All posts by h716a5.icu

Former England captain admits personal tragedy helped change perspective, as he prepares for Red for Ruth Day at Lord’s

Matt Roller28-Jun-2023Andrew Strauss has a strong claim to be England’s most successful Test captain of the modern era: Ashes victories both home and away, more than twice as many wins as losses in charge, and a rise to the top of the ICC’s Test rankings clinched with a whitewash against India.And yet, as Strauss reflects on his career, he has a lingering sense that his team could have achieved more than they did. “We felt like we’d achieved everything we wanted to,” Strauss said, “but there was something slightly missing. And it was that excitement, that feeling of pioneering, trying new things. If I had my time again, maybe I would do things differently.”That view is informed, in part, by Strauss’s career since his playing retirement in 2012. As England’s managing director, he was an instigator of their white-ball revolution. Last year, back in the role on an interim basis, he appointed Rob Key to his old, position, and Key in turn then chose Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes as Test coach and captain.”That’s a reflection I’ve had for many years, starting with the white-ball revolution in 2015: that there are different ways to play the game,” Strauss said. “As I’m a bit older and have less hair now, my thinking on this has changed a bit from, ‘It’s only about winning’ to, ‘It’s also about how you win’.”That’s what Stokes and McCullum have done now: they’ve won, but they’ve won with style. They’re questioning centuries-held conventions in the game – and doing it with good reason. The game has evolved and changed dramatically over the last few years.”Strauss admits his glory with England was about personal goals and ambitions, whereas the foundation is about ‘something greater than me’•Getty ImagesBut Strauss’s perspective has also changed by events in his personal life. Five years ago, his wife Ruth was diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer that affects non-smokers. She passed away later that year, survived by her husband and their sons Luca and Sam.Strauss set up the Ruth Strauss Foundation in 2019 to provide support for families and raise awareness of non-smoking lung cancers, and Thursday marks the fifth annual Red for Ruth Day at Lord’s.”Seeing her courage and her bravery, you completely change your perspective in life about what’s important, where you get fulfilment and where purpose lies,” Strauss said. “I was very proud of what I was able to achieve in an England shirt but, in many ways, that was about me achieving my own goals and ambitions.”This is something much greater than me. I know how hard it is for all those families. It just breaks my heart that every day, there are hundreds of kids being put in the situation that my kids were put in. We can’t change that, but we can make it a little bit easier. If we’re able to do that, that warms my soul and I know it’ll be warming Ruth’s soul too.”The foundation has raised millions of pounds through previous Red for Ruth days, but the money itself is not the point. As Strauss puts it: “The Ruth Strauss Foundation is not here to raise money. The Ruth Strauss Foundation here is here to help as many people as possible.”But the Ashes provides an opportunity that other series do not: “People are going through this from all walks of life in all parts of the country, many of whom have never heard of Cricket or the Ruth Strauss Foundation. The Ashes Test match is hopefully a time when people that perhaps aren’t always watching cricket are suddenly tuning in.”Related

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In the past 12 months, the foundation has rolled out peer support groups for both the children and surviving spouses of people with incurable cancer. “People feel a really strong kind of desire and yearning to talk to people who’ve been through something similar to them,” Strauss explained.”It’s great having professional help, but it’s equally powerful just to talk to other people who’ve gone through it. And I think that’s even more the case for kids: kids find it hard to speak to adults, but they find it easier to speak to other kids. More broadly, [it’s about] having a conversation about death, which we’re just not very good at in this country.”In Strauss’s own case, “It was one of those situations that my friends and family, they just weren’t qualified to help me. And so I did reach out to people that had been through something similar; I hung on their every word. And of course for people that have been through it, it’s a lovely thing to share their experiences but also to remember their loved ones.”There was no shortage of criticism for England on Wednesday: for their selection, their catching, their lengths, their body language, their willingness to speak to Australia’s players. As Lord’s turns red on Thursday, perhaps it will provide an opportunity to remember that there are more important things to worry about.For more information and to donate to the Red for Ruth Foundation, click here.

