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Yorkshire seek solace in cricket but Rafiq racism scandal casts long shadow

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Club hierarchy turn focus to matters on the field as threat of further sanctions looms

David Hopps30-Mar-2023It felt like Groundhog Day at Yorkshire. The morning sun flooding through the windows. Darren Gough and Ottis Gibson, director of cricket and head coach respectively, standing side by side, stoutly regarding the county season with optimism even as potential bankruptcy and ECB sanctions hang over Headingley.Is this the loop that Yorkshire will be cursed to follow forever because of the imbroglio involving Azeem Rafiq and the racism allegations that – for all the enquiries and statements, all the hurt and half-truths, all the raised voices, broken friendships and folded arms, all the worms under the stones, all the media polemics, all the lawyers’ honeyed words and all the administrators’ and politicians’ capacity for self-preservation – still haunt the club? Will it never end?Gough sticks his chest out and insists that Yorkshire’s players are in a much better place this time around. Gibson sticks to cricket. If he is a political man, he hides it well. He builds a positive dressing room atmosphere without fanfare. His priority is a cricketing one – his number one wish, a bank of 10 pace bowlers so everybody is not exhausted by midsummer.Related

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Last year, as Gough and Gibson began their salvage operation, was all about crisis management. Condemnation thundered down. An exodus of players was averted, no mean feat as many were confused and hurt by the mass sackings deemed necessary by the former chair, Lord Kamlesh Patel, but Yorkshire were relegated in the Championship thanks to a stunning win by Warwickshire on the final day. The aim is to bounce back at the first attempt, but swingeing ECB points deductions could hamper those ambitions.Is it fair for a new regime committed to positive change to be punished for the perceived failings off the old? It is a good question.”It’s hard to speculate what the ECB are going to say,” Gough said. “I think the frustration is clear to see as we are going into another season. I just hope we’re not here next year and saying that we are still waiting.”Last year we were in this same situation when we thought something was going to happen and it didn’t, it dragged on and now here again this year, it’s an ongoing process. Nobody has any idea when it’s going to be announced but the players understand it and are in a better position to take whatever comes out.”As Phil Connors, trapped in a sequence of repetitive days, despaired in the movie : “There is no way that this winter is ever going to end as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow.”The beast’s shadow in this case is Yorkshireness, in its least attractive forms, both as it is perceived and as it exists. To remove that shadow needs not just total commitment to a more enlightened and diverse future – because much of that is already happening – but the proclaiming of a new vision whenever the chance presents itself. In the words of Tanni Grey-Thompson, Yorkshire’s acting chair, at least week’s annual meeting, retaining the conviction that “Yorkshire can lead the way” when it comes to opportunity and diversity and that a new Board assembled to promote change “have to stay true to our values” however grave the financial crisis.Baroness Grey-Thompson, one of Britain’s greatest Paralympic athletes, a cross bench peer in the House of Lord’s and patron, trustee and chair of infinite charities and commissions, would make a good Yorkshire chair, not that she wants the job. For one thing, she does not have millions in the bank (or if she does, she is not telling). She estimated in her preamble to the accounts that Yorkshire need £3.5m in extra funding by October to remain a going concern. “This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do,” she told the AGM.

“We’ve put things in place. The club is in a better position. We were all disappointed last year that we were relegated, nobody more than me”Darren Gough, Yorkshire’s director of cricket

All this means there is little time for The Vision Thing with Yorkshire around £20m in debt, awaiting the ECB disciplinary ruling, and with an embattled chief executive, Stephen Vaughan, having to dismiss suggestions that Yorkshire are so close to administration that they are wrongfully trading. It’s even harder to think about the cricket, but that day needs to come and quickly.Which brings us to Colin Graves, a saviour in some eyes after his millions staved off Yorkshire bankruptcy 20 years ago, a man with more than a hint of groundhog about him to others. Now Graves is no longer chair of the ECB, he is less chary about referring to the Graves Trust’s long-term loan as money. After all, allegations of conflict of interest no longer apply. Yorkshire need to find £500,00 to repay the Graves Trust by October with the balance of the £14.9m due in October 2024.He has reportedly offered Yorkshire preferential terms to repay his loan over the next four years if they reappoint him as chair. For Yorkshire’s most trenchant critics, and a few more besides, this would be for the county to take refuge in the past at precisely the time it must look to the future.Vaughan, in his first year as chief executive, is said to be exploring as many as 30 possible alternatives for funding, but if those alternatives are not available or simply not appealing (and there is a huge danger here of leaping from the frying pan into the fire) then Graves might well return in the autumn. Interviews of the candidates should be finalised in about a week.Vaughan told those at the AGM that “it will feel worse before it gets better”. The membership is in flux, too, the sense of a culture war painfully evident. Membership has fallen from 6,000-plus in 2022 (itself a historic low) to around 4,000, although there are 27% new members and this is the time of year when membership traditionally rises.A potentially global brand is also a damaged brand and the current uncertainty surrounding county cricket’s future does not help.Vaughan has a good track record in promoting equality and diversity and he understands bankruptcy too – he was CEO of Wasps RFC when they went into administration last September.”The finances, the ins and outs of it, you’ll have to talk to the CEO,” Gough said. But at the club’s media day, Vaughan was nowhere to be seen. What ire he showed at the annual meeting, he had reserved for the media – probably the only bunch of people who Yorkshire still feel they can regard as “you lot” and get away with it.Jonny Tattersall will captain Yorkshire in Shan Masood’s absence•Getty ImagesThe commitment of this new Yorkshire set-up to extending opportunity into minority-ethnic and deprived communities should not be doubted. Jonny Tattersall, who will step in as captain in Shan Masood’s absence at the start of the season, is just one person who has been coaching free of charge in his downtime as he studies for a Level 3 certificate. But development pathways are expensive and take time to bring results. An ECB fine could cripple that investment and stymie the progress that they want to see.The high-spending regime overseen by Lord Patel deserves scrutiny. If Wayne Morton, the county’s former head of the medical team, wins his case in the High Court for wrongful dismissal then Yorkshire’s legal costs will rise to around £2m. A whistleblowing hotline, plus costs to develop an equality and diversity plan, burned another half a million. With 23 of the 55 cases still active, the spending will not end just yet. Somebody, somewhere has made a killing.Meanwhile, Gough and Gibson think cricket. “We’ve got eight new hybrid practice pitches, a new ground manager, we’ve made players signings, got a nutritionist, sports psychologists, done everything to make this team good,” Gough insisted.”I’ve employed 22 people – I think I’m pretty good at that now. I don’t think it will fall apart because we’ve put things in place. The club is in a better position. We were all disappointed last year that we were relegated, nobody more than me – I was absolutely distraught.”We put a lot of love into it last year, a lot of work, but there was a lot of hurt going around, a lot of negative energy from everywhere and it affected everyone at this cricket club. We’ve created a positive atmosphere. The players understand the job we’ve got to do and they are in a much better place this year to accept whatever comes.”It is Yorkshire vs Leicestershire next Thursday. Forecast: 14C, light cloud with a gentle breeze.

