All posts by h716a5.icu

“I don’t think we are going to define ourselves by the way we played tonight,” Sune Luus says

Firdose Moonda31-Mar-2022There was no crying. At least not that we could see.There was no dramatic scrambling on to the Christchurch field, no shrieks that pierced eardrums and hearts, and absolutely no sense of what-if.After all, South Africa were comprehensively beaten by a better England side to end a World Cup campaign that always looked on the verge of toppling over. Their five victories in the league stage were all nail-biters, and though that suggested they knew how to win under pressure, South Africa went through the tournament one card away from the house falling down. They were over-reliant on Laura Wolvaardt and the reputation of their pace pack and lacked a consistent opening stand, a No. 3 batter, and a specialist spinner, and at some point, those deficiencies were going to show.This was not a South African outfit that played as though they were good enough to get to their first World Cup final and even in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, with emotions running high, they knew it. “We didn’t bring our best game when it was needed,” captain Sune Luus said afterwards, straight-faced in defeat unlike her predecessor Dane van Niekerk, who had broken down when addressing the media after the 2017 defeat to the same team.

“Our provincial structure needs to be stronger. We need more players coming into the system and competing at a higher level with our emerging team. It all starts there. As we look around the world, everybody is creating [T20] leagues. I don’t want us to fall behind”Sune Luus

Then, South Africa were the wild card, made up of plucky and largely unknown players who considered themselves fortunate to be part of the final four. They were living a dream and losing to England in Bristol was the wake-up call they didn’t want. Fast-forward five years and they were one of the best sides around, with a mature and settled group – albeit rocked by van Niekerk’s injury-enforced absence – on a mission to show what the effects of good planning and sufficient game time could do.To a degree, they achieved their aim. This was South Africa’s best performance at an ODI World Cup and they had good returns from both the stalwarts [Marizanne Kapp’s all-round heroics and Mignon du Preez’s match-winning knock against India] and the younger players [Wolvaardt’s runs and Luus’ contributions].Like New Zealand and India, they are on the verge of generation change with six of the squad over 30 but no confirmed retirees just yet. It’s for that reason, and perhaps only that, that South Africa leave this tournament with unfinished business.Related

Mignon du Preez announces retirement from ODIs and Tests

Danni Wyatt ton, Sophie Ecclestone six-for help England set finals date with Australia

Stats – End of South Africa's streak, and the Ecclestone-Wyatt double

Mignon du Preez has got her mojo working

Stats – South Africa's highest chase in Women's ODIs

“It’s a very sad change-room tonight – different to the other games we’ve played,” Luus said. “There’s a couple of players – it might be their last World Cup and for us as younger players it breaks our hearts that we couldn’t give the final to them and help them get the trophy they have been working towards for…”Before Luus could remember, Shabnim Ismail, who joined her for the post-match conference, interrupted. “Fifteen years,” Ismail, who made her debut in 2007 and was part of the first stage of the professionalisation of the women’s game in South Africa in 2014, said.”Yes, 15 years,” Luus said. “That breaks our heart that we couldn’t support them in their last World Cup, although I think Shabnim is ready to play another one.”She is. “I feel I am peaking at the right time,” Ismail said. “I know I am 33, but I feel like my cricket is moving in the right direction.”Despite this result, it is for South Africa too.’Our provincial structure needs to be stronger’
They are now considered among the heavyweights in the women’s game, they win series [five in succession before the World Cup] and they produce players for franchise leagues. Perhaps that’s why there was none of the sense of large-scale devastation we saw five years ago. “We’ve had a brilliant couple of years as a team,” Luus said. “We’ve grown immensely. All the players have stepped up at different times. It’s still not over. It’s very exciting to see what the future holds and when we go back and regroup and start afresh.”Without a contribution from Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa’s batting came a cropper on the big day•Getty ImagesThis is the next challenge for South Africa. Now that the women’s game is sponsored and thriving at international level, there needs to be a trickle-down effect to ensure there’s enough depth to maintain consistency at the highest level. “Our provincial structure needs to be stronger,” Luus said. “We need more players coming into the system and competing at a higher level with our emerging team. It all starts there. As we look around the world, everybody is creating leagues. I don’t want us to fall behind.”While South Africa has a provincial set-up for women’s cricket, there is no T20 league and the domestic game flies under the radar. It is unsponsored, much like the men’s domestic game, and could become under-resourced. Luus appealed to corporates not to let them happen. “It’s going to take a huge effort for us to encourage sponsors to come and board and help the growth of women’s cricket in South Africa.”The financial services company Momentum is the reason the women’s national team could be contracted eight years ago, and they have backed them since then. That arrangement comes to an end after this tournament, which may mean that CSA has to go searching for a company to step in. Given the performances of the team, that may not be difficult. This South African team has captured the imagination of the nation, taken up space in mass media, and even caught the eye of World Cup-winning Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.Now, they need to take it to the next level, which means an investment into development structures and a fine-tuning of operations at elite level. On the face of it, the services of a high-performance coach or sports psychologist should be added to the support staff. “I don’t think it’s a skill problem. I think it’s more mental,” Ismail said. “We’ve got the skill, we’ve got world-class players; it’s just to fire on the day, it’s 80% mental and 20% skill.”And with that statement, South Africa showed that they know where things went wrong – that, for example, the dropped catches that let Danni Wyatt go on to score a match-winning hundred were about their state of mind and not necessarily their ability – and that all is not lost because of one defeat. “I don’t think we are going to define ourselves by the way we played tonight,” Luus said. And she smiled as she left the room.