The allrounder has now lost his place in the ODI and Test teams in the space of a few months, but he could yet make an impact at the World Cup

Alex Malcolm12-Oct-2023It’s not easy being Cameron Green. Australia’s star allrounder has lost his place in the ODI side in just the second game of the World Cup, less than three months after losing his spot in the Test side for the final match of the Ashes series.It is far from doom and gloom for a player as young and gifted as Green. He could well play in Australia’s next World Cup match against Sri Lanka given the schedule and the tenuous fitness of Marcus Stoinis. Stoinis has been unavailable for Australia’s last five matches, including the two warm-up games, due to a hamstring problem and has not bowled in back-to-back internationals this year. If Green were to regain his place, he could still have an impact for Australia in the tournament.But it is worth noting how Green has gone from almost irreplaceable in all three of Australia’s sides at the start of the year, and a three-million dollar man in the IPL, to being left out of the team on form in a deciding Ashes Test and the second game of a World Cup.Related

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It is clear Green is physically and mentally exhausted. No player in Australia’s World Cup squad has spent more time away from home this year than Green. Since Australia’s Test group departed for India on January 31, Green has spent just a month in his own bed. That is the price of being a three-format international allrounder, and it’s something Green is going through for the first time over such a sustained period.But for a cricketer who has had his whole professional career carefully mapped out in terms of when he plays, when he trains and when he rests, the addition of the IPL to his schedule in a year where Australia had away Tests tours in India and England, a World Test Championship final, and an away World Cup looks like a workload too big for even his broad shoulders to carry.It was long forecast within the Australian camp that this would be a possible outcome. But it is also partly their own doing. Green is unlikely to have been on the IPL’s radar had he not played in a bizarrely scheduled three-match T20I series in India this time last year when David Warner and Mitchell Marsh were both rested.No one could begrudge him entering the auction that followed given his two blistering half-centuries in that series, and no one in their right mind could ask him to forego the life-changing AUD$3.15 million to rest during April and May and make the WTC final, the Ashes and the World Cup his priority.However, what has unfolded since has been a valuable lesson in workload management. Between February and May he spent four months straight in India without returning home, then he had just two nights at home in Perth between the end of the IPL and the start of the tour of England.Only three other Australian players went from the IPL on the Test tour of England. During the same four-month period, Warner had spent three weeks at home in late February and early March after fracturing his elbow in the second Test in Delhi. Josh Hazlewood did not play a match in India having gone home after the second Test in Delhi and did not return until halfway through the IPL. Marsh was not a part of the Test tour to India and went home to Western Australia for a week in mid-April during the IPL to get married.Cameron Green’s IPL was life-changing, but it brought new challenges•BCCIGreen, who has been a notoriously slow starter when it comes to switching between formats, then struggled on his first tour of England having never played there before at any level. His first match in England was a WTC final against India, where most of India’s IPL players also struggled.And Green never got himself into the Ashes with either bat or ball. A hamstring niggle kept him out of the third Test at Headingley where Marsh stepped in and starred. He returned for Old Trafford but was dropped for the first time in his Test career at The Oval.He then had four weeks at home, resting from the T20I series against South Africa, before returning for the ODIs. But after making the most of his break by barely picking up a bat, he was hit in the head by the second ball he faced in South Africa and missed the next three matches with concussion.Having been slated to bat No. 4 in the ODI side with a view to potentially playing a part higher up the order in the World Cup, Green returned to find himself without a defined role and was forced to act as a finisher and has battled for form and rhythm.Now he finds himself out of the ODI side, replaced by Stoinis who has not made an ODI half-century since March 2019 and has averaged 16.80 across 32 innings in that time, not to mention his injury issues.The challenge for Green is how he regains some form either on the sidelines or in high-pressure World Cup matches, and where he can get a rest given Australia’s schedule after the event.Australia have a five-match T20I series in India straight after the World Cup that he will likely be rested from. But if he wishes to regain his place in the Test side, he might want to play in the last Sheffield Shield game for Western Australia before the BBL break in late November or the Prime Minister’s XI match against Pakistan, both of which are not in his home state.Australia then play five Tests between mid-December and late January. Even if Marsh remains the incumbent Test allrounder, Green will likely travel with the team given Marsh’s injury worries. His ankle flared up during the Ashes and he has hardly bowled in the limited-overs matches since. Australia then tour New Zealand in February and March before the IPL starts again. The T20 World Cup follows in June next year.It is a never-ending treadmill that Green is on with nowhere to step off.

