After 2020, we can only hope that 2021 will be a better and simply more normal year as the Covid vaccine is rolled out. 2020 has been frankly appalling for many, many people; and for a long while it looked like it would be cricket-less too!
Fortunately, cricket was one of the first sports to return at a professional level (and also recreational level) and it was a triumphant return in the main for England. As much as this was a fantastic treat, lots of cricket was still cancelled and we hope this won’t be the case next year.
Christmas is looking a little gloomy in the UK, but with the new hope of 2021 comes a humongous heap of cricket that will be crammed into the next 12 months.
The year will start with the conclusion of the current test series taking place in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; and this also thankfully gives us plenty of Boxing Day action. The Big Bash will also continue all the way into February, offering more early morning cricket.
England’s first series of the New Year will be a whistle-stop tour to Sri Lanka in January, consisting of two tests to make up for the tour cancelled due to Covid in 2020. England will go with a weakened side as they rest a few key names, but they will still go expecting to get a series victory; whilst giving opportunities to players who are on the edge of the usual first XI.
A couple of other series of interest in the first two months of 2021 will be Ireland’s trip to Afghanistan and South Africa visiting Pakistan for the first time in 12 ye.
England will then move almost immediately onto India for a much larger tour; that is sadly expected to take place in front of empty stadia, including the impressive new Maharashtra Stadium in Pune. The tour will consist of 4 tests, 5 T20s and 3 ODIs and will no doubt be a huge test. They will arrive in India in early February and the tour will continue until mid-March; this will no doubt mean that England will chop and change their team throughout for both tactical, fitness and mental health reasons. We’re expecting a hotly-contested Test series and the T20’s will be a great indicator ahead of the World Cup as the two favourites take each other on. The ODIs will be considered less important and we expect to see some fringe and upcoming players to get their chance in the subcontinent which is always interesting.
As March heads towards its end, attentions will turn to the World’s best domestic white ball competition, as the latest edition of the IPL is expected to begin. No one really knows how exactly this edition of the IPL will look, with talks of a super-auction and also of 2 brand new teams being added; although the latest reports today suggest the 2 new franchises will wait until 2022. The Mumbai Indians will be aiming for a third consecutive title, the Delhi Capitals will hope to go one better than last year, and Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings will be hoping for a much better year. Expect to see a lot of English players taking part as part of their prep for the T20 World Cup.
The Sun will then start to shine that little bit more in the UK and cricket will return in early April with the start of the County Championship season. The County Championship season will again take a different format this year, beginning with three seeded groups that will then become three divisions. The top two teams will then also compete for the Bob Willis Trophy in a 5-day Lords Final.
Add to this the T20 Blast, the Royal London One Day Cup and the brand new Hundred and there will be huge amounts of domestic cricket for UK fans to enjoy.
The Hundred will of course be a huge part of the summer; despite the fact that the vast majority of current county fans are sceptical of the competition to say the least. But the tournament will have several games available on Free-To-Air TV and have some of the world’s biggest names on show and so should be a popular sporting spectacle in the 2021 British Summer; hopefully forcing cricket into the spotlight alongside the Euros and Olympics.
England will also play plenty of international fixtures throughout the summer, with these planned to be in-front of packed ground should Covid allow. They will begin with a short white-ball series vs Sri Lanka in June/July, with details of that due to be confirmed soon. Following that, the white ball action and preparation continues in July with 2 series of ODI’s and T20’s vs Pakistan. These games will be considered serious preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup and will give Eoin Morgan time to finalise his favoured 11 against good opposition; but opponents they will still expect to beat.
Red-ball international action then arrives in August, as India land for a 5 Test series. Joe Root will see this as a massive series ahead of the Ashes Down Under and will hope to find a strong 11 for the trip to Australia, as well as getting a confidence boosting series victory over one of their other big rivals. Of course Kohli will be in town, alongside India’s many other big names, and the series should be jam-packed with the very best cricket imaginable.
During the summer, we should also expect to see the first ever World Test Championship Final at Lords.
As summer time ends in the UK, all focus will shift back to the white ball and the subcontinent. England will head to Pakistan in October, for their first tour there in way over a decade, for two vital T20s. This will be a massive moment for Pakistan cricket, but also for England as this will be some of their final and most important preparation ahead of the World Cup. They will then move onto India after the tour and will aim to win the T20 World Cup and become holders of both white ball World Cup trophies; which will cement their place as the world’s best current white ball team, and possibly the best ever.
The cricketing year will then finally arrive at its conclusion in Australia, and with the world hopefully in a much better place and Covid under control, the pinnacle of red ball international cricket will begin. Joe Root will lead his England team into the Ashes, looking to win the Urn back and win down under for the first time in a decade. This will be far from an easy task with the Australian bowling attack at their peak, but England will hope that their new breed of batsman (Sibley, Crawley, Pope, Lawrence etc) and pace bowlers (Archer, Wood, Stone etc) will give them that extra edge, alongside their experienced heads, to pull off a shock. Get ready for some late nights, early morning, some ups and no doubt some downs; it will be one hell of a series either way.
2021 is promising to be an unbelievable year of cricketing action for English fans, and should England be triumphant in either the T20 World Cup or The Ashes (or dare we dream of both?!) it will be a year that will be remembered for a long, long time in English cricket.
Fingers crossed that Covid does not disrupt the next year, and that it is a successful one for English Cricket.
We hope that all our readers and followers find all of this future cricket uplifting, and that you all have a fabulous Christmas and start to 2021.
Thank you for your support in 2020 and our first 6 weeks, we hope to still be here, writing for many more of you, in 12 months time.
Merry Christmas and Go Well!
It is indeed a big year coming up. Since the Ashes moved to five match series in the 1890s the only England captains to visit Australia without the urn in their possession and return with it have been Andrew Stoddart (1894-5), Pelham Warner (1903-4), Johnny Douglas (1911-2), Douglas Jardine (1932-3) and Ray Illingworth (1970-1). A handful of others have successfully retained the urn down under, but even that task has usually proven a tough one.