All posts by h716a5.icu

Also, why is Prithvi Shaw struggling after a brisk start to the tournament?

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Oct-2020Did Capitals err in not starting with Ashwin against Gayle?
In eight innings before Tuesday, R Ashwin had got Chris Gayle four times for just 49 runs in 59 balls. Ashwin has been the third-highest wicket taker in Powerplay this IPL. And yet Delhi Capitals’ captain Shreyas Iyer asked uncapped Indian fast bowler Tushar Deshpande to deliver the penultimate over of powerplay against Gayle, who was new to the crease. Deshpande was playing only his third IPL match. Gayle did not ask for any generosity, but said “thank you, Iyer” by blasting Deshpande for 26 runs, the most expensive over by a Capitals bowler this IPL.Ashwin was asked to deliver the sixth over. Second ball, he tossed a slider that Gayle attempted to sweep but was beaten in the flight and was bowled. Ashwin was proud. Iyer might have heaved a sigh of relief, but Gayle’s onslaught had provided Kings XI Punjab the momentum.Getty ImagesWhy is Prithvi Shaw struggling?
7, 0,0, 4, 19. Prithvi Shaw’s scores in the last five matches including against the Kings XI. It has been a surprising dip in form for a player who had cracked two half-centuries in the Capitals’ first four matches and then hit nearly third against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.During his lean run, both his mindset and his technique have come into question. Bowlers have pulled their lengths back against Shaw which has forced him to fetch deliveries outside his hitting arc. Bowlers who have his number are confident they can trap him; Jofra Archer has got Shaw twice this IPL: bowled him with a fierce delivery that seamed in and then accepted a top edge.Deepak Chahar has got Shaw six times across all IPLs, including once in this tournament. On Tuesday, Jimmy Neesham pitched back of length and on the fourth stump. Shaw was just playing the second delivery from Neesham, but went chasing the ball, skying it straight to Glenn Maxwell at wide long-off. That Shaw has a technical problem was highlighted in the same over when Neesham bowled to the Capitals’ captain Shreyas Iyer. The ball was pitched on length and much wider than the previous delivery that had got Shaw out. Iyer moved his front leg towards the pitch of the ball and with a still head stroked it high over cover for a second-ball six – a difficult shot made to look easy.ESPNcricinfo LtdFormer India opener and captain Sunil Gavaskar on air summarised Shaw’s issue: his front foot was on the leg side when he connected the ball thus showing he was out of balance. Gavaskar said Shaw needed to carry out a “lot of work ahead” to “tighten up his technique considerably.”How Dhawan has ‘swept’ to glory?
There are many things Shikhar Dhawan did on Tuesday that were much better, much smarter than team-mates. Among them is a shot that fetched him many, many runs. A shot that Dhawan has utilised to maximum effect to accelerate and dominate the spinners in particular.That shot is the sweep – conventional, slog and paddle. Overall this IPL, nobody has scored more runs off the sweep than Dhawan – 82 off 27 balls at a stunning strike rate of nearly 304. He attacked the Kings XI’s legspin pair of M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi as well Glenn Maxwell’s offbreaks with the sweep, blasting 27 runs from just seven balls.Why did Capitals slow down in death overs?
Despite majestic batting from Dhawan, the Capitals managed just 38 runs in the final four overs. The power-hitting pair of Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer could manage just 19 runs off 16 deliveries, hitting just one boundary between them.This was one critical phase where Kings XI excelled and it played a significant role in the victory. Coming into the match today, KL Rahul’s team had been the worst in death bowling, leaking runs at 13.82 per over. In the nine matches before today, the Kings XI’s bowlers had been hit for 417 runs from 181 deliveries.Credit has to be given to Mohammed Shami who has delivered yorkers willfully this IPL. Last Sunday he held his nerve in the double Super-Over victory against the Mumbai Indians. On Tuesday, Shami bowled two of the four overs at death, filled with yorkers, and gave away just 13 runs while accounting for Stoinis and Hetmyer.

She is the most genuine allrounder imaginable

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2020The 50 Greatest Australian Cricketers (Affirm Press), in which Dan Liebke charts the careers, characteristics and enduring legacies of the finest Australian players of the last half-century.

‘She’s totally amazing’ – Amy,
‘Watch the ball. Make good decisions’ – Ellyse Perry