Even at age 37, he continues to perfectly tailor his batting to Australia’s specific needs under the unforgiving bright lights of a World Cup

Alex Malcolm14-Nov-20231:53

Moody: ‘Warner bringing a T20 approach to ODIs’

“Everyone keeps writing me off.” These were David Warner’s words following Australia’s win over New Zealand after he had scored 163, 104 and 81 in three consecutive innings in this ODI World Cup.Asked if he was motivated by trying to prove doubters wrong, Warner added, “Nup. I just make everyone look stupid.”They were odd comments. Because no one in their right mind had ever doubted Warner as an ODI player. There had been criticism of his Test form over the last two years and his numbers over that period but even his doubter-silencing double-century had hardly made anyone “look stupid”.Related

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Warner: 'World Cups are what I get up for'

There might have been the odd eyebrow raised back in March when Warner batted at No. 4 in an ODI for the first time in his career on return from a fractured elbow to accommodate Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head. But the eyebrows were raised at Australia’s selectors, not at Warner, for thinking that arguably Australia’s greatest-ever ODI opener should bat anywhere else.His ODI form over the last three years has been exemplary. In 33 ODIs since October 2020, he’s never once gone more than three innings without scoring a half-century.While there have been queries about the amount of cricket England have played in 2023 as part of the reason for their early exit from the World Cup, Warner has shot that theory to pieces at age 37. He played a full IPL and six Tests in the English summer before being one of only two players to have played all eight of Australia’s ODIs in South Africa and India in the lead-up to the World Cup, where he peeled off a century and four half-centuries including three in a row against India.On the back of that mountain of evidence, many were predicting he could have a big World Cup given his love of India and the big occasion.And so it has been proven. Warner, who is starting a long goodbye from international cricket that is planned to be staggered across the three formats over an eight-month period culminating in the T20 World Cup in June next year, is finishing his ODI career in some style with yet another dominant World Cup performance.David Warner has had a sensational ODI World Cup•Associated PressWhilst Warner himself might be conflating criticism of his Test place with his ODI place, for no other reason perhaps than to provide fuel in his mind, it is important for those watching not to do the same.Warner deserves to be recognised as an all-time ODI great. In an era where the format has been left to wither and batters have struggled to find the right tempo, Warner has thrived. Of the 12 players with 22 ODI centuries or more, only AB de Villiers has both a higher average and strike rate than Warner.Among all the ODI greats Australia has produced, Warner stands head and shoulders above them, with the lack of matches he has played only further highlighting his extraordinary output.And in World Cups, when the pressure is at its greatest, he has elevated his performance to a level that only the very elite have achieved.What has been remarkable about this campaign in particular is that Warner has seemed ageless. He is as powerful yet more lithe than when he started his ODI career 14 years ago. Warner and Quinton de Kock are the only two players who are in the top five for both sixes hit (20) and twos scored (24) off the bat in this tournament. His ability to mix power and placement is what makes him so hard to contain.Even at the age of 37 David Warner is controlling hotspots on the field•Getty ImagesWarner’s adaptability and willingness to move with the times are also what sets him apart from the pack. In 2019, where he was the second leading run-scorer for the tournament, he struck just eight sixes compared to 45 twos. His strike rate was also just 89.36 for the tournament. Australia played a more conservative brand in that World Cup trying to weather the two new balls in swinging English conditions, and he played his role to perfection scoring three centuries in ten games. In this World Cup, he has struck at 105.49 as Australia have been intent on plundering the opening powerplay in every game. And he’s played his role perfectly again.His stroke-play has been as varied and as skilled as at any time in his career, and his batting IQ has reached new levels. Pakistan’s Haris Rauf tried to expose Warner around the wicket, as many have in his career, and he flicked him from the top of off stump onto the Chinnaswamy roof. Lockie Ferguson tried to bounce him at high pace in Dharamsala and Warner cut him over forward point, ramped him over deep third and pulled him over backward square for three separate sixes. Aryan Dutt and Netherlands tried to tie him down with offspin in the powerplay, just as they had with de Kock, and Warner cut him for four consecutive boundaries to take him out of the attack in the third over of the match.His attention to detail is such that he is using differently weighted bats in this tournament, calling for a lighter blade against pace and a heavier one versus spin, to maximise his scoring opportunities depending on who is bowling.On top of that, his fitness has set him apart. In a tournament played in extreme heat at times, when team-mates and opponents have suffered from cramps and exhaustion, Warner has looked indefatigable. Even in the field, with a throwing shoulder that is not what it once was in terms of power, he has still patrolled key spots in the outfield and taken vital catches for his team.There will be those who might not miss Warner when he’s gone. His bizarre comments about umpiring stats and sub-tweeting team-mate Glenn Maxwell regarding the Delhi light show are further proof that he is forever willing to stir the pot.But Warner’s exceptional ODI career might come to a close after Thursday’s semi-final or Sunday’s final, and it would be stupid not to appreciate it.