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan is a rivalry that is full to bursting with final day fun and this match is no exception

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2022Are we ready for this? A nerve-wracking final day? Come out from behind the couch. You can face this. Let’s do it together.The factsPakistan need only 120 runs, and have seven wickets in hand. One of the not out batters is centurion Abdullah Shafique. Since coming on the scene, he’s quelled a bowling attack containing Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Now he’s got a fourth-innings hundred in Galle. As far as fourth-innings hundreds go, this is one of the toughest assignments. Only three batters have ever done it here before, and only one (Dimuth Karunaratne in 2019) in a victory.The pitchGenerally, on days four and five, the surface at Galle is not so much a cricket pitch as much as an altar on which batters are sacrificed to the spin gods. We’ve seen big turn from the first day of this Test, but when Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, and Babar Azam were batting on day four, the pitch didn’t seem to be providing the kind of rapid, unplayable turn that is often a feature here.That is until the last 10 overs of the day, in which Shafique and Babar – who were sailing – suddenly hit a wall, and the Great Galle Spinmonster stirred from its slumber. Prabath Jayasuriya and Maheesh Theekshana suddenly had the ball spitting – basically pouncing out of the rough like terrifying lionesses at helpless gazelle fawns. This big turn got Babar out. He tried to pad away a delivery that pitched way outside the line of the stumps and was bowled – not un-embarassingly – behind his legs.Even Shafique, who was on triple figures, played out the last few overs meekly.Related

WTC: What are Sri Lanka's chances of making the final?

Mature Chandimal (finally) lives up to his promise

Abdullah Shafique ton leads Pakistan's chase of 342

The bowlersWhat Pakistan’s top order have done so far is play Jayasuriya well. They’ve been patient against him, but have watched intently for that straighter ball, that got several batters in trouble in that first innings. Although he’s taken three five-wicket hauls, Jayasuriya is in only his second Test, and is unused to the task of bowling Sri Lanka to victory. Ramesh Mendis, ostensibly the most-senior spinner, is only in his ninth Test. Maheesh Theekshana is in his second as well.They’ll start on day five under substantial pressure, but they’ll have a shiny new ball in hand. The theory is that the new ball, with its hard seam, turns more on these pitches than the older one. Whether this is true or not, it forms the hope Sri Lanka cling desperately to.The historyThe last time Pakistan played a Test on the island they chased 377 at Pallekele, thanks largely to Younis Khan’s all-time mastery, with strong support from Shan Masood, and Misbah-ul-Haq. But that was a very different kind of surface, on which both teams fielded three specialist quicks. By the fourth innings, the juice had left it, and it had flattened out.At Galle, the most comparable match is the 2009 Test between these teams, which Pakistan began with 87 to get, and eight wickets in hand, until Rangana Herath gobbled up the batting line-up wholesale. Sri Lanka won that by 50 runs.There’s no Herath in Sri Lanka’s attack anymore, though. Though there’s also no Younis in Pakistan’s batting order.The fansLook. We get it. Pakistan fans perhaps feel they have the market cornered on drama. Against Sri Lanka, though, this is not necessarily true. There have been wild results – matches they had no business winning, losses they had no business even contemplating, match-winning innings from unwinnable situations, primary-school level fielding errors, and weapons-grade bowling stupidity. It’s all there. These narratives belong to both sets of fans. Whatever takes place tomorrow, there are enough bonkers cricketing memories here for it to be typical Pakistan. Or typical Sri Lanka.

