T20 World Cup 2010

The much anticipated T20 World Cup starts today in Guyana with Sri Lanka opening the tournament with their game against New Zealand. Ireland will face the West Indies in the second match of the opening day.

The ICC President David Morgan has promised a festival atmosphere in the Caribbean, expecting a celebration of all that is good about West indies cricket.

Morgan has urged the people of the Caribbean to bring their enthusiasm and passion for cricket to the matches and make it a memorable event for everyone involved.

“Bring your musical instruments, your songs and cheers, your flags, banners and colourful costumes. And, above all, bring that party spirit for which cricket matches in the West Indies are famous.”

Australia start as narrow favourites to win the tournament, but England’s T20 underachievers are getting former captain Michael Vaughan excited.

Having secured warm up wins against Bangladesh and South Africa, confidence in the England camp is bound to be high. Despite the top order pairing of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter yet to prove themselves, Vaughan is hopeful for Paul Collingwood’s team and says;

“This is the first time I have got excited about the England squad coming into the T20 World Cup. For the first time we have guys in the batting with power from one to seven. Maybe we’re a little bit inexperienced in the bowling department, but I think it’s the batting which has let us down in the past. We have had guys who have played in the Indian Premier League – which is a big plus to a team going into a tournament like this. I would be disappointed if we don’t put up some kind of fight.”

Meanwhile Ireland will be action on day one of the tournament having lost their warm ups against New Zealand and Afghanistan. They face the West Indies today in their opening game and coach Phil Simmons is confident that Ireland will come good, suggesting that his team still have the desire to perform in the competition.

The tournament is split into four groups of three with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the Super Eights.

The semi-finals take place in St Lucia on 13 and 14 May and the final in Barbados on 16 May.

The heavy defeat in the Stanford Twenty20 match, coupled with the twin dismissals of captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores mean that the side go into the tour of the West Indies at a low ebb. However, try telling that to the hundreds of supporters that will follow them to the Caribbean.

Widely regarded as the best cricket supporters in the world, the ‘Barmy Army‘ are famous for their imaginative songs, sense of humour and the amount of fun they bring to stadiums, particularly on overseas tours. They will once again provide the soundtrack to England’s four tests and five one day internationals.

Despite English sports fans having a somewhat tarnished reputation when travelling abroad, the Barmy Army’s charm and wit has won them immense popularity among foreign opponents, something which their media manager Paul Winslow says is vitally important: “The image we have overseas is even better than it is in Britain,” he says.

“We’re hugely popular, the media interest is immense and everyone enjoys the banter and atmosphere we bring to games.”

This unique atmosphere is much commented on, with even Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting calling the Barmy Army “the best sporting fans in the world.” As unusual though it might be for an Australian to admit an English strength, Ponting’s view is reciprocated by Australian journalist Graeme Sims.

Sims is editor of Australia’s ‘Inside Sport’ magazine, and he says that the admiration for the Barmy Army is shared by most cricket observers Down Under: “They’re a bit crude at times, but never violent, and their cheeky wit lends them a charm that helps carry it off.” he explains. “I think it’s a view shared by most if not all commentators, who think they add fabulous colour.”

Sims says this is a huge contrast to most Autralian fans: “It is still a bit alien for more reserved Aussie cricket fans, who aren’t used to singing at sporting events, and prefer the peace and quiet.”

Despite traditional national stereotypes labelling the British as the more reserved nation, Sims says the Barmy Army still represent a certain British characteristic: “It’s a bit of a stretch to say they totally represent a national character, but there’s certainly something fabulously and hilariously British about the Army.”

The Army’s Winslow agrees that while the Barmy Army is a diverse organisation, the more traditionally British elements of their character tend to shine through: “There’s certainly the black humour element and the ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ feel,” he says.

“Why would you pay so much money to go and watch sport overseas when your team is not very good? Who knows? I think there’s an element of a British love of sport, there’s an element of our love of travelling and an element of madness.”

Certainly, to observe the Army at work at an overseas Test venue is to see a group of sports followers that could only really come from English shores. Formed in 1994 and given their name by the Australian media, the Army are led in song by “Jimmy”, a fan given his nickname due to his resemblence to Jimmy Saville.

Witty banners and songs are the Army’s unofficial trademark, and, while the Aussies usually bear the brunt of the good natured banter, the Barmy Army aren’t scared to poke fun at themselves either.

Although English football jerseys are just as frequently spotted amongst the hoardes as cricket shirts, the Army’s mantra couldn’t be further a way from the image only recently shaken off by English football followers.

“We have worked hard over many years to create something which has a great reputation and we fight hard to keep that,” says Winslow. Paid up members sign up to a code of conduct, we are very proud of our reputation.”

It is clearly a reputation which goes before them, and interaction with local communities and cricket fans on overseas tours is high on the list of priorities. Despite spending much of their time travelling between venues, the Army attempt to see as much of the local culture as possible, as Winslow explains: “For many people, including myself, following England is an opportunity to combine a passion for cricket with a passion for travel and the world.”

“We use our spare time to visit the sights and talk to the locals. We also do a lot of charity work overseas – particularly in places like Sri Lanka.”

