T20 World Cup: England have players to make up for bad Ashes – may need to if Brendon McCullum keeps his job | Cricket News

What better way for England to recover from a winter of discontent than by winning a white-ball world title?

The ash was terrible. The series was lost in 11 days, with England being blamed for preparation (or lack thereof), communication and (allegedly) a little too much lubrication.

That was before we got into shot selection. Hey, did something bad happen?

Even after Ashes ended, the unwanted headlines didn’t stop.

Shortly after England’s series-ending defeat to Australia in Sydney, news broke that white-ball captain Harry Brook had been involved in a scuffle with a nightclub bouncer on the eve of an ODI in New Zealand in November. He was given a £30,000 fine and a final warning.

Brook initially said he was alone when he was “clocked” by Wellington security, but later admitted Jacob Bethell and Josh Tan had lied “to protect their teammates”.

Thankfully, England are also starting to make headlines, with Brook leading them to five consecutive wins in Sri Lanka, a 2-1 come-from-behind win in the ODI series and a commanding 3-0 victory in the T20 internationals.

England are currently tipped off to Sri Lanka’s pitches – the good pitches, the spinning pitches and the worst pitches Brook has hit on – and if they get past round one they will be available for all T20 World Cup Super 8 matches in the country. And they should get past the first round.

Given how volatile T20 cricket is and that no team should be underestimated, head coach Brendon McCullum, already under pressure after the Ashes failure, will likely be toast if he fails to finish in the top two of a group that also includes volatile West Indies (14 wins in the last 43 T20Is) and associate nations Scotland, Nepal and Italy.

From our performance in Sri Lanka, we are very satisfied with the work we have done so far, the way we have adapted to different situations, the style we have brought and the tactical acumen we have shown.

England head coach Brendon McCullum

England’s varied bowling attack

McCullum said he intends to evolve in Test cricket, even if he doesn’t completely change his ideals or be told how to do things, and to be fair, he’s already done that on the white-ball field.

When England were eliminated in the group stages of the 2025 Champions Trophy, there were no left-arm seamers or left-arm spinners in sight (Bethel would have pitched some of the latter had he not been ruled out with a hamstring strain).

The bowling attack was similar and so were the results. 3 games. 3 losses.

But this T20 World Cup, England’s team has two left-arm pacemen (Sam Curran, a box of tricks – watch out for the incredibly slow moonball – plus Luke Wood) and two left-arm spinners (Bethell and the reliable Liam Dawson).

There are right-arm quicks in Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton and Tang, a pair of leg-spinners in master Adil Rashid and apprentice Rehan Ahmed, and an off-spinner in Will Jacks.

That doesn’t mean the attack is perfect.

Pace was whipped at times by Sri Lankan batsmen during the T20 series, so England may adjust things accordingly. For example, in the opening match against Nepal, Wood replaced the all-rounder Overton and gave his bowling a little more edge.

But Overton’s advantage is that he can display his scoring ability at No. 8 and allow England’s batsmen to attack even harder, which is the real strength of this team. Opening duo Phil Salt and Jos Buttler don’t need an invitation to do so.

Salt, Butler’s spearhead, powerful batting lineup

On the night England thrashed South Africa 304-2 in Manchester last summer, the duo scored 126 runs within eight overs, with Salt initially playing second fiddle to Buttler, setting a national record for a T20I century of 39 balls.

As a duo, they averaged 51.45 points and scored 10.74 points per over, accumulating 1,132 points in 23 innings. Three of Salt’s four T20I tons came after the opening alongside Butler, who topped 50 tons on all three occasions. They seem to inspire each other.

Following Bethel and Tom Bunton in that order are Brooke, Curran and Jax, who are rated higher than Ben Duckett, at least for now. All had 6 hits.

They also have three left-handed batting options (Bethel, Duckett, Curran), giving them versatility. Another positive change from the Champions Trophy, where Duckett was the only southpaw.

England should have little trouble picking up runs with good pitching, while the dominant win against Sri Lanka, in which Curran’s 58 off 48 balls took his team from 60-6 to an eventual 128-9 victory, showed that spinners can reap the benefits of slow turns and that Brook’s side can win in uglier formats. It’s a wonderful characteristic.

The nightclub altercation in New Zealand, and the decision to go out the night before the match in the first place, highlights that Brook is a fairly understanding captain and astute tactician on the field, although he perhaps needs a little more energy off the field. ‘Hazball’ is being worked on ahead of Brook’s first world tournament in charge.

India are the overwhelming favorites to win the T20 World Cup, but England could be the strongest bet elsewhere as they seek a third title after success in the Caribbean in 2010 and Australia in 2022.

Probably the minimum requirement is to advance to the semi-finals. If it’s less than that, a knife will come out. If there are any more complaints, the McCollum era will likely be terminated.

It’s time to right the Ashes’ wrongs, guys.

England T20 World Cup fixtures (1st round)

Always UK and Ireland. All matches will be streamed live on Sky Sports

vs Nepal (Sunday 8 February) – Mumbai (9.30am) vs West Indies (Wednesday 11 February) – Mumbai (1.30pm) vs Scotland (Saturday 14 February) – Kolkata (9.30am) vs Italy (Monday 16 February) – Kolkata (9.30am)

Watch the Men’s T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from February 7th to March 8th. Get Sky Sports now and stream without a contract.