Assuming Katherine Brunt and Laura Marsh are not fit I don't think there will be any great surprises in the England 15 for the Bangladesh T20 World Cup which is likely to be announced this week. I suggest the squad will look like this
Some certainties:-
Charlotte Edwards, Sarah Taylor, Lydia Greenway, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver, Dani Hazell, Anya Shrubsole, Jenny Gunn
Likelies:-
Tash Farrant, Amy Jones, Lauren Winfield, Kate Cross, Georgia Elwiss, Dani Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont (added following Arran Brindle's retirement)
Missing out (from winter training squad):-
Laura Marsh, Katherine Brunt, Beth Langstone, Fran Wilson, Arran Brindle (having announced her retirement from international cricket) and Rebecca Grundy
England will probably travel to the tournament as second favourites, behind the Aussies, and they have by far the tougher of the two groups - they play Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Only the top two from the group will get through to the semi-finals so they cannot afford any slip-ups. It is going to be tough, especially as T20s can turn on the performance of just one individual, either with bat or ball. Potential banana skins are the West Indies (will they have Dottin back?), Sri Lanka (who fancy themselves at T20), and India (can be poor but have some classy performers). England will have to be at their best to beat these teams and I can see one or two "shock results" in this group.
In Group A Australia have New Zealand, Ireland, Pakistan and South Africa. You would expect the Aussies and New Zealand to emerge from this group, but I have a feeling that South Africa might do well, although they may not be consistent enough to make it through to the semi-finals.
It all kicks off on 23rd March with Australia v New Zealand, followed the next day by England v West Indies. It should be a cracking tournament.
Full fixtures are available here- http://www.icc-cricket.com/world-t20/fixtures/women
MD
17/II/14
expert & informed news, views and comment on women's cricket around the world - sponsored by B3 Cricket
Perhaps merely to be the devil's advocate :-
ReplyDelete(a) Heather Knight does not have a track record of T20 success for England
(b) Lydia Greenway's last 7 T20 innings have been 9,0,1,36,0,15, and 0
(c) Beaumont has a T20 scoring rate of 71.10 (significantly worse than any other player and her scoring rate in the T20s in Sri Lanka were 82.14, 104.00, 58.33, 57.14)
(d) can we really go to a sub-continent WC with only one 'go to' spinner ?
(e) does the Academy have any pitch hitters capable of blasting the likes of 24 from 12 balls ?
Not playing the Devil's advocate:-
(a) I like to see a player or two in there that is capable of really swinging the bat later in the innings
(b) I suspect the 15 you've highlighted will be the 15 the selectors go for (assuming Nunny and Boggy are injured).
(c) Happy retirement Arran, you've earned it. Great player. The playing area will be a lot quieter without her !