If I told you that Australia had a batter who averaged 78.10 in Tests, 52.10 in ODIs and 29.07 in T20Is, you’d probably consider them the kind of player you’d want batting in your top order.If I told you that Australia had a bowler who averaged 18.19 in Tests, 24.29 in ODIs and 18.97 in T20Is, you’d surely want them to lead your bowling attack.If I told you that those figures belonged to the same cricketer, you’d probably smack me upside the head and tell me to stop lying. After all, the Australian men’s team, as a rule, haven’t had a true allrounder – one who could comfortably hold their spot with their prowess in either discipline – for decades.ALSO READ: Profile: Ellyse the incredible (2017) In the last 50 years, which man comes close? Shane Watson was handy with the ball, but if you had to choose him as a bowler only, you’d be in a perilous state of affairs. Steve Waugh in his youth was a handy ODI allrounder, as was Simon O’Donnell. But neither reached that standard in Tests. Mitchell Johnson has a Test century, but no sane person would ever have picked him as a specialist batter.However, over in the women’s side, we have Ellyse Perry, the most genuine allrounder imaginable.Perry made her debut for the Australian ODI side in 2007. She was 16 years old, the youngest ever cricketer to represent Australia. Her T20 debut came six months later, where she was awarded player of the match for her 29 not out with the bat and her 4 for 20 with the ball. Her Test debut came two weeks after that. Not yet old enough to vote or legally drink, Ellyse Perry was an allrounder in all three formats of the game.At this stage, however, she was primarily a bowling allrounder, who batted in the bottom half of the line-up and was only expected to contribute occasional runs. This would be her position for the first half of her career.Despite an ankle injury bothering her when she started bowling in the 2013 World Cup final, Ellyse Perry took 3 for 19 to help dismiss West Indies for 145•Pal Pillai/Getty ImagesThis slightly reduced role didn’t stop her from having an impact. In the 2010 World T20, the still-teenaged Perry was given the last over of the final, with New Zealand needing 14 to win and the big-hitting Sophie Devine at the crease. Perry saw the game out, using her football skills to intercept with her foot a straight drive from the final ball that would have sent the match into a Super Over. She was player of the match.Three years later, in the 2013 World Cup, Perry was struggling with an ankle injury. She’d missed a good chunk of the tournament because of it, but was determined to play in the final against the West Indies. She batted with no apparent discomfort, contributing 25 not out (22) to help Australia to 259 for 7 from their 50 overs.When it came time to bowl, however, with the West Indies moving comfortably along at 32 for 0, Perry’s ankle wouldn’t support her. Attempting to bowl her first ball, she was forced to abort her run-up, and limp back to the top of her mark. Her second attempt was no more successful, the pain evident with every step.Yet somehow, Perry fought through the pain and forced herself to bowl the over. It was a maiden. A wicket maiden to be precise, as she removed Kycia Knight lbw from the final ball of the over. From the first ball of her next over, she caught the edge of Stafanie Taylor’s bat. However, the third umpire adjudicated that the ball didn’t carry to Meg Lanning at slip. So three balls later, Perry had Taylor caught and bowled instead. Still no runs had been taken from her. In her following over, Perry had Natasha McLean lbw. After three overs, she had the figures of 3 for 2 with two maidens. West Indies were done. Ellyse Perry had won the World Cup on one leg.ALSO WATCH: 25 Questions with Ellyse Perry: ‘Fast bowlers are cooler than spinners. Just look at them!’Even if you only considered her bowling feats at this stage of her career, that would have been enough to see her acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest ever cricketers.From the middle of 2013 on, however, Perry suddenly decided to become not just a handy lower-order batter, but instead one of the best batters in the world. Perhaps, given that her international soccer career was winding down, she was bored and looking for a new challenge.The improvement in Perry’s batting from 2013 on was most noticeable in the longer forms of the game. Her batting average in ODIs, which was 21.86 from 54 matches up to the 2013 World Cup final, transformed into an average of 70.58 from 58 games afterwards. In Tests, her batting average of 22.66 from three Tests prior to 2013 jumped to 111.20 from five Tests afterwards.Granted, those Test figures are a very small sample size. On the other hand, they’re the only Tests that the women get to play, and jumping from 22.66 to 111.20 is certainly better than moving in the other direction. Furthermore, given the jump in her ODI batting records, which is over a far more statistically significant sample, it’s not crazy to think Perry’s Test batting might genuinely have improved dramatically as well.Certainly, when she was compiling a patient 213 not out in the 2017 Ashes Test and then following it up with 116 and 76 not out in the 2019 version, one got the distinct impression that her batting at Test level had advanced a notch or two.Perry’s 213 not out in the 2017 Ashes is the highest Test score by an Australian female batter•Getty ImagesRegardless of how precisely Perry’s astonishing Test batting figures reflect her true ability at that level, there’s little doubt that she’s one of the elite batters in women’s cricket these days.Oh, and her bowling has also maintained its previous spectacular standard throughout this period of her batting improvement.All of which makes Ellyse Alexandra Perry an impossibly good package of a cricketer.A decent trick question a seasoned cricket fan can ask a more casual fan is to name the greatest cricketer of all time. Most such casual fans will unhesitatingly blurt out “Bradman” as the answer.But Bradman was merely the greatest batter of all time. The more nuanced answer is to consider both batting and bowling and pin your vote on Sir Garfield Sobers, who had a batting average of 57.78 and a bowling average of 34.03.Despite the difficulties of comparing different eras and the different formats played, it’s not crazy to consider Ellyse Perry the Sobers of women’s cricket. She’s got a similarly mind-boggling record with both bat and ball over a similarly long career.And so if I told you that Ellyse Perry was Australia’s greatest cricketer of the last 50 years, you’d have to at least consider the possibility that I was telling the truth.Which is convenient, because that’s exactly what I am telling you: Ellyse Perry is Australia’s greatest cricketer of the last 50 years.This excerpt has been edited lightly to ESPNcricinfo house style

David Warner is ruled out, Will Pucovski has concussion and Joe Burns is badly short of runs

Andrew McGlashan11-Dec-20202:11

Smith on Pucovski’s concussion: ‘Everyone deals with injuries differently’