Crushing three-day victory belies under-stated credentials of hugely impressive team

Firdose Moonda19-Aug-2022What does it feel like to win at Lord’s? For Kagiso Rabada, already hailed among the game’s greats at just over 27 years old, to get his name on the honours’ board? For a self-labelled “proper Dutchman”, Anrich Nortje, to rip out the core of the English batting line-up? For Dean Elgar, whose first trip to the venue was as stand-in captain in 2017, when he looked anything but a permanent leader?It feels like solid confirmation that this team is finally getting somewhere. Or at least it should.It was just over a year ago that South Africa were ranked seventh on the ICC’s Test table and heading to West Indies with genuine concern that they may be beaten there for the first time since their one-off return to Test cricket in 1992. Fast-forward 15 months and not only are South Africa top of the WTC points’ table, but they’ve got there with a series win over the world No.1s, India, a drawn rubber against the current holders of the WTC, New Zealand and now by ending one of the most audaciously successful streaks England have enjoyed in a home summer.And they’ve done it with a group of players that some may label a motley crew, lacking significant experience, strong reputations and even the kind of super-egos that makes professional sport the stuff of celebrity. Only three of South Africa’s current squad have previous Test experience in England. Many of the rest had never even been to Lord’s before and spent time earlier in the week just soaking up the feeling of arriving, as cricketers, to their spiritual and sentimental home.But even with the full house and the media hype and the pressure, South Africa were doing more than just being. They were bossing it. At the end of only three days of this series in England, the birthplace of the empire, they were able to nail their colours in triumph to some seriously prime property on the visiting change-room balcony. That’s the kind of decolonisation we can all get behind.South Africa players walk off after registering a win inside three days•AFP/Getty ImagesSince their first post-readmission tour here in 1994, South Africa have raised their flag five times at Lord’s. Only Australia have won the same number of Tests in the same period of time. Australia have also won the most number of series in England since 1992 – three. South Africa can equal that on this trip but that might be thinking too far ahead. For now, it’s about – as Elgar has started to say – “staying in the moment,” and realising how (to use another Elgarism) “bloody good” South Africa have been.This performance stands out because it came from a team who did things their predecessors were conditioned not to do, like bringing on a spinner in the eighth over with three short catchers, and then seeing him take the two wickets that started the victory march. And they were able to do it because they have resources previous teams have not had.There are four genuine quicks in this South African XI, all of whom can bowl 140kph-plus and when they’re not doing that, they’re asking other questions. Two of those, Marco Jansen and Nortje (and we could even push that to three if we include Rabada) have some ability with the bat as well, which gives South Africa a deceptively long line-up. Jansen can come in as early as No.6 and, with Maharaj’s batting also nothing to scoff at, the only real bunny is Lungi Ngidi. The cracks in the line-up can, to a degree, be covered by the lower-order. Because there are cracks, that we cannot ignore.South Africa have won five Tests at Lord’s since their first match at the ground post-readmission in 1994•Getty ImagesSince Elgar took over, excluding Zimbabwe who have played one Test, South Africa have scored the least number of centuries among Test-playing nations – just three. One of the players who notched up a hundred, Quinton de Kock, has retired from the format. Two others in the top six, Keegan Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen, haven’t yet scored Test hundreds at all. When Elgar talks about the negatives he always has to try to find, this has to be one of them, but he should not reflect on it too harshly.While it’s a no-brainer that big scores are the building blocks of big wins, South Africa have shown that those don’t have to be individual big scores or even big partnerships. Since June last year, South Africa have only had two century stands (Zimbabwe have had fewer) but 33 half-century partnerships, the second-most of any team after England. Smaller, more consistent contributions have allowed their batting line-up to do just enough. And, of course, they have the attack to compensate for the runs they leave unscored.In the same period that the batters have struggled, South Africa have had the joint-most numbers of five-fors, and have produced series-changing spells that are made for highlights packages.The attack allows Elgar’s “margin for error to be a lot bigger”, and he doesn’t seem to be erring too much as he has learnt how to use his arsenal strategically. The quickest of his bowlers doesn’t get the new ball, so an opposition line-up cannot relax when the change bowlers come on. Imagine seeing off Rabada only to face Nortje.Related

South Africa pace quartet give reason for tempered excitement

Dean Elgar revels in South Africa's 'positivity' after winning Lord's Test in style

