Batting woes leave Melbourne Stars in a spin

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Having qualified for the finals with ease the Stars reliance on Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell has been exposed

Alex Malcolm04-Feb-2020There was a sense of doom and déjà vu at the MCG last Friday night.The Melbourne Stars folded in their chase against the Sydney Sixers to hand over a home final and evoke memories of last year’s collapse against the Melbourne Renegades when the title was within their grasp.It would be easy and crude to label it another choke. There are no guarantees in T20 cricket. But there’s a dichotomy to the Stars that is hard to ignore. They have done so much right to put themselves in this position, with a chance to finally break their title drought.Coach David Hussey said he would ask the hard questions of his players in the aftermath of the loss to the Sixers, in an effort to fix their execution and decision-making under pressure.But no amount of hard questions will fix the dilemma, which is that their bowling has been so good because of the resources at their disposal, while their batting has been well below par because of a lack of them.Bowling options galoreThe Stars did not win 10 of 11 games by accident. Their bowling has been exceptional. The BBL is normally dominated by the best attacks and the Stars have invested in their resources recruiting bowlers in their two overseas slots as well an established international quick in Nathan Coulter-Nile. Haris Rauf has been the find of the season but spin has been one of their secret weapons.The Stars spinners have taken 50 wickets this season, with no other side capturing more than 29, and have the lowest combined average in the league and the third-lowest combined economy rate. They have bowled 38 more overs of spin in the BBL than the Hobart Hurricanes, who sit second on the list. Their spinners have bowled more than half the overs in seven of the 15 matches, including more than 14 overs in two games.The Stars’ list was not necessarily designed to make spin a feature but rather have every potential match-up option available at Maxwell’s disposal. They recruited Coulter-Nile and overseas signing, Dale Steyn, to add speed to an attack that was light on for extra pace last season. They couldn’t believe their luck in finding Rauf when Steyn and his replacement, England’s Pat Brown, both suffered injuries.The qualifier against the Sixers was a great example of how Maxwell isn’t beholden to spin. Unlike most sides, the Sixers top four of Josh Philippe, James Vince, Steve Smith, and Moises Henriques have good records against spin, whereas their middle order of Daniel Hughes and Jordan Silk do not.Maxwell only used eight overs of spin in total, keeping it away from Henriques in particular in the middle overs, and calling in Marcus Stoinis to supplement his quicks.The plan may change for Sydney Thunder on Thursday with spin more likely to be the better option to the in-form Alex Hales, Usman Khawaja, and Callum Ferguson, while the pace of Rauf will surely be held back for Alex Ross.But the bowling resources and match-ups are not their concern.Revolving door at the topWhile the Stars have built a bowling attack that is the envy of the league, their batting is their biggest problem. The heavy reliance on Stoinis and Maxwell is well known. The pair have claimed nine Player of the Match awards between them in the past two seasons out of 17 awarded to Stars players. Peter Handscomb and Nick Larkin are the only other Stars batsmen to have won one.Larkin’s came this season in a win over the Sydney Thunder but it has been Stoinis and Maxwell who have carried the load again. It would be easy to point fingers at the lack of output from the other Stars batsmen, but some questions need to be asked of how the top order has been shaped. The Stars have used 11 players in their top three in the last two seasons.Only the Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Renegades have used more. The Scorchers have missed finals in both seasons while the Renegades finished last this year. They did win the tournament last season but it came in miraculous circumstances with their batting group mustering just three half-centuries for the tournament.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}})}();

Stoinis has been the only banker in the top three, having had a couple of outstanding years. But even he became an opener by accident. He went in first for the Stars in BBL05 and averaged 16.90 with a strike-rate of just 98.83 in 10 matches. He opened just once in the next two seasons and played the first three games of last season at No. 4 and 5 before moving to the top alongside Ben Dunk.Hilton Cartwright had formed a nice combination with Stoinis this season, which included a record partnership against the Sixers, until he broke his finger, but he too ended up opening by accident. He had been recruited as a middle-order player with a modest T20 record having never opened in his previous 39 T20 innings.The Stars’ management team would have banked on more from the recruitment of Dunk and Maddinson in recent years. Dunk was twice the tournament’s leading scorer in BBL03 and BBL06 and has played T20 cricket for Australia, but has not been able to keep his place in the team this season, averaging just 12.00 and striking at 113.51. Maddinson arrived last season having been Sixers leading scorer in BBL 07. While his form in Sheffield Shield cricket for Victoria has been stunning his BBL returns have been startling. A broken forearm badly affected last year’s tournament, but this season he is averaging 11 and striking at 90.41.Given the frailty of the top three and the reliance on Stoinis, there is a case for Maxwell to move higher in the order to avoid being left with too much to do. He is world renowned as a post-powerplay specialist and very few players can do what he does in the middle and death overs. The Stars have been loathed to use him inside the powerplay given he is such a valuable commodity and he himself has been keen to wait for the toughest part of the chases.”I think it’s probably been more situational,” Maxwell said. “I try and put myself in the game when there’s a position or a time when I think I can win us the game, and then I generally think if I’m there at the end we should be on the winning side of it and I’ve basically tried to judge it like that.”But he has a T20I century opening the innings and his numbers batting in the first three are better than his career statistics, with a slightly better average, better strike-rate and a better ratio of 50-plus scores per innings.Openers can win BBL finals with one exceptional innings, just as Jake Weatherald, Usman Khawaja, Michael Klinger, and Luke Pomersbach have proven in the past.There is a case to be made in a league of limited resources, with just two overseas players and a relatively small salary cap by global standards, that your best players should be used to set the tone rather arrest the momentum.It is an old way of thinking in a modern game that has long since evolved into a game for specialised roles, but the Sixers opted to shift Philippe from the middle order to the top late last season despite providing immeasurable value in the death overs. They found he can set the tone at the top and they now have the most balanced line up in the finals and are favourites to take the title.Moving Maxwell to the top three could decide a final one way or the other. However, it would go against a plan that worked for them successfully for 10 games earlier in the season, but hasn’t seen them win any of their last four.Nothing short of a title will keep the ‘c’ word at bay for the Stars. It would be harsh given the injury setback to Cartwright and the loss of Lamichhane to international duty. But the Adelaide Strikers won a final without Rashid Khan and the Melbourne Renegades won their title without Mohammad Nabi.The teams that have won all three finals so far have utilised their best resources early to get ahead of the game.