Lewis Hill laps up 'special' moment as Leicestershire rise above the noise

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Young captain earns rewards after steering tight-knit team to memorable win at Trent Bridge

Vithushan Ehantharajah17-Sep-2023Lewis Hill has been at Leicestershire for the last 16 years, earned his first professional contract in 2014 and stepped up as club captain this season. If anyone has a full scope of the ups and downs of the county, it’s him. A player who pushed to realise a dream that has, up until now, been punctuated by crises rather than glory.As he sat at a table within the depths of Trent Bridge, Metro Bank One-Day Cup winners’ medal around his neck, guffawing through every answer in his post-match press conference, his joy was infectious, even uncomfortable. While his team-mates were bouncing off the dressing-room walls after a remarkable two-run victory over Hampshire to seal their first trophy since 2011, Hill was almost physically fighting to suppress his emotions to find the words to contextualise the proudest day of his career.He was able to, of course, summoning similar levels of composure that he had displayed in the field as Leicestershire defended their 267 for 7. It was a total built off the back of a remarkable unbeaten 117 from Harry Swindells, and 60 from Sam Evans. Hill’s own 42 should also be registered, stemming the flow after the top-order had been blitzed to leave them 19 for 4 inside seven overs.It helped that Hill’s words were merely variations of a speech he had been giving behind closed doors for a while. Promises made to the squad that had now come to fruition.”I kept saying at the start of the year that we could do something special with the group of players that we had,” Hill said. “We have done that.”We have pictures at Grace Road of T20 Blast wins, and we said at the start of the year: ‘Guys, let’s get up there; 20 years on, when you come to come to watch Leicestershire County Cricket Club, you see the people who won a trophy for the club.’ That means a lot.”Leicestershire’s wall of champions will now get an overdue update, with this group emulating the Blast winners of 2004, 2006 and 2011, while becoming the first team since 1985 to bring a List A trophy back to this corner of the Midlands.Leicestershire celebrate after Josh Hull closed out victory off the final ball•Getty ImagesThat Hill was in this position, not just a winning captain but captain outright, is down to a malaise all too familiar with Leicestershire. A winless County Championship campaign in 2022 was followed by Callum Parkinson declining a contract extension – he departs for Durham at the end of this summer – and brought a change in leadership. Maybe Hill was chosen because he was already a popular figure, maybe because – as per those who know him – he is an empathetic soul, but this season has carried an unfamiliar optimism, even after the departure of head coach Paul Nixon in July.Leicestershire are still just about in a promotion push, though they will rely on other results to go their way in the final two rounds. They came within 16 runs of a successful chase of 499 against Sussex last week, which would have been their fourth Championship win of the season. It would have also repeated their trick in 2023’s Division Two opener when they pulled off a bumper fourth-innings victory over Yorkshire – the first time they had triumphed in a first-class match at Headingley since 1910. Suddenly, a county regularly mooted as an irrelevance, always first for the chop in any blue-sky thinking into the future of the domestic game, were fighting back.”I just wanted to be myself through the whole summer,” Hill said of his approach to leadership. “It has been a lot of man-management because I think that is how you get the best out of your players. We stuck together – obviously we had a bit of a hiccup in the middle of the year – but we really stuck together while the outside world kind of pelted at us a little bit.”To stick together the way we have, I’m really proud of every player, and I’m really pleased for not just the players but everyone associated with Leicestershire – members, supporters, people who have worked there – to see some success. I am really happy that they can see us do this.”It’s worth exploring the man-management element of all this. Leicestershire only lost once in the group stage but were dealt a blow when Peter Handscomb, their leading run-scorer, returned home to Australia after helping them over the line in the semi-final against Gloucestershire. Evans, the designated next man in, having already made two appearances in the competition, knew last week that he would be replacing Handscomb in the final.By contrast, Swindells was only made aware of his call-up on Friday after Matt Sailsbury picked up a hamstring injury. And after deliberating with coaches Alfonso Thomas and James Taylor, Hill reckoned he could cope with just the four seamers and Colin Ackermann’s offspin, and figured giving Swindells the gloves could ease his own workload. It proved an inspired decision and, of course, damn lucky, which is not to detract from Hill’s game-management. Some of cricket’s greatest captains have fortune on their side.Leicestershire have sealed their first List A title since 1985•Getty Images”Do you know what, it’s one of the best innings I’ve seen live,” Hill said of Swindells’ century. “To come in under that pressure, to have not played a game in the competition. Like, to play like that – him and Sam Evans – was absolutely outstanding. And they deserve all of it because they train hard, and I’m over the moon for them.”I don’t have words for it really. To come in and do what he did is a testament to his character, his skill level. It speaks to everything about him; he trains hard. He is a cracking individual on top of being a really fine player. He is a Leicester lad as well, so I’m sure it means as much to him as it does to me and a few others.”Not keeping wicket allowed Hill to pull the strings more effectively in the field. Hampshire botched their chase at crucial junctures, with errors from experienced heads in Ben Brown, Joe Weatherley and Liam Dawson. But the pressure sustained in the ring and well-placed catchers in the deep – in particular setting fine leg back for the Dawson ramp-shot that ultimately clinched the game midway through the final over – was a feather in Hill’s cap. And, of course, those of his attack.Josh Hull was the standout – literally at six-foot-seven. The left-arm seamer was identified during the winter as a unique talent. “This guy has got something good,” Hill recalled himself saying aloud in the off-season when watching the 19-year-old in the nets. That “something” came to the fore at the death.Having removed Hampshire’s own impressive youngster Tom Prest for 51 earlier in the piece, Hull held his nerve for the final over to concede just five when eight was needed. It was all the more impressive given his penultimate over – the 48th – had been taken for 14 to swing the game Hampshire’s way. He finishes the campaign with 17 wickets at 24.23 from nine matches, with an economy rate of 5.45, and a few extra admirers after pushing the speed-gun into the late eighties during a televised game.”He has played loads of games this year, and he didn’t have his best day with the ball until the final few overs, but to come back and bowl like that and to have clear plans like that – he told us what he was bowling, and that is what I want in a young bowler, and he executed really well. I’m really proud of him.Related

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“I have never seen a guy who takes information in so young, so quickly and so well. Honestly, I think he has a massive future ahead of him. He has a cool head on his shoulders, a fantastic family that supports him and has done a lot for him early in his career, driving him around. He is definitely one to watch in the future.”Difficult decisions were made, too, such as leaving out Parkinson and Rehan Ahmed – one of the most talented youngsters going in English cricket – which could have come back to haunt Hill but didn’t. This success was as much about nurturing homegrown talent and arms around shoulders as assuming a more ruthless approach.And if the club are to shed the “little old Leicestershire tag”, it will be through bloodying the noses of the established forces on the field rather than cosying up to them off it. Even in the shadow of the Hundred, the manner of this One-Day Cup run has earned some much-needed respect and given them an extra chip to play in recurring discussions over their merits as an organisation within English cricket.”I’ve been at Leicester for eight or nine years as a professional, starting when I was 16,” Hill said. “I have seen some of the darker times at Grace Road, so it was great to see good times returning – the way we’ve played cricket this year, and this trophy, shows that we’re going the right way. Teams like Leicestershire are needed in county cricket.”

