Key events
3rd over: Scotland 26-0 (Munsey 13, Jones 12) Moeen Ali comes into the attack, an obvious match-up with Munsey at the crease. Munsey sweeps for four, gloves a nasty delivery past Buttler and then sweeps four more. That earlier delivery, which really kicked from a length, will interest Mark Watt in particular.
2nd over: Scotland 16-0 (Munsey 4, Jones 11) Jones stands tall to force Archer’s first two deliveries through the covers, each time for a couple of runs. He plays an even better stroke next ball, timing a similar shot to the cover boundary.
Archer goes fuller and wider to beat the outside edge, and an eventful, 10-run over concludes with a top-edged pull that goes straight over Buttler’s head and lands safely.
Sorry to say, the groundstaff are lurking on the boundary edge with intent.
Jofra Archer is about bowl his first ball at a World Cup since 7.34pm on 14 July 2019. Oh go on then.
1st over: Scotland 6-0 (Munsey 4, Jones 1) Wood’s first ball is a beautiful inswinging yorker that hits the left-hander Munsey on the boot. It would have missed leg stump but it’s a cracking start.
After a leg-bye and a single, Munsey clubs a length ball over mid-on for four. Not even Chris Jordan could reach that.
Mark Wood will open the bowling to the big-hitting George Munsey. Expect liveliness.
The players are walking onto the field for the anthems. It’s looking good for some cricket, though there are more showers forecast.
Play to start at 4.25pm (11.25am local)
Still no overs lost, cricket the winner, the wet patch now dry.
Another Bajan quick who deserves a mention: the late Ezra Moseley. He was rapid.
“Good afternoon Mr Smyth!” says Adam Hirst. “Welcome to the World Cup. Looking forward to this tournament. That Barbados XI would probably give it a good go as well, plenty of them would have coped and thrived in the modern style. I can’t think of an All-Time World XI that could be much better than that.”
Imagine the IPL auction with Sobers on the table. He’d be the first player to bankrupt a franchise, and it’d be worth every penny just to have him for one season.
“Not sure how Sylvester Clarke gets in the Barbados XI ahead of Charlie Griffifth,” writes Marcus Abdullahi, “and I would also suggest giving the gloves to Walcott to make space for Seymour Nurse (Test average: 47.60). There’s also a strong but controversial argument for dropping Haynes in favour of Conrad Hunte (better Test average).
“Incidentally, the Guyana top six in the early 1970s included Basil Butcher, Rohan Kanhai, Alvin Kallicharan, Roy Fredericks and Clive Lloyd, which by my reckoning is better than most Test line-ups past or present. What a time it was to be alive!”
I wouldn’t argue with any of that. Clarke was a romantic pick, or perhaps a sadistic one, as I was brought up on all the scare stories about him, but you’d probably pick Griffith, Wayne Daniel, Manny Martindale and Kemar Roach first.
I did think about Walcott but I’d want the best possible keeper to take all the edges. David Murray wasn’t in Nurse’s class as a batter, clearly, but Garry Sobers can score the extra runs.
I used to play fantasy cricket games as a kid and often picked Hunte ahead of Haynes in the all-time West Indies XI. I was just feeling nostalgic for the 1980s today.
Start delayed (again)
Apparently there’s a wet patch on the pitch, which is bloody problematic. There will be an inspection in 15 minutes, though it’ll surely take longer than that to dry it properly.
“Bit blown away by that Barbados XI,” says Phil Harrison, who should try playing against them. “Barbados has roughly the same population of Derby. I challenge you to assemble a Derby XI to take them on.”
I never thought the day would come when I’d decline the opportunity to pick a fantasy cricket XI. But here we are.
“I’m quite excited by this, now England’s world cup is finally getting underway,” says Andrew Cosgrove. “(Of course, my excitement will dissipate later when Scotland stifle England to win by 10 runs.)
“All those people saying that England (not) playing Pakistan in Manchester in May was poor preparation for a World Cup in the Caribbean are looking pretty stupid now it’s raining in Barbados, aren’t they? Eh? Eh? England will be perfectly tuned for dressing room cards.”
I wonder if they ever play Top Trumps. “Runs: 25,417.”