Hold the line, don’t panicThis would still appear the likely route, where Burns retains his place – he has been backed from the start by selectors, coach, captain and team-mates – with fingers crossed that he gets runs at the SCG or lifts for the occasion in Adelaide. He would be partnered by Marcus Harris, who last played a Test during the 2019 Ashes and has since tweaked his technique working alongside Chris Rogers, with 355 Sheffield Shield runs in three innings under his belt including a 239. Harris has nine Tests to his name, including four against India two years where he made 258 runs at 36.85, and in the following series against Sri Lanka he opened with Burns so it would not be an entirely unknown pairing.Joe Burns is bowled•Getty ImagesThe senior prosThe ship appears to have sailed on this one, but if you glance at social media (which, of course, is where all the proper selection debate happens) then you may notice a few mentions of Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja. The former had a prolific start to the Shield season, just as everyone, including Marsh himself, was moving on from his Test career. Speaking to , Justin Langer did not slam the door shut for Marsh: “You never discriminate against age. He’s doing everything possible,” he said. Khawaja, meanwhile, holds an average of 96.80 when opening the batting including 145 in the 2016-17 day-night Test against South Africa in Adelaide.Mission for MarnusThis is perhaps gaining a little momentum, a promotion one spot up for Marnus Labuschagne to plug the gap – most likely alongside Burns, but potentially even Harris if the selectors really get spooked by Burns’ form. As Steven Smith said yesterday, the No. 3 can be in to face the second ball of the match anyway so is there a massive difference if he goes in straight away? And if you can be thrust into an Ashes Test as a concussion sub, and never look back, you can probably handle this. Labuschagne has opened nine times in his first-class career, although not since 2016, and also did it in the recent ODI series after Warner’s injury although was dismissed for 7. The other byproduct of this move would be the middle-order batsman moving up a slot each which creates room for Cameron Green at No. 6. Green has done enough to suggest he could command a spot on batting alone, regardless of the bowling workload he is capable of.Marnus Labuschagne looks on during practice•Getty ImagesFrom left fieldThis one involves another batting-order reshuffle and is a bit more out-of-the-box: shift Matthew Wade up from No. 6. If it was alongside Burns it would retain the left-right combination and, as a punchy left-hander, Wade is not too dissimilar to Warner even though not the same pedigree. It would be a leap of faith given that Wade has never opened in first-class cricket (he does have an average of 57.25 from five innings at No. 3) although he has done it a lot in white-ball cricket, including a handful of ODIs, and on the Australia A tour of England in 2019 before the Ashes made one-day scores of 117 and 155 at the top of the order. This move would actually lead to fewer batsmen moving from their current positions but, like the Labuschagne option, would also open up the spot for Green.

The steps PCB have taken to ensure their UAE bubble is water-tight

Umar Farooq28-May-2021The PSL arrived in the UAE on Thursday and began a quarantine period, at the end of which the league will resume a disrupted sixth season. Only 14 games were possible earlier this year in Karachi after a Covid-19 outbreak among players and staff ground the season to a halt. The remaining 20 games were originally meant to be played in Karachi again but had to be relocated to Abu Dhabi after the PCB and franchises worried about a worsening Covid-19 situation in the country.Negotiations with Abu Dhabi authorities to stage the tournament in the emirate had to overcome a couple of difficult moments – as recently as two nights ago the season was in danger of not going ahead again – but the PCB has managed to put most of its pieces together now.There are still details to be ironed out, not least a definitive start date, but around 270 personnel including local and overseas players, support staff, production crew and PCB officials landed in the UAE and are undergoing quarantine periods in hotels. There do remain a batch of players and league personnel yet to arrive from Pakistan, as well as broadcast production crews from India and South Africa. Before the end of this month, all stakeholders should be in place and in quarantine, though the staggered arrivals and differing quarantine periods means the start date will definitely be pushed back further.Given how the season ended in Karachi, considerable focus will be on the bio-secure environment that a UK-based safety and technology company has established for the league. Some key differences are clear between the operating procedures in the bio-secure environments for the Abu Dhabi leg as compared to the Karachi leg.Longer quarantine periodsThe contingent from Pakistan that has already landed will be in a hard quarantine for seven days, while those arriving from India and South Africa (mostly broadcast production crew) will have to undergo a ten-day quarantine period – that is because of the travel restrictions in place in the UAE for those flying in from those two countries. In the Karachi leg, the quarantine period was three days.Everyone will be tested on the day of arrival and will undergo three further tests in seven days before they join the bubble. The quarantine in the hotels will be strictly contact-free and nobody can meet anyone in that time. Individuals joining at a later date after the teams have entered the bio-secure environment will have to serve their mandatory quarantine period in the hotel but on a separate floor. There are no exceptions for anyone who has had a Covid-19 infection, or has received a vaccine.The batch from South Africa and India will be required to clear a PCR test on days eight and nine in order to allow for the individuals to join the bio-secure environment.Additionally, there will be daily temperature and symptom screening through the season.Fans won’t be permitted to the stadium in Abu Dhabi•AFP via Getty ImagesWhat if someone tests positive?Anyone testing positive or showing symptoms will be immediately isolated from rest of the squad by the team doctor or team manager. If someone does test positive they will have to isolate for a minimum of 10 days on a different floor. The individual will be tested again on Day 9 and Day 10 of the isolation and following two negative RT-PCR test results and no further indication of symptoms will be allowed to re-enter the bio-secure environment. But given the tight window of the tournament, the chances of individual making back in the bubble with the team are unrealistic.In case of false positives due to historical infections, the guidelines call for serology tests and repeat RT-PCR tests. A negative test will allow the participant to re-enter the bio-secure environment.How many bio-secure bubbles are there?There are three bubbles for the league. Bubble A is for players, support staff, match officials, hotel staff and PCB officials. Additionally, unlike Karachi, the teams will be staying in different hotels (two teams per hotel, on different floors).Bubble B is at a different hotel and is for the broadcast production crew and key event management personnel. Bubble C is for accommodation dedicated to the groundstaff.In Karachi all six teams were staying in one hotel and players travelled with families. This time round, in Abu Dhabi, families have not been allowed and, unlike Karachi where teams did interact with each other in the hotel, “maximum possible efforts will be made to avoid cross-interaction between teams at the hotel” this time.Track and traceOne of the biggest and most significant differences with the Karachi leg is the use of a GPS fob tracking devices which has been given to every single person in all three bubbles. These are mandatory to wear at all times other than during swimming, training and in a game. “This is to ensure the tracking is consistent for detecting live interactions with others,” according to the document. The device has the ability to track movements within the bubble and trigger a beep in case of a breach where an individual crosses over into an area he/she is not supposed to be in. Most importantly, the devices will be used to trace close and casual contacts in case of a positive test.In Karachi, each team had a Covid-compliance officer with each franchise. They were assigned to help the team to abide by the SOPs and report any bio-secure environment protocol breaches.CrowdsThe Pakistan government had allowed the PCB to have 20% capacity at Karachi’s National Stadium, which eventually was increased to 50% after one week. Had the tournament not been suspended, the PCB targeting 75% capacity by season’s end. In Abu Dhabi, no crowd will be allowed at the stadium.