Tamim Iqbal, still hungry, still world-class

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

There has been some criticism against the opener for his strike-rate but on Tuesday he put that all to bed

Mohammad Isam03-Mar-2020By breaking his own 10-year old record, Tamim Iqbal has given another reminder that his appetite for big runs is far from over. In the last eight months, he has been sending some strong signals that he is gearing up for a new phase in his career, but not many paid attention.During a self-imposed hiatus from the game last year, Iqbal topped up his fitness under Ben Coleman, a world famous trainer, in Bangkok. He was in the frontline of the players strike last October, too, and last month, he set the national record for the highest individual first-class score with his unbeaten 334.But up until this superb 158 against Zimbabwe, his international return in January didn’t include one of his trademark big knocks. And because it is Iqbal, a noted match-winner in the Bangladesh side for a long time, criticism wasn’t too far away. The anxiety surrounding the team’s all-time highest run-getter in ODIs came to a head when batting coach Neil McKenzie had to do a deep-dive in a press conference.McKenzie explained that the questions about Iqbal’s strike-rate were unfair, and that all he needed to do was hit two extra boundaries in the Powerplay to appease the naysayers. Iqbal struck 10 in the first 10 overs in this game, and 20 in total, apart from the three sixes.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt looked like a strong riposte to the questions asked about his intent and the lack of big runs since his international comeback. Among his first 10 fours, were two shots that looked very forceful – a pull over midwicket and a chip over wide mid-on – while the rest were picked up through cover or behind square on the leg side.Then till he reached his hundred, Iqbal consolidated to make up for the loss of Mushfiqur Rahim, as he and Mahmudullah batted conservatively till the last 10 overs. Iqbal made his last 58 runs off 30 balls, with six fours and three sixes, as the fourth wicket partnership changed gear. He finished on a strike-rate of 116.17, having batted for 45.4 overs, which is no mean feat.The recent criticism of Iqbal’s batting is rooted in his cautious approach during the World Cup, where he made good starts but didn’t capitalise. He later admitted that he ‘made bad decisions’ as the pressure to perform became too much.Iqbal’s return to top level saw him making a cautious fifty against Pakistan in a T20I in Lahore. It drew criticism as Bangladesh lost the game meekly but really, wouldn’t it have been stranger if he had gone out in that game and started smashing everything knowing the rest of the batting line up was very inexperienced?Over the last five years, Iqbal has worked out three separate methods for each format, and has been a mostly successful opener. Bear in mind, Bangladesh don’t provide featherbeds at home for their batsmen, who also have to face tough conditions in away matches too.His numbers since the 2015 World Cup suggest that he has come of age, although he would have liked to score some more runs in T20Is. Nevertheless, like he had provided stability to an often volatile opening stand for Bangladesh all those years ago when he started his career, he is now providing stability in a side slowly devoid of experience.Iqbal’s hunger for runs is what should mostly matter for the Bangladesh team, and if his method works out in the end, his experience at the international level should be reason enough to give him the leeway to get things right.

Big-hitting Virat Singh dreams of the IPL stage

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The young batsman, bought for over a crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad, can’t wait to show off his power-hitting and finishing skills when he gets the chance on the big stage

