2019 line up, too,” says Bill Hargreaves. “Would that it were so simple.”

Jofra’s 29 years old. When the hell did that happen?

And here’s the scorecard in question.six of the top 10 averages are from Associate nations. I then began contemplating whether that was fair or not.

“If you’re playing for a lower tier national team, you’re likely to not be as good a player from one of the Test nations due to the facilities and opportunities available during your formative years, yet, the leveller there would be that your lack of class is nullified by their opponent’s similar level in a qualification tournament, meaning a high average is, maybe, fair under these circumstances? Or actually, if you’ve averaged 40 against PNG, you’d probably average less against India or even Surrey in the Blast… Meaning a T20 average when against lower standard teams is not a fair average when taken universally against all international nations.

“I suppose the proof will be in the pudding after England have been dumped out of the tournament having lost to Namibia, Oman and Scotland…”

Some of the averages certainly aren’t representative, but I think that’s a price worth paying for giving full international status to T20 matches involving Associate nations. The benefits of that far outweigh the discomfort felt by stat weirdos like me.

On that note, the episode of Athers and Nasser’s podcast about the Associate nations at the T20 World Cup was a real joy, thanks mainly to the knowledge and passion of their guest Andrew Leonard. Give it a listen. It’ll make you smile, or your money back.

this podcast is unequivocally recommended.who is on paternity leave, so Moeen Ali will captain the side. England have such flexibility that any of the four players who missed Saturday’s victory at Edgbaston – Ben Duckett, Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Tom Hartley – could replace him.

There might be one or two other changes anyway, with talk that Archer could be rested after his successful return at Edgbaston on Saturday. Such rotation is a natural part of World Cup preparation, weather permitting.

Source: theguardian.com