Shouting at the umpires can only do so much but ground dimensions are firmly on analysts’ radars

Cameron Ponsonby23-Aug-2021Over the last ten years of the Blast (or its predecessor, the FLt20), of the 40 quarter-finals played, exactly 20 have been won by the home side and 20 by the away.That feels weird. Surely, even in a format as short and volatile as T20, there must be some form of advantage to playing at home? Otherwise, what’s all the fuss about in securing a home quarter?In 2005, the international bestseller narrowed down home advantage essentially to how close your fans are to the referee; if they yell at him or her enough, human nature will kick in and they will give you more close decisions than they won’t. Basically, peer pressure and bullying works. Which is nice.But that study related mainly to sports such as American football, soccer, ice hockey, basketball, etc. Sports where playing dimensions and surfaces are standardised and not, as is the case in cricket, sports where pitches can be doctored or where outfields can vary greatly in size and shape.For instance, at Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge, the new stand that runs parallel to Bridgford Road cuts across the outfield in a way that means the playing area resembles a circle that someone has snipped an edge off. It creates a very short part of the boundary that, combined with an excellent batting surface, leads to high scoring contests.Related

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On Wednesday, Nottinghamshire will host Hampshire in the second quarter-final. They have lost just one game of T20 cricket at home over the last two years.”We know the dimensions of our ground”, Nottinghamshire captain, Steven Mullaney, says, “and we know how we want to play cricket at Trent Bridge.””Batters come here and they fancy it [the short boundary], but at the same time their bowlers come here and they’re not used to defending it. So I think that is an advantage.”It’s a sentiment that Lancashire’s spin consultant Carl Crowe agrees with.”It’s about adapting,” Crowe says, ahead of his side’s away quarter-final at Somerset. “That’s as a team and as an individual. The best teams and the teams that win the tournament are the best at that. Yes, you’ve got half your games at home but you’ve also got half your games away that are just as important.”Both Mullaney and Crowe express a notion that, rather than home advantage being anything explicitly tangible, it’s just something that lingers over a game. You’d rather play at home because of course you would. You sleep in your own bed, you’re comfortable on arrival, it’s your fans not theirs, the club gets the gate receipts, you know the woman at the gate and you know the bloke at the bar. It’s, well, home.And currently in the Blast, home advantage doesn’t always seem to exist at all. This season was the first group stage since 2017 to see more home wins than away. However, whilst at first appearing like a standout statistic, it doesn’t quite account for the fact that in general good teams are good (so win home and away), and bad teams are bad (so lose home and away). But, it paints a picture similar to a sentiment expressed by Mullaney.”I don’t think [advantage] is the right word”, he says, “Obviously it is a home advantage but I don’t think it’s an advantage as in – it’s not a manipulative advantage – it’s just that you know what to do at your ground.”But, shouldn’t it be a manipulated advantage? It’s your house after all, so why not play to your rules?Recruitment in particular seems to be an open goal where teams could maximise their chances at home. If you play at a small ground, recruit high end boundary hitters. Big outfields? Need people who can run two. Spin-friendly pitches? Need batters who can play against spin.So how much do teams tend to factor in ground dimensions and quirks to their recruitment?”At the moment, not a lot,” Somerset analyst Scott Thomas says. “But that’s definitely my biggest plan for the next three-to-four years.””I just did my Masters dissertation on that kind of stuff using player impact ratings in T20 cricket. I compared and contrasted how valuable overseas players are. How do they impact games of cricket in a positive way and not being worried about stuff like averages or old school traditional measures, but how do they win you games of cricket full-stop.”That’s my winter’s work because the summer is just so busy. Even if that’s trying to change some opinion in the club about how recruitment could be done a bit better, because I think cricket is so far behind in that sense.”There are obvious difficulties facing counties in this regard that aren’t faced by, say, a franchise side, whether that be in the Hundred or the IPL. Counties aren’t exclusively T20 teams and players are often developed as opposed to recruited. But, it is on the radar of analysts, meaning it will be on the radar of the game as a whole before long. And who knows, in five years’ time the statistics next to the home wins column may look very different.In the meantime, if you’re a home fan at one of this week’s quarter-finals, just yell at the ump from a 100 yards away. Worth a go.