For the members of the Barmy Army travelling to the Caribbean, seeing new captain Andrew Strauss lead his beleaguered side to a series victory would be the dream outcome, although whatever the result, the Barmy Army are likely to leave their mark.

“Our sense of humour seems to set us apart,” claims Winslow. “A sense of humour that enables you to see the funny side in travelling all the way to Australia to see your side lose 5-0. We don’t take ourselves too seriously but at the same time people realise that we are representing our country.”

The England captain has only scored 24 runs in his four innings against South Africa this summer and has just the one century in his last 22 test innings.  Even in his few appearances for Yorkshire, Michael Vaughan simply hasn’t delivered.

Of course, as captain, if his team was winning – he could probably get away with his own personal lack of form. However, after going 1-0 down in the series against South Africa at Headingley, England are struggling again at Edgbaston. After winning the toss and batting first, they were dismissed 231 with Michael Vaughan being removed for a first ball duck. The pressure of England’s most successful captain of all time grows by the minute.

Michael Vaughan’s batting form has been questioned before though. Like most international players he has gone through spells when he hasn’t been getting runs. He is used to answering questions about his batting. However, something that hasn’t been a major part of Michael Vaughan’s career has been criticism about his captaincy. Something which is beginning to sneak in. Selection confusion and poor team performances have caused this and I can’t help but think that the last couple of weeks have been the beginning of the end for Michael Vaughan.

I hope he turns it around, but at 33-years-old, perhaps he won’t have the chance to do so. I respect him for what he has done for English cricket, both as a batsman and as a captain, but things are certainly not how they should be right now and I think he knows it.

Let’s say Michael Vaughan steps down as England captain at the end of this English summer. It probably won’t happy but let’s just consider if it did. My biggest worry would be that there are no obvious candidates for the captaincy. The only man who would be capable of doing the job, in my view, would be Andrew Strauss. However, he is 31-years-old and still has to improve his batting form if he is to 100% cement his place in the team. There is no doubt that in terms of cricket betting, I’d be pretty stumped when it came to choosing the next England cricket captain.

For now though, the focus has to be on avoiding defeat against South Africa at Edgbaston. Things aren’t looking great at lunch on day two and if England do go on to lose the test match, it will be a home series defeat for Michael Vaughan’s men. Something that will pile even more pressure on the England skipper.

Pietersen received a tremendous ovation from the normally staid Lord’s crowd, probably in recognition of just how much effort he has put in for his adopted country. There was a lot of talk about how the visitors would be targeting Pietersen, sledging him etc – his innings today was the most marvellous response. If he can continue this form, there may be a number of ashes bets placed on him leading the scoring charts next summer.

SA skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and put England in – I bet he regrets that now, although Vaughan also said he would have bowled. The recent rain in London seems to have taken all the life and pace out of the track leaving the visitors’ hyped-up pace attack looking distinctly unthreatening.

On other days on other pitches they may well be a handful, but here they never adjusted to the conditions – constantly bowling too short and wide to be a threat. England’s batsmen – especially KP – must be looking to kill off the game tomorrow.

So what has changed? What is improving? Well, as I have touched on before, the bowling attack is settled and starting to perform consistently. The trio of Broad, Anderson and Sidebottom all had significant spells where they picked up wickets. The latter was relied upon too much in New Zealand and hopefully Anderson’s performance in the most recent test is a sign of things to come. There are some other factors though which have assisted in England’s ever improving performances.

The return of Andrew Strauss – This has been key. The 177 he scored in Napier signalled a return to form for the Middlesex man. Not only did he average 66.5 during the most recent series, but he managed to pick up the man of the series award. He has looked solid at the top of the order and has a safe pair of hands at first slip – which also helps.

Michael Vaughan’s form – The return of Strauss enabled the England captain to move to his more natural position of number three. After an excellent century in the first test at Lords, he has gone onto average 50 in the series. If anything, he will be annoyed at not recording another big score after making two or three solid starts. Still, a vast improvement to performances he put in during the New Zealand tour.

Kevin Pietersen of old – Ok, it was only one innings, but the century he recorded in the final test was a joy to watch. He played with freedom and confidence, something that has been lacking in recent months. Keep it up KP.

Stuart Broad – He just has something special about him doesn’t he? During this series, he has made the England number 8 slot his own. He ended up the fourth leading run scorer for the home side, making his maiden test fifty along the way. His bowling is coming on as well, although he could do with getting a few more wickets here and there. At just 21 years of age though, you would bet on Stuart Broad being around for a long, long time.

Despite these positive aspects of the recent series, there are still some pieces the jigsaw that need to be adjusted. Specifically, the pieces that Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell are currently occupying. Neither of them made a fifty in the series and will be looking at the one-day games as a chance to find some form. Otherwise, the current form of Ravi Bopara or the return of Andrew Flintoff could effect them.

For now though, things are looking better for Peter Moores and his England team and if you were to bet on the Ashes right now – you’d give them a chance. The attention now moves onto the one-day team, with the momentum created by the test team hopefully playing a part in a rare limited overs victory.