Ever had one of those nightmares where you study your socks off for an exam but when you show up to sit it, the paper in front of you isn’t the one you revised for? If so, you’ll have some sympathy with England’s predicament before the Women’s T20 World Cup which starts on Thursday: not in Bangladesh, as originally intended, but in the UAE.
Twelve months ago, the England and Wales Cricket Board hired a head of cricket intelligence, Liam Sanders, and tasked him with helping to achieve something England have not managed since 2009: winning a Women’s T20 World Cup. Sanders and his team gamed every possible scenario, including having the captain, Heather Knight, miss a match against New Zealand in July with just an hour’s notice, mimicking what might happen if illness struck.