The Brisbane Heat batter talks about his 140 in the BBL semi-final, his day job making bats, and more

Interview by Mohammad Isam07-Feb-2024How did January 22, 2024 change your life?
Getting all those runs in the Big Bash semi-final was probably the best time to do it. I put my name on the big stage. I said, “Hey, I’m here.”Tell us what happened.
I was actually busy playing on my Xbox that day. I looked at the time – it’s four o’clock, I better go play some cricket. Oh no, I’m running late. I got to the ground, and the rest…What did you do differently in that innings?
Everything just clicked. I was just watching the ball. Everything seemed easy. Just watching it and hitting it. It’s pretty much my game. I just watch and react.From getting big scores in the KFC T20 Max to getting a big score in the Big Bash is a huge leap.
I was hitting the ball well all season but I hadn’t got any runs. I thought I should keep sticking to my process. I was doing it right in training. For it to happen the way it did was perfect.Adam Gilchrist said he was a fan of yours after your innings of 62 off 23 against Sydney Sixers in January last year.
It was unreal. Gilly was my favourite player growing up. I got to meet him a couple of days later. I was more nervous meeting him than I have ever been playing. We talked about bats. I make my own bats. We talked about what he said.Related

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How tough is the Big Bash?
It is a very tough competition. The pitches this year weren’t the best. It was a tough adjustment as well. Once we did, it was perfect.Brisbane Heat won the title after 11 years. What changed in the team that won the title this year?
We were runners-up the season before. The whole group was devastated by it. To come out the next season, start so well – everyone was just hungry. We didn’t want to lose a single game. I think we lost just two games [one game] the whole season.Guys like you and Nathan McSweeney, the Heat captain, have come through a system in Brisbane…
I never came through a system. I started playing grade cricket. There’s Under-19s in Queensland but I never had any of that. I didn’t really care about cricket back then.So how did you eventually get into it and break through?
At the age of 23 or 24, I lost 30 kilos working in the gym. I got down to about 95-100 kilos. I started cricket training. I started playing fifth grade and finished the season in third grade. The next season I started in third grade and finished in first grade. I have been in first grade ever since. About 12 months after I played my first first-grade game, I played in the Queensland 2nd XI. It was my first taste of the pathway.I was working full-time at [equipment manufacturer] Cooper Cricket when I started playing first grade. I was playing on the weekend and training once a week. I was not taking it that seriously.Then I had this discussion with my boss at Cooper. We spoke for about two hours. He said that the job is always going to be here for you. So during the off season I went up to Darwin to play cricket for four-five months, to try to be a professional cricketer. I didn’t do that well. I came back to Brisbane for the T20 Max, and that’s when I got the big scores. I got 147 not out and 159 off 59 balls. I hit 17 sixes. I was like, “Hi guys, I’m here. I can’t really do much more. You have to give me a chance.” I got one of the centuries against Darren Lehmann’s son’s team.

