Consistency can go a long way in cricket and sometimes I feel it is underrated.
Teams don’t just become good overnight, these things take time. If you identify core players and give them time, you learn what works for you in pressure situations.
That’s pretty much what this England team is about, and I don’t view the attempt to win the Twenty20 World Cup as a one or even two-year process. Preparation has been from way further back.
Jofra Archer will be absent as England attempt to win the Twenty20 World Cup
The journey started more than five years ago and it was no surprise when we won the 50-over World Cup. Apart from me, the rest of the team had been together for a long time and that is why we competed so well.
Since the start of 2019, we have won 22 of 31 completed T20 internationals. What has been laid down should make us competitive for the next three to four years and potentially even longer.
I hope opposition teams are scared when they come up against us over these next few weeks. I hope people are losing sleep at night, thinking, "jeez, we have got a tough game tomorrow".
Let’s face it, we have been successful for so long, top of the world rankings as a result and have players that can dominate on any stage.
Yes, myself and Ben Stokes are unavailable, but I’m not worried about that in terms of the way the team will perform.
They will be looking to build on the stunning success of winning the ODI World Cup in 2019
I know there is enough strength in depth to cover our absence. We saw in the summer that there is so much talent within the England white-ball squads. It was a blessing of the Covid period that we got to see just what people waiting in the wings can do.
Liam Livingstone confirmed he is a straight swap for Stokes. You don’t have to think about it. He’s a guy who walked out and hit an England record 42-ball hundred against Pakistan.
As for the bowling, people may suggest I am a big loss because of my record in T20 but I would counter that by saying I am only one person.
I have always believed I’m only as good as the guy at the other end. You are working as a pair when you are bowling and if I’m going at two-an-over and the other guy is going at 10s, I view it as going at sixes. The same in reverse.
The strength of this England team is that everyone works with each other. It’s the best quality it has. Everyone feeds off each other, and there is a culture of playing for
