England’s unfamiliar white-ball side swap formats, opponents and capitals on Sunday. They are in Cardiff for a T20 international against Pakistan, after which the regulars from the IPL – Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow – return to the squad for five ODIs, which will provide crucial preparation for the World Cup.
A new list published by the ICC is a reminder that Pakistan are the top-ranked team in the T20 format by a considerable margin, though they have not been playing in temperatures similar to those they will experience in Cardiff.
That list has been expanded to 80 nations, the last of which is Lesotho. Other striking rankings include West Indies, two-time World T20 winners, who are ninth; Nepal are 11th, Ireland 15th while the Maldives are 72nd, which may be worthy of further investigation by your correspondent. England are third.
Eoin Morgan and his team arrive in Cardiff relieved that they escaped early-season humiliation in Dublin, thanks mostly to the cool heads of the Surrey pair, Tom Curran and Ben Foakes, who, despite his match-winning innings, will leave the party on Sunday night.
After the confusion and dismay prompted by Alex Hales’s situation it was important that England won against Ireland, however ugly their performance. That affair overshadowed the debut of Jofra Archer, which had been long anticipated. Archer’s first appearance was understated though perfectly competent. He looked composed; he bowled with control and took a good catch.
The one moment that must have had the coaches licking their lips was when he delivered the perfect yorker to dispatch Mark Adair, who had just cracked Curran for two sixes. Bowling the yorker is a declining art and a riskier one as batsmen improvise so much better, but Archer is better than most in this department.
Not that he would boast about his prowess. At the moment Archer is understandably shy and wary of all the attention he has been attracting. On his first international wicket he quietly recalled without fuss: “The guy was starting to up the ante so I was just focused on getting him out. I was a bit excited.”
He is tiptoeing into the setup. “It’s been very welcoming. I knew most of the guys before coming here,” he said despite a few critical remarks from his new teammates about his sudden elevation. “Sometimes the media can get things wrong and misquote people,” said Archer. “I haven’t felt any malice at all. It’s a really welcoming bunch of lads.”
Archer let it be known that those who have been quoted – Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and David Willey – were all keen to have a warm, explanatory chat with the new boy. There is the assumption that Archer would replace a pace bowler if he made the World Cup squad, though it would make just as much sense if he came in for the second reserve batsman.
Moreover, he is hardly barging in expecting to become the main man. Looking ahead to the World Cup he said: “The guys have been together a long time and they probably do deserve it, so I won’t feel too bad if I’m left out.”
Archer can graduate to being the helpful go-between in Cardiff when introducing his young Sussex colleague, Phil Salt, to the squad. Even though he was born in Wales Salt, a 22-year-old right-handed opener, may feel a bit of a stranger in the Cardiff dressing room, having been called up as a replacement for Dawid Malan, who has a groin strain. It is unlikely that Salt will make the final XI against Pakistan – Malan’s place will surely go to Ben Duckett – but he will get a precious feel of international cricket.
Salt is particularly suited to white-ball cricket and he has leapt up the pecking order rapidly because the England hierarchy is not in the mood to summon Joe Clarke or Tom Kohler‑Cadmore at the moment.
Royal London Cup roundup
George Rhodes scored his maiden century for Worcestershire as they took another step towards the knockout stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup by overpowering Yorkshire by 150 runs at New Road.
The all-rounder reached three figures off 107 balls and shared in a record-breaking fifth wicket stand with Ben Cox (87) to rescue the home side from 62 for four.
Wayne Parnell then made another decisive contribution with the ball with his second five-wicket haul of the week. He dismissed the Yorkshire top three and ended with five for 25 from seven overs as they were bowled out for 143 in 33 overs to end their qualification hopes.
Lancashire missed out on a chance to secure qualification from the Royal London One-Day Cup group stage following a five-wicket (Duckworth/Lewis) defeat to Warwickshire.
The Red Rose, having finished their campaign, need other results to go their way on Monday after the home side chased down a target of 255 in 45 overs with two balls to spare.