“Now I have about six years to have a good crack at cricket. Hopefully I can keep getting contracts around the world, which will be lovely”

Were you surprised at the speed at which the BPL and ILT20 came calling after your innings?
Absolutely. I scored the century on the Monday night; the next day my manager said that he was in talks. I told him not to tell me anything till the final, but he said I had to get home and pack. “You are leaving on Friday.” Okay, cool.What will you do to adjust to conditions in Bangladesh in the BPL?
I haven’t had to change too much, to be honest. I have been batting really well. I have been smoking it everywhere in the nets, which is nice. The only thing is that it doesn’t really bounce as much as Australian pitches. Staying a bit lower is making the difference.I am loving Bangladesh. I love the people, I definitely love the food. I just love spicy food as well. My favorite restaurant in Brisbane is Café Hyderabad. I get the Chicken 65 from there. It is so tasty.How do you see your career going from this point?
Hopefully play as much cricket as I can. I just love cricket. I am an absolute nuffy!You spoke about Cooper Cricket. Making bats must require a lot of patience?
We have a process. My boss, Rod Grey, the owner, is a signwriter by trade. We have a CNC [wood lathe] machine. We play around with shapes in it. We can put a rough shape into it and finish it off by hand. It saves us about two or three hours.Brown on his method: “I just watch and react”•Matt King/Getty ImagesWhat kind of bat do you like to use?
I always use a mid-middle bat. The traditional one is the low-middle with a low spine. Mine is a mid-middle with a load of high spine. Pretty much a flat one, and that shapes away at the toe. We use English willows.Have you had a chance to try other kinds of bats?
I have tried Kashmir, Siberian, and Aussie willow. English willow is the best one. Australian willow is good for white-ball cricket. It is a lot harder. Siberian willow cannons but it breaks also.I know you have your own brand, so to speak, but do you have a favourite brand?
Puma. Gilly’s Puma. I collect bats as well, so I try to find old Puma bats.Are you looking to turn fully professional now?
This is it. So now I have six years to have a good crack at it. Hopefully I can keep getting contracts around the world, which will be lovely.I need to score some runs first. It would be nice to get a gig as a replacement player in the IPL. I would love to play in the [Persian] Gulf and America too. Otherwise, I will just be at home working at Cooper and in the gym. Anyone in particular you turn to for advice?
I have a had a lot of good talks with Colin Munro. Darren Lehmann also speaks so truly. He was always honest, which I personally needed. It made a huge difference to me. Same with Munro. Even McSweeney. He and I played four years together in club cricket before he moved to South Australia. He has seen me at my best and he has seen me at my worst. He is one of the best.Do you remember the day before you hit 140 in the Big Bash? Effectively the last day of a normal life.
I trained, went home and played Xbox. During that day as well. It was pretty much what I did in those two days. After the game I didn’t have a beer. I had a tiny niggle on my hip. We celebrated and sang the song. We went into the final – it was the big thing.

His persistence has helped him carve a place in a side that mirrors a turnaround as improbable as his own

Shashank Kishore20-May-2024Swapnil Singh, 33, is in the midst of a dream run with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He has now been part of each of their six straight wins that have catapulted them into the playoffs. He has so far picked up six wickets in six games at an economy rate of 8.76. He has bowled in the powerplay with great control, and has delivered key wickets, starting with that of Heinrich Klaasen. It was the foundation of RCB’s defence of 206 against a rip-roaring Sunrisers Hyderabad side. RCB haven’t looked back since.Swapnil was originally picked as a back-up left-arm spinner to Mayank Dagar, who had been traded from SRH. But when Dagar wasn’t as effective and RCB found themselves at the bottom of the points table with seven losses in eight games, Swapnil got his opportunity.”When I came here, I knew I wouldn’t play initially,” he told . “But I never got onto the field for training thinking I won’t play. Our first practice session was like my first match. From the first ball, I had to be on target if I had to play. Nets was like my match.”Related