Deivarayan Muthu08-May-2020Twenty-two-year-old Virat Singh is a fan of MS Dhoni and is his Jharkhand team-mate. And though he was bought for INR 1.9 crore (US$ 251,000 approx) by Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year’s IPL auction, at nearly ten times his base price, Singh believes he is “late” to break into the big leagues.Singh is a dynamic left-hand batsman who can bat at No. 3 as well as finish an innings in white-ball cricket. His strong showing at last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, where he was Jharkhand’s top scorer, with a strike rate of 142.32, led to an intense bidding war between Sunrisers and Kings XI Punjab at the 2020 auction.Singh says he had “got indications” of interest from Kings XI’s scouts even during the tournament – when he cracked an unbeaten 76 off 44 balls against Karnataka in Surat last November. He was also on the radar of Sunrisers, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. At a Sunrisers trial, he struck four sixes and four fours in a slog-overs scenario (between overs 14 and 20) and helped hunt down about 70 in six overs, he says. Sunrisers were so impressed they raised the paddle 13 times to outbid Kings XI.After hitting pay dirt, Singh caught up with Dhoni in Ranchi and got some tips from the master about dealing with the pressure of the crowd in the IPL.”I’ve been watching MS Dhoni from the start,” Singh says. “I still remember his first game [for India] – he was run out [for a first-ball duck] against Bangladesh. My father told me he’s from Ranchi, so I was interested in watching him. After that, he was doing well in the international cricket and I looked up to him.”In 2016-17, Singh played under Dhoni’s captaincy in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Jharkhand progressed to the semi-finals that season, but Singh had an underwhelming tournament, managing only 50 runs in six innings. He says Dhoni reassured him that he was on the right path and offered him a peek into his own game.”He said, ‘You’ve got the fitness and technique and you will get the runs,'” Singh recalls “Before this season also, he was in the nets helping me in manipulating the field, how to change the mind of the bowler, to play spin.”His time playing club cricket in the UK helped Singh get better at power-hitting and building up his own physical strength•Courtesy Virat SinghSingh was 16 when he made his debut for Jharkhand in all three formats. Back then he was looking to break into the India Under-19 squad with the hope of playing the 2016 U-19 World Cup. But a bout of appendicitis put a halt to his plans.”When I was about to leave for the Challenger Trophy, I felt pain in my stomach and thought this could be something dangerous and I will have to see a doctor,” he says. “A scan was taken and it showed appendix [inflammation]. I was really, really upset. It was very important for me to play cricket because the World Cup was coming up. I was against undergoing surgery. I took painkillers and medicines to stop the pain, but it erupted again after ten days and I had to undergo surgery.”When he recovered, he made his U-19 debut for India late in 2015, in two tri-series, at home against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and in Sri Lanka, against the hosts and England, which included a match-winning unbeaten 60 from No. 6 in Colombo. But he was not picked in the World Cup squad, a snub he found hard to deal with at first.”It was very disappointing and after the season I didn’t work out for a month or so,” Singh says. “I wasn’t going for practice and I was really, really down.””I somehow motivated myself after that. I told myself what’s gone is gone and I really worked hard on my fitness and batting. My brother Vishal [who has also played for Jharkhand] and my entire family were very supportive of me.Singh knew he needed to make a big change.”If you talk about the 2016-17 domestic season, I wasn’t scoring runs consistently. The next year – the same story. I was working hard but I wasn’t scoring the amount of runs I wanted to score. Before the 2017-18 season, I told myself I need to play more games. I am somebody who dreams high. The amount of games I was getting wasn’t enough.”With some help from Rajiv Kumar, the Jharkhand coach, Singh got a gig with the Seaham Park Cricket Club in the Durham League in 2018. Spending four months away from home was difficult, but he embraced the challenge of playing as an overseas recruit, shouldering extra pressure with the bat and chipping in with his legbreaks. He learned to live on his own, doing laundry and cooking for himself.In last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, Singh made 343 runs at a strike rate of 142.32 from ten innings•Courtesy Virat Singh”You’re away from friends and family and in a totally different zone. Not only as a cricketer, I also grew as a human being in England. The people over there were very helpful. They made sure I was absolutely fine. I think I scored a century in the first game. The first three-four weeks we played one-day games, and then [from] the fifth week onwards, I was getting three games a week – two T20s and one 50-over game.”Singh had worked on his power-hitting during the 2017-18 Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy in which he made 224 runs in eight innings at a strike rate at 134. He now fine-tuned it at Seaham and regularly finished games for the club, a skill that put him in the T20 spotlight back home.”In England, I used to bat at No. 4 or No. 3 and I was familiar with the role. I had the experience of finishing games and I knew I could do it again and again, so I backed myself here [in India] as well,” he says.”To be honest, power-hitting doesn’t come to me naturally. Since I wanted to get into the IPL, I worked on my strength, and in the time I was in England, I regularly went to the gym. Over there, there was a bowling machine on which I worked on power-hitting and range-hitting. That helped me develop my power. It’s a mixture of working hard in the gym and range-hitting.”Singh’s game isn’t all about power, though. He is also adept at building or rebuilding an innings, like he showed in the 50-over Deodhar Trophy last year. In Ranchi, against an India B attack that included international caps like Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammed Siraj, Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav, Singh entered at 54 for 2 and watched his team slip to 126 for 5 on a fairly tricky track. He held himself back and fashioned a remarkable 154-run recovery with allrounder Axar Patel – 122 of those runs came in the last ten overs.After seeing off spells from seamers Siraj and Roosh Kalaria, Singh clouted his Jharkhand team-mate Nadeem’s left-arm fingerspin for back-to-back sixes. From 35 off 66 balls, he moved to a 72-ball fifty and finished unbeaten on 76 off 96 balls.”It was a massive opportunity for me because it was live on TV,” Singh says of that game. “Since it was my home ground, I knew if I go for shots early on, it’s not going to happen. I was the only main batsman at that time and it was my responsibility to stay till the end.”I thought I would wait till the 35th over. I knew that Nadeem would bowl a couple of overs later on. I’ve faced a lot of him in the Jharkhand nets and I know what he bowls. Axar was also timing the ball really well that day.”Singh was set to team up with Nadeem again, at Sunrisers in March this year, but with the coronavirus pandemic forcing the IPL to be postponed indefinitely, he is instead spending his time working out at home in Jamshedpur and playing badminton a couple of hours every evening to keep fit. Should the IPL take place later in the year, Singh hopes to pick the brains of the senior internationals at Sunrisers.”To share the dressing room with Kane Williamson and David Warner is a dream come true,” he says. “You talk about the coaches as well – World Cup-winning coach [Trevor] Bayliss, [VVS] Laxman and [Muttiah] Muralitharan. I just hope the IPL happens so I can learn from them and take my game to the next level. If things get normal in India, I might go and play in the Chennai league as well. I will get decent match practice there before the IPL, if it happens.”

Rohit's rise, Gambhir's fall and other captaincy changes in the IPL

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With Karthik relinquishing his Knight Riders captaincy, we look at other times an IPL team had a change at the top

Sreshth Shah16-Oct-20207:18

Aakash Chopra: Under Dinesh Karthik, KKR did win two games that they should have lost

Kumar Sangakkara benches himself at Deccan Chargers (2012)With Deccan Chargers winning only one game in their first seven, and Sangakkara struggling with the bat, the Sri Lankan decided to not play the eighth game against Mumbai Indians, handing over the captaincy to Australian Cameron White.The move, however, did not change the Chargers’ campaign much, losing six of their next nine games, and finished eighth out of nine teams. That season ended up being the Chargers’ last IPL appearance, replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013.Virat Kohli begins his IPL captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore (2012)Daniel Vettori – who had led the side since 2011 – was struggling to get wickets at Royal Challengers. So, ahead of their eighth game against Chennai Super Kings, Vettori left himself out of the XI and handed over the captaincy to Kohli. Under Kohli the team won four of the next eighth completed matches, finishing fifth and losing out on playoff contention on net run rate.Since then Kohi has been captain at Royal Challengers, reaching the playoffs once (2015) and finishing runners-up once (2016). Kohli is the only person to lead a team for every IPL season since 2012.Ricky Ponting makes way for Rohit Sharma (2013)The most significant captaincy change in the IPL came in 2013 when its most expensive franchise, still on the hunt for a title, changed their captain after six games. Ponting, the two-time ODI World Cup winning captain, was struggling with the bat, having scored only 52 runs in six innings, and before match seven benched himself. That meant Rohit was given the captain’s armband for the match against the Knight Riders.Mumbai would go on to win 10 of their next 13 matches to clinch their maiden IPL title that year. Under Rohit, Mumbai have won three more IPL titles in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and are currently the tournament’s most successful team.Ponting to Rohit – The most significant captaincy change in IPL history•BCCIShikhar Dhawan gives up Sunrisers captaincy (2014)With six losses in ten games and only 215 runs to his name, Dhawan gave up the Sunrisers captaincy and was replaced by Daren Sammy. Under Sammy, Sunrisers won two of their next four games, but the side could only finish sixth. The next season, Sammy was released from the squad.David Warner took over captaincy for IPL 2015, won the franchise a title in 2016 and barring his brief suspension during IPL 2018, the left-handed batsman from Australia has ever since remained the Sunrisers captain.M Vijay replaces David Miller at Kings XI Punjab (2016)Having finished last in IPL 2015 under George Bailey’s captaincy, the Kings XI appointed Miller, who by then had produced many match-winning performances, as captain for IPL 2016. But under Miller, the ghosts of 2015 returned again, as they won just one match in their first six outings, and before match seven, the team changed their leader.Vijay was made captain, and under him, the side did win three of their next seven games but their fortunes did not change. With a 4-10 season record, the Kings XI finished with the wooden spoon for a second season in a row.Gautam Gambhir retires, and a new era for Delhi Daredevils (2018)Having won two IPL titles as captain with the Knight Riders and released ahead of the 2018 season, Gambhir looked to change the fortunes of Delhi Daredevils in 2018 after being bought by his home team and given the armband. But it was a disastrous start for Gambhir, scoring only 85 runs off 88 balls in his first six games, that coincided with the team losing five of their first six games.Gambhir then hosted a press conference where he said he was stepping down as captain, and handed over the reins to Shreyas Iyer, who was only 23 then. Since then Iyer has remained the Delhi captain (although they are now called the Capitals) and although they could not reach the playoffs that season, the side made the top four in 2019 and are on course to do the same in 2020.Ajinkya Rahane exits, Steven Smith returns (2019)It was a complicated few years for Rajasthan Royals, who were suspended from the IPL for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and when they returned in 2018, Smith was not available due to his own ban suffered after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. That meant, Rahane was captain in 2018 and the team stayed with him for 2019 too. But after six losses in eight games, the Royals management asked Rahane to step down.Smith took over, but the road to playoffs was nearly impossible, and despite three wins in the next five games under his captaincy, the Royals finished seventh. Smith remains the Royals captain.

