T20 Squad Reaction

The selectors have drawn the following conclusions from the World T20 in June; they've dropped Mascarenhas, Key, Foster and Napier, and called up Trott, Prior, Denly and Bresnan for the upcoming games against Australia. Flintoff returns from injury, whilst KP has succumbed to it.

I think they've got all four of the form-related changes right. Mascarenhas has never done much wrong for England, but it could be argued he hasn't quite done enough right since his debut two summers ago.

It would be unfair to judge Key on his sole World T20 appearance - the ill-fated tournament opener against the Netherlands - and with a career T20 average just shy of 30 and captaincy credentials he deserves his place on the selectors radar. But in a way, despite being capped just once in the format, he is synonymous with England - good, but not quite good enough.

Foster was a success at the World T20 in keeping terms, but was one of a band of middle order hitters who came up short. At the time I felt there was a case for including him and Prior (as a batsman), but the latter's glovework in the two months since suggests England can dispense with Foster.

England's unwillingness to use Napier probably says it all. Certainly one to monitor - as anyone capable of scoring a 20 over 150 should be - but so far he's failed to convince that that innings wasn't a one-off.

England World T20 Report Card: Batsmen

Bopara - Scores: 55, 37, 2, 5, 46. A couple of soft dismissals aside, showed why he'll be a focal point of England's batting in all three formats for the next decade or more. 8/10

Wright - 6, 1, 1, 34, 71. Will always be quite literally hit or miss, but makes a good opening partner for Bopara. If it works, England get off to a flyer, if it doesn't KP's in early - win/win. His warm-up match score against the West Indies and his 34 off 16 against Pakistan proved that he can score runs against quality attacks as well as the minnows. 7/10

Pietersen - 31, 46, 19, 58. Vital to his team's chances. Has finally worked out how to bat in T20. Match-winning 58 against Pakistan was made under intense pressure given the match and injury situation. Has by far the team's best boundary hitting ability. When he plays well, so do England. 8.5/10

Shah - 18, 12, 38, 33, 5. The jury is still out to an extent, but he warrants his place for now. Has six-hitting ability - a rare commodity in this England team. Useful contributions, but will be as frustrated as anybody at being unable to push on for a bigger score. 7/10

Collingwood - 11, 7, 19, 15, 11. The reluctant captain's scores were not good enough. Always scores at a run-a-ball, but comes in near the end when England need illusive boundaries. Captaincy-wise acted with dignity and honestly, rotated his bowlers well, but made a big mistake in opting to bat first against the West Indies. Well worth a place in the other forms of the game, but T20 future looks uncertain. 6/10

Key - 10*. Hopelessly out of form coming into the tournament. Needed more explosive finish than he could provide against the Dutch. Main argument for squad inclusion seemed to be previous captaincy success, but he wasn't captain. Including his Kent opening partner would have been more beneficial. 5/10

Morgan - 6. Can't judge on his solitary performance, but has done enough over the past few weeks to suggest an England future. Exciting and - crucially for T20 - innovative, though we didn't see it in this tournament.  5/10

Foster - 13, 6, 1, 14, 3*. As an experiment it worked and it didn't. Quality 'keeper - the best at England's disposal, but an inferior batsman to Matt Prior. How do you balance his crucial stumpings of Yuvraj and Bravo with the middle-order boundary hitting of Prior? Maybe include them both, Prior as a specialist batsman. 7/10

Mascarenhas - 1, 16, 25. Curious tournament - was unable to find the middle of the bat. He's there to hit maximums and cause clean-hitting chaos in the closing overs, but it never materialised. Scoring 25 off 27 when coming in at four against India cannot have been what was asked of him. 6/10

Napier - Did not play. The middle order was crying out for his big-hitting finishing. Can't have been impressing in the nets. n/a 

England V India: Analysis

A thrilling game and a brilliant win. Here's what went well, and what needs attention:

  

  Where the game was won:

• The bowling - Hard to score off, good pace and bounce.
• Team selection - Sidebottom inclusion paid off.
• Flexible batting order - In theory, the move to bring Mascarenhas in at four was a good one. He's struggling to find the middle of the bat at the moment and India bowled well to him - meaning he finished with a sub-100 strike-rate - but England needed the momentum then, and that time in the middle may prove beneficial next time.
• Pietersen - Seems to have realised that he barely needs to alter his natural game in T20. When he plays well, so do England.
• Foster's stumping of Yuvraj - Justified his inclusion in one match-turning moment. Doubtful any other England 'keeper would have managed it.
• Fielding and catching - Flawless, save for one Stuart Broad missed stumping.
• Bowling plans and field placings - Didn't allow the Indian batsmen to play their natural game. Driving was off the menu, instead they had to resort to easily miss-timed pulls and cuts.
• Collingwood juggled his bowlers well - Maligned skipper got everything right in the field.

  Where the game was nearly lost:

• Batting - Inability to push on when Bopara and Pietersen departed. Not enough maximums again. Tempering Foster's brilliant stumping is the fact that Matt Prior coming in at five or six would be a very welcome sight.

A fine display, though defeat today would render it meaningless.

Read Jonathan Agnew's reaction