World Cup fever is spreading across the world, and it suddenly seems all very fashionable to be hosting a headline event in this late part of 2022.
Rugby league, rugby union and football are all hosting rescheduled events now or later this year, but my focus right now is very much on cricket, with Australia hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
A peculiar format means that qualifying is technically still underway, with two groups of four teams currently fighting it out to join the eight fully qualified teams in the ‘Super 12’ stage.
This is where England reside, alongside all their main challengers.
With their warm-up games now over and the wait for action ending on Saturday, I thought this a perfect time to assess Jos Buttler’s side’s chances, so let’s get underway.
Essentially, England are very good at T20 cricket.
That is an established fact, given that they were a Carlos Brathwaite miracle away from the title in 2016 and were probably even better as a team in 2021, but were edged out by New Zealand in the semi-finals.
The Three Lions are ranked second in the ICC’s T20 World Rankings, just behind India, and have been trailblazers in how to play white ball cricket in the last six or seven years.
All that remains is to get their hands on that coveted trophy.
They would not be the first England side to do so – Charlotte Edwards’ team in the 2009 women’s tournament and Paul Collingwood’s 2010 squad managed it – but this is a new era of T20, and it means a whole lot more now.
Just take Australia as a shining example of that.
Despite being dominant in the women’s game, their men’s team have generally been underwhelming in the T20 format; only reaching the World Cup Final once, in 2010.
They’ve tinkered and toyed with their selection policy for the format throughout that time, and going into the 2021 edition, the fact they’d essentially entered their Test team with a few additions didn’t create much buzz.
Any doubts were blown away, though, by an epic display of fortitude and togetherness that saw them snatch the trophy away from antipodean neighbours New Zealand.
Now, going into a home tournament as holders, Australia should have all the expectation on them.
It’s not quite like that, though, as the fact they sit sixth in the ICC Rankings has led journalists and bookies to favour either England or India for the title.
This is all just part of the fascination with short-format cricket; you can never predict what is going to happen.
In seven previous editions, the Men’s T20 World Cup has never been won by the host nation.
No defending champion has ever made it to the next final, either.
Let’s try not to make too much of these sequences, though – we should focus on the here and now.
England are well-fancied for the title, and for good reason; they are stacked with a wide-spanning arsenal of experienced T20 talent.
From the top of the order, they have captain Jos Buttler and Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales, finally forgiven for his previous misdemeanours in the wake of Jonny Bairstow’s freak leg injury.
A middle-order of Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brooks, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali has all the necessary tools to deliver in crunch moments.
Then, the bowling corps of Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, David Willey and Adil Rashid offer plenty of variety and cover should rotation be necessary.
That would have been an even stronger line-up had Reece Topley not suffered a late ankle injury, but with Sussex speedster Tymal Mills called up in Topley’s place, a different dimension is added.
Only three of England’s 15-man squad have not played in Australia’s Big Bash before – Ali, Curran and Wood – but even these three have starred in previous England tours down under.
The wildcard in England’s pack is their coach, Matthew Mott.
Mott is a distant figure in the media surrounding England’s campaign, which is down to the fact that he’s not at all interested in the limelight.
As Australia women’s head coach previously, Mott let his players take all the glory for their all-conquering achievements.
One imagines he’d be very much the same were England to prosper in his home nation.
Up against Afghanistan, Australia, New Zealand and two qualifiers (to be decided in the next two days) in the group stage, England need to remain consistent and resilient.
While three wins should be sewn up, games against Australia and New Zealand present plenty of danger.
Win either of these, get through, and we can worry about the talents of India/Pakistan/South Africa later.
England have all the tools to emerge from this unpredictable tournament as champions.
They will require fortune and need Buttler to adjust to captaincy on the fly at times, but this is far from unprecedented.
It is utterly thrilling to have such a good England team though, and with a massive few weeks ahead, I’m going to be glued to the action.
The Men’s T20 World Cup will be broadcast over Sky Sports until November 13, with highlights from all games also available at https://www.t20worldcup.com/fixtures.
Feature Image Credit: BT Sport YouTube