Isa Guha: 'I recognise the responsibility that a young girl or boy will see me on TV and feel they can do similar'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

BBC presenter on return of cricket to free-to-air TV, her British-Asian roots and hopes for the women’s game

Interview by Alan Gardner29-Aug-2020It has been an unusual summer of cricket, for many reasons. How have you found life in the bubble?
It’s been great to be working on the cricket and great to see everyone again after quite a few months of not seeing anyone. It’s different, it can be challenging at times, but we’re all being as professional as we can. Essentially what we’re trying to do is bring people the cricket as best we can. It’s been amazing to see how the players have dealt with it and how professional they’ve been, huge credit to West Indies and Pakistan. West Indies were in a bubble for 51 days straight. I just think what these guys have done has been simply incredible.You’ve just moved up to Manchester from Southampton, after the conclusion of the Pakistan Tests. Have you had any time away from the ‘bio-secure environment’?
I have been home for a couple of days. To be honest I’m not counting, but since the start of July I’ve been in the bubble, pretty much, apart from one or two trips home. We’ve very much been insulated, all our thoughts have been towards cricket and it’s been hard to keep up with what’s going on outside. But I realise people are struggling and we are fortunate to have jobs and be doing what we’re doing.How have you occupied yourself away from the cricket – taken up golf yet?
I did go on the golf course for the first time in two years and I got smacked on my finger by a stray ball. So that was the end of my golf days. But at venues we’ve had table tennis and pool and so forth… Part of my problem is I get FOMO so I feel like I have to join in or I’m missing out. But it’s also good to get away for a night and go and chill in your room. There have been things to keep us occupied. I never really struggle with that anyway, there’s always books to read or TV to watch – not that I’ve been watching any TV – and there’s always people to catch up with. Yeah, it’s been fine, and there are lots of different ways to keep yourself sane.When you imagined fronting the BBC’s coverage for the first time, it possibly wasn’t quite in circumstances like this…
No. I was really excited about the opportunity, it was such an honour and privilege to be asked to do this, but yeah it has been a bit strange. Everything has been a bit condensed. As a broadcaster you are always trying to find different ways of bringing the coverage to the audience otherwise it probably gets quite boring for them. There have been so many moments to get excited about. The cricket has been really good, it’s been really well fought, there’s always been something to talk about – apart from the rain days when it really does drag on. And it culminating in Jimmy Anderson’s 600th wicket was really poignant. Here’s a guy who’s been working away for 17 years now, that is just unbelievable. To think about the number of overs he’s bowled in his career and to get to this point and we were all holding out hope that it might happen in the series. But for it to happen on that final day was just a nice little touch at the end of what has been quite a gruelling summer for everyone.How important is cricket being back on free-to-air TV in the UK? Presumably you remember the terrestrial coverage on the BBC back in the 1990s, and then over on Channel 4?
Yeah, Richie Benaud, definitely on Channel 4, but the BBC I guess I caught the last years of that. I would have been 8 or 9 when I was watching cricket on television, dad would always put it on, mum was an avid watcher as well. We’d always watch England play. Everyone remembers Richie because he was the don of broadcasting, essentially. Certainly with my commentary I started off wanting to let the coverage breathe a bit more, and as the world evolves things change and different broadcasters wants different things for their audience.

“It will be interesting to see if individual women’s players [from South Africa] will be able to travel to franchise tournaments such as the IPL Challenge and WBBL – I hope that will be the case”