2021 featured lots of early starts, memorable conversations, a new cricket format – and a fair bit of golf

Mark Nicholas03-Jan-2022London, England
5am, January 15, 2021
The kettle boils and Joe Root sweeps. The tea brews and Joe Root cuts. The toaster pops and Joe Root drives. The England captain is on his way to 228 in Galle, a place that may as well have been on another planet from the dank winter morning at home in London. I tuck in and so does Root. Jonny Bairstow plays nicely for 47, Dan Lawrence – strong through the leg side and cock-of-the-walk – puts together 73. Sri Lanka aren’t very good. England end up winning by seven wickets.Around about this time, India beat Australia in Brisbane – unheard of – and win the series. Blimey. Without Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and others who are household names and commercial giants back home. It’s the Shubman Gills, Washington Sundars and Mohammed Sirajs who pull off this heist. What a coup. One of the great series wins in history and a valuable promo for the Test match game.5am, January 24
These early mornings are tough. Root is run out for 186. I move the dial on the underfloor heating to 22 degrees. England win by six wickets. Root says the Sri Lankans are a good side and difficult to beat at home. Really? Whatever – his batting is sublime. Work done during the days of lockdown to eradicate the faults that creep into a busy man’s game has paid off handsomely.Related

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Oh, to have been in Galle among the Sangakkaras and the Jayawardenes; to have wandered the narrow, bustling lanes, lingered at the markets, and had the senses heightened by exotic spices and brightly coloured frangipani.I ring Ted Dexter, who wrote to Joe about the downturn in his technique and gave it to him pretty straight. Joe was a bit put out by the tone but since has brightly acknowledged the immense help that email gave him. Ted is thrilled watching now and particularly marvels at the range of sweep shots. This call prompts a fortnightly Zoom meet with Ted, who was my sporting hero. He’s not so well physically but full of chat and opinion.2.30am, February 5
The sound of the alarm truly shocks me. Shower, shave, dress and go. A car whisks me to the Times building, which is situated between Borough Market and the Shard. The night is bitterly cold. Bang on 3.30am London time, Root wins Kohli’s toss of the coin, announces that England will bat and is soon walking to the wicket where he makes another double-hundred. So this is what Australians felt like when Bradman carried all before him. In Chennai, with the stadium empty, Root plays an innings of such complexity, such mastery, that it seems almost transformational. Indeed, England go on to win by 227 runs – a barely believable margin against a team as good as India.The green, green grass of Galle: the author in Sri Lanka in less turbulent timesAt the Talksport studio in Borough, we call this on radio, ball-by-all, as if it is a mirage. The pictures come down the line from the local broadcaster on huge monitors and we eulogise them from our little Covid-secure Perspex cubicles. Coffee and bacon rolls are devoured before the sun comes up. One morning we send out for sushi, another for curry: both were later deemed failed experiments. Outside, snow falls on the rooftops and the market beneath us.Darren Gough, ever the enthusiast and as good a pro as I’ve worked with in 26 years of covering the game, suggests that India fell foul of complacency and the empty stadium.At the same field but on a very different pitch, the Indians are a very different team a few days later. One Test match apiece then in Chennai. Followed by England scores of 112, 81, 205 and 135 across the next two Tests in Ahmedabad. In short, England are spun to disaster and lose the series 3-1. Even Root runs out of puff.What next? The IPL, of course.April 2
British Airways flight 54 to Chennai, where the Covid cases are rising fast. I check in at the Taj Coromandel and am taken to my nice room and told that the front desk will keep the key. This, then, is one week of quarantine proper. Good fun too. Lots of music – Springsteen and Dylan, yes, the Beatles, of course, and a raft of contemporary stuff introduced to me by my 15-year-old daughter whose crush on Harry Styles does not prevent her from exploring other avenues. Olivia Rodrigo, Paolo Nutini and Lana Del Rey are very good. All by my lonely self I’ve discovered a band called Wolf Alice, for whom I have developed my own crush. Two mates email me the task of picking 70 favourite songs to join hands with theirs and become a playlist for anyone interested. So I go to work. In breaks between guitar solos, I read by Ben Macintyre and by John Boyne – both compelling and rather brilliant – and set up a circuit-gym thing, which I stick to for an hour each day.Honestly, don’t know how to fit it all in. Then a man comes back with the key. That was quick, and off I go for a swim in the thick Chennai air.Another day, another swab up your nose•Getty ImagesBubble life is a bore because it revolves around a list of restrictions that are applied as if we are schoolchildren. Outside the ground-floor lift there is a roped-off walkway to the breakfast room. This doesn’t stop anyone walking past us, but it does stop a heavyweight walking into you. In short, we can’t do this and we can’t do that. For example, we can use the pool and/or gym during two given two-hour session times, the second of which is the early evening, when we are invariably working on a match. But the tournament wouldn’t go ahead without the various bubbles, so there you have it – you want in or you want out? In? Put up or shut up.April 21
Less than three weeks later I have left the country. As the number Covid cases went through the roof, India was placed on the UK’s “red list” for incoming travel. That, and a personal issue that needed urgent assistance, saw me home few days before the tournament was suspended indefinitely. In the rush to beat the red-list deadline, I leave my phone in a Chennai cab. That’s the phone with flight details, e-tickets, essential Covid documents, etc. Don’t ask. I make it home 22 hours before the UK’s ten-day-airport-hotel quarantine isolation rules kick in.6pm, May 8
Another Zoom call with Dexter, who is looking less well at an alarming rate. For the first time he sounds croaky too and is reluctant to have his usual large whisky. I don’t give up my gin. He changes his mind on the scotch. We have introduced mystery guests to these fortnightly frolics, among whom have been the Michaels Atherton and Vaughan (Ted says Vaughan is his favourite England captain ever) and Sir Tim Rice. On one of these calls Ted doubts that county cricket can survive as is and that the damage done to batting techniques by the attention given to the short formats of the game will, soon enough, cost England dear. Not bad for an 86-year-old, huh.We come up with the idea of eight first-class teams travelling the country for clearly defined periods of the summer each year, ideally when the England players are available. Less is more, he says, and from fewer teams will come a higher standard of cricket and larger crowds. He thinks that a strong 50-over competition and the T20 Blast could sustain the counties but that everything else will have to be paid for by private investment. We agree on that too. He likes the Hundred, as do I.June 19
Hampshire have given me two tickets for the second day of the World Test Championship final and I zip down to the Ageas Bowl in great excitement to be a spectator at a Test match for the first time in 35 years. The last occasion was on England’s 1986-87 tour of Australia, when I watched the whole of the fifth Test from the Brewongle Stand at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Now I’m in temporary seats behind the bowler at the Hilton-Hotel end of the Ageas. It’s bloody cold but me and a mate have the best time. Rohit, Shubman, Kohli, Southee, Boult et al, plus a beef sandwich and a pale ale. Wonderful.In a tight, low-scoring match, New Zealand become worthy and popular champions, having previously won English hearts with their reaction to defeat “by the barest of margins” in the 2019 World Cup final. What’s not to like about Kane Williamson?Finals day at the Hundred: Jax Jones performs ahead of the women’s and men’s title matches•Getty ImagesJuly 23
