member of the most recent West Indies Test squad on their tour to Australia, hit 12 fours and two sixes on the way to 101 off 148 balls and shared in a 171-run first wicket partnership with his skipper in the first innings.
All-rounder Roston Chase was the third Bajan centurion of the game with an attacking 87-ball 127 including nine fours and seven sixes.
West Indies ODI team member Keacy Carty got the Hurricanes’ lone century in the game with 127 off 233 balls including 12 fours. Carty now has three first-class centuries to his name.
Kemol Savory and Captain Tevin Imlach both brought up centuries for the Guyana Harpy Eagles against the Jamaica Scorpions at Sabina Park.
Savory made a career best 155 off 309 balls including 16 fours and three sixes while Imlach made 101* off 169 balls including 11 fours and two sixes.
In the bowling department, Roston Chase took 7-67 in the second innings for the Pride against the Hurricanes.
Pacer Gilon Tyson grabbed 5-50 for the Windward Islands Hurricanes in the first innings against the West Indies Academy.
Veerasammy Permaul spun a web against the Scorpions on his way to 5-55 in the first innings.
Pacers Anderson Phillip and Amari Goodridge picked up 5-71 and 5-92 for the Red Force and the CCC, respectively, while Rakheem Cornwall took 5-132 against the Pride.
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