Australia leave UK with the mace and the urn, but no gold star

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Winning Tests in England isn’t easy. Australia won three and lost two out of six. But if “Ashes tend to define eras or legacies”, Cummins’ team fell short

Andrew McGlashan01-Aug-2023Less than two months apart, Australia’s two presentation ceremonies at The Oval were distinctly different. From the celebrations with the World Test Championship mace and players grinning from ear to ear, to a much more muted holding of a replica Ashes urn behind the “Series Drawn” banner as had been the case in 2019, some smiles looking a little less natural.The first thing to say about Australia’s two months in the UK is that it certainly hasn’t been a failure. Winning Tests in England is a mighty tough ask. Pat Cummins’ team managed three in a row. The first against India gave them the global crown and rubberstamped them as the best Test team in the world, the next two put them 2-0 up in the Ashes.It would prove a vital cushion and not one to be brushed aside because of how events transpired. England did all they could to win three in a row, but Australia had put them in that win-or-bust position by taking the key moments at Lord’s. Lyon’s vital hand, then huge absenceIn Birmingham, the match was so nip-and-tuck that the final twist did not come until Nathan Lyon was dropped by Ben Stokes with 37 needed in the match-winning partnership with Cummins.In the second Test, they were much the better team for large periods, finding a way to win without Lyon by luring England into the trap against the short ball and then holding their nerve against Stokes’ onslaught following the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow.Related

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But then the mood started to change. Over an extended period of three Tests, the injury to Lyon always shaped as a telling factor. Meanwhile, a shoulder injury to Ollie Pope, and Stokes’ admission that he couldn’t bowl, forced England into rebalancing the team. If those two events had not happened, would Chris Woakes have played at Headingley?Either way, after Mitchell Marsh’s stunning comeback century revived Australia in Leeds, they then had England 142 for 7 at lunch – still 121 behind. Mark Wood, having bowled rockets with the ball, smashed 24 off eight balls and Stokes got England just about level. Later that same day, Moeen Ali was handed the wickets of Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.Australia were dealt a rough hand batting during a tough third-evening session after rain and were duly nipped out by England’s quicks. They fought gallantly to defend 251 but there was too much resting on Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Although not quite as tight as Edgbaston, it was another match of narrow margins.However, there was nothing tight about Old Trafford. Australia fluffed their lines with the bat in the first innings – something that would be a theme for the latter part of the series – with five of the top six making between 32 and 51. They were then obliterated by England’s batting in a manner rarely seen of an Australian side. Then it rained for the best part of two days, although Labuschagne made an excellent century. That meant Australia couldn’t lose the series.”It’s a bit of a strange one,” Cummins had said. “As a group [we’re] proud that we’ve retained the Ashes but it’s off the back of not our greatest week. It feels like it’s good to retain the Ashes, but we know we’ve got a fair bit of work to do for next week… we want to win it to make sure we win it outright.”Nathan Lyon’s injury always shaped up as a telling factor in the Ashes•AFP/Getty ImagesDropped catches cost AustraliaAnd so to The Oval. For the first time on the tour, the coin fell in Cummins’ favour and he inserted England on an overcast day. Then Australia dropped five catches. Most crucially was Alex Carey’s off Harry Brook when he was on five. England reached 283 which, overall, left both sides reasonably happy. But Australia could only manage 12 more as the pattern of unconverted starts haunted them again. By the end of the series, five England batters averaged over 40 compared to just two (Usman Khawaja and Marsh) for Australia. Although Smith and Labuschagne managed a century apiece, England’s overall success against them was significant.England were back in the lead after one over of their second innings. Australia showed spirit to ensure it didn’t entirely run away from them, but Bairstow and Joe Root built a big advantage. In the end, the target was 384. Then David Warner and Khawaja added 135 before the rain came. Warner’s final Ashes innings ended against a new nemesis – Woakes from over the wicket for the fourth innings in a row – but even after Khawaja and Labuschagne had also fallen, Smith and Travis Head brought the requirement down to 120 with seven wickets in hand.However, Moeen lured Head into a drive, Woakes kept finding the outside edge and, finally, Stuart Broad (from around the wicket, of course, to the left-handers) closed out the series and his career.Away Ashes proves elusive againIt all means that there will be a generation of Australian cricketers added to those who won’t have won an Ashes series in England. There is no shame in that, but this time it was there for the taking.We know for certain that Warner won’t be back. You can all but certainly add Smith and Khawaja to that, along with Starc (who was named Australia’s Player of the Series, four years on from playing just once). Lyon has spoken about trying to keep going for another four years but it will be a big ask. Josh Hazlewood feels like an unlikely candidate at 32. Even at 30, Cummins could be a borderline case. They are all outstanding cricketers with plenty on their CVs, but an Ashes series win in England would have been an added gold star.Four years is obviously a long time for any team. England are also entering a new era, not least in a bowling attack where the youngest in the last two matches has been 33. For Australia, their more immediate decisions will need to come later this year. They will start firm favourites in their home season against Pakistan and West Indies – although it is to be hoped that the makes it to Perth, Melbourne and Sydney – but a transitional phase will begin, and how it’s managed will be vital.Warner’s desired end date of January at the SCG is known. He is clinging on and may have done enough to get those three more Tests, although there is time for that to change by December. Regardless, Australia will hope that Khawaja has a couple more years in him to manage the changeover in opening batters.Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green will be expected to play key roles when Australia transition•Getty ImagesWhile no one else has signalled imminent plans to retire (Smith, again, shut down rumours during the Oval Test) there will need to be an eye to the future. One aspect to consider is whether they can introduce a younger member to the pace attack, at least occasionally, to ensure there is some experience when a permanent gap appears. The other interesting dynamic that has now appeared is between Marsh and Cameron Green; the former could start the home summer ahead in the pecking order. They will hope to have Lyon back but will need to keep nurturing Todd Murphy.Australia just short of their legacyAustralia began 2023 with a trifecta of huge Test challenges ahead of them: an away tour in India, the World Test Championship final, and this Ashes. India slipped away after a dramatic collapse in Delhi, but a few months later they were toppled for the mace. Heading into the England series, Cummins had reluctantly acknowledged “whether we like or not, Ashes tend to define eras or legacies”.In their last two away Ashes series, Australia have won four Test matches. That’s as many as they had achieved in the previous four tours from 2005 to 2015. England rarely lose series on home soil, but Australia have now held the Ashes since late 2017.As Cummins and Stokes came together at the end of an epic series – perhaps one of the greatest ever – the consensus was that 2-2 was the fair result. But there was also the feeling as the presentations went on, that one captain stood on The Oval outfield, at least in that moment, felt a little more ebullient than the other. And it wasn’t the one holding the urn.

Anticipation still high as sleepy Perth awaits Australia's heroes

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Fans or no fans in attendance at the Test, Australians will be following their World Cup-winning players’ progress, expecting more wins

Alex Malcolm13-Dec-20234:32

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The Test mace and the ODI World Cup trophy glistened in the hot, bright Perth sun.They were placed on the Perth Stadium outfield for a photo opportunity and broadcast overlay shots ahead of the opening Test of Australia’s home summer against Pakistan, the first international match Australia’s all-conquering men’s side will play since claiming both trophies overseas in the last six months.But there was no Australian player in the frame. There were no fans in the stadium. No political figures or even Cricket Australia executives looking to bask in the reflected glory.Australia’s twice triumphant captain Pat Cummins was on the other side of the ground, wearing his whites, captain’s blazer and baggy green, to pose with Pakistan skipper Shan Masood next to the Benaud-Qadir trophy.Related