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When Swapnil arrived for RCB’s trials in November 2023, he made one request to Andy Flower, the new head coach.”Just give me one chance, this might be my last chance.” Flower was non-committal, but knew Swapnil from his previous stint at Lucknow Super Giants, where he was a net bowler for one year before being signed in 2023. Swapnil was called for a pre-season trials followed by a camp conducted by Malolan Rangarajan, RCB’s head of scouting.”My camp [called by RCB] wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either,” Swapnil said. “On auction day [for IPL 2024], I was in Dehradun for the start of the Ranji Trophy. When I wasn’t picked, I frankly thought it was over. There were so many other ways to win the world. I thought I’ll finish playing this season and quit. I was very disappointed. When my family called, we just broke down.”To Swapnil’s surprise, RCB eventually picked him right at the end. It was the first time he was picked in the IPL for two seasons in a row.Prior to being signed by LSG last year, he was first called up as a net bowler, a role he reluctantly accepted. “When Deepak Hooda [his Baroda team-mate who was also picked by LSG] called me and asked if I wanted to be a net bowler for LSG, I scolded him and hung up the phone. Then he called again and said, ‘just think about it’.”Swapnil called Irfan Pathan, one of his mentors. When Swapnil found his career hit a dead end at Baroda, Irfan had helped him find a new team, Uttarakhand. Swapnil’s Baroda stint had ended abruptly because he’d been told, “there’s no place for you in the team” by the state captain at the time.Swapnil Singh made an impact for RCB right from his first over•Associated Press”I asked why and was told they were preferring a youngster. It was a blessing in disguise that I left Baroda. Sometimes when you’re kicked out of your own home, you learn to go outside and stand on our feet. I realise now maybe it was a great thing to have happened. I would’ve been finished had I remained in Baroda.”Pathan advised Swapnil to take up the net-bowling offer. “I honestly didn’t go out of happiness. I went with a heavy heart, reluctantly,” he said. “But in the first couple of days itself, they were impressed. Every net session, I used to bowl from the first ball till the end.”Narendra Hirwani (spin consultant of LSG for their first season in 2022) liked me a lot. He transformed my bowling 180 degrees. I really wish I was associated with him from a lot earlier in my career.”Swapnil was primarily a left-arm spinner, but an equally handy lower-order batter. He has two first-class centuries, six List A fifties and two T20 fifties. In fact, when he made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2006, aged 14 years and 355 days, he was primarily a batter. But bowling would soon take over.Swapnil was in the running to be a part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2008. But he was eventually left out as the selectors preferred Ravindra Jadeja. It took him eight years from there to make his IPL debut, for Punjab Kings in 2016, and another seven to double that tally. Last year, he featured in two games for LSG but couldn’t pick any wickets.”Honestly, Andy played a big role,” Swapnil said. “I asked him, ‘sir, why don’t you give me an opportunity to bat? He agreed and allowed me to bat. That day, GG (Gautam Gambhir) was also there, and they were both impressed. I may have been the first net bowler to have been given the chance to also bat in the nets.”Despite all that, Swapnil nearly walked away from the game after seeing his name in the ‘unsold’ list in the first few rounds of the mini-auction last December. But here he is, five months on, content with the way he has progressed this season.”I would always speak to my brother and tell him, ‘I haven’t hit a four or six, I just have one wicket. So I want to hit a four and a six, as I have the wicket anyway ()’. I knew this season if they play me in a game, Faf [du Plessis] will give me at least one over. In that game [his RCB debut], I hit a four, a six and I didn’t bowl six, but seven balls in my first over [due to a no-ball]. I picked up a wicket off the seventh [two in the over – Aiden Markram and then Klaasen]. It’s all god’s blessings.”His long journey of two decades in domestic cricket has taken him from Lucknow to Baroda and now Dehradun. On Saturday night, he won over Bengaluru, not just with his bowling but with the pressure catch he took to dismiss MS Dhoni in the final over.Now with potentially three games to go, can his dream season continue to flourish and get the perfect ending?

In his nascent career, Reddy has shown glimpses of being a capable seam-bowling allrounder

Hemant Brar10-Oct-20242:36

Takeaways: Reddy arrives on the scene, Rinku repeats heroics

The no-ball siren in T20 cricket is a dreaded sound for the fielding team. It was no different on Wednesday when Mahmudullah overstepped against India during the second T20I in Delhi.Until then, Bangladesh had India in a spot of bother. Bowling first on a pitch that looked full of runs but was initially two-paced, they reduced the home side to 41 for 3 in the sixth over. Nitish Kumar Reddy, playing only his second T20I, and Rinku Singh, batting for India for the first time since July, were the two batters at the crease.India’s position looked even more precarious considering that Delhi has been a high-scoring venue of late. In IPL 2024, teams batting first scored over 200 in all five games played here.Related

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Can Bangladesh bid Mahmudullah farewell with a win?