I’m really excited about Sunday, the first time we’re going to have a live game back on the BBC. We’ve got a great team, and I know it’s not Test cricket but it’ll be a lot of fun with the guys in T20 cricket. It might be strange for the players, even the broadcasters – because you’re so used to commentating with the noise in T20, and to have that behind you to help gee you up when there’s a big moment. So that will be very different. But at the same time I’m looking forward to the fast-paced nature of it.Do you see yourself as something of a trailblazer, being a young, British-Asian woman leading the BBC’s cricket coverage? Can that help cricket reach out to communities that maybe it hasn’t in this country?
That’s something that’s really evolved as I’ve got older. When I first played for England there was a big deal made of the fact I was the first Asian woman to be involved with the England women’s team. I later found out I was the first to play any team sport for England from an Asian background. So that made me realise how rare this actually is – and why is that happening, why aren’t there more? So that’s always been a passion of mine, to try and encourage more Asian girls to get involved in sport.I’ve recognised that responsibility more as I’ve got older. On one side of things I like people to recognise the job that I’m doing but at the same time I also realise there’s a young girl or boy out there that will see me on television and will feel that they can go on and do something similar, and there are opportunities available to them.The Black Lives Matter movement and discussion of racism in cricket has also been prominent – your former team-mate Ebony Rainford-Brent spoke very movingly of her experiences at the start of the West Indies Test series. Have there been instances in your career that you now look back on and wish you had confronted at the time?
Myself and Ebony had different upbringings: she was brought up in Brixton and I was brought up in a very westernised community. I guess I didn’t really know who I was back then. I talk a lot with one of my best friends, Fiona, whose family are from St Vincent. When you’re younger, you’re just trying to fit in with everyone around, so you almost suppress your roots so that you can fit in. I’ve realised in the last few months that you shouldn’t have to change who you are to fit in, you should just be appreciated for who you are. I wouldn’t talk about my background much when I was at school, or experiences I had in India, or with my family. Just because you didn’t think that was what people wanted to hear about. My upbringing was very much around fitting in and integrating with society. Now, as an adult, I’m so interested in my background and my roots and I go back to Kolkata once a year and I’m really proud of the culture, and I’m confident enough to talk about it and be proud of it. And that’s something I maybe should have done when I was younger as well.Isa Guha conducts a socially distanced interview with Eoin Morgan•Getty ImagesWhile cricket has pulled together to deal with the pandemic, the women’s game has been particularly hard hit. The ECB announced this week that West Indies will tour England in September, which is good news – but is there a fear women’s cricket could be set back further by this?
I think purely because the World Cup has been postponed, everyone was looking forward to that and preparing for it and naturally there will be some disappointment there. But the PCA and the ECB have been working incredibly hard to make sure that girls who were to receive professional contracts – which was going to be a huge, massive step for the women’s game in the UK – that they still receive retainers and the contracts will come into place properly in October. The ECB’s plan was to invest in the women’s game over the next five years and they are still following through with that. They don’t want to take a backward step. The fact they’ve shown their commitment by chartering out the West Indies team highlights how valued women’s cricket is in this country.Yeah, it may have looked like things were happening slowly, but it’s been difficult trying to fit everything in. I’m sure everyone wanted to get women’s cricket on in the first couple of months, but the priority was always going to be the England men, from a revenue point of view, because there’s a lot of money being lost from the game this summer. Testament to the girls: they took a pay cut at the start of the pandemic. That was their decision; they wanted to be in line with the staff they are working with.We’re all continually trying to push the women’s game forward and at times it’s frustrating. You look at South Africa, for example, where their women’s team aren’t allowed to travel yet individual men’s players are allowed to go to the IPL. It will be interesting to see if the individual women’s players will be able to travel to the franchise tournaments, such as the IPL Challenge and WBBL – and I hope that will be the case. But it really is about a large group of people trying to push the women’s game forward and if we can get as many voices as possible talking about women’s sport and women’s cricket it can only improve.Looking ahead, you’ve spoken in support of the Hundred as a vehicle for both men’s and women’s cricket. The tournament launch has been pushed back to 2021 but are you still convinced that is the right way to go?
I definitely understood the value in it, and the reasons behind wanting to try and reach a new audience and mobilise them through the Hundred. People can always be afraid of something new, but I think a lot of conversations need to happen over the next six months, and people need to be open-minded. I still think it will be fantastic but there are so many things that are up in the air, in terms of getting in crowds – are we going to be in a position next year where we can push forward with it? And people should be open to conversations around whether it is the right way to move forward next year, depending on the situation. There are so many things that need consideration right now. But I still understand the merits and the reasons behind why they wanted to go in that direction.

Reactions to Tim Paine's run-out call: Replays showed 'Australian view' and 'Indian view'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The discussions on Twitter following the third umpire’s not-out call at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Dec-2020Tim Paine was nearly run-out after a mix-up with Cameron Green on the first day at the MCG. One angle on the replays suggested his bat was on the line when Rishabh Pant broke the stumps, while on another it seemed like he had perhaps made his ground.

A few felt Paine was out.

Should there be an umpire’s call when it comes to run-out decisions as well?

Eventually, the evidence was not conclusive enough for the third umpire to rule that Paine was run out. Paine, on 6 at that time, was dismissed for 13 in Australia’s 195 all out.

The Gabba result has done justice to the game we love

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Australia vs India was Test cricket at its finest. Perhaps winning away from home is all about the quality of the players

Mark Nicholas21-Jan-2021″Can’t wait to get you to the Gabba, Ash, tell you what… ooh, ooh” are words and calls Tim Paine surely regrets. They are bound to him, forever a lesson in hubris. He’s no bad bloke and this was tame stuff, frankly, but the game has a habit of nailing every step outside its perceived moral parameters.Paine was giving it to R Ashwin while the Indian was hanging on for dear life in Sydney on the last day of the third Test. Standing up to the stumps to Nathan Lyon’s offspinners brought the Australian captain within range of the stump microphone and from there we heard everything. He later apologised for the bad language but understandably didn’t mention the suggestion that Ashwin – and doubtless India too – would be cut apart at the Gabbatoir because that was what he meant, and surely believed. Generally it is a mistake to tempt fate, especially in public when standing up to the stumps. Today, all across the great southern land, the knives are out. A defeat like this needs its scapegoat. It’s a pity, for Paine has done much to set Australian cricket straight since you know what in Cape Town a while back.There, then, is a part of the back story to one of the game’s most memorable performances: that the Indians were well wound up by the Australian captain at the SCG. So too by a small section of spectators, whose apparently racist gibes directed at Mohammed Siraj caused the game to be momentarily halted upon Siraj’s complaint. We know the others: days and weeks in quarantine for the Indian team, no room service at the Brisbane hotel, no cleaning of the room either; an injury list that beggared belief, and a captain at home nursing his newborn. There are more, of which by far my favourite is the wickets taken by each set of bowlers prior to the start of the fourth Test match – 1033 by the Australian attack, 13 by the Indians. Experience – huh, humbug!Related

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  • Gill, Pujara, Pant showcase India's batting riches

