Winter Watch | Week 13

We're 31 days away from the first delivery of pre-season when Kent venture over to Hove for a two-day friendly commencing on Thursday, 19 March. Yesterday's deluge might not be too much cause for optimism, yet as we head into March we hope the clouds above will clear. But, zooming out a little, it's that time to cast the magnifying glass over our Sussex players abroad, two of whom are currently engaged in the T20 World Cup. Let's start there... 

Jofra Archer

In the heart of the action earlier this morning in England's tetchy win over Italy, Archer took two wickets in the first over of Italy's innings in stunning style, but those would prove to be the only scalps of the match for the fast bowler.

He's taken a wicket in every match of England's tournament thus far, though has been relatively expensive in the process. Still, after three wins from the opening four matches, England have now secured a place in the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup.

Anna Buckle

Back in the win column following a streak of defeats, Buckle's performances with the ball in hand have remained consistently strong with her bowling capabilities once again on display in yesterday's win over Sydney University.

Opening the bowling and leading from the front, her 10 over spell spawned a wicket and went for just 25 runs as the opponents accumulated just 130 runs from their 50 overs. This was chased with relative ease as the hosts wrapped up the win with over six overs to spare, Buckle at the crease at the end to help them over the line. 

Oli Carter

Switching from Sturt to the Sabres to feature in the City of Newcastle Summer Bash, Carter's opening game saw his side on the losing end in a dramatic match that went down to the final ball. Carter posted a very admirable 32 off 20 - his side's top score - but could only post 142, to which the Tigers just about chased down in the most dramatic of fashions.

Brad Currie

Three matches into the T20 World Cup, and both Currie and his Scotland side have made an excellent account of themselves. They've won once - that coming in a crushing victory over Italy - before a narrow defeat to England on Saturday morning. Their opening defeat to West Indies was a close-run contest, too.

But what of Currie? Well, it's all really rather positive. The standout bowler in their game with West Indies, the medium pacer claimed two wickets: that of Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford. Another wicket followed in their win over Italy, and the same for their loss to England. But what's arguably more striking is his economy rate in the tournament, which stands at 6.22. An excellent start, then, for Currie in the World Cup.

Dan Ibrahim

Ibrahim's scheduled match with Taradale was abandoned on Saturday, meaning this one's a rather brief update. He'll be next in action this coming Saturday, when his Central Hawkes Bay team host Napier Tech.

George Thomas

Another to fall victim to the wet weather over in New Zealand, a ball was not to be bowled for Thomas' Cornwall meeting with Havelock on Saturday. They'll next travel to Taradale on Saturday for a One Day game.