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Just over three weeks on from Australia’s monumental triumph in Ahmedabad, in front of 90,000 India supporters, they will return as conquering heroes to something well short of a hero’s welcome.CA and Western Australian Cricket have thrown all their energy into rebranding “The West Test” in the hope of attracting crowds. But the reality is, they will be lucky to get more than 15,000 for day one of the first Test in the 60,000-capacity stadium.Cummins was asked about the dichotomy of going from the sensory overload of Ahmedabad to the sleepiness of Perth.”When you’re talking about World Cup finals, it’s the pinnacle, isn’t it?” he said. “We’re still on a high from that. It’s not going to get much better from that. But I’m sure it’s going to be well-supported here. Some of the Test matches you play in Australia, I think school might still be in here, you might not get the packed stadium, but you know there’s going to be millions of people watching. And it’s kind of the start of their summer, that first Test match. So we feel really supported whenever we play over here and probably after the last 12 months we’ve had, I’ve never felt the support like we have in the last month.”It is a prescient observation from Australia’s captain about how Australian fans consume their cricket.No mob of fans around Pat Cummins at the Sydney airport•Getty ImagesThere has been incredulity from the subcontinent about Australia’s reaction to the ODI World Cup victory. Cummins walking out of the Sydney airport three weeks ago without a mob of fans around him, with morning commuters barely even looking in his direction, gave rise to the theory that Australian fans don’t care.The team has been equally anonymous in Perth this week. Cummins attended a concert in Perth’s famous Kings Park on Monday night and was largely left alone by the concertgoers.But those public interactions run counter to the revelation from Google this week that the ‘Cricket World Cup’ and ‘the Ashes’ were the top two searched sporting terms in Australia in 2023, with ‘BBL’ running fifth. The only two non-cricket terms to crack the top five were the ‘FIFA Women’s World Cup’, which was hosted in Australia and New Zealand in July and August and captured the nation’s imagination, and a boxing fight between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury.

Australians consume their cricket differently. They follow the scores and highlights online. The fact the two major cricket events of the year happened in the northern hemisphere during the dead of night in Australia meant that they logged on in the morning to see how their team went. They would have been delighted with the results for the most part, albeit some are still disappointed they couldn’t close out the Ashes.But they don’t live and die by every ball.The concern then is that if they don’t live and die by every ball for the Ashes and the World Cup, how will they do so for a home series against Pakistan, who have not won a Test here since 1995 and have never won a series here?The answer is, they won’t. But that’s not necessarily because of the opposition. That’s just because of how cricket is followed in Australia in 2023. They’ll check in on the scores. They will expect Australia to win. But they won’t be flocking to the stadiums around the country.Cummins and his team, who are well within their rights to rest on their laurels given what they have achieved, are aware of the reality and know they have to maintain their standards. They know their fans expect them to climb more mountains, even if they’re not providing vocal support in person.”Growing up, I remember some of the great battles of seeing Shoaib Akhtar charging in or some of the tussles against some of the other South African teams and West Indian teams growing up,” Cummins said. “So it’s not always India and the Ashes in my mind that are the big ones. But I can only speak as a player and every Test match is huge. You want to play against players that you haven’t played against a lot. These guys, probably half the team we haven’t played against or certainly not in Australian conditions.”Every Test match is huge now thanks to the WTC. They are not blooding players for the future. They have picked the best side available. They know they have started the new cycle slightly off the pace after a lacklustre finish to the Ashes. Cummins knows his settled side can’t afford to take the foot off the pedal.”I think we’re sitting about mid-table,” Cummins said. “I think if last campaign was anything to go by, you’ve got to be able to win your home games. That’s almost a non-negotiable and then obviously, you’ve got to do well on a couple of overseas tours. So if we want to be in that final again, basically you need to win your home games, so that’s ahead of us.”The cycle begins again for Australia’s conquering heroes. Fans or no fans in attendance, Australians will be following their progress. Expecting more wins. Expecting the trophies to remain glistening in the Australian sun.

'Felt like I never left' – SKY rains down on RCB to dispel the doubts

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The Wankhede crowd found their full voice as Suryakumar walked to the crease, and they weren’t left disappointed

S Sudarshanan12-Apr-20243:13

Dasgupta: ‘Not just a win, it was a statement’

It was hard to make out if the roar was for Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally picking up a wicket. After conceding 101 in just 52 balls, they had managed to see the back of Ishan Kishan, who blazed away to 69 off just 34 balls in Mumbai Indians’ chase of 197. Those in the Sachin Tendulkar Stand and the Dilip Vengsarkar Stand were jumping with joy, and only when the cheers grew louder after the incoming batter’s name was announced at the Wankhede Stadium, did the reason become clear: it was for Suryakumar Yadav.If Rohit Sharma is Mumbai (king of Mumbai), Suryakumar is Surya (elder brother) for the MI fans. ” [Only one promise, Surya brother!]” chanted a group of fans in their twenties as they made their way to the Wankhede Stadium. “SKY for the sky” read a poster by another supporter. The lynchpin of Mumbai’s batting commanded support even if he had played only one match – for a two-ball duck – since returning from a four-and-a-half-month injury layoff.It was only a four-ball wait before SKY opened up. He flicked Akash Deep, playing his first IPL match as a capped India cricketer, through midwicket before pummeling him for three sixes – including his trademark shot over deep-backward square leg.Related

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Bumrah five-for and express Kishan, SKY fifties take MI to bruising win over RCB

Mumbai vs RCB stats – Bumrah's record five-for and MI's Wankhede half century

Suryakumar did not spare the experienced Reece Topley either, taking 18 with three fours and a six in the bowler’s third over. Having seen Suryakumar’s on-side prowess earlier, Topley’s attempt to bowl wide from his hitting arc was an understandable ploy. But the Mumbai batter managed to get under one such length ball and carved it over deep point for half a dozen.Suryakumar has done all of it before – accessing parts of the ground that seemed near impossible. But after being sidelined for a lengthy period – first with an ankle injury and then because of sports hernia – the only question was if he could get his touch back. But in smashing a 17-ball half-century – the joint second-fastest for MI in the IPL history – in a high-octane chase, Suryakumar dispelled any doubts in a flash.”When the tournament started, I was mentally here but physically [at the National Cricket Academy] in Bangalore,” Suryakumar told the host broadcaster after the match. “When I came here, it felt like I never left. When chasing 200 at Wankhede, it is important to know the dew factor. If it is there, then you have to take your chances.Suryakumar Yadav brought out his full range of thrilling strokes•AFP/Getty Images”I just try to play the field, I have practised these shots a lot. It is just in my muscle memory – I go and enjoy it. The slice over point for six I enjoyed the most.”Suryakumar’s routine during rehab was “boring” but as he inched closer to returning to competitive cricket, his motivation increased. He is never one to shy away from the spotlight and wanted his comeback to be a bit different. With an impactful knock as Impact Player on Thursday, he ensured that his return to the runs did not fly under the radar.Suryakumar enjoyed every bit of his one hour on the field. After his dismissal, he had a wide smile as he acknowledged the crowd – helmet off and arms aloft – as he made his way off the ground. He knew that a second win was assured for Mumbai after his 19-ball 52 – that featured five fours and four sixes – brought down the asking rate to just a shade over three per over.It was almost like last year when Suryakumar’s 35-ball 83 had helped Mumbai overhaul RCB’s 199 for 6 at the same venue without breaking much sweat. This time, Mumbai won with 27 balls to spare.”When he scored his fifty, I told him, ‘Welcome back’,” captain Hardik Pandya said. “It’s always good to have Surya in your team. I have been opposition captain to him, and it is pretty tough to set the field, because he hits places where I have never seen many batters hit.”After the game, Suryakumar revealed that he never faces Jasprit Bumrah in the nets because “he either breaks my bat or my foot!” Suryakumar versus Bumrah last played out in the open in IPL 2017, when the former was with Kolkata Knight Riders.It is a loss for fans that they may never get to watch these two superstars pitted against each other at the peak of their powers.