England blown away in three days as Anrich Nortje fires up South Africa

Welcome to Bouchball, a work in progress

Maharaj is not in the mould of the classical South African spinner who bowls an over before lunch, another before tea, and then tries to hold an end in the third session. He is “world-class”, as Elgar put it, and Elgar trusts his gut feel for when to bring him on. Together they set creative fields and get results. As a collective, the attack pushes each other and Elgar still wants more. “I need to achieve; them to want to achieve more,” Elgar said. “Once they all buy in to that, which I am sure they are doing with great victories like this, we’re going to be a pretty special bowling attack.”Because of the chaos of the last three years, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in South African cricket who doesn’t think of cautious as optimism’s first name. Despite everything the Test team has achieved since Elgar took over the captaincy, the words “great” and “best” still don’t quite seem to be the right ones to describe them. But there are others that Elgar used.”What we’ve laid down over the last year has been pretty solid,” he said. “It hasn’t been fake, it’s been unique. It’s been real. It hasn’t been far-fetched. These are our team goals that I have with the coaches. It’s not unrealistic. It’s pretty achievable. As a player group, we are a special bunch and we play bloody good cricket when we are doing well.”That’s what it feels like to win at Lord’s.

A look at the records broken during Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s maiden ODI century and his partnership with Mahmudullah

Sampath Bandarupalli07-Dec-20222 Number of players to score an ODI hundred while batting at No. 8 or lower, including Mehidy Hasan Miraz in Mirpur. Simi Singh was the first player with the feat, who also scored an unbeaten 100 against South Africa in 2021 while batting at No.8.202 Runs added by Bangladesh after the fall of the sixth wicket. Only four teams have added more runs for the final four wickets in an ODI. The highest is 213 by Australia against New Zealand in 2017. The previous highest for Bangladesh was 174 against Afghanistan earlier this year in Chattogram.148 Partnership between Mehidy and Mahmudullah for the seventh wicket. It is the joint third highest by any pair for the seventh or a lower wicket in ODIs. The highest is 177 between Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid against New Zealand in 2015, while Mehidy shared an unbeaten 174 with Afif Hossain against Afghanistan earlier this year.The 148-run stand between Mehidy and Mahmudullah is now the highest for Bangladesh for any wicket against India. The previous highest was 133 between Anamul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim, for the third wicket in Fatullah in 2014. The unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 138 between Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall in 2006 in Cape Town was the previous highest against India in ODIs for the seventh or lower wicket.14.08 Run rate of the partnership between Mehidy and Nasum Ahmed, the second-fastest 50-plus stand for Bangladesh in ODIs. Their only stand to have come at a quicker rate is the 54-run one between Mushfiqur and Tamim Iqbal, it came off 3.2 overs at 16.2 against West Indies in 2018.298 Runs scored by Mehidy while batting at No. 8 this year. These are the most ODI runs by a batter in a calendar year while batting at No.8 or lower since Heath Streak’s 429 runs in 2001. Overall, he is sixth on that list.

Towards the end of a unique career, Warner has two massive assignments ahead of him: the WTC final and the Ashes in England

Osman Samiuddin04-Jun-2023David Warner is both a first-of-a-kind cricketer and a last-of-a-kind cricketer. There hadn’t been anyone quite like him when he landed; the first Australian to debut in the national side – ODIs and T20Is – without having played a single first-class game. Now that the process of his exit has officially begun, it’s difficult to imagine a new opener can ever be as domineering across all formats. The shorter way to say this is that Warner is kind of unique.Admittedly, he hasn’t felt so unique lately. One part of that is the unavoidable bloom-onslaught of modern batting. One day Warner was batting’s ‘I’m Him’; now suddenly, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill and Harry Brook are ‘I’m Hims’. Warner used to feel like a freak for what he could do with a bat. On Saturday, as he stood in front of a small, polite media scrum in small, polite Beckenham, a little grizzled, a little reflective, under a grey sky that would give up and turn blue soon, he felt like that friend of dad’s who was once in a band.But a bigger part of it is form, that intemperate and inevitable feller of all athletes. And Warner does not have it. Take out his Boxing Day double-hundred against South Africa and his highest score in his last nine Tests is 48. He is 36. He has the World Test Championship [WTC] final immediately ahead of him, but no runs there and he might be running out of road.Related

Warner quashes Oval retirement rumour, eyes Ashes victory

Flying under the radar, Travis Head could play decisive hand for Australia in England

Watson: Transition from IPL to WTC final in England is 'extreme'

