England's 50-over World Cup triumph will inspire T20 World Cup challenge, hopes Jonny Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow is hoping that England’s maiden 50-over World Cup title win earlier in 2019 will inspire them to have a successful outing at the World T20 in Australia next summer. Eoin Morgan will take charge of a squad featuring a bunch of new faces that will take on New Zealand in five T20Is.
With the T20 World Cup in Australia getting underway exactly 12 months from now, Jonny Bairstow is hoping that England’s maiden 50-over World Cup title win at home earlier in 2019 will inspire them to have another successful outing at the World T20 in Australia next summer.
England battled it out against New Zealand in a thrilling finale to lift the World Cup for the first time in July earlier this year. And now, their preparation for the T20 mega-event begins with Eoin Morgan taking charge of a squad featuring a bunch of new faces in the home of their 2019 WC final opponents, New Zealand. 30-year-old Bairstow assumes the role of the senior player with the likes of Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali all rested for the tour.
"I think it does feel like the start of that journey towards the T20 World Cup," Bairstow told Cricbuzz after England's victory in the warm-up fixture in Lincoln. "It's going to come around thick and fast. Seeing guys who've played county cricket taking the step up to international cricket is going to be fascinating. That, coupled with the guys that are not on this tour but will come back into the team, there's going to be competition for places.
"The cycle for the 50-over World Cup started four years ago. Hopefully, we're fortunate enough that the way we've played our 50-over cricket will lead us well into our T20 cricket.
"It's a fascinating period to be playing cricket for England. There's some very, very talented guys that have played a lot of cricket now for England that are all together and have the experience of going through the ups, the downs and everything in between."
England's last T20I assignment against Pakistan in May just ahead of the 50-over World Cup, which England won by seven wickets, saw the likes of Ben Foakes and Ben Duckett making their international debut after impressing in the domestic circuit. Bairstow, who himself has benefited from ECB relaxing its stand on contracted players' participation in the IPL, feels T20 franchise cricket and England's own new debutant 'The Hundred' (100-ball cricket tournament in England and Wales) will only add to the team's resource pool ahead of the 2020 world tournament.
Bairstow is not underestimating the hosts, who will be without captain Kane Williamson for the upcoming series. He believes New Zealand, who they ultimately beat on boundary count to be able to lift their maiden World Cup earlier this year, will have a “fire in their belly” and a “hunger to put things right.”