Play to start at 4pm (11am in Barbados)
No overs lost, cricket the winner.
The sun is starting to reappear so hopefully it won’t be too long before we start. No overs have been lost yet.
“All set for another international tournament,” chirps John Starbuck, “but what I want to know is: are there many Scottish fans there? In their kilts?”
I haven’t been the most diligent kilt-watcher in the world until now, so I can’t really say, but the moment I spot some furry Scottish legs I’ll let you know.
Start delayed The covers are still on, so it’s fair to surmise play won’t be starting in 60 seconds’ time. It doesn’t look too bad, so I don’t think England have travelled 4000 miles for another washout.
Ali Martin has only just arrived in Barbados, but he has already made the local paper, in which he is delightfully described as “a sports analyst”. It relates to the below piece on the opulent history of cricket on the island.
Talking of which, how’s this for a Barbados all-time XI: Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Frank Worrall (c), Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Garfield Sobers, David Murray (wk), Malcolm Marshall, Wes Hall, Joel Garner, Sylvester Clarke.
Update It’s no longer a light shower. Tremendous.
There’s a bit of rain at the Kensington Oval so the covers are going on. It’s a very light shower though, so hopefully play will start on time.
“England in a tournament with a Super 8s stage?” says Luke Dealtry. “Colour me pessimistic.”
The Sky pundits, Nasser Hussain and Eoin Morgan, are surprised Scotland have chosen to bat first. There’s a chance of rain later, and the pitch – which was used for Namibia v Oman – was a bit uneven. The variety in conditions and ground dimensions is already a feature of this World Cup.
The teams
Scotland Munsey, M Jones, McMullen, Berrington (c), Cross (wk), Leask, Greaves, Watt, Sole, Wheal, Currie.
England Salt, Buttler (c/wk), Jacks, Bairstow, Brook, Ali, Livingstone, Jordan, Archer, Rashid, Wood.
Scotland win the toss and bat
The Scotland captain Richie Berrington says the wicket looks a bit dry and that they’ll need to assess conditions and adapt.
England would have bowled so everyone’s happy. Jos Buttler says it was a tough call to leave out Reece Topley but that they wanted the extra pace of Mark Wood.
This is the second game in Group B, following Namibia’s Super Over victory against Oman on Sunday night. The other team, Australia, begin against Oman tomorrow.
Ali Martin
Barbados is bubbling hot like soup in a pot but the breeze is helping. Nice atmosphere building up in Kensington Oval, where the punters are already maintaining hydration levels and the fruit sellers are already doing good business in the concessions outside the Hall & Griffith Stand. Just been chatting to David Harris, local cricket and calypso doyen, who tells me kids from Jofra Archer’s old school, Foundation, will be in the stands today. Lovely stuff.
THIS CHAP WILL BE INVOLVED TONIGHT AS WELL
Introducing… Scotland
Coach Doug Watson Captain Richie Berrington T20WC best Super 12s, 2021
The highest-ranked associate – they sit 12th – Scotland went unbeaten in the European qualifier last summer, pipping Ireland to top spot by virtue of a high-scoring eight-run victory over them in the final match. A tight-knit unit who took down West Indies two years ago, they have since been augmented by Brandon McMullen’s arrival at opener. Knock over England first up and it will blow Group B wide open.
Mark Wood has been chosen ahead of Reece Topley. That’s the word on the Bridgetown street, and an interesting statement of aggressive intent from England. I might have gone with Topley, but that’s easy to see from 4098 miles away.
Preamble
One of the advantages of picking your own groups, as the ICC have for this T20 World Cup, is you can have as many big rivalries as you want: USA v Canada, England v Australia, India v Pakistan, Sri Lanka v Bangladesh. And, today, Scotland v England in Barbados. It’s a special day for three of England’s probable XI: Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan and Phil Salt spent some of all or their formative years on the island, and all have done the hard yards – gazillions of them in Jofra’s case – to earn their place today.
All things being equal England will win, but this sentence is a load of nonsense really. Scotland are a deccent side and things are really equal in T20 cricket. Nor were they when Scotland beat England at Edinburgh in an ODI six years ago. Don’t assume a shock but don’t dismiss it as a possibility either.
The match starts at 3.30pm BST, 10.30am in Barbados.