Ghosts of 2019: Warner's Ashes fate remains uncertain

David Warner on the WTC final: 'It should be at least a three-game series'

Still, he deserves more ahead of this summer than to be sucked into some nonsensical, entirely confected war of words with Stuart Broad, his chief dismisser the last time Warner was in England for the Ashes.Worried about Broady, Davey?WTC final first, mate. Then Broad, “if they select him for the first Test this time.”Saw his five-for against Ireland?Nope, saw his figures. Need to see the wickets. “Five Tests for any bowler, even our camp as well, it’s going to be tough to keep backing up.”Heard Broady said he’d voided the last Ashes series in Australia – which England lost 0-4 – because of Covid restrictions?Should I void my 2019 series too? “He [Broad] might get homesick and he can’t cope with playing under those circumstances but we’ve all played Ashes series away. It’s the same.”You are such a cad, Davey.Maybe it was the Beckenham air, but none of these came out like barbs or snipes, as much as the headlines might make it seem that way. No fire, just some words. He played along, perhaps for old times’ sake, perhaps because he was bored, perhaps because he’s human and if he’s asked pantomime questions, he’ll play panto.That bit of Warner that once felt so fearsome, that jaggedness in his energy, the bruiser in him is gone. Family, TikTok, success, Sandpapergate, who really knows why? He’s not exactly cuddly. Fuzzier somehow and a little less vivid in outline.None of what he’s like will matter if he scores runs, runs which help Australia become Test champions, runs that win a first Ashes in England in over 20 years. How he thinks those runs will come is interesting, though. He said that in 2019, he wasn’t playing his game. “I was listening to some other voices which, from my perspective, probably didn’t suit my game.”Some other voices? Another flash of old Warner, the one who upended the whole sticks and stones schtick. His words did hurt.This time he’s going to back his real game. That one where he’d rather nick off cover-driving than get bowled on the backfoot defending. The Brendon McCullum mindset, he said, to be brave, to unsettle opening bowlers, to not cede those good areas to them. “You’re going to have to make some brave decisions and be content with getting out, whether it’s a cover drive or what not.”It is an interesting bit of reflection this, on age as much as anything. As we grow older, we assume we grow wiser. We evolve, we mature, we learn from the mistakes of our youth. This, we think, is the natural order. Sometimes when we get there, though, we learn that how we were when we were young is the way to be, because that is what got us here in the first place.A healthy enough season at the IPL plays right into that. Transitioning in the past from red-ball state cricket to Tests, Warner said, had changed the DNA of his batting, focusing his mind on survival. Transitioning from the IPL to Tests, on the other hand, where the mode is attacking from the get-go, remains perfect.Time was when we thought T20 batting was killing Test batting. But Warner’s logic, this way around, of good T20 batting feeding into good Test batting doesn’t sound so outré anymore. That you have to be content with getting out, that you value your wicket slightly less, Warner heralded the coming of this, long before Bazball, before Rishabh Pant, before Gill.It’s easier said than done. Warner’s troubles with Broad in Ashes 2019 – seven dismissals out of ten – from around the wicket were not an abstract. They were very real and the perfect illustration of a specific and long-running global trend. Like punches and plans, broad-brush intent is good, until a Dukes ball comes out and nicks it off. Warner’s opponents this summer are two of the best from that angle, Broad and Mohammed Shami.If he gets past them, then Warner has a shot at a serious all-format legacy, leaving the game as an opener in a modern era – not an easy one for them – who has won the ODI World Cup, the T20 World Cup and the WTC. A first-of-a-kind, probably the last-of-a-kind.

Takeaways: Fringe players make a mark, Mandhana doesn’t, fans have their say… there is change in the air all right

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2023More than just the cricket
India’s women cricketers now know what it is like to play with a fan base in place, or how it feels to play in front of packed stands, or have your social media notifications blowing up. This wasn’t new for the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur or Smriti Mandhana, but certainly a different experience for the D Hemalathas and the Shreyanka Patils.India’s domestic structure is still a little old school, where coaches are taught to go by a rule book that players follow. So it was refreshing to see not-too-experienced players challenged by top-level coaches or elite players.Someone like Jammu & Kashmir’s Jasia Akhtar learnt to deal with success and failure from Meg Lanning. Anjali Sarvani improved the mechanics of her bowling action thanks to Ashley Noffke.From Alyssa Healy saying she was at the WPL to develop Indian talent, to World-Cup winning captain Heather Knight picking Richa Ghosh as the team-mate she wanted to get to know, the WPL threw up a variety of intangibles that players will benefit from.2:47

