BALANCING ACT
Smith defends omission of Archer, Stokes and Curran from ODI series
Ed Smith is adamant England’s multi-format players have not been allowed to put the indian Premier League before international cricket, even though three of them will miss the second half of this month’s white- ball tour of South Africa.
Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran have been rested from the 50- over matches that complete England’s trip after playing a full part in the lucrative IPL and enduring another bio-secure bubble in the UAE.
that threw into focus cricket’s delicate balancing act that sees England’s best players juggling franchise and international commitments that have become ever more demanding in a Covid world which sees them in bubbles for weeks on end. But national selector Smith believes their desire to play for England should not be questioned and is happy to let key players miss matches as long as they are at their best when the big test series and tournaments come around.
‘ the ECB’s position for a number of years has been to permit players to play in the IPL,’ said Smith yesterday after naming a full-strength squad for the twenty20 games that have become a priority, with two short-form World Cups in the next two years. ‘that has coincided with England’s very good form in white-ball cricket and the World Cup success. it’s been excellent to see Sam Curran, for example, do so well in the IPL and have those development opportunities.
‘it’s going to be a case by case situation where we as selectors and the players constantly evaluate what’s in the best interests of them and England and we will be sensible about workloads.’
But that does raise the question of why England players who will be in South Africa for two weeks, leaving on a charter flight to Cape town on November 16, cannot stay on for an extra week to play in three more one-day matches.
‘i don’t think it’s a question that they are too tired to play for England after the IPL,’ Smith said. ‘i don’t think anyone can question their commitment to the England cause.’
in the case of Stokes, who missed the second half of last summer’s international programme for family reasons, Smith added: ‘We’d like Ben to be available and in a good place to be in that test team in Sri Lanka in January so it felt like the right thing to do to rest him for the second half of South Africa.’
the only real surprise was the inclusion of the talented but injury-plagued left-armer Reece topley in both squads. T20 SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Ali, Archer, Bairstow, Billings, Buttler, S Curran, T Curran, Jordan, Malan, Rashid, Roy, Stokes, Topley, Wood. Series — Nov 27: Newlands; Nov 29: Paarl; Dec 1: Newlands. ODI SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Ali, Bairstow, Billings, Buttler, T Curran, Gregory, Livingstone, Rashid, Root, Roy, Stone, Topley, Woakes, Wood. Series — Dec 4: Newlands; Dec 6: Paarl; Dec 9: Newlands.
AUSTRALIA all-rounder Shane Watson has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after his Chennai Super Kings side were eliminated from the IPL. injury-plagued Watson, 39, played 59 tests before reinventing himself as a t20 specialist.
DAN LAWRENCE, who was an integral member of Essex’s twenty20 Blast-winning team in 2019, will join Brisbane heat as cover for tom Banton in this winter’s Big Bash League.