England vs Pakistan: First T20 abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain at Headingley
England’s opening T20 against Pakistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Wednesday amidst a Headingley downpour.
Following persistent rain all day in Leeds, the umpires carried out a pre-match inspection and made the early decision to call the game off exactly an hour before its scheduled 6:30pm start time.
Jos Buttler’s men are using the four-match series as their final preparation before flying out to the Caribbean next week to start the defence of their World Cup title.
Jofra Archer had been due to make his eagerly awaited England comeback, more than a year on from his last top level appearance, but that will now have to wait until Saturday’s Second T20 at Edgbaston at the earliest.
The seamer has played just seven times for his country in the last three years because of a series of serious back and elbow problems but is back to full fitness following a stint playing club cricket in Barbados as part of his rehabilitation.
The 29-year-old has already been included England’s 15-man provisional squad for the World Cup, which must be finalised on Saturday, though teams are allowed to make subsequent changes in the case of injury.
The ECB have summoned their Indian Premier League stars back from the franchise tournament early to ensure a first-choice squad is available throughout the series as England look to fine tune - and avoid a repeat of last year’s disastrous 50-over World Cup defence.