Good luck finding another Rahul Dravid

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

He improved India across formats, in a time of transition, leaving his successor with immense shoes to fill

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Jul-20242:23

Manjrekar: Rohit’s World Cup win a great reward for a champion cricketer

India are sent in to bat in a World Cup final. They begin with a bang. They lose a clump of wickets. They retrench. They promote an allrounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm spin above more obviously attacking options.All these things happened on November 19, 2023. They happened again on June 29, 2024.India lost on November 19, 2023. They came to a point on June 29, 2024, when they had, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster, a 96.65% chance of losing.On both days, Rahul Dravid sat in India’s dugout, with no way of controlling any of the events unfolding in the field, knowing that they would come to define him.Only the best teams get to the semi-finals or final of nearly every global tournament they play, but once they’re there, they’re competing with other seriously good teams. You might be better than them by any number of parameters, and might have built better records than them over many years, but none of that guarantees beating them on that day.This might be your third white-ball World Cup as head coach, and you might have got to the final of this one with a 21-3 record over those three tournaments, but you haven’t won any of them, have you? You didn’t win your one red-ball final either. And here you are now, powerless, your fate partly in the hands of other people and partly at the mercy of sheer randomness, with your opponents needing 30 off 30 balls.This was Dravid, five overs away from the end of his tenure as India’s head coach. Five overs away from world champion or serial choker.

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If you’re of a certain generation, the sight of Dravid roaring with the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy clutched high over his head might have taken you back to another victory celebration from another time.Compare Kensington Oval, 2024…

… to Kennington Oval, 2007. Trophy-lifting technique? Same. Expression? Ditto.Dravid, contrary to popular stereotype, has never been averse to letting rip with his pent-up emotions. There is, however, a pattern to the moments he’s chosen for unleashing that side of his personality.Captaining India to their first Test series win in England in 21 years and winning a T20 World Cup as coach are massive achievements in and of themselves, as is bringing up a century in a series-turning follow-on partnership, which Dravid celebrated with an angry jab of his bat in the direction of the Eden Gardens press box.All these moments, though, had an element of Dravid proving his doubters wrong. In 2001, he answered critics who questioned his ability to negotiate Shane Warne. The 2007 England tour had come after India, under Dravid’s captaincy, had crashed out of the ODI World Cup in the first round.Barbados 2024, of course, followed Adelaide 2022, The Oval 2023 and Ahmedabad 2023.

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Thirty to win off 30 balls. It went one way when it could have gone another way, and at some level, the only real way to make sense of it is to not try, and conclude that fate conspired to bring India this trophy. That fate brought India trophy, but also trophy for all the Indias that had experienced all the heartbreaks: Old Trafford 2019, Southampton 2021, Adelaide 2022, The Oval 2023, Ahmedabad 2023. The trophy that so many superstars had craved and fought so hard for, for so long, and had even, perhaps, deserved.Dravid fronted the media after India’s ODI World Cup final defeat in Ahmedabad•ICC/Getty ImagesDeserve is a complicated word here. You’ve got to be a good team to win trophies, but being a good team – or even a great team – doesn’t guarantee trophies. It isn’t easy for players and coaches to make peace with this, though, because much of the world understands it differently, that a team’s goodness is contingent upon the trophies it wins.And in a time of three formats and four global trophies, with roughly one prize up for grabs every year, how could India back up their claims of greatness if they didn’t have even one trophy to show for it?

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For a team like this, at a time like this, having Dravid on board must have helped immensely. Win or lose, few coaches are as consistent with their messaging as he is, and few coaches are as protective of their players while speaking publicly of them.Few coaches are as eager to embrace change and new ways of thinking as Dravid is, but it’s rare for someone like that to be free of the impulse to rip up what came before and start afresh. Without being an ideologue in the way of Brendon McCullum, Dravid found a way to leave a progressive imprint on the team he took over.The biggest example came right at the end of his tenure. Seven members of India’s squad at the T20 World Cup of 2024 were part of their 2021 campaign in the UAE, their last tournament before Dravid took over. Eight were part of their 2022 campaign in Australia.India exited the 2021 tournament at the group stage and suffered a thumping defeat in their semi-final in 2022. Both tournaments are remembered for India playing a style of T20 that seemed behind the times, and both ended with widespread calls for an overhaul.Rahul Dravid gets his team together in the dressing room one last time as India coach•ICC/Getty ImagesThat didn’t happen, for reasons of both philosophy and pragmatism. If Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are impossible to drop for public-relations reasons, they’re also impossible to drop because they’re great, adaptable cricketers. Right through Dravid’s tenure, both showed a willingness to bat differently for the sake of team balance, and contributed to a change in India’s style that was evident even in the lead-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup. Though that tournament showed that India’s transformation, as individuals and as a collective, wasn’t yet complete, there were enough signs that they were building towards something.It was no surprise, then, that Dravid’s immediate reaction to the 2024 victory was to reiterate that it was the culmination of a long process.”Honestly, this is a journey of two years,” he said. “This is not a journey from just this T20 World Cup. When I think about the construction of this team, the kind of skills we wanted, the players we wanted, those discussions started in [November] 2021.”So it’s two years of work. This is not a work of just this World Cup. I think it culminated in this World Cup. The disappointment in Australia [at the 2022 T20 World Cup] and then the one-day World Cup – there’s so much that has gone into it. This feels like a journey of not just one month, it feels like a journey of two years. What we’ve tried to build, what we have tried to create, it feels like it has all come together here on a beautiful afternoon in Barbados.”Through the two-and-a-half years of Dravid’s tenure, India have shown a clear intent to build white-ball teams with structure: line-ups with a mix of right- and left-hand options and pace- and spin-hitters, and allrounders to provide depth and allow them to play the extra spinner or seamer as dictated by the conditions. They’ve tried to tick these boxes with the players they’ve had available, but they’ve had bad luck in big tournaments. Jasprit Bumrah was out injured in 2022, and Hardik Pandya was ruled out midway through 2023, forcing them to compromise on their structure.

“Without being an ideologue in the way of Brendon McCullum and England, Dravid found a way to leave a progressive imprint on the team”

Everything came together in 2024, and India ticked nearly every box. And yet, they got to a point where they only had a 3.35% chance of victory with five overs remaining.

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Dravid did not become a better coach because India overturned those odds, and he would not be a worse coach if South Africa had won. But his legacy is now secure. He took over from a hugely successful predecessor, Ravi Shastri, who had helped build an all-conditions Test team and a white-ball team with a formidable overall record, and did so at a time of transition, with a number of key players entering or already in their mid-30s.As Dravid steps away now, here’s where India stand. They’re still the world’s best Test team, well into their transition with old faces phased out and future superstars taking shape. They’re also on course to contest a third successive World Test Championship final. They’re a better ODI side than they were under Shastri, with one major structural weakness – a lack of stability and know-how at Nos. 4 and 5 – sorted out and another – a lack of bowlers who can bat – still a work in progress. They’re a far better T20 side with a trophy to show for it.Rahul Dravid lifts the trophy as the team celebrates•Associated PressDravid will be the first person to tell you that much of this growth and evolution across formats has come about because India have a vast pool of extremely talented players, and that he has merely played a small role in helping them realise their own potential. But it takes a bloody good coach to be aware of the limitations of his role, to know what he can and cannot control, and to not lose sight of these things in moments of victory and defeat. It takes a bloody good coach, above all, to keep sight of the humanity of his players, to challenge them to be the best cricketers they can be while protecting them in moments of vulnerability.It was entirely characteristic of Dravid to show up for the post-match press conference when India lost the 2023 final in Ahmedabad, and let Rohit take the mic when they won the 2024 final in Bridgetown.In the aftermath of Dravid’s greatest triumph, then, it’s appropriate to go back to his words from India’s night of despair in Ahmedabad.”I’m sure the sun will come up tomorrow morning.”More than anything else, Dravid the India coach knew how to put things in perspective. Whoever succeeds him would do well to keep that in mind.

