It is a disgrace that Australia could cook the books to knock England out of the World T20… Josh Hazlewood’s comments expose the ICC’s amateur scheduling, writes LAWRENCE BOOTH

As if it wasn’t clear that the T20 World Cup has been ruined by a structure that gives the advantage to the teams taking part in the final group match, Australian Josh Hazlewood’s careless comments about playing the system to eliminate England confirmed it.

Assuming Jos Buttler’s team beats Oman on Thursday and Namibia on Saturday, they will be watching like hawks to see if Australia can convincingly beat Scotland a few hours later in St. Lucia to ensure the net run-rate of the Scots is lower than that of Scotland. England.

Even a narrow defeat for Scotland could be enough to take them into the Super Eights at England’s expense, leaving general manager Rob Key with little choice but to sack coach Matthew Mott or captain Jos Buttler – or both.

The scope for subterfuge hardly needs to be specified. The ICC’s code of conduct itself prohibits ‘the improper manipulation of a net run rate’, with the penalty ranging up to a two-match ban for any captain whose team chooses that route.

It may be more a matter of ethics than corruption, but it is a serious issue nonetheless. By drawing attention to a number of circumstances that the Australians would have been better off leaving without doing anything, Hazlewood has simply exposed the amateurishness of the scheme.

However, England’s final match comes before Scotland face Australia in St Lucia, meaning the Aussies will know what margin of victory England can knock out of the tournament.

Josh Hazlewood hinted Australia could game the system to ensure England don’t advance

Was he joking when he outlined a scenario that could bring the game into disrepute? If so, he’s hidden it well.

After Australia’s nine-wicket thrashing of Namibia in Antigua on Tuesday night, he was asked whether it was in his team’s best interests to make things as difficult as possible for England.

He replied, ‘Yes, I think so. In this tournament you may come up against England again at some point, and they are one of the few teams on the day. We’ve had some real problems against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament it’s in our interests and probably everyone else’s too.”

When asked how this could end, he said: ‘Actually, I’m not so sure. Whether you get close and just knock it over and drag it out. There are a few options.’

Should Australia slow down in pursuit of a target on Saturday, or call on their part-time bowlers as Scotland struggle in their own chase, ICC match referee Jeff Crowe will face a big decision.

Mott, who coached Hazlewood at New South Wales, may have used his press conference on Wednesday to put pressure on Crowe. But the most powerful thing he managed to say was that England, faced with similar circumstances, would not let off the accelerator: ‘No, not at all. Normally in these tournaments you want to show your best side by playing their best cricket and carry that momentum into the next match.”

But mainly he tried to play down the comments, insisting he had never known an Australian team operating at anything other than full throttle.

In that case, he cannot have stood by in 1999, when Steve Waugh’s side slowed down in pursuit of a small target against the West Indies at Old Trafford as they looked to improve their opponents’ net run-rate. At the time, teams only carried points through to the next stage against fellow qualifiers. Since Australia had already lost to New Zealand, it was in their interest to help the West Indies overtake the New Zealanders on a net run-rate basis.

To the cheers of the spectators, Waugh made 19 from 73 balls and Michael Bevan 20 from 69 as Australia crawled to a target of 111 in 40.4 overs, although New Zealand still qualified.

For Scotland, a narrow defeat could be enough to progress thanks to superior net returns

England has it in her power to prevent all this. If they beat Oman and Namibia by a significant margin, Scotland’s only way to qualify would be to beat Australia

Football faced this problem after the ‘disgrace of Gijon’ at the 1982 World Cup, when West Germany and Austria prepared a 1-0 victory for the Germans and both advanced at the expense of Algeria, which played their last match had played in the final. day before.

The last two group matches at major football tournaments will now take place simultaneously. And while the presence of five teams in each group at this World Cup makes that impossible, the next best case scenario – with four of the five playing at the same time – would reduce the chances of the books being cooked.

The ICC argues that this would make little sense both logistically and from a broadcasting perspective, as the lion’s share of cricket money comes from TV deals. However, this has not prevented the matches from overlapping at this World Cup, nor should it prevent matches in the same group from taking place in different cities. Sporting integrity should be the first principle.

England has it in her power to prevent all this. If they were to beat Oman and Namibia by a total of around 120 runs, or a total of roughly twelve overs, Scotland’s only way to qualify would be to beat Australia, who have not featured an associated team at any World Cup since 1983 lost. Funnier things have happened, but not many.

Likely teams England vs Oman

England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Liam Livingstone, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley.

Oman: 1 Pratik Athavale (wkt), 2 Naseem Khushi, 3 Aqib Ilyas (captain), 4 Zeeshan Maqsood, 5 Khali Kail, 6 Ayaan Khan, 7 Mehran Khan, 8 Rafiullah, 9 Shakeel Ahmed, 10 Kaleemullah, 11 Bilal Khan