The Hundred begins and I’m chairman of Southern Brave. We lose the first two games. In the third, the first at home, James Vince makes 60 from 38 balls – thereby outwitting Liam Livingstone’s 68 from 44 – and we beat Birmingham Phoenix with three balls to spare. Then we sneak a win from nowhere at Lord’s and proceed to remain unbeaten to the end, when Vince lifts the trophy to the delight of surprisingly engaged fans.I have done very little except to appoint the coaches and suggest directions of travel. Mahela and Charlotte Edwards were the real deal, and Charlotte deserved more than to see her terrific team lose only their second game in the final. What a double that would have been!Mahela is hugely impressed with Vince’s captaincy and remains quite taken aback that England cannot see him as a batter of the highest class in all formats. In a world of sliding doors, perhaps Vince would be England captain, Root his second lieutenant, and the two most elegant batters in the land would be making life easier for supporters of English cricket. I know Vincey had his chances, but believe me, he’s different gravy when encouraged to be exactly that.We are also surprised by sales of merchandise. At the home games every cap and shirt is sold out within 15 minutes of the break between innings. The more stock we order, the more we sell. And we were thrilled by the support given to the women – some 6000 people at the last two home games, who much enjoyed their exciting brand of cricket.I thought the whole thing a triumph. Obviously it overcrowds the calendar, but in the right hands, it could become a game-changer for the quality, structure and balance sheet of first-class cricket in England. This is a view that leaves further explanation and illustration for another day but this onlooker is convinced. One thing to add: the players loved it.August 15
I am a guest of the MCC chairman for the second England-India Test. The chairman’s hospitality box at Lord’s is alongside the president’s. The president is, of course, Kumar Sangakkara, whose ground-breaking appointment was met with tremendous excitement. We have a jolly day and it’s interesting to watch from side-on rather than down the barrel from on high in the commentary box. The game appears faster, harder, slicker, and the players leaner, quicker, stronger. Later that week I have dinner with Kumar. He likes the eight-team, four-day cricket idea too.Ted Dexter was among those cricket lost in 2021•Ben Radford/Getty ImagesWe are asked back for the next day: the potentially tense final day. England are in the box seat but blow it. I stay only till lunch, whereupon I hurry to the Ageas Bowl on the South Coast to see the Southern Brave women and men win in style. I’m loving being back “on the other side” and interacting with the players and coaches. It is a privilege.At Lord’s I left Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting and Ed Smith debating Root’s tactics as the Indian tail wagged ferociously. Smith was removed from his position as national selector at the start of the summer, a mistake in my view. Chris Silverwood was given a supremo’s responsibilities. Another mistake, I feared. I can’t fathom coach and national selector being the same person, not in cricket.The morning’s favourites are slam-dunked by Siraj and company: either side of tea England are dismissed for 120 in 51 overs and five balls to lose by 151 runs.August 25
Ted Dexter has died. You had to have seen this guy to understand how good he was and how charismatic. At least he didn’t suffer for too long. My heart goes out to his wife, Susan, who asks me to speak at the funeral. It is a polymath of a sort that I talk about, for Ted greeted Wes Hall’s bouncers with the same sense of adventure that he applied to his love of racing – cars, bikes, dogs and horses – golf, flying, music and marriage. I miss him already.September 20
Atherton calls me to say that, in the name of Covid security, England have just cancelled their two-match T20 tour to Pakistan. This is shameful, especially because Pakistan supported England with a six-week visit in the first, horror, year of Covid. Ramiz Raja, the newly appointed CEO of the Pakistan board, fires every bullet in his gun and is greeted with wild applause. England were wrong to have pulled out of South Africa late in 2020 too. Who is behind this stuff? In the , Athers, the paper’s cricket correspondent, goes flying in, every bit as critical as Ramiz. Soon after, the chairman of the ECB, Ian Watmore, resigns.September 30
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, an annual golf extravaganza for which an invitation is the moment of the year. Phew, I’ve got one. Each amateur plays with a European tour professional golfer for three days and the top 20 teams of two make the cut and play on the final day. My pro is a splendid Salford lad, Marcus Armitage, and a damn good player. He makes the cut in the pro event; he and I miss it in the amateur event. (Who could possibly be to blame for that?) On the first day at St Andrews we play in a four-ball group with Ian Botham – that’s Lord Botham of Ravensworth, trade envoy to Australia. Next day at Carnoustie with Vaughan, and then on the third day with Shane Warne at Kingsbarns. It is such fun.The World Championship final: good news for New Zealand at last•Adam Davy/PA Photos/Getty ImagesWarney plays great and makes the cut on the mark with Ryan Fox, the big-hitting Kiwi. Next day he plays even better, better than ever before in his life, and comes within a single shot of winning the whole damn thing. His score of two under par gross – off nine handicap, by the way – is utterly brilliant, and with Fox making plenty of birdies, their better ball score is 16 under par. Oh, how they deserved to win after that! He’s a fine putter is that Shane Warne and a mighty competitor, just in case you hadn’t noticed.October 15
EK 006 to Dubai for the ICC T20 World Cup, which begins with another week of quarantine, but this time I’ve got a balcony, yay! Same rhythm – music, books, gym circuit – that includes an outside lap, of sorts. The Radisson is not the Taj, however, and its position alongside the freeway and a next-door building site makes for a thick layer of dust every day. Mind you, it’s too hot to be outside for long, and anyway, that chap is suddenly back with the key and we are out, and in… to the bubble. Grr.Salvation comes in the form of a move by everyone in the commentary team to the Al Habtoor polo resort, which gives acres of green grass and a pool. Will do nicely! How lucky we are.Long breakfasts with Sunny Gavaskar and others are matched by a memorable dinner on the terrace – special dispensation granted – with Jeff Crowe, who is staying elsewhere, and Danny Morrison. We talk a lot about Martin – the talent, the demons, the long, slow burn of cancer that got him so young. Each of us loved him in our different ways.Australia stole up to win the Cup, having looked like beginners at the format in their group match against England. In fairness, I should point out that before the toss in their first game, the captain, Aaron Finch, told me that they had the best all-round team and would win. Good on him. Pakistan were the best team. India looked knackered. England missed a beat in the semi and it cost them dear.December 2
Raging Omicron threatens India’s tour of South Africa, where I work for Supersport. BT call about the Ashes, which begins in six days, as they are planning to broadcast the first two Tests from the studio in London – off tube, as it’s known – rather than take the Fox feed from Australia because Michael Vaughan is in it. They would like me on board. I can do the first Test but they don’t call back. Then I hear the idea has been binned.After which, India agree to go to South Africa but delay the first Test till Boxing Day. This means Christmas away from home for yours truly.To the slaughter, once more: Haseeb Hameed and Jos Buttler lead England out in Melbourne•Quinn Rooney/Getty Images5am, December 8 onwards
There is a dreadful symmetry between now and the start of the year. In a cosy dressing gown, I’m on the early tea-and-toast run in order to watch England get hammered. It’s bad enough in daylight but in pitch black, with sleet hitting the windows, it’s appalling. Root is again holding the fort, this time alongside a gutsy Dawid Malan, who wasn’t in India. Warne is trying to appraise England’s mediocrity with a balanced eye but otherwise it’s all in down under.December 25
Well, here we go again. Have checked into the Hyde Park Southern Sun in Johannesburg and had a quiet Christmas dinner with Sunny G and Mike Haysman. Since South Africa’s readmission to international cricket in late 1991, India has been faithfully at their side (England, note). Tomorrow Kohli will call from Dean Elgar’s toss of the coin. In Calcutta 30 years ago, Clive Rice and Mohammad Azharuddin shook hands at the toss – neither of tomorrow’s captains had reached their fifth birthday – and India went on to win a low scoring one-day international by three wickets.After more than 20 years in isolation, and never having played against India before anyway, the otherwise hard-nosed Rice summed up the incredible emotion of the moment perfectly: “I now know how Neil Armstrong felt when he stood on the moon.”December 31
England have lost the Ashes in less than 12 days of completed cricket. All hell has been let loose. The front page of Sydney’s has run a full-size shot of the victorious Australian team with a strap across it that reads, “Need a rapid test? Play the Poms!” Harsh but fair.December 26
At Supersport Park in Centurion, about 35 minutes’ drive from Johannesburg, Kohli wins the toss, and the match. The pitch is tricky and the Indians that bit better. Quinton de Kock announces his retirement from the Test match arena. Such a natural player and entertainer, he will be sorely missed.Goodness knows what happens in 2022. Fewer swabs up the nose, I hope!More in our look back at 2021

