SQUAD
LIKELY PLAYING XI
They have too many all-rounders to select from and at least two of them will have to miss out. Their chances will come when the Test players will leave the side for their series against India.
Luis Reece should ideally get a nod ahead of anyone else to partner up with Josh Inglis as an opener. It will allow an LHB-RHB opening combination + two openers in top-form.
How Eoin Morgan manages his Middlesex team mate in Blake Cullen will be interesting. Morgan already has some express pacers in the side, but there’s a slight chance that Cullen could play ahead of Chris Wood to add another right-arm option. They have two LAPs in Amir & Reece which is why Cullen can be preferred over Chris Wood.
Adam Rossington should get a look in at some point in the tournament, but Jade Dernbach remains a major question mark in my opinion.
AREAS OF STRENGTH
1) One cannot look beyond Josh Inglis when it comes to London Spirit’s main weapon. The top-scorer in the Vitality Blast 2021 with over 500 runs and two centuries, has scored boundaries for fun.
2) Blake Cullen had a very nervy start to his T20 career with Middlesex as he found himself being taken out of the bowling attack after delivering two waist-high full tosses. But, the turnaround was such that he finds himself ranked #2 in the wicket-takers list for the Blast season. What he will bring to the table will be an express pace and will fill the void left by Mark Wood who will leave the squad for national duties.
3) Amongst bowlers to have bowled a min. of 20 overs in the Blast 2021, Mohammad Nabi has the 2nd best economy rate and this is despite having regularly bowled in the PP. We can expect him to play the same role.
4) Luis Reece grabbed the attention of many viewers this year. In my opinion, he is one of the best all-format pace bowling all-rounders that England have had for quite a few years. He opens the batting in every format, bowls left-arm medium in white-ball format, and increases his pace in the red-ball format. However, it’s been his intent with the bat which has been phenomenal as he struck at 171 this year. This will provide an ideal opportunity for London Spirit to open with the only two players with an SR of over 170 in the entire squad.
5) Ravi Bopara & Dan Lawrence have shown consistency with the bat & have chipped in very nicely with the ball too. So when we look at the all-rounders they have, it paints a very interesting picture.
The likes of Bopara & Lawrence have done relatively better with the bat. Whereas, the likes of Nabi & Denly have done relatively better with the ball. Roelof van der Merwe hasn’t played as many games but he’s pretty handy in both facets.
AREAS OF CONCERN
1) The selection of Jade Dernbach was questionable to me. With barely any cricket on his back off-late, I am sure there were many other players who could have been opted over him and it just looks like one spot being wasted.
2) Mohammad Amir blows hot and cold in white-ball cricket and he’s another player with not much cricket off-late.
3) They are a spin-heavy team, with the pacers not being so reliable and will be weakened further after Mark Wood leaves. This will leave a huge dent in London’s performance by the pace unit. The spinners will have to take matters into their own hands.
4) Similarly, they will face several issues when two of their most dependable batsmen in Zak Crawley & Dan Lawrence leave for the Test series. But, they have the likes of Joe Denly & Adam Rossington available who are good enough to fill the void.
VITALITY BLAST 2021 STATS (Relevant stats only)
Cricket Strategist 