IT’LL BE RASH BANG WALLOP
EXCLUSIVE
ROSS HEPPENSTALL CRAIG WHITE believes that Adil Rashid’s deadly bowling can skewer Australia – and go on to help inspire England to T20 World Cup glory Down Under.
Hosts Australia are the defending champions, but White – who played 30 Tests and 51 one-day internationals – reckons England’s white-ball chief Matthew Mott has enough quality in his squad to go all the way.
England kick-off a quick three-match T20 series against Australia in Perth today, ahead of the World Cup, which starts next Sunday.
The visitors arrive in Oz boosted by a thrilling 4-3 series win over Pakistan despite being without the likes of captain Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone.
White (right) said: “I do rate England’s chances of winning the World
Cup pretty highly. They’ve just been to Pakistan, obviously a very tough place to play, and they performed extremely well.
“Australia and India are probably the two World Cup favourites – and the Aussies are always tough to beat in their own back garden. But if England get on a winning streak they’ll be hard to stop.
“It’s always good to win in Australia… not that I won much over there during my own England playing career!”
The fit-again Buttler will return for his first tournament as skipper, while Mott has confirmed that Test captain Stokes will bat in the top four.
White believes the leg-spin wizardry of Rashid, along with the deadly trio of left-arm seamers Reece Topley, Sam Curran and David Willey, could prove to be a decisive factor in England’s favour.
Left-arm quickie Tymal Mills is a travelling reserve despite being England’s leading-wicket taker in the last World Cup before suffering an injury blow.
White said: “I think it’s a really well-balanced team. What I especially like is, with Mills going as a travelling replacement, you’ve got four left-arm seamers in the squad.
“Most teams will have maybe one, if that, but we could be playing two in the same team, which just gives a different angle.
“It’s just a little bit different and that could be the X-Factor for us – that we’ve got the left-arm bowlers.
“Rashid is going to be key because he can bowl well in that middle period and take wickets.
“How do you slow a team down? You take wickets – and Rashid is a wicket taker, so he’ll play a massive role.
“That first six overs with the bat in T20 cricket is crucial. If you can get off to a flier then it just sets that platform to kick-on.
“Mark Wood is bowling beautifully, with good pace, and Willey is also a decent death bowler, so they do have options at the end too.
“With death bowling you’re either the hero or the villain. You’re going to go at some stage, but you’ll have a good day out in one game as well, so you’ve got to know that it’s 50/50.
“You might get tapped or take three or four wickets and be a hero – that’s death bowling. But I’m confident England can go all the way.”
Craig White was speaking at the launch of William Hill’s newly transformed, state-of-the-art shop on Vicar Lane, Leeds. This exciting, new digital shop also delivers innovations in player safety.