Wiese, who has played nearly 300 T20s, speaks about the 21-year old’s captaincy skills and his own form this PSL season

Umar Farooq27-Feb-2022Lahore Qalandars allrounder David Wiese believes Shaheen Shah Afridi is a ‘fantastic captain’ and that he always ‘leads from the front’. Shaheen, in charge of a team for the very first time at senior level, has led Qalandars to the final of the Pakistan Super League, and Wiese, who has played nearly 300 T20s, feels the 21-year old has been successful because he’s been trusting his instincts.”Shaheen and myself have a good relationship,” Wiese told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve been playing together for a long time now, and he’s still a young captain and he is still learning. He’s not shy to come to senior players and myself and whoever if he needs advice and he is always open to suggestions. I think he’s done fantastically well.”Before the season began, Shaheen met Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, who was delighted to see another fast bowling captain on the cricket circuit and encouraged the youngster to make the most of the opportunity. Shaheen was picked up by Qalandars as a teenager in 2018 and over the years he has become an integral part of the franchise. Since his international debut, he has also become one of the most prominent fast bowlers in the world, representing Pakistan in 21 Tests, 28 ODIs and 39 T20Is. He is Qalandars’ all-time highest wicket-taker, with 72 strikes – including 17 this season so far.”It’s first season as captain, you know, he goes with his instincts a lot of times,” Wiese said. “There are a lot of times that that’s the way to go. I’m really fortunate to have played this game for a long time now and to have ample experience and it’s nice to be able to pass that knowledge on to him. He is a fantastic leader and the guys really respect him in the team and he has done an amazing job as captain this season.”

