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England XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
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Jos Buttler is back and celebrates the baby’s birth by winning the toss on a pitch with a “little bit of green grass”. Mum and baby are apparently doing well. Babar Azam says he would have bowled too.
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One change for England: Mark Wood for Reece Topley.
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Two changes for Pakistan: Usman Khan and Naseem Shah for Saim Ayub and Imad Wasim
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Good evening from this wet land. Today’s T20 is on paper the fourth and last of the warm-up series, in theory the second and last, but the weather may run a line through the whole damn thing.
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Simon Burnton is at The Oval where he has in the last five minutes reported sun, showers, “chucking it down” and sun again. But we’ll be here anyway, weather watching. Do join in.
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Important Events
Moeen Ali In the huddle, Jos Buttler pulls his sleeve over his wristband and races into the middle, Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan running into the flames.
“It’s like the World Cup. “For many of the players, this is their last chance,” reckons Tom Hood Guft. “Buttler, Ali, Wood and Bairstow are all getting a bit old… but Liam Livingstone seems an older, more mercurial talent than I expected. He’s like a T20 Zak Crawley, but the highlight reel is less impressive. In theory, his spin and powerful hitting are better than Curran’s lively medium-pace and pinch-hitting. But when in a pinch, Curran seems to have delivered more and risen to the occasion. Even if the inclusion of Golden Arm in the team makes it feel like there are a shortage of batsmen.”
It’s an interesting story. We were discussing Rivington at Old Trafford last week and how strange his career has been. He wanted to be a Test player but injuries and the rise of franchise cricket shaped his path. Both he and Curran have the traditional polished skills plus the ability to hit infuriating mis-hit sixes and take wickets with a terrible ball.
Pakistan XI
Pakistan XI: Mohammed Rizwan, Babar Azam (c), Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammed Amir, Naseem Shah.
Hello, epic drop Zayn Malik!
“If the weather in London cooperates (miracles do happen), you might even be able to watch T20-I #17 at cricket’s self-proclaimed ‘true home’.” Well, um, yes. The so-called People’s Cricket Ground will host the Men in Green. It’s been more than a decade since the historic venue hosted the shortest format. Perhaps the Oval is shying away from the glitzy spectacle of T20 cricket to preserve its lofty reputation.
“The Oval is virtually Pakistan’s second home. It all began in 1954 when Fazal Mahmood turned the England batting line-up into his own plaything and Pakistan recorded their first Test match victory on English soil in just their second appearance. It was a true ‘we’ve come here’ moment.
“Fast forward decades and the Oval has become the stage for Pakistani cricket theatre. Of course, there was the 2006 ball-tampering soap opera, but hey, great venues need their scandals. That momentary misstep aside, the last time England beat Pakistan in a Test match at this ground was in 1967. Yes, 1967. Think about it.
“This is the same ground where Pakistan won the Champions Trophy and claimed the gold medal. It is where cricketing greats like Miandood and Zaheer Abbas smashed double centuries as if swatting a fly and Younis Khan added his magnum opus to the Oval’s storied history. And who can forget Umar Gul’s smashing victory over New Zealand in the 2009 T20 World Cup, when he transformed the pitch into his own shooting range.”
“So here we are, at a venue as old as cricket (at least cricket thinks so). It’s a normally overcast and dreary Thursday evening, but let’s pray to the weather gods that there will be some break in the clouds so we can catch a glimpse of a cricket match.”
At the moment, gods are listening, it’s grey, but dry as I write this.
World Cup Announcement: England Belongs to Group B Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman. Pakistan Belongs to Group A India, Ireland, Canada and united states of america.
England XI
England XI: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (c, wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
England win the toss and will bowl!
Jos Buttler is back And he celebrated the birth of his baby by winning the toss on a pitch with “a bit of green grass”. Both mother and baby are doing well. Babar Azam says he would have been bowling too.
England make one change: Mark Wood for Reece Topley.
Two changes for Pakistan: Usman Khan and Naseem Shah for Saim Ayub and Imad Wasim.
Simon has more good news. “Some early team news. Archer and CJ have been performing well so will be in the squad. Hopefully Wood will replace Topley.” Jos Buttler has also returned to the squad but there is no official announcement yet on whether his baby has arrived.
The weather theme unfolds“Hopefully there will be some cricket to watch today,” Simon McMahon wrote.At least you don’t have to worry about the weather When the tournament begins…
oh dear…
Hello Brendan Large! “Why did they start cricket in England? It was supposed to be an indoor sport? I love watching England play and this ‘series’ has ruined my week. Frustrated England fans in Norway praying for the game to even be played today.”
It’s a dire situation. In fairness, the early Hambledon settlers probably didn’t foresee the myriad disasters that man-made climate change will bring. Fortunately, the ICC, in its multi-million pound deals with Aramco and others, is embracing it quite enthusiastically.
Latest from the capital: The covers are now being removed and Pakistan is getting warmer, making you wonder who was the fool to plan this stop in a country where umbrellas are always present.
I enjoyed this article about Uganda by Taha.
Here’s The Guardian’s team-wise guide, from Rohit to Ravindra.
preamble
Good evening from this wetlandToday’s T20 is on paper the fourth and final of the warm-up series and on paper the second and final, but the weather could ruin it all.
Simon Burnton is at the Oval and reports that in the last five minutes it’s been sunny, a shower, a downpour and then sunny again. But we’re here to watch the weather anyway, and we hope you’ll join us.