That Mumbai feeling: Ajaz Patel is back at the scene of his triumph

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The New Zealand spinner achieved an extraordinary feat in his home city three years ago. What can he do this time around?

Ashish Pant30-Oct-2024Mumbai holds a special place in Ajaz Patel’s heart. It was where he was born and grew up for a while before emigrating to New Zealand with his parents as an eight-year-old. His wife is from the city, and he still has plenty of extended family there, whom he often visits. Three years ago, the Wankhede Stadium was the scene of one of the rarest bowling feats in Test cricket, when Ajaz became only the third bowler in the history of the format to bag all ten wickets in an innings.That was his first time playing international cricket in India and he finished the two-Test series as the highest wicket-taker, with 17 wickets – 14 of which came in that Mumbai Test, to date the best figures by any visiting bowler in the country. While it was an effort that catapulted him to global recognition, it was also bittersweet with New Zealand going down in the Test and losing the series 2-0.Now, almost three years later, New Zealand make their way to the final Test of the series having taken a 2-0 lead and broken a slew of records on the way. There is some pressure on them to sweep the series, but as Ajaz makes his way back to his “second home”, he is likely to take a quiet moment to himself in the place where it all began.Related

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“Yeah, it will be pretty cool. It’ll be pretty nostalgic for me, obviously, going back there,” he says. “My roots are deeply connected to Mumbai. For me, it’s just special being there and being available and having the opportunity to play at Wankhede. Yeah, it’s surreal. Even when I went there the first time, it was really special even before everything kicked off. It was just special to be in Mumbai and be able to have the opportunity to play there.”It was on the second day of the Mumbai Test in 2021 that the stars aligned for Ajaz. He had bagged four wickets on the opening day and was eyeing the honours board, but there was a lot more than that in store. He got his fifth and sixth off consecutive deliveries, and while the seventh took another 28 overs to come, he wrapped up the final three wickets quickly to claim a place in history.Of the ten, Virat Kohli’s wicket was the one Ajaz cherished the most. “He’s a great of batting around the world and comes out with an aura and confidence, and to be able to get him out was special,” he says. But more than the wickets, he remembers most fondly a feeling that came over him earlier in the match.”In a funny way, the glaring moment of that game for me was being out there on the morning of day one and kind of absorbing the fact that you’re out there in Mumbai,” he says. “The place that you’re born… you’re not living in India anymore, you’re playing for another country, which is your new home, but you’re back here against India. And all those things in combination were quite crazy to comprehend, and obviously, a lot of things have to line up to get that opportunity.Ajaz joined Jim Laker and Anil Kumble in taking ten in an innings in the Mumbai Test in 2021•BCCI”It’s almost like I was destined to come there and play, but then the way that it unfolded was obviously quite special. At the end of day two I was just kind of sitting back and appreciating what I’d achieved and what had just happened, and also accepting the fact that there’s a lot of destiny about it, and there’s a lot of grace from high up above to be able to achieve something like that, because we all appreciate that cricket requires a little bit of luck as well, and to take ten, you need a lot of things to go your way. So that was pretty special.”

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Ajaz made his first-class debut in 2012 and had to wait for close to six years to break into the New Zealand team. The 2021 Mumbai Test was only the 11th of his career. One would assume that after taking ten in an innings, opportunities might have been fairly regular for Ajaz, for a while at least. As it turns out, he wasn’t even part of the squad for the next Test series that New Zealand played, against Bangladesh at home less than a month later. In fact, of his 20 Tests, only three have been at home, the last of them in February 2020.New Zealand’s bowling requirements are such that they have opted for a seam-heavy combination at home, with the likes of Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips doing the spin-bowling duties if required. Since his record feat, Ajaz has been part of only ten of the 23 Tests New Zealand have played. All but one of those ten were in Asia. Before the Sri Lanka tour just preceding the ongoing one of India, he went through a period where he played only four Tests in close to two years, between late December 2022 and September 2024.While there is a tinge of frustration at the lack of opportunities, Ajaz admits it “breeds hunger” and the will to “continue to improve”.”If you’re honest, as an international cricketer and a professional cricketer, you want to be playing every game and work towards putting yourself in a position to be able to do that and play in all conditions and play everywhere around the world,” he says. “But sometimes in New Zealand, that’s a little bit difficult. You look around the world and you see spinners playing in all conditions. They play in their home conditions, they play in away conditions, where I guess our team balance and what we’ve been looking to achieve for a while now has been so seam-dominated that it’s been difficult to find a space in that team as a spinner.Ajaz’s new, slightly longer, run-up has helped him expand the range of speeds he can bowl at•AFP/Getty Images”But also, in saying that, if we look at the last five to eight years of New Zealand cricket, we’ve probably had the best seam attack we’ve ever had. So it’s kind of going well.”Yeah, it’s difficult and you want to play and you want to be available and push yourself for every opportunity, and realistically, sometimes that’s not a possibility.”But I think you still have to aim for it, you still have to work towards it because that’s the best way to prepare yourself when the opportunity does arise. I know that I don’t get as many opportunities, So when I do, I’m really hungry for them and I’m really excited for them. And I always work towards my game to be available everywhere, whether it be at home or whether it be in the subcontinent.”Obviously then it’s up to selectors whether I get picked or not. And then if I don’t get picked, that’s fine. I continue to grow my game, so that I can still keep pushing for that opportunity.”He can take comfort in the fact that since his debut, he has been part of the New Zealand playing XI in every Test in Asia. On the flip side, there is obvious expectation from him to rock up almost cold and succeed in spin-favouring conditions almost every time. After all, since his debut, only five bowlers have more wickets in Asia than his 70 in 15 Tests at 30.57 Over the last few years, he has made a change in his bowling stride and load-up, lengthening his run-up to help vary his pace so as to better adapt to surfaces in the subcontinent. It has yielded results. Ajaz was the second-highest wicket-taker when New Zealand visited Bangladesh for a two-Test series late last year. He also picked up eight wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka in September.”If I’m honest there, about two years ago, I felt like my bowling wasn’t quite up to where I wanted it to be. And it’s funny to say that, because it was literally after I took ten wickets in India,” he says. “But my drive has always been to continue to improve and continue to get better. And one of the big things for me was being able to hit a higher range [of speed].”With my old action and my old run-up, I was able to hit 90s [kph], but not quite consistently. I would range between the mid-80s and the early 80s to the early 90s. With the addition of the run-up, now I can go up to mid-90s and still [also] hit the early 80s. So that range becomes a lot bigger, and that gives you more opportunities and also, it allows you to challenge batters on different surfaces.”If it’s slow, you can adapt and get quicker, or if it’s quick, you can adapt and get slower. After that Mumbai Test, there were probably games where I wasn’t quite satisfied with how it was coming out and what I was able to produce. It was then [about] going on a little discovery and figuring out what that looks like and where I wanted to take my bowling next.”During the two Tests in India in this series, Ajaz has seen the fast bowlers run riot in Bengaluru, and then Mitchell Santner take 13 in Pune. With match hauls of 2 for 100 and 2 for 97, his own performances have been lukewarm. Now, though, on (second) home territory, he will hope for another special show as New Zealand eye a rare series sweep. He will have plenty of support in the form of his parents, wife, daughter and extended family in attendance in the crowd. Is another ten-for too much to ask for?