Nitish Kumar Reddy makes an all-round splash as India seal the series

Reddy was batting on a run-a-ball 13 when the no-ball siren went off. But before proceeding, let us take a moment to look at his journey till here.Reddy, 21, was fast-tracked into the India side after a successful IPL 2024, where he scored 303 runs at a strike rate of 142.92 and took three wickets with his nippy seam bowling. He was included in the squad for the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe before a hernia injury forced him to withdraw.He finally made his debut in the first match of the current series, in Gwalior. Apart from the fact that that was his debut, and India won, it was not a particularly memorable outing for Reddy. He went for 17 in his two wicketless overs and then was the only India batter to strike at less than 150 – he scored 16 not out off 15 balls.Despite having Riyan Parag in the side, who also bats at No. 4 in the IPL, the team management backed Reddy in that position for the second successive game. But once again, things were not looking rosy. He was yet to open his account when Suryakumar Yadav punched one towards him at the non-striker’s end. Reddy could not get out of the way and got hit on the right shoulder. He winced in pain but luckily it was not bad enough to force him off the field.Reddy’s first two scoring shots, a single and a four, did not come off the middle of the bat either. When he was on 5, Tanzim Hasan Sakib hurried him with a short ball. Reddy went for the pull, only to glove it down the leg side. Fortune once again smiled on him as Litton Das dropped the chance.Nitish Kumar Reddy smashed seven sixes•Associated PressEven against the spin of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmudullah, Reddy was not entirely comfortable. “But when the no-ball came, I felt that was my time,” he said later.Reddy launched the free hit over long-on for a six. On the very next ball, he survived a close lbw call, but when Mahmudullah bowled one short and wide outside off, he slapped it through covers for four. There was no looking back after that.In the next over, Reddy hit legspinner Rishad Hossain for two back-to-back sixes. From 51 for 3 after seven overs, Reddy and Rinku took India past 100 by the tenth.After his fifty, which took only 27 balls, Reddy accelerated further and smashed Mehidy for three sixes and a four in one over. Off the last 21 balls he faced, he ransacked 61 runs. And it was not blind hitting. When Mehidy bowled one down the leg side, Reddy stayed put in his position to avail a wide.In all, Reddy hit seven sixes. His modus operandi was more or less the same for every one of them: clear the front leg and target the arc between long-off and deep midwicket. However, his most impressive shot was not a six but a four. In that bumper over, Mehidy fired one in the blockhole from around the wicket. Reddy managed to get under it, and, using his bottom hand, smacked it through midwicket. He hardly got any elevation but such was the power that it went for a one-bounce four.By the time Reddy got out, for 74 off 34, India were 149 in 13.3 overs, all set for a 200-plus total.He was not done yet, though. When Bangladesh came out to bat, Suryakumar handed him the new ball. “It was his day, so I felt let him enjoy and make it large,” Suryakumar said of the decision.Reddy bowled two tidy overs upfront and then returned to pick up two wickets at the death to finish with figures of 2 for 23 from four overs. In between, he nailed an underarm direct hit after running in from covers but Jaker Ali was in. Reddy was named the Player of the Match for his all-round show.”It feels great representing India; I want to live in this moment,” he said at the post-match presentation. “I should give credit to the captain and the coach [Gautam Gambhir]. They asked me to bat in the same aggressive way I did in the IPL. I want to give a promise that I can do more than this.”For many years, Hardik Pandya has been the only world-class seam-bowling allrounder in India. Whenever he got injured, India found themselves in a pickle. They tried Venkatesh Iyer and Shivam Dube; neither could deliver with both bat and ball.In that context, Reddy’s performance becomes even more important. But this is just a start, with a long road ahead.

