Joe Root has stressed Jos Buttler’s white-ball setup is in better shape than the Test side that buckled towards the back end of his own captaincy, as England attempt to keep their Champions Trophy hopes alive in their controversial match against Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Battling to reach the semi-finals after the record-breaking five-wicket defeat by Australia over the weekend, England have endured a further blow with news that the fast bowler Brydon Carse has been ruled out of the tournament with the recurrence of a toe injury.
Flagged up by Carse’s absence from training on Monday, the issue has now ended his tournament and could yet affect his intended spell in the Indian Premier League next month. On Monday night the International Cricket Council approved the leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed as his replacement, with tournament rules not requiring a like-for-like player.
The switch arguably makes England’s 15-man squad more rounded, not least if they somehow progress to the first semi-final in Dubai. The ground there is hosting all of India’s matches for the longstanding geopolitical reasons and is likely to require a second frontline spinner alongside Buttler’s established trump card, Adil Rashid.
Not that England can afford to think that far ahead, their match against Afghanistan being a must‑win game, likewise Saturday against South Africa in Karachi should they claim that initial victory. One advantage against the Afghans is familiarity with conditions in Lahore, even if Buttler’s side failed to transcend the evening dew against Australia.
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Afghanistan’s presence in the tournament – indeed their very status as an ICC full member nation – remains the subject of much scrutiny given the grim regime of “gender apartheid” in the country that has stripped women of even basic rights. Under Taliban rule, its cricket board has duly been unable to deliver a women’s programme.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is lobbying the ICC to at least tackle the latter issue, with funding for an Afghan women’s team in exile representing one demand. Richard Gould, the ECB chief executive, is also in Lahore for the match and took the heat off Buttler and his players this month by ruling out a boycott.
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New Zealand beat Bangladesh to reach last four
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New Zealand moved into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy taking India along with them after a five-wicket win over Group A opponents Bangladesh on Monday. Chasing 237 for victory, New Zealand shrugged off the loss of two early wickets and rode Rachin Ravindra’s classy 112 and Tom Latham’s 55 to get home in 46.1 overs. Bangladesh earlier squandered a good start and made 236 for nine in 50 overs thanks to Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 77 and Jaker Ali’s 45 after the Black Caps spinner Michael Bracewell picked up four for 26. The result meant that the defending champions, Pakistan, joined Bangladesh in being knocked out of the tournament after losing their opening two matches against New Zealand and India. Reuters
Root, who was part of the England side stunned by Afghanistan during the 2023 World Cup, said: “[Key, the ECB and Buttler] all spoke with experts on the ground and don’t see that boycotting this game is going to make any sort of positive impact.
“Clearly there’s things over there that are hard to hear and read up on but cricket is such a source of joy for so many people. For a number of people within Afghanistan, cricket gives them hope, gives them joy. Hopefully the two teams can do that in this next fixture.
“From our point of view, we’re playing and we’ve got to make sure that we put our best foot forward, play our best cricket and find ourselves on the right side of the result.”