Healy: I like to lead from within the group and empower players

Fringe players make a splash
Shreyanka Patil, on debut, walked out with Royal Challengers Bangalore six down against a rampaging Mumbai Indians, and crunched a pull for four first ball. She found the boundary three more times in an enterprising 15-ball stay.In the next game, against Gujarat Giants, she didn’t shy from tossing it up in her first over to an all-guns-blazing Sophia Dunkley and prised out her first WPL wicket; later, she bowled a nerveless 20th over where she accounted for Harleen Deol – the game’s top scorer – and conceded just nine runs.In the reverse fixture against Giants, she got the ball for the first time with the scoreboard reading 135 for 2 after 16 overs, and Laura Wolvaardt and Ashleigh Gardner in full flow. She dismissed both and gave away only 17 from her two overs.Two days later, Parshavi Chopra – just 16 and playing only her second game – too was tasked with bowling the 17th and 19th overs with D Hemalatha and Gardner threatening to take Giants towards 200. Unafraid to flight the ball, Chopra got both of them out – with Gardner fooled by a legspinner’s dream delivery.Hemalatha herself, through the tournament, was handed the thankless role for a specialist batter, almost exclusively walking out either with her top order having collapsed or with less than five overs remaining. Sample some of her scores: 29* off 23, 21* off 13, 16 off 7, 16* off 6. The one time she entered at a better stage, with Gujarat 50 for 3 in six overs in their last outing, against UP Warriorz, she smashed 57 off 33.Three players, at different stages of their careers, with different storylines. The common thread? None of them was too well known to the wider audience. Given difficult roles, they showed signs of blossoming. And they weren’t alone. Long may it continue.3:29

Meg Lanning: WPL made it easier for young girls to see what is possible

A learning experience for Mandhana
Mandhana had a most forgettable WPL. Five losses to start the campaign as captain of Royal Challengers, finishing nearly at the bottom of the table, and for a change, struggling to get into a free-flowing rhythm at the top. That is one of the purposes of tournaments like the WPL: provide such learning experiences even for some of the established names.Apart from in domestic cricket, Mandhana had led India and Trailblazers in the past. But not like this. The WPL was a different deal because it gave her the captaincy for an entire tournament. It came with a lot more limelight and pressure compared to the Women’s T20 Challenge and might have put some price-tag pressure on her (she was the most expensive player at the auction). It may have also put her under constant scrutiny as captain and player, like every time she batted against an offspinner. She was also, for the first time, leading several stars in her team, such as Sophie Devine and world champions Ellyse Perry and Heather Knight.At the end of it, Mandhana will likely emerge as a much stronger player and captain, and could be more at ease in high-pressure situations to serve Indian cricket in the future. She is just 26, after all.1:32

Harmanpreet Kaur: Real benefits of WPL will be visible only in two or three years

Fans embrace the WPL, and how!
When the WPL began, there was a bit of uncertainty about in-stadium attendance.The hope was that free entry for women and nominal ticket prices on the whole would sell out tickets, but that was no guarantee of footfalls. To expect Mumbaikars to travel to far-flung venues daily for women’s cricket was an ask irrespective of ticket rates.Related

