Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith have been rested for England's T20I series against South Africa, which starts today (September 10) in Cardiff.
Duckett and Smith are the incumbent openers in England's T20I side, having both scored half-centuries in their last outing in the format and put on an explosive 120-run opening stand. While Duckett has been England's preferred option at the top in T20Is for a while, Smith has had to fight for a place. He made his T20I debut in India batting at No.6 earlier this year, but was promoted to mirror his opening role in the ODI side when Phil Salt sat out the West Indies series in June on paternity leave. Aside from the half-century he hit in the third match, he also hit an aggressive 38 in the opening game of that series.
While it wasn't initially clear whether Salt would retake the position against South Africa, that dilemma was cleared-up when it was announced Smith would miss the series to rest ahead of a busy winter schedule, with a white-ball series in New Zealand preceding the Ashes. Neither Duckett nor Smith will be available for England's series in Ireland later this month either, meaning they will miss consecutive T20I series six months out from a T20 World Cup.
How could resting Duckett and Smith affect England's T20 World Cup plans?
"I spoke to [Duckett] and I said, 'I think you need to freshen up. You've played so much cricket and you're such an influential player for us over the next few months,'" said England head coach Brendon McCullum following their ODI win in Southampton. "He'll have a decent break at home, as will Jamie Smith… It gives the other guys opportunities, and it's exciting, too. If we just rely on 11 players, then we're not really going to be competitive."
England have had a pretty settled idea of what their T20I team looks like under McCullum. When available, Duckett opens the batting, with Jos Buttler coming in at three and a middle-order power-house of Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell and either an extra batter or all-rounder at No.6. The biggest debate has been Salt vs Smith at the top. While expanding their player group and testing players in different roles ahead of a World Cup in India will be high on McCullum's priority list, as would have been getting his likely World Cup starting XI together for a solid run-in to the tournament. With Smith and Duckett missing for half of their T20Is between now and their opening World Cup match, that possibility is reduced.
McCullum as been battling a tight schedule this summer, which has hampered his ability to get his best players on the park. England's Test series against India finished with back-to-back games, with The Hundred starting the following week. There was only a day in between The Hundred final and the first ODI against South Africa, meaning England were not able to train as a group ahead of the match. They were bowled out for 131 and lost by seven wickets.
"The scheduling isn't ideal," said McCullum. "That's just the way it is and it's not going to change, so we're going to have to find ways to deal with it… We're just going to have to find ways to be able to hit the ground running a bit quicker than what we did in this one."
England have recalled Sam Curran for the South Africa series, and Tom Banton hasn't fully cemented his position at No.6. Further, while England will likely use their upcoming series to to try out different balances to the side, they will have to do so without testing how they fit with two of their preferred top six options. Simply, beyond opening the door for Salt to fully reclaim his opening spot, Smith and Duckett sitting out limits England's opportunities for a proper run into the World Cup with their full T20 World Cup team playing together.
What does England's international schedule look like going forward?
England have one of the busiest schedule of any side in the world. Their T20I series against Ireland concludes on September 21. Less than a month later, they begin a white-ball series in New Zealand which will consist of three T20Is followed by three ODIs. There are less than three weeks between their final ODI against New Zealand and the first ball of the Ashes going down in Perth.
The tightest turn-around, however, will happen after the Ashes. The final Test will end on January 8, with an ODI series in Sri Lanka set to kick-off on January 22. Three T20Is against Sri Lanka will follow that, before the World Cup begins four days after the end of that series.
For England's all-format players, that's a gruelling schedule of flights, and relentless switching between formats.
Assuming both Duckett and Smith play in New Zealand, they will only have played six T20Is each in the 12 months before arriving in Sri Lanka. That raises questions over whether they could have sat out some 50-over cricket, rather than limit their T20I appearances at the business end of a World Cup cycle. While England players' opportunities to play 50-over cricket are limited, resting for the ODIs would have allowed them a better run into the closer World Cup. Equally, that would have provided them with just over a week off duty, while missing the T20Is will give them an extra two weeks of uninterrupted time off before heading to New Zealand.
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