But India won, and gloriously. Tuesday’s three-wicket triumph over Australia that secured the series 2-1 in favour of the tourists is already referred to as “a win for the ages”, “the greatest series victory ever” and “the greatest moment in Indian Test history”, which is a big call and takes us back to 1952, when the Indians finally conquered their own inhibitions by beating England in Madras for their first win after 20 years and 24 Test matches of trying.Winning a series at home in one thing; winning away quite another. Winning in Australia is just bloody hard; winning at the Gabba leaves you bloodier still. Not that many can remember, it has been 32 years after all. The pitch suits the Australian way, the weather conditions melt most opponents. Ask a cricketer who has won down under and he will rate it right up there. Find one who has triumphed at the Gabba and the grin will run from ear to ear. It is difficult to explain why but it is like every single damn thing goes against you in Australia, which, of course, it only does because the Aussies are winning and in this game you make your own luck. Australians hunt as a pack, without mercy. They taunt, they swagger, they play darn good cricket, and then they arrive in Brisbane and turn it up so loud, it becomes unbearable. Alastair Cook quietened them down with a match-saving double-hundred back in 2010-11, and now Rishabh Pant has silenced them. What an innings that was!The greatest compliment the Aussies can be paid is that everyone outside Australia seems pleased. The cliché has the rest of the world hating them but the game is set deep in Australian souls and we envy that. Right now, social media is in overdrive, WhatsApp groups are on gloat alert. Ask any Test player where they most want to win and they will say Australia. You know you are good if you do, and you know the legacy will last. In this instance, you might reasonably say the Australians – Pat Cummins excepted – did not bowl at their best, and Lyon would argue that the DRS failed to rule in his favour. Or you could say that India played brilliantly and made their own luck, which is what happened. Yes, India played brilliantly.Pant has been given a remarkable cricketing talent; Shubman Gill – who played the most thrilling innings – an incredible eye. Gill is slim and athletic, Pant stocky-strong: they are the shape of man and bat as if on an adventure in a world that is theirs for the taking. But they cannot take it alone, they need another who reads the map. Come the lunch break on Monday, Cheteshwar Pujara had faced 90 balls for eight runs; that is 15 overs of his own, soaked up to the value of 8. In the last over before lunch, Gill upper-cut a ball from Mitchell Starc for six. That is 75% of Pujara’s 15-over haul in a single hit – good dovetailing by very different men of equal nerve and ambition.The morning’s cricket was raw, demonstrably not for the faint-hearted. From head to toe, Pujara took a physical pounding, and when Fox Sports produced a graphic of the strike points to his body, it was as if an inaccurate shooter had finished his day’s work without the bullet once hitting the exact target he was aiming at. There was something in this because Pujara, though hurt, was unbeaten at tea too. In fact, this remained the case until delivery number 211, the second with the second new ball, trapped him in front and was confirmed on review – Cummins the bowler, of course. By then Gill and Ajinkya Rahane had gone too, another 100 were needed, and history told us, the homesters would move in for the kill in defence of Fortress Gabba.Not so.Pant took them on, relishing the power of his bat swing. Twice he was beaten by Lyon’s extravagant amount of spin – the first of them when way out his ground after a mighty swish – but rather than retreat, he advanced again to wallop the next one into the bleachers at long-on. Soon after, two cover-drives had fans out of their seats, while a set of slog-sweeps against Lyon brought dressing-room delirium. Washington Sundar added to the mayhem, hooking Cummins high into the stands – “Washington Sundar!!!” screamed the commentator, “43 from 43 now!!”India’s young players stepped up, none more so than Rishabh Pant in Brisbane•Matt Roberts/Getty ImagesHonestly, you couldn’t take your eyes off this stuff. What had been a calculation, a chase born of “get to tea and see where we are because the draw will do”, had become an assault. The hunters were now the hunted and their options were fast running out. Pant seized the moment and resolved to forge on, fearless to the end when a punch-drive down the ground brought victory. In the dugout, Rahane, India’s captain in the absence of Virat Kohli, had spent a couple of hours in the same seat, tugging matter-of-factly upon his beard, while alongside him Jasprit Bumrah giggled nervously at the reality unfolding before his eyes. Now Rahane rose to his feet and looked on in wonder as younger men charged to the middle and into the arms of the stocky one who had brought them, and India itself, this extraordinary moment.The facts are that a four-match Test series between two evenly matched sides had gone to the wire late on the final afternoon, which is only good for the ongoing promotion of Test match cricket. “New” India had been well represented by cricketers who happily look their opponent in the eye for a long as the opponent looks in theirs. The 36 disaster in Adelaide had been immediately dealt with by Rahane, whose hundred a week later in Melbourne was a thing of beauty and great courage.The many injuries and absences gave opportunity to a wide array of Indian talent that confirms the idea of India being able to put two good teams on the park, much as Australia were able to do in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Twitter threw its many handles behind Rahul Dravid, who has responsibility for the development of the best young cricketers in the land. One cannot think of a better man.In the aftermath, Justin Langer pointed out that cricket should never be taken for granted. He added that the “tough” Indians should never be underestimated and that their comeback from Adelaide was nothing short of remarkable. He said that Pant’s amazing innings reminded him of Ben Stokes at Headingley in 2019. “It was an incredible Test series and in the end there is always a winner and loser. India deserve full credit. They have been outstanding but we have learnt lessons from it.” Wise and kind words from the Australian coach at a time when cricket’s most generously spirited face is needed.Certainly, Indian cricket is having a moment. The Australians played their part too, and the frenzy that has followed does justice to the game we care about so deeply and love most. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, Joe Root made 228, and after a game fightback by the Sri Lankans, England cruised to victory by seven wickets. Perhaps winning away from home isn’t so difficult after all. Perhaps it is all about the quality of the players and the manner in which they go about their business.Within the blink of an eye, England will be in India, in Chennai – once Madras, of course – where India first won a Test match all those years ago. If that series can bring us just a little of the magic we have seen these past weeks in Australia, well, what’s not to like?

Harpreet Brar's slow road to the top

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The Punjab Kings spin-bowling allrounder was resigned to turning up for trials and bowling one over. Then his luck changed

Hemant Brar19-May-2021″Whenever people ask me about it, I tell them, jokingly, that this is a photo of me from childhood.”Harpreet Brar, the Punjab Kings spin-bowling allrounder, is referring to a tiger tattooed on his right forearm.Like many things in his life, the tattoo didn’t come easily. His father was in the army and later in the police. In other words, he was a disciplinarian and not the sort to look favourably on tattoos. When Brar approached his mother about it, she put down a condition: that he first make a career in cricket. If he wasn’t successful at that, his back-up was to look for a job in the Punjab Police, and a tattoo could have been a hindrance there.”After my first year in the IPL, I told my mom, ‘Now I want to get a tattoo.’ Even then she didn’t say yes. She said it was my call. So I said, ‘Okay I will get one.'”Brar has two tattoos now. Next, he wants to get his parents’ and grandparents’ names inked on his body.

****

Brar was born in Meerut, where his father was posted at the time. Now he lives in Zirakpur, a satellite town near Chandigarh. He played district cricket for Ropar, about 55km to the north. But his true home town is Hariewala, a small village in Punjab’s Moga district, about 100km from the Pakistan border. He was only a few days old when his mother and he moved there from Meerut. The family eventually moved to Zirakpur when he was five, but at heart he is still a Hariewala boy.That’s why when Harsha Bhogle asked him after he received the Player-of-the-Match award in the Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore game, Brar’s first in this season’s IPL, if he was from Moga, Brar explicitly mentioned his village’s name.”On the eve of the match, I was told to be ready,” he says. “That night I prepared myself mentally – thinking about how I would bowl to each batsman. I didn’t want to concede too many runs because in my earlier game [in the 2020 IPL], I had ended up going for 40. I knew if I could restrict the runs, wickets would come automatically.”The Kings batted first. They were 118 for 5 when Brar came to the crease and struck two sixes and a four in an unbeaten 17-ball 25. KL Rahul and he added 61 in the last 5.2 overs.

