As if it weren’t clear that the T20 World Cup has been ruined by a structure that gives the advantage to teams playing the final group match, Australian Josh Hazlewood’s careless comments about gaming the system to eliminate England confirmed it. .
Assuming Jos Buttler’s team beat Oman on Thursday and then Namibia on Saturday, they will be watching like hawks to see if Australia can beat Scotland convincingly enough a few hours later in St Lucia to ensure the net run rate of the Scots ends up being inferior to that of England.
Even a narrow defeat for Scotland may be enough to take them into the Super Eight at England’s expense, leaving CEO Rob Key with little choice but to sack coach Matthew Mott or captain Jos Buttler, or both.
It is not necessary to explain in detail the extent of the subterfuge. In fact, the ICC’s own code of conduct prohibits “inappropriate manipulation of a net run rate,” and the punishment extends up to a two-game suspension for any captain whose team chooses that route.
Perhaps it is a question of ethics rather than corruption, but it is a serious issue nonetheless. By drawing attention to a series of circumstances that the Australians would have been better off not addressing, Hazlewood has simply exposed the amateur nature of the calendar.
England must beat Oman and Namibia to have any chance of reaching the Super Eight
However, England’s final match will take place before Scotland take on Australia in St Lucia, meaning the Aussies will know what margin of victory can knock England out of the tournament.
Josh Hazlewood hinted Australia could game the system to ensure England don’t go through
Was he joking when describing a scenario that could discredit the game? If so, she hid it well.
Speaking after Australia’s nine-wicket thrashing of Namibia in Antigua on Tuesday night, he was asked if it was in his team’s interest to make things as difficult as possible for England.
He replied: ‘Yes, I think so. In this tournament, you may face England again at some point, and they are one of the best teams at the time. We’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament it will be the best for us and probably everyone else.
When asked how this might turn out, he said, “I’m not really sure.” Whether you walk up and just hit it and drag it. There are some options there.’
Should Australia slow down in pursuit of a target on Saturday, or hire their bowlers part-time if Scotland are struggling in their own chase, ICC match referee Jeff Crowe will face a huge decision.
Mott, who used to coach Hazlewood in New South Wales, could have used his Wednesday press conference to put pressure on Crowe. But the loudest thing he managed was to say that, faced with similar circumstances, England would not take their foot off the accelerator: ‘No, not at all. Normally in these tournaments you want your best team to play their best cricket and take that momentum into the next match.”
However, he mainly tried to play down the comments, insisting he had never met an Australian team operating at anything other than full speed.
In that case, he cannot have been watching in 1999, when Steve Waugh’s team slowed down the pursuit of a small target against the West Indies at Old Trafford because they wanted to improve their opponents’ net run rate. At that time, teams got points to advance to the next phase only against other qualifiers. As Australia had already lost to New Zealand, it was in their interest to help the West Indies surpass the New Zealanders in net run rate.
To boos from the spectators, Waugh scored 19 off 73 balls and Michael Bevan 20 off 69, as Australia cruised to a target of 111 in 40.4 overs, although New Zealand still qualified.
For Scotland, a narrow defeat may be enough to progress by virtue of a higher net rate.
England has it in its power to prevent all this. If they beat Oman and Namibia by a significant margin, the only way to qualify for Scotland would be to beat Australia.
Football addressed this issue after the ‘Gijón Disgrace’ in the 1982 World Cup, when West Germany and Austria scored a 1-0 victory for the Germans, allowing both to qualify at the expense of Algeria, which had played its last game. the one day before.
The last two group stage matches of major football tournaments are now being played simultaneously. And while the presence of five teams in each group in this World Cup makes that impossible, the next best case scenario (with four of the five playing at the same time) would reduce the chances of cooking the books.
The ICC maintains that this would make little sense, either logistically or from a broadcasting perspective, as most of cricket’s money comes from television deals. However, that hasn’t stopped matches from overlapping in this World Cup, nor should it stop matches from the same group being held in different cities. Sports integrity should be the first principle.
England has it in its power to prevent all this. If they beat Oman and Namibia by a total of around 120 runs, or a total of around 12 overs to spare, Scotland’s only way of qualifying would be to beat Australia, who have not lost to a partner team in any World Cup since 1983. Funnier things have happened, but not many.
Probable teams England vs Oman
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (captain, week), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.
Oman: 1 Pratik Athavale (wk), 2 Naseem Khushi, 3 Aqib Ilyas (captain), 4 Zeeshan Maqsood, 5 Khali Kail, 6 Ayaan Khan, 7 Mehran Khan, 8 Rafiullah, 9 Shakeel Ahmed, 10 Kaleemullah, 11 Bilal Khan