• Is Jos Buttler fully fit?

Yes. Mark Wood is going to have a fitness test. Nothing too serious. He pulled up a little bit sore — his ankle is a little bit sore — from the game in Cardiff so he is the only concern at the moment.

• Moeen Ali comes back in?

Yes, great news obviously. Mo’s wife gave birth to a baby girl, all healthy and well so it’s great to see him back.

• What is the decision you have got to make in terms of the seamer?

Whether we feel we might go with four, like we did in Cardiff, or two spinners might be more effective. The decision behind what seamers is always a balance to be good enough to win the game against the West Indies.

• Rains are a big impact on this tournament. Is there any concern for you?

I don’t think the rain will be the reason we don’t make the semifinals. Yesterday was probably the last of the significant rain for the next few days. I know the last three days I think haven’t been great for sides trying to get games in. But at some stage during the tournament we will be hit by a small bit of rain. It’s great that it’s not too much and, hopefully, it doesn’t impact one team more than twice.

• What is your feeling on the fact there are no reserve days? Is it fair?

Yes, I do think it is fair. The tournament is quite a long tournament as it is. To have reserve days in the group stages is too much. I do think later in the tournament they are necessary, but for group stage games it’s part and parcel of being anywhere in the world t that it might rain at some stage.

• How do you rate this West Indies side?

They are a strong outfit. We expect the same today. They are explosive with the bat. And a different challenge with the ball. A lot of their seamers are quite tall and look to hit the wicket and obviously the majority of the time they only play one spinner, so that is going to be the challenge here.

• Is this the perfect opportunity for Archer to show them what they missed?

No, that sort of opportunity has been gone for some time now. Jofra’s been very consistent over a long period of time since he came to Sussex. It is great that he’s in an England shirt at the moment.

• Has anything you have seen from the WI changed your view of how to play against them?

Yes, it’s still the same. Right from the first game that they have played in this tournament. Even when you go back to games that we played in the winter, big games, the big contributions all had to do with the fast bowlers.

• Are you expecting a slightly different kind of game than the ones we saw in the Caribbean?

I’d be surprised if the wicket is as good. The parameters of the ground here are a lot bigger than the West Indies as well. Given the wicket has been under cover for the last 24 hours, I don’t think it will be as good.

• Is it frustrating that WI is the only team you have failed to beat in recent series?

It is not frustration because we learnt a huge amount about growing our game out in the West Indies. The fact that we are not getting carried away about some of the success we have had. It’s important to have days where you are beaten or can’t beat a side because you then look even more into areas of improvement as opposed to beating sides convincingly, or even getting over the line showing good character and playing well.

• Have you gone back over the way Chis Gayle has had a great sucees?

We’ve looked at previous series where we have played at home and plans that have worked and also when we’ve played on like recently in the Caribbean on very flat wickets where he is hard to contain. We’ve also planned for that as well.

                 Courtesy — © ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018

TROLLED!

A Pakistan fan was trolled on social media after the team failed to beat Australia, even after getting the chance to be on the driver's seat, in their World Cup clash on Wednesday. Even the International Cricket Council (ICC), used the person's dejected look, turning his face away from the action at the ground, as a GIF to depict the grim picture during the match. There were many other memes which flooded Twitter as fans brought to the fore a familiar picture where Pakistan come so close to winning but, more often than not, stumble at the final hurdle. Pacer Mohammed Amir returned with career-best figures of 5/30 to bowl out Australia for 307 in 49 overs, with David Warner (107) starring with a hundred while skipper Aaron Finch scored 82. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Pakistan were in the hunt till the end with captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (40) and Wahab Riaz (45) sharing a 64-run eighth wicket partnership. But Mitchell Starc got Wahab out and it was downhill from there on as Pakistan lost by 41 runs.              IANS