“I believe a fingerspinner at his peak is more dangerous than a wristspinner because a fingerspinner has more control over his bowling”

Brar’s stronger suit, though, is his left-arm spin. But when he came on to bowl, Virat Kohli launched his first ball for a straight six. Brar focused on not conceding another boundary in that over and was successful. On the first ball of Brar’s next over, Kohli again used his feet to hit him over extra cover for four.”I told myself if Virat Kohli is on strike for the next over, I have to be extra careful. I didn’t want to concede another boundary on the first ball.”He did better than that. Anticipating Kohli might use his feet again, Brar shortened his length and kept the ball on the stumps. Kohli danced down the track again but this time failed to connect and was bowled. Halfway into his third IPL season, Brar finally had a wicket to his name.Feeling confident, he started to put more body into the ball. Next ball, he beat Glenn Maxwell’s outside edge to hit off stump. The over was a double-wicket maiden.On the first ball of his fourth over, he had AB de Villiers too. In seven balls Brar had turned the game decisively towards the Kings.As a fingerspinner Brar is aware of his strengths and limitations. He doesn’t have many variations, so he focuses on hitting a good line and length. His 6ft 2in frame also helps extract extra bounce.”I practise a lot of spot bowling,” he says. “I believe form can be good or bad but if you land the ball on a good spot consistently, you can do well irrespective of form.”These days there is the carrom ball and all. Wristspinners are in fashion. But I believe a fingerspinner at his peak is more dangerous than a wristspinner because a fingerspinner has more control over his bowling. Even in a pressure situation he can bowl the way his captain wants.”At 25, Brar is no longer young by cricket standards. “Life has taught me to wait for your chance,” he says. “I had only thought of taking one wicket. I never thought of taking Virat Kohli’s wicket, or AB de Villiers’, or Maxwell’s.”It was only after the game, when I was sitting alone in my room, that I realised that there were three main wickets and I got all three of them. As they say, when God gives, he gives in abundance. You need to keep working hard and have patience.Brar went for 41 in his only IPL game in 2020 but bounced back to take three top wickets in his first match of the 2021 season•BCCI”Have patience – that’s the biggest lesson I have learnt in life.”

****

Brar started in age-group cricket with the Ropar district team in 2011. In his first year he went on to represent Punjab at Under-16 level. However, for the next seven years, he couldn’t make it to the state team, though in the meantime he played a lot of club cricket in Punjab and Delhi. That helped him develop his game and earn some money, which ensured he was not lost to cricket.”The first time I was called up for a club game, they gave me Rs 500 [about US$11 at the time],” Brar says. “I was like, ‘Wait, do I get paid as well?’ Until then I didn’t know about that. I told myself, if so, I could play two games a day.”So it started like that. I got Rs 500 at one place, was Man of the Match at another. Sometimes somebody would say, if you hit two sixes in one over, you will get some money as a reward. That way I was earning at least for myself, to buy a bat or clothes. I like good clothes.”Around 2015-16, Air India contracted Brar on a monthly stipend of Rs 3500. He was playing for them in the JP Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament when the Mumbai Indians scouts noticed him.”I was over the moon when the Mumbai Indians called me for trials. But when I went there, they allowed me to bowl just one over. Next year they called again. Again for one over. It felt like they were doing it just for the formality. How can you judge a player in just one over?”Brar wasn’t picked for the IPL but he kept playing club tournaments. At one of those tournaments, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, the Punjab allrounder who played three ODIs for India in 2016, spotted him.”Brar told me he was playing for a minor district, Ropar, and wasn’t getting a chance to represent the state team,” Mann remembers. “I saw he could win games with bat and ball. I thought if he played for Mohali, a lot of doors would open for him. And the move would also have helped the Mohali side.”Brar went to trials for Mohali U-23s but the selectors picked him for the senior team instead. From there, he could have been selected for the Ranji Trophy camp but he wasn’t, and so another year went by.Seeing that things were not working out in cricket, his father wanted him to apply for a job with the police but Brar asked for one more year.

“The first time I was called up for a club game, they gave me Rs 500. I was like, ‘Wait, do I get paid as well?'”

“That was my last year for U-23; the next year, I would have been over age. That year, in the inter-district U-23 tournament, I scored around 350 runs and picked up 31 wickets in five games. Our team reached the final as well.”That performance opened the door to the state team. Around the same time, the Rajasthan Royals invited Brar to try out for the 2019 IPL.”One more over and some batting. Then they said, ‘Don’t worry [son], you should try next year.’ That brought a wry smile to my face. I was like, ‘It’s my third year and still everyone says I should try next year.'”Brar was playing for Punjab U-23s in the CK Nayudu Trophy, an age-group four-day tournament, when he got another call. This time it was the Kings XI Punjab.”Once you have been rejected so many times, you only go half-heartedly,” he says. “But the Kings XI had said they would conduct a practice match. I thought that was better, because in a match it won’t be just one over.”The trials were to be run across two days. Brar went on the second day but when he got there, the groundsmen were watering the pitch. There was no match that day.”I asked around and realised they were taking the trials in the nets. I was again like, how would they know in nets how good or bad I am? But I went to the nets.”They asked me to bowl. They liked what they saw. So I bowled for quite some time.”When I batted, I started connecting well. They liked my batting too. After that they created some scenarios: ‘Now you have to make this many runs in two overs.’ One time I nailed it. Another time I couldn’t. Another time, it was a tie, sort of. At that time Mike Hesson was the coach. He liked me, even captured me on video. That gave me some confidence that I could be selected.”Batting for the Kings XI Punjab in his first IPL game, in 2019. Brar came in at eight and made 20 off 12 balls•BCCISatisfied that he had finally had a proper chance to show his stuff, Brar returned to join his side in the CK Nayudu Trophy. When auction day came around, the Kings XI picked him up at his base price of Rs 20 lakh (about $28,000).”I remember we were in Jaipur then. Arsh [Arshdeep Singh, Punjab and Punjab Kings fast bowler] and I were room-mates and we both were picked. I was happy but at the same time I knew people would be expecting more from me.”Earlier, if I didn’t score or didn’t take any wickets, no one really cared. Now I knew the Kings XI management must also be keeping a watch, so that brought a bit of pressure. But thankfully that tournament went very well. I got a bagful of wickets.”Brar finished the CK Nayudu Trophy as the highest wicket-taker among the Elite teams, and third-highest overall, with 56 wickets at an average of 16.41 and a strike rate of 32.91. That included a 12-wicket match haul in the final, which Punjab won.

