Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Danni Wyatt and Alice Capsey will miss England’s first three T20s against New Zealand next month due to their Women’s Premier League commitments.
Confirmation last week that the WPL final will be held on March 17 in Delhi left a logistical headache for England, who begin their New Zealand tour two days later with the first of five T20s in Dunedin.
While captain Heather Knight and seamer Lauren Bell backed out of WPL stints, England gave their blessing to Sciver-Brunt, Ecclestone, Wyatt and Capsey playing a full part in the tournament in India.
The quartet will return for the fourth and fifth T20s, with England head coach Jon Lewis initially going to the WPL to lead UP Warriorz before heading to New Zealand a week out from the opening match.
“We explored every option available to us to make sure all our players were available during the New Zealand series but that didn’t quite work out as we would have liked,” said Lewis.
“Yes, there are things that other boards could have done but they’re things that are totally out of our control. We’ve had to react to the situation as best we can.
“Heather and Lauren really wanted to prioritise playing those first three games in New Zealand and the rest of the players felt – and we backed both ways – playing under pressure in the WPL gives them a really good opportunity to grow.
“I think, moving forward, all the boards around the world will create a window for the WPL similar to what happens in the men’s game (with the Indian Premier League).”
WPL rules forbid mid-tournament replacements and England’s players were informed staying on for the entire campaign would mean having to miss T20s against New Zealand on March 19, 22 and 24.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the absences of several regulars for the start of the trip is Tammy Beaumont, who has an opportunity to press her claims ahead of the T20 World Cup in the autumn.
Beaumont has been stranded on 99 T20 caps since January 2022, conspicuously overlooked despite a resurgence in form last year in which she starred in both the multi-format Ashes and then The Hundred.
While Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley are a settled opening combination in T20s for England, Beaumont, a Test and ODI regular, can muddy the waters a few months before the World Cup in Bangladesh.
“Tammy’s played some really good cricket,” said Lewis, whose side also play three ODIs against the White Ferns in April. “We asked her to go away and improve in certain areas.
“She went away and did that and she’s pushing her case to open the batting. I think that’s probably the only position she can bat. I hope that she’ll get the opportunity that she probably deserves.”
Uncapped batting all-rounder Hollie Armitage is in England’s squad for the first three T20s as is slow left-armer Linsey Smith, who is in line for her first international appearance in four years.
Mahika Gaur played two T20s for England last summer but the 17-year-old left-arm seamer has been omitted as she is studying for her A-levels.
England’s T20 squad: H Knight (captain), H Armitage (first three T20s), T Beaumont, L Bell, M Bouchier, A Capsey (last two T20s) C Dean, S Dunkley, S Ecclestone (last two T20s) L Filer, D Gibson, S Glenn, B Heath, A Jones, N Sciver-Brunt (last two T20s), L Smith (first three T20s), D Wyatt (last two T20s).
England ODI squad: H Knight (captain), T Beaumont, L Bell, M Bouchier, A Capsey, K Cross, C Dean, S Dunkley, S Ecclestone, L Filer, D Gibson, S Glenn, B Heath, A Jones, N Sciver-Brunt, D Wyatt.
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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