Next WPL could be in home-and-away format, possibly around Diwali, says Jay Shah

With the WPL, women's cricket is no longer just an idea

Ishaque, Chopra, Patil – New faces make a mark in WPL team of the tournament

WPL opens a whole new world for women's cricket in India

Mumbai Indians, the maximum team of the WPL

By Sunday, March 26, it felt like Brabourne Stadium didn’t have enough seats. But what stood out most was the diversity of the fans. Though predominantly male, there was a good mix.There were men in the old Mumbai Indians men’s jerseys, middle-aged women purchasing knock-off kits outside the venues, parents with little children headed to the venues in trains and buses, young girls in their club-cricket uniforms, housewives who play recreationally, students who have travelled from neighbouring towns like Pune and Kolhapur, and even stragglers in the hope of an unwanted, or unbought, ticket.The atmosphere the fans created was rare for women’s cricket in India and it was special to see packed stands even on weekdays. There were traditional Mumbai stadium chants and new, innovative ones. In Royal Challengers games, you would know where Ellyse Perry was fielding just by the cheer in that section. Delhi Capitals’ Shafali Verma was as good as a home player.So there is an audience. And the BCCI has been able to build on their pilot project of ticketing attendances during the India vs Australia series in December. Now for the next step.The atmosphere the fans created was rare for women’s cricket in India and it was special to see packed stands even on weekdays•BCCI2013 to 2023 – the change couldn’t be starker
It’s a little embarrassing to think of it now, but for long, cricket boards the world over marketed the women’s game like a buy-one-get-one-free scheme with the men’s game.During the 2013 Women’s World Cup, the ICC sent out nearly 10,000 invites to as many as 50 schools in Mumbai for the opening game, held at Brabourne, and when not even 2000 seats were occupied, it left the ICC and the BCCI red-faced.A decade later, the contrast is stark. Both WPL venues – Brabourne and DY Patil Stadium – were sold to capacity several times over. Sure, women were awarded the privilege of watching games for free, but that the BCCI earned from gate receipts, even if it may cobble up to be a minuscule portion of their overall WPL earnings, was a heartening sign.It was also equally heartening to see media attendance reach unprecedented levels. There have been several instances over the past decade where thin attendances have forced organisers to instruct players to look left and right while answering questions from the same source, making it appear as if they were fielding questions from different corners of the room. But this time, when it was announced loud and clear that only one question would be allowed per journalist, it was bittersweet.Women umpires get a taste of the big time too
Like it was for the players, the WPL was also a platform for less-experienced umpires to get a taste of cricket played under intense scrutiny. There were a number of women umpires in action, too – N Janani and Vrinda Rathi stood in the final. Of them, Rathi was part of the Commonwealth Games last year too.The level-up was not all hunky-dory. There were some errors that led to an increased level of scrutiny on the officials. But all said, the experience they gained is a good start which the BCCI should try and build on by having them officiate more regularly, perhaps even in senior men’s domestic matches, in the Ranji Trophy and other big-ticket competitions.

Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to discuss the state of play in the Ashes and a damning report from the ICEC

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2023It has been a week since Australia’s dramatic win at Edgbaston put them 1-0 up in the series, and the words have continued to fly in both directions. With focus turning to Lord’s for the build-up to the second Test, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller for this week’s episode of Switch Hit – which covered all the Ashes talking points, including Ollie Robinson’s flame war and questions for England selection, as well as the release of a damning report into English cricket by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket.

Last year, Sam Curran became the most expensive player in IPL history. Who will be the most in-demand this time around?

Nagraj Gollapudi and Deivarayan Muthu17-Dec-20237:05

Will we see an INR 20 crore buy at the 2024 IPL auction?

