Cricket West Indies CEO Jonny Grave Suspended For Misappropriation Of Funds Worth When England starts Twenty20 World Cup preparations at Headingley, they will look to their six-hitters to break out of their white-ball slump.
Jos Buttler will get his first opportunity to prove he has moved on from a dismal finish to 2023 and transform his team into a power at the World Cup next month, when they will be defending the championship won in 2022, in the first Twenty20 of a four-match series against Pakistan on Wednesday.
The top five of Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Will Jacks, Phil Salt, and Buttler are undoubtedly capable of winning any slugfest, and high-scoring matches on modest West Indian fields should be the norm come next month.
England’s emphasis on six-hitting continues all the way down the order, with Chris Jordan, at thirty-five, returning because of his ability to come in and clear the ropes from his first ball at No. 8. Liam Livingstone is injured but will add another explosive to the mix when fit.
In the Indian Premier League, three of the top four scorers for England made hundreds; the fourth, Salt, batted at a scorching strike rate of 182, striking a six per nine balls. One of the best boundary hitters in the game, Brook is keen to return to the international squad after withdrawing from the IPL.
Jacks is just playing in his 12th Twenty20 match, and the top three players are still getting used to each other after being assembled for the first time in December for the West Indies series. Even though Jacks struck a century off only 41 balls in the IPL, he recently admitted to ESPN Cricinfo that he was still getting used to batting at number three. This series is crucial for the side, who have previously been accused of playing too lightly in their preparation for the World Cup.
Buttler had an erratic IPL career, amassing two hundreds but not much more. But he is rejuvenated, not like the exhausted player at the end of 2023, who was carrying the weight of a disappointing World Cup and series loss in the West Indies.
