Williamson doesn’t see teams blindly copying England T20 template
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson does not expect teams to blindly copy the template England provided after winning the T20 World Cup in Australia with their unbridled aggression.
An England side teeming with power-hitters and all-rounders suffered a shock defeat to Ireland in a rain-marred contest, but otherwise blew away opposition en route to their second World T20 title.
They plundered runs in power plays, barely relented in the middle overs and accelerated again in the death overs, maintaining the kind of tempo that their opponents could only dream of.
Williamson insisted teams would plot strategies according to their strength and weaknesses.
“The English team has a very strong side and they’re playing a strong brand of cricket, which is very aggressive,” the 32-year-old told Indian journalists in a virtual news conference on Tuesday.
“I think it suits the balance of their side.
“Every team is always trying to be nice and clear on the strengths in their team and play according to those and put out their best performances.”
Many observers believe England have revolutionised how cricket’s shortest format is played, but Williamson, whose team lost to Pakistan in the semifinals, was not so sure.
“They [teams] see the game evolving all the time.
“But you also see it kind of go in circles where it goes in one direction and then comes back to another.
“At the end of it, I think it’s just trying to understand what the best recipe is for the team you are in with the resources that you have.”
Williamson alluded to Ireland’s victory against England and the Netherlands’ win against SA to make his point that T20 cricket was ripe for such upsets.
“There are so many strong T20 sides, and we saw at this tournament more than any other that, on any day, anybody could beat one another.
“That almost happened here as well and we saw a number of upsets.
“It just shows that certainly in this format, and with the matchwinners that are in every team, that it can happen.”
• Australia captain Pat Cummins has opted out of playing the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2023, citing a heavy international schedule.
The Test and one-day skipper played the last three IPL tournaments with Kolkata Knight Riders but cut short his 2022 campaign due to a hip injury.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to miss next year’s IPL,” he said on Twitter on Tuesday.
“The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODIS for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup.”
Cummins had a disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup on home soil, taking only three wickets from four matches at an average of 44.00 as defending champions Australia crashed out before the semifinals.
Australia’s Ashes tour of England starts in June 2023 before India host the 50-over World Cup in October/december.
• Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been cleared of serious damage to his knee after his dramatic breakdown during the T20 World Cup final.
The pace spearhead hurt his knee when taking an outfield catch in the defeat to England in Melbourne on Sunday and was unable to bowl out his four overs.
The Pakistan cricket board said a scan on Monday had confirmed there was no signs of injury and Afridi’s discomfort was likely “due to a forced knee flexion.”
Medical staff had advised a twoweek rehabilitation. —