Mitchell StarcMultiple World Cup-winner. Able to bowl attacking spells in the most challenging phases in an innings – the powerplay and death. Ability to impart conventional swing and reverse swing at high speeds, along with cunning changes of pace. And, finally, a handy batter in the lower order. Starc’s pedigree is well known – that’s why he has previously been a contender for the most expensive buy, especially at mini auctions, even if he has opted out to manage his workload at times. Now, Starc, on the verge of turning 34, is on the final bend in his international career and wants to return to the IPL after an eight-year hiatus. He would like to utilise the tournament as preparation for the T20 World Cup in June. With several teams keen to have a strike bowler in their first XIs, it will be no surprise if a fierce paddle war breaks out to snap up Starc.Rachin RavindraRavindra might not have even been in New Zealand’s ODI World Cup squad had Michael Bracewell been fit. The 24-year-old batting allrounder wasn’t supposed to start the World Cup for New Zealand, but when Will Young was given a break in the warm-up against Pakistan, he seized his chance as an opener and went on to become the breakout star of the World Cup. He stood up to quicks such as Starc, Haris Rauf and Mark Wood, but it is his game against spin that could pique the interest of the IPL franchises. Since his Under-19 days, Ravindra has been particularly strong off the back foot and has quickly adapted to the Indian conditions by visiting the country every summer with Wellington’s Hutt Hawks club. Ravindra can also bowl quickish left-arm fingerspin and bat down the order, as he showed during his 48-ball 61 from No. 7 against England in the Lord’s ODI in September.Rachin Ravindra was the breakout star of the ODI World Cup•Associated PressShardul ThakurIndian seam-bowling allrounders are limited in supply, which increases their demand at the auction. It’s no different this time, with Thakur being the most high-profile player with such a skillset. Thakur has the tendency to leak runs, but at the same time he brings the wicket-taking ability with his variations, including the slower bouncer and wobble-seam delivery. He can also tonk sixes down the order with his big backlift and power. In IPL 2023, he cracked 68 off 29 balls – the joint second-highest individual score while batting at No. 7 or lower in the league. More recently, he hit 76 off 98 balls for India A from No. 7 in a four-day game in Potchefstroom.Pat CumminsCummins is a contender for the Player of 2023. He led Australia to the World Test Championship title in June, followed it up by retaining the Ashes in England, and then silenced a dominant Indian team, and a full house in Ahmedabad, with a brilliant spell in the World Cup final in November. Cummins is no stranger to the IPL, having earned one of the record bids in the 2020 auction when Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for INR 15.5 crore (USD 2.28 million approx.). He was released and bought back by the franchise two seasons later for nearly a million dollars (INR 7.25 crore). A bowling allrounder, Cummins creates impact in the first two phases with the ball and can play handy cameos with the bat like a record 14-ball 50 against Mumbai Indians. It will stick in their mind, as multi-skilled players are always high on the franchise’s wish-list. Mumbai also look out for leadership skills, both on the field and in the change room, something Cummins has in droves too.Will Royal Challengers Bangalore go for Gerald Coetzee?•AFP/Getty ImagesGerald CoetzeeTall and well-built, with a Rambo-style black headband and a bounding run-up, Coetzee probably gets into batters’ heads even before delivering a ball. At the ODI World Cup, the 23-year-old finished as the fifth-leading wicket-taker despite playing only eight matches. Out of his 20 wickets, 15 came in the middle overs, the second-most in that phase. Bowling consistently at 140-plus kph, Coetzee showed control and movement to rattle batters. Remember the legcutter to Jos Buttler or the around-the-stumps yorker to Josh Inglis? Coetzee also has a good slower ball, which he delivers with his fast whippy action to catch the batter by surprise. In T20s, Coetzee has been an attacking bowler picking up wickets in all three phases with economy rates hovering between seven and nine. Coetzee’s talent has already been recognised by the Chennai Super Kings coaching staff who recruited him to play for their teams in the SA20 and Major League Cricket. Both those teams are led by former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, who performs the same role at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. Both Super Kings and Royal Challengers need an overseas fast bowler, so don’t be surprised if either or both bid for the South African.Harshal PatelIn 2023, there was a predictability to Harshal Patel, the bowler. A death-overs specialist, he leaked runs at an economy of 11.50 with batters easily taking advantage of his slower deliveries. He had been picked by Royal Challengers at the 2022 mega auction for INR 10.75 crore (USD 1.43 million approx.). He commanded that high price having won the Player-of-the-Tournament award in the 2021 season, when he was the highest wicket-taker. Now he’ll be looking for a new home and a return to old form. Bowling successfully under pressure in the second half of the innings remains Harshal’s calling card: since IPL 2020, he has got 37 wickets at death (overs 17-20) – the joint-highest with Mohammed Shami. While his economy in this phase is over ten, Harshal has the experience, a variety of slower balls and knowledge of Indian conditions – all factors that will come into play when he is engaging with an attacking batter in the final stanza of a T20 innings. Death-overs specialists, especially of the Indian fast-bowling variety, are not that common, so Harshal will fancy a good bid once again.Harshal Patel leaked runs last season•BCCIWanindu HasarangaReleased by Royal Challengers, Wanindu Hasaranga is one of the most attractive packages up for grabs at the auction. He has a fizzing wrong ‘un in his repertoire, can launch sixes down the order, and is an excellent fielder. He was hands down the MVP of Lanka Premier League 2023, topping the runs and wickets charts in the tournament. But he hasn’t played any competitive cricket since then and is currently working his way back from a hamstring tear. At the IPL 2022 auction, he had Royal Challengers locked in a fierce bidding war with Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad. This time, he is the only proper spin-bowling allrounder in the first set of allrounders. With no established Indian or foreign wristspinner (besides Tabraiz Shamsi) in the mix, Hasaranga could be a big draw once more.Shahrukh KhanShahrukh had a tepid white-ball domestic season for Tamil Nadu, which is probably why Kings released him to free up INR 9 crore. But Indian domestic finishers are at a premium once again, and specialists like Shahrukh who can go hard from the get-go are rare. Shahrukh is a bit like West Indies’ Rovman Powell: he is particularly strong against pace, but is vulnerable to wristspin. He has been working on his big-hitting against spin, and his own offspin. In the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023, which he won with Lyca Kovai Kings, Shahrukh was the highest wicket-taker with 17 strikes in nine games at an economy rate of 6.66.