****

When Brar made his IPL debut, against the Delhi Capitals in April 2019, R Ashwin, the Kings XI captain then, introduced him as a “mystery spinner” at the toss.”I was a mystery spinner only because no one had heard of me,” Brar laughs.Until the game against the Royal Challengers this year, Brar had played just three matches in the IPL, bowling nine wicketless overs for 89 runs.Did he think he was spending too much time on the sidelines?”Of course,” he says. “Before every match, I used to think, now I will get a chance, now I will get a chance. But once I was back in my room after the game, I would tell myself, even if I am sitting out, I need to have the same attitude as if I am playing. If I drop my shoulders now, I won’t be mentally ready when I get a chance.”I have watched 30-35 games from the outside, but even from those, I have gained some experience. Whenever the team was in a pressure situation, I used to think about what I would do if I were in the middle.”

R Ashwin introduced Brar as a mystery spinner in his first IPL game. “I was a mystery spinner only because no one had heard of me,” Brar laughs

Recently, a fan messaged Brar on Instagram, saying he resembled Akshay Kumar’s character from a Bollywood movie. Brar replied saying he didn’t wear a turban for money, as movie stars do.It caused something of a stir on Twitter, with people trolling Brar, calling him the designated water boy for his side (he hadn’t played in any of the Kings’ five games in IPL 2021 until then).”Whenever someone says something like this, I get motivated even more,” Brar says. “And when the same people praise you [later], the success tastes even sweeter. I have made it till here with great difficulty, after giving four-five trials. There are so many more like me, who don’t even get picked at the auction.”I tell my mom also the same thing. She used to ask me why I was not getting a chance. I would tell her, we are 25 in the squad and only 11 can play. The mothers of those 11 would also be hoping their sons don’t sit out. But then a mother is a mother. You cannot win an argument with her.”I have always told myself that this is the biggest league in the world. It’s a huge thing to even be a part of it.”On the field too, Brar is not easily flustered. Mann, who has now seen him from close quarters as a team-mate at Punjab’s senior side, agrees. “I think Brar’s main strength is his temperament,” he says. “Also, he knows how to bowl in what situation, especially in the shortest format as he has played a lot of those matches in club cricket.”He works a lot on his game too, both on his batting and bowling. Bowling is obviously his main strength but he has the capability to be a match-winner with bat as well. All he needs is a bit more confidence.”For Brar, what is his next goal?”India [I want to play for India]. And not for just one series, for long term.”

This year will sorely test cricket administrators' planning and resilience

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The calendar is packed with events even as the pandemic rages on. How will cricket cope?

Ian Chappell25-Apr-2021If you want an extreme example of resilience in the game of cricket then you need look no further than the Indian team that recently toured Australia.Despite a horrendous batting collapse in the first Test, followed by the departure of their inspirational captain and then a spate of injuries that would have floored a lesser team, India still managed to win the series 2-1.Despite the challenges, they played some skilful, entertaining cricket to beat a side renowned for their home-turf prowess. It was an outstanding achievement by an irrepressible bunch of competitors.The game is going to require a similar dose of resilience as it continues to face a number of searching challenges. Currently administrators and players in the IPL are encountering a daunting task as Covid cases in India continue to surge.For the players, there is the fear of serious health issues and the challenge of bubble fatigue. The administrators, on the other hand, have the enormous responsibility of keeping everybody safe while weaving their way through a maze of rigorous protocols that can change daily. Is it any wonder that mental health concerns are on the tip of everybody’s tongue?Related

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  • RCB recruit Scott Kuggeleijn as replacement for Kane Richardson

  • Australia suspends flights from India; Chris Lynn hopes for post-IPL charter home

  • Can the IPL wield its power to aid a country in crisis?

Once the IPL is completed, hopefully without any major setbacks, there’s the challenge for England’s administrators to repeat last summer’s juggling act of hosting four touring teams for a series of matches – New Zealand and India for Tests and Pakistan and Sri Lanka for limited overs.Having survived the resource-draining last season with virtually no crowds to boost gate takings, England now face the challenge of hosting players from India, a country that is currently designated a “red zone”.This means that all the players visiting England from India are going to face strict quarantine hurdles before being able to play cricket. As well as the Indian squad, these regulations will also apply to New Zealand and England players who have been in the IPL. It will be a severe test of the administrators’ diplomatic skills and the players’ patience.While the BCCI has the resources to withstand a severe financial buffeting, the ECB will be stretched to the limit if yet another season becomes a financial drain. England’s resources will be further under pressure as they have made a heavy investment in a new form of the game.The Hundred is due to be launched this season. Surely there couldn’t be more challenging circumstances for a board trying to promote a new tournament to a public that already possesses a healthy dose of scepticism.As if those weren’t enough challenges to be faced, there’s another debutant – the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand in Southampton in June.Then there’s the T20 World Cup to be staged in India later in the year. Hosting this multi-team tournament will present a challenge only surpassed by Japan trying to accommodate the Olympics as the pandemic continues to threaten the world.In the midst of all these challenges, there’s further turmoil with the administrative upheaval occurring in South Africa, one of the stronger cricket-playing nations. The game can’t afford another West Indies-style slide into mediocrity – certainly at Test level – from one of its major draws.If cricket’s administrators and players thought last year was a severe test, it’s proving to be just a rehearsal for what has to be the game’s most challenging 12 months.It is said that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. If this year’s challenges are overcome, it could indeed strengthen the game, but it won’t happen by luck. It will require much thought and some long-term planning, combined with a strong dose of resilience.Test cricket, which often appears to be teetering on the edge of a precipice, is the form of the game that needs the most nurturing in these challenging times. It would help the process if India and New Zealand provide an entertaining spectacle at the WTC final.If even half those challenges are successfully met, it will be a triumph born from resilience and creativity.

'Unbelievable… sensational… Pant-tastic'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Rishabh Pant came up with yet another innings that left everyone awestruck

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2021

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The innings included an audacious, stunning, reverse-shot over the slip cordon off James Anderson with the second new ball.