Lorna Jack-Brown, Scotland cricketer and crime fighter

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The 31-year-old will retire from international cricket on Sunday to become a full-time police officer

Shashank Kishore12-Oct-2024Lorna Jack-Brown’s job as a police officer in Edinburgh has taken her down dark alleys. In 2018, when it took a mental toll, she almost retired from international cricket.From nearly walking away from the sport, Jack-Brown, the wicketkeeper-batter, has been able to tick off a “life dream” of playing in Scotland’s first-ever T20 World Cup. On Sunday, against England in Sharjah, she will retire as Scotland’s most-capped woman cricketer, bringing the curtains down on a career that would’ve spanned nearly 18 years.At 31, a full-time career in the police force beckons.Related

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“If I was able to play this far, it’s only because I got help when I needed it,” Jack-Brown reflects. “I realised my work had been taking a toll on me gradually. When it got to a stage where I’d refuse to train, get panic attacks and look for reasons not to play cricket, I knew something was wrong.”Jack-Brown sought help by enrolling at Scotland Institute of Sport. They discovered her stress triggers were because of her police work. As an officer who deals with domestic and sexual abuse, Jack-Brown says she has seen “all kinds of not so nice stuff.””Not that there’s really any nice crime,” she quickly adds. “I certainly went through a few doors and have seen a few crime scenes I never want to see again. I’ve been chucked in front of a bus; I’ve had knives thrown at me. I think the only thing I haven’t had is someone’s throwing out a gun on me, which I’m thankful for.”Jack-Brown’s manner of describing these “interesting experiences” can make her a good screenplay writer for a crime series. She laughs off any prompts when asked if it’s a career waiting to be explored. Her resilience and mental fortitude are impressive.

“We’re here to play in the big leagues too, doesn’t mean we’re cocky, arrogant [laughs]. It’s just me having fun in my final few games”Lorna Jack-Brown

“It’s just hard to understand some of the sights and some of the experiences that I’ve had,” she says. “Even if I’d try to describe it to some of my team-mates, they’d be like ‘sorry, what did you do?’ But yeah, I think it’s not just physical. It does take an absolute mental toll.”This journey of being a police officer was completely accidental. After completing a physical education degree in 2015-16, Jack-Brown spent nine months working for Carnival Cruise Lines in America, “enjoying all the adventure life can offer a twenty-something straight out of college.””It allowed me to see places I’d never be able to otherwise. I had the time of my life. But my nature is such I always want to be doing something different. When I came back from America, a family friend introduced me to the possibility of joining the police.”They were like either you can apply to be a special constable but you wouldn’t be paid or you can apply for the full-time role for which you need to pass an exam. I said ‘bring it on.’ And the next thing I realise is, I’ve prepared and cracked this exam and joined the police [in 2017].”Lorna Jack-Brown with who we think is a very cute cricket fan•Lorna Jack-BrownAfter seven years of juggling two demanding careers, Jack-Brown decided this April, soon after Scotland qualified for the World Cup, that she would draw the curtains on one part of her professional career.”Maybe if we hadn’t qualified, that push to be at another world tournament may have gotten the better of me,” she says. “But I’m very content with my decision. I’ve got a bit going on with my shoulder, a few niggles I need to sort out before I can pick up a cricket bat or throw a ball again.”But yeah, just because I’m retiring from international cricket, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop playing. It’s a good time to step back and allow my wife, who also works in the police, some breathing space because over the past few years, me being at cricket tournaments has meant her exhausting all her paid leaves to take care of our daughter and dogs.”Jack-Brown is also focused on making further inroads into her young police career.”I do want to become a sergeant and then hopefully an inspector,” she says. “I also want to delve into the other units and then get as much experience and then start climbing the ranks if I can. But yeah, that’s a journey of 20 years looking ahead.”For now, Jack-Brown is happy living up to her image as the “bad cop” on the cricket ground. “The other day, when [Tazmin] Brits got out, I celebrated wildly and then suddenly her head snaps back to look at me. She kept staring at me, so I was like, ‘I’m gonna keep staring at you too’.”We’re here to play in the big leagues too, doesn’t mean we’re cocky, arrogant [laughs]. It’s just me having fun in my final few games.”Jack-Brown has also been busy planning outings with her parents, who’ve flown in to Dubai to see her wind down a memorable career.”We were at Dubai Mall yesterday, we’ve got the desert safari to look forward to,” she says. “Couple of days of sight-seeing, my final game and they’ll be on the same flight home as us. The other day, I was asked, ‘do you not want to give your mum the business class seat? And I was like no, I don’t want to. I’ve been in this team for 15 years and I’ve never had a business class flight. I was like I’m taking it. It’s probably my reward [laughs] for not giving up, I deserve it.”

Chinelle Henry lights up Chinnaswamy with Andre Russell-inspired 'range hitting'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

“It doesn’t matter where they bowl, once it’s in that arc, I’m just going to smack it”

Srinidhi Ramanujam23-Feb-2025″When he hits it, it stays hit. So, you know, it’s just, something that I do.”Chinelle Henry looks up to her fellow countryman Andre Russell. Her wild innings of 62 against Delhi Capitals that propelled UP Warriorz to their first win of WPL 2025 did remind many of his power-hitting and the ability to snatch the momentum and turn the team’s fortune around.Henry, though new to WPL, isn’t new to T20 cricket. The West Indies allrounder has been playing international cricket for more than a decade now and is a regular in the WCPL. As a senior player in the Warriorz set-up, Henry has eased into the WPL, thanks to her role clarity which stemmed from conversations she had with the head coach Jon Lewis.”I knew the task, I knew what I had to do,” Henry said after Saturday’s match. She went on to elaborate that it’s “the freedom to go out there and bat” from Lewis that “put her in a better space”. This power of her uncluttered mind was visible in tangible terms, in her performances so far: an unbeaten 33 off 15 and a 23-ball 62, both against Delhi Capitals, in Vadodara and Bengaluru, respectively.Related

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Stats – Henry smashes joint-fastest fifty in the WPL, Harris third to take a hat-trick