“Sometimes, death hitting and coming in at the end, it just doesn’t work out for you and you’ve just got to stay patient and you’ve just got to have the faith”David Wiese

Having played in T20 leagues in India, West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and England, Wiese has been happy to offer Shaheen his support, but adds that he hasn’t really needed it.”As a captain, you always want to lead from the front, but also you need to be able to show people that you’re in control of things – that you are calm and collected and that you are actually not panicking or anything like that,” Wiese said. “He leads from the front and we saw that overnight and you know, he’s really passionate, he’s got a lot of energy out there, and he’s just going to get better and better as a captain. It’s not about me, it’s basically just coming to me just for reassurance the whole time. And I just keep telling him, you know, whatever you decide, just pick back your decision and everyone’s behind you and it’s worked out for us.”Shaheen’s progress is being carefully monitored by Qalandars, who are keen on making sure he does not burn out.On a personal level, Wiese was pleased he could come good when it really mattered, walloping 27 runs in the last over of a knockout game against Islamabad United. He won the Player-of-the-Match award for his efforts, which secured his team a berth in the final against Multan Sultans on Sunday at Gaddafi Stadium.David Wiese has played T20 cricket all over the world•ICC via Getty”That was one of those games where, you know, the momentum kept switching among teams,” Wiese said. “It was like up and down the whole time. You know, it could have gone either way at any stage. We lost a couple of early wickets, had a good recovery. They lost the wickets again and they got some at the end and had a good powerplay. It was just, you know, one of those unbelievable T20 games that I think kept everybody on the edge of their seats until the final ball.”I kind of knew that we hadn’t scored enough in the first innings and that 150 wouldn’t really be a winning score. So, you know, I knew that we’d need to have a couple big overs at the end to put ourselves in a position for the boys to defend it. And, you know, fortunately for me, it hasn’t come off for myself in the tournament. But last night there were one or two balls that I was fortunate enough to capitalise on.”The first one [six in the last over] was a good one because that kind of got the crowd behind me, that got the atmosphere going in, and I think that that put a little bit more pressure on the bowler at that stage. You know, it’s quite intimidating when the club starts cheering for the batsman and you just feel like everyone’s against you there. It just puts the pressure back on the bowlers. And then after that, like I said, they had one or two balls in the slot and I was able to capitalise on it.”Wiese is yet to score big this season – he has made 140 runs in 12 matches – but it hasn’t shaken his confidence.”To be honest I didn’t doubt myself,” he said. “It might not have been a great season for me, putting scores on the board and stuff, but I still felt like a big score was around the corner and now I just haven’t quite had that opportunity. Sometimes the bowlers nail their skills and I felt like the last couple of games the bowlers have been on top of me nailing their yorkers and just not giving me anything score.”It’s not like I was always thinking that I’m out of form, anything like that. It just hasn’t been working. Sometimes, you know, death hitting and coming in at the end, it just doesn’t work out for you and you’ve just got to stay patient and you’ve got to just have the faith that you’re putting in the hard work of training and that you need to back your skills and abilities. And you know it’s getting lucky for me, it came off in the big game.”

The offspinner brought down WI’s big-hitters with meticulously laid plans and inspired a famous win

S Sudarshanan21-Mar-2022Nida Dar was not happy. She had picked up two wickets against India, and scored a half-century that almost helped Pakistan over the line against South Africa. But her team was yet to shrug off their run of losses in Women’s World Cup, a count that had swelled to 18.Dar is confident and is seldom afraid of speaking her mind. She considers herself a role model and thrives under pressure. Case in point: each of her last three ODI fifties before the World Cup have come with Pakistan in a spot of bother – 87 versus Bangladesh in the Qualifier last year after coming in at 42 for 4; 55 against West Indies after coming in at 99 for 3; and 51 against South Africa after coming in at 58 for 3 and then watching it slip to 73 for 5.Related

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Dar helps Pakistan end 18-match World Cup losing streak

On Monday, in the Women’s World Cup encounter that would have ended Pakistan’s dreams completely had they lost, West Indies were asked to bat first in a rain-reduced 20-over contest. Deandra Dottin was off the blocks early on a pitch that wasn’t particularly easy to score on. Dar was manning the ropes and watching Dottin hit four fours – including three in an over – off Diana Baig and another one off Fatima Sana right after she had dismissed Hayley Matthews.When Dar was given the ball, Dottin had mellowed just a touch but was still 27 off 34 balls. On the very first ball, Dar managed to dismiss Dottin by taking a low catch off her own bowling. She celebrated by standing up straight, hands aloft, slight smirk on her face – a la Shahid Afridi, former Pakistan men’s allrounder. That was enough to open the floodgates.Nida Dar: I take pride in winning games for my team•ICC via Getty”When I was watching Dottin hit, I was wishing that I bowl to her and dismiss her,” Dar said after the match. “I was thinking about where and how I would bowl to Dottin, while I was fielding at the boundary. Even though the delivery wasn’t the best, I took a good catch and that plan of mine worked. I plan well against good players and try to stick to it and execute them.”Dar had gauged that the track was conducive to spin, with the ball gripping and holding a bit on the surface. Her action, which has quite a bit of shoulder force in it, means she has the ability to get even more out of such surfaces. And so she proved, deceiving Shemaine Campbelle, who scored a match-winning fifty against Bangladesh, in the air to beat her on the inside edge and get her stumped.”I tried to bowl each ball differently since West Indies batters use their feet well against spin,” she said. “As a senior campaigner my aim is to perform and do well for the team. My mindset was about bowling in good areas and I was fortunate to pick up wickets as per the needs of the team.”

After our women side’s memorable win in the #CWC22 today, here’s @baig_diana chatting with the side on their way back to team hotel#TeamPakistan #BackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/DmJBBVEaA4

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) March 21, 2022