Image Credit- getty
On a brutally cold night at Hampshire’s Utilita Bowl, an England squad playing at half strength lost to Australia: this T20 international match will not be remembered for very long. The leading scorer of the game, Travis Head, was sent off during the powerplay. The only bowlers to take three wickets were Liam Livingstone and Sean Abbott, while neither hitter faced more than thirty balls.
However, as T20 cricket moves into its third decade at the professional level, it was a night that showed us something about the sport and its development. The two teams that were chosen were astounding: everyone but one, England’s Jamie Overton, an all-rounder who was chosen as a specialist batter because of a back ailment, were capable of keeping wicket or bowling.
All 22 players batted and 13 bowlers (7 from England and 6 from Australia) were employed. It was the first men’s T20 international in England to see both sides bowled out. With a boundary per over (one every 5.7 balls) and a wicket every second over (one every 11.7 balls), the game didn’t take a lot of concentration.
Is the future of T20 this? Throughout the history of the format, there has been a consistent pattern of increasing run scoring and wicket taking with each passing year. The majority of clubs are promoting a uniform strategy that prioritises wickets above economy with the ball and allows hitters to freely attack.
The tendency was reflected in the abundance of multi-skilled players on exhibit. Lower-order batsmen are expected to be able to score runs if wickets fall more frequently. On the other hand, top-order batters must find another method to contribute, whether it is in the outfield, with the ball or with gloves.
However, given that the great majority of players in England’s pathway are now multi-skilled, it appears that this change is permanent. Consider the other newcomers on Wednesday night: While Jordan Cox is England’s closest match for Glenn Phillips, Jacob Bethell defines himself as a batting all-arounder. He is an energetic outfielder and an occasional wicketkeeper who has also begun to experiment with part-time spin. Will Smeed, a similarly gifted T20 hitter who left first-class cricket at the age of 21, hopes to develop his own offbreaks to add another skill to his repertoire.
Part of the reason for England’s abundance of all-rounders in this series is circumstance. Following their Test series against Sri Lanka, both Harry Brook, who hasn’t bowled a ball in his 54 limited-overs internationals, and Ben Duckett, who hasn’t held wicket in three years, are recovering. They examined at least one batter light on Wednesday, Jofra Archer at No. 8.
However, the sheer number of players with a secondary skill during this franchise boom is a direct result of market pressures. Shimron Hetmyer of the Rajasthan Royals was the highest-paid overseas player in this year’s IPL; nine other overseas all-rounders, including bowlers and wicketkeepers, made more money than him.
In England and Australia, where players fight for contracts in foreign leagues during their long off-seasons, the trend is most noticeable. Possessing a supplementary ability that a representative can pitch to teams might mean the difference between a lucrative foreign T20 contract and a winter of indoor school training.
The world champions of the format provide the primary refutation to this trend. India has frequently had trouble finding a balance in their T20 team because few of their bowlers make an impact at bat and vice versa. It is generally believed that this has been made worse by the implementation of the Impact Player rule in the IPL, which permits clubs to select an additional specialist for each innings.
If the game in Southampton on Wednesday night demonstrated how many secondary skills players nowadays possess, it also served as a reminder that T20 is most effective when experts are in high demand.
Josh Hazlewood, who has 29 runs in 52 Twenty20 Internationals, bowled Liam Livingstone an 85mph/137kph ball that he disguised as a slower ball, momentarily revealing Livingstone the back of his hand upon release. This was the crucial moment in England’s chase. It was a clever moment that demonstrated that, despite all-arounders’ importance, excellence always prevails.