Henry's onslaught, Harris and Goud's dream spells get Warriorz off the mark

The latest knock had an even better impact with Henry coming in at No.8 when Warriorz were reeling at 89 for 6 in 14.4 overs, and lifting them to a match-winning score of 177 for 9. Until she arrived, the atmosphere at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was somber. Though it was a Saturday evening, the neutral game did not witness a sell-out crowd. A quick look at the stands also revealed there were many people in Capitals jerseys, cheering for the likes of Indian superstars Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma. Yellow and violet jerseys? One could count them.But it took only four deliveries for Henry to make the Chinnaswamy roar in joy and disbelief. She first smashed a slower, short ball from Arundhati Reddy with ferocious power over deep midwicket for an 81-metre six to start the proceedings. Reddy changed her length and bowled full on the stumps, but Henry still deposited this one over the same region. The crowd, which had not seen Henry until then in the flesh, was now well and truly alive with people up on their feet, clapping joyously to each of her sixes.”Obviously, I went to bat with my team in a little bit of trouble,” she said. “I knew the task, I knew what I had to do. You know, before I went to bat, John just said to me, just do what you do and have fun. And, you know, the freedom that I get to just go out there and bat, regardless of the situation the team is in, just put me in a better space to perform. And I think, you know, that’s what happened tonight.”In the next over, she got a life when Marizanne Kapp dropped a chance at deep midwicket, and Henry made sure Kapp would not forget that costly mistake.Though the ball was doing a bit off the seam whenever Capitals bowled slower balls, Henry “didn’t really pay attention to any of that.” Shikha Pandey, bowling the 17th over, was not spared either. Length balls outside off stumps were slashed towards extra cover and short third as if Henry was waiting for it. When Pandey bowled in the slot, Henry launched one six over long-on and another over the bowler’s head. Pandey ended up conceding 24 runs in six balls.Henry was not done yet.Meg Lanning brought in Annabel Sutherland, who is usually effective with her variations, but it didn’t work against the West Indian. A full ball bowled wide of off and a slower back of a length ball on her pads were both sent to boundaries. Henry would later reveal that a lot of “range-hitting at the nets” helped to straightaway swing her bat at the death.”Obviously, most of the time they were bowling to my strengths, and it was just about backing my ability, backing my strengths,” she said. “And tonight it paid off. And that’s just something that I will continue to do throughout the tournament.”When we go to training, you know, the head coach, the first thing he asks is what you want to do, obviously, is what you’re going to do in the game. So make sure you get what you want out of training that you’re going to do in the game. And obviously, when we go in the nets, for me, basically, it’s just about throwdowns. Range hitting, I do that a lot.Chinelle Henry went on a six-hitting rampage at the death•BCCI”Because most of the times when I go into bat, it’s probably like five overs to go. That’s the time that I have to go. So when I’m in the nets training, that’s basically what I do.”Reddy came back for the penultimate over with a bag full of variations and still perished against Henry. A full toss was followed by a slower delivery, and even though Henry was beaten by pace, she somehow managed to put both these deliveries to the fence. Henry then swiveled and pulled a short ball to equal the record for the fastest fifty.”That’s just what I practice in training all day, every day, once I have a T20 cricket,” Henry explained her role as a finisher at Warriorz.”You know, some of the times they would obviously test, the weakness, which is obviously bowling into the pads, because that’s obviously something that I need to work on. But most of the times, it’s just my strengths, which obviously, for the past two games, is what I’ve been doing well.”And it doesn’t matter where they bowl, whatever the ball is doing, once it’s in that arc, I’m going to back my strengths, I’m going to back my ability, and I’m just going to smack it.”On Saturday, she smacked eight sixes and two fours overall.Russell may not be around in India yet but surely, we can get used to Henry trying to emulate her idol with her own explosive and inspiring knocks.

King and Seales do their bit to make West Indies' grand plan work

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Brandon King’s 75 showcased an ability to adapt his white-ball prowess to Test cricket, while Jayden Seales’ double-strike exposed Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja’s familiar frailties

Andrew McGlashan05-Jul-20250:31

Konstas chops on for a duck

Jayden Seales played his part in keeping Australia’s openers waiting for 51 minutes, uncertain when exactly their need to run off and pad up would come. Then, when it did, he struck a pair of blows that could have significant short and longer-term consequences.If West Indies’ last wicket had gone quickly, Australia’s time with the bat would have been closer to an hour-and-a-half. That does not mean events would have transpired any more favourably for them, but what they ended up with was one of those nothing-to-gain scenarios. Neither Sam Konstas nor Usman Khawaja, players at opposite ends of their careers, could make it through to the close.Konstas dragged on for a duck, his third single-figure score of the series, and looked forlorn as he made his way into the dressing room. Khawaja, yet again, was pinned lbw from around the wicket. He insists he doesn’t have a problem with that angle, but the evidence is starting to suggest otherwise.Related

Half-centuries from Smith and Green give Australia control

Seales' late strikes, King's 75 put Australia under pressure

Hard work done but no pay day for Green as questions linger

In the here and now, it has meant for the second time in the series a Test is finely balanced after two days. Australia ahead by 42 on a pitch that is playing tricks, albeit not quite at the rate of Barbados, but that could well change on the third day, and the new ball is especially demanding. “Anything under 200 runs, I think we’ll be able to get that,” West Indies captain Roston Chase said.With a slightly longer lens, it has left next week’s day-night Test in Jamaica as potentially pivotal in how Australia’s top-order shapes up for the Ashes later in the year. Barring a major reversal from the selectors, Konstas will play at Sabina Park. He has two innings left to make a score substantial enough to at least quieten the debate around him.”You’re here for a reason. I guess you just trust that,” Josh Hazlewood said when asked about the challenges of being a young player in Test cricket having made his international debut as a 19-year-old.”You’re in this position because you’re a good player. Every time I’ve bowled [to] him in the last few months, he just keeps getting better and better, it feels like. He got thrown in a tough situation there. But we saw in the first innings, he played some really nice shots, put some pressure back on the bowlers. I think he’s turning in the right direction. But it’s tough at 19.”Meanwhile, if you go by the selectors’ words, Khawaja’s position is safe. His 47 in the first innings in Barbados was important (although he was dropped on 6) but the pattern of dismissals is hard to ignore.

“I think even if you’re an aggressive batsman in Test cricket, you still have to go with the ebbs and flows. There’s times when bowlers will bowl good spells and you have to battle it out especially on difficult wickets, you can’t attack right through”Brandon King to ESPN

In that regard, West Indies’ bowlers have been exceptional in keeping the pressure on the duo, albeit in favourable conditions. Plans have come together. In Barbados, Shamar Joseph twice brought the ball back at Konstas to exploit a technical weakness. Now in Grenada, clearly looking to play more positively, he has edged behind driving and dragged on looking to play through the off side.”We obviously have our plans for each and every batsman,” Chase said. “I guess that’s the area we’re trying to exploit and it’s been working for us so far.”This West Indies team is beginning a new phase under Chase, named captain after a two-year absence from the side, and coach Daren Sammy. Bowling is clearly their strength, but there were signs with the bat of the broader ideas they are trying to lay out.The most significant innings belonged to Brandon King who complied a maiden Test fifty that complimented aggression (including three sixes) with solid defence. When the squad for the series was named, Sammy explained that King, a player largely known for his white-ball exploits, had been picked for a specific role.He had been included on the back of a domestic season where he played just four first-class matches and averaged 30.25. West Indies are trying to find solutions to long-held batting problems; King’s innings was an example of striking the right balance.0:31

Seales strikes again as Khawaja burns review

The over before lunch, he collected two boundaries off Nathan Lyon. Shortly after the break, he pulled Hazlewood over the leg side for six and later twice took Lyon straight down the ground. But between the aggression, and dashes of his white-ball pedigree, was watchfulness.Carlos Braithwaite, speaking on ESPN’s , noted how bowlers will often look to bring the ball back into King, but in this innings he played with a very straight bat, the benefits of work he had done with assistant coach Floyd Reifer on his balance.”I think even if you’re an aggressive batsman in Test cricket, you still have to go with the ebbs and flows,” King told ESPN. “There’s times when bowlers will bowl good spells and you have to battle it out especially on difficult wickets, you can’t attack right through. It’s about recognising those moments as best as possible and when you feel like you’re on top and can get some runs, you continue.”Twice during the second day – at 64 for 3 and 174 for 7 – it looked like things could go wrong for West Indies. But they dug deep to keep themselves in the contest, to such an extent that Australia were the happier side to see the clock tick down as Lyon received treatment for a blow on the arm in what became the final over.”From the time you saw him get hit, you know he’s an experienced customer, we knew that that was going to be the last [over],” Chase said with a smile.West Indies couldn’t stay with Australia on the third day in Barbados. Now they have given themselves another chance.

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