New Zealand vs England as experienced from the back of a taxi in Chennai

Aditya Iyer09-Nov-2024When I start watching the game on my mobile phone in Liyaqath’s taxi shortly after dusk, New Zealand’s reply is underway. Opener Devon Conway is batting at one end. At the other stands the relatively unknown Rachin Ravindra. In his previous seven ODIs, all played in 2023, the curly-mopped left-hander hasn’t batted higher than No. 6. But something about Ravindra’s top score of 61 in a 100-run loss to England at Lord’s in the lead-up to this World Cup made the New Zealand team management promote him to No. 3 in Ahmedabad. It seems to have paid off instantly.With a few quick clicks on chronological time-stamps, Liyaqath and I watch all that we’ve missed in the innings. Just as we go live, Ravindra welcomes us back with a terrific hook off the speedy Mark Wood, where he gets inside the line of the bouncer and almost casually swats it away over square leg for six. There’s a slow-motion clatter of the ball against an electronic hoarding in Motera and a louder crash just in front of us in Guindy, for Liyaqath, in his eagerness to catch the replay, has nudged the car in front of him as we move halfway up the choked flyover. He slams hard on the brake pedal, but the damage has been done.Through the columns of water being displaced on the windscreen, we can see that the right taillight of the Maruti S-Presso ahead of us has been hit. Liyaqath steps out to inspect both cars. Two men emerge from the S-Presso to do the same. One of them is in regular office clothes, a shirt tucked into his trousers, but the other wears a crisp black and a diaphanous black shirt, a very specific kind of combination that only devotees of Sabarimalai Ayappan tend to wear, and immediately I fear that this situation could well take a communal turn; Liyaqath, with his beard under a moustache-free upper lip, is very evidently Muslim.But they just blink at each other in the falling rain, pointing at what I suppose are dents and nicks on both vehicles. I can’t hear what they are saying, but their gestures are pretty self-explanatory: nods and sighs and pursed lips and hands on hips. The man in black walks back to his car and re-emerges with his phone. He shelters the device with a palm and punches in whatever Liyaqath is dictating to him. Missed calls are made, photos of number plates clicked, heads shaken and nodded. That’s it, fracas over. Liyaqath is drenched by the time he heaves himself into the driver’s seat and sighs heavily over the sounds of pelting rain. The S-Presso is now part of the indistinguishable swarm ahead.

I catch the strains of Tamil commentary. I follow the sound and identify three flower-sellers as the ones listening to it, squatting in a line on the sand as they arrange strings of jasmine in coir baskets

Liyaqath is grumpy, muttering and castigating himself for his carelessness. “Please, I want to stop at a tea after this flyover, I just need to compose myself. Only if you don’t mind, please, okay?” he says. In a short while, we are parked beside ashop from whose awning hang many hands of bananas so ripe that they have lost all nutritional value. It is a stationery store, tobacco shop, confectionery stall, tea halt and shopkeeper’s living room all rolled into one. A woman sits on a red plastic stool, watching the World Cup game on a small TV on the green wall.We duck under the suspended bananas and Liyaqath lifts two fingers at the shopkeeper, who in turn whistles at a working the kettle by the backroom stove, who nods and exaggerates the motion of his pour into two paper cups, mainly to incite fresh froth in the milk chai. We slurp into the rising steam, watching the rain. “It was completely my fault,” says Liyaqath, looking bitterly into his hot beverage. I tell him that I’m just glad the hullabaloo didn’t acquire a communal shade. Liyaqath gives me a quizzical look. Then he throws his head back and laughs, deep, jolly rumbles emanating from his stomach. We now have the shopkeeper’s attention.”This is not your Delhi or Bombay, sir. This is Tamil Nadu, and our politicians might constantly stir other stupid things but they don’t do this Hindu-Muslim-Christian division here,” Liyaqath says. The shopkeeper nods along. “All of us coexist happily, what do you say ?” makes a perfect circle with his head a few times in agreement. Liyaqath likes the validation, the response, the power of telling off an outsider in front of his own, teaching a complete stranger the ways of this land, his land. “Unlike in the north, where widespread illiteracy allows the leaders to take advantage and polarise the people, the south is largely literate. Tougher to turn us against each other. Religion in the south of India, be it here or Kerala, or even Andhra Pradesh, is there to give us believers strength. It doesn’t make us weaker. We can be from any religion but here we are Tamil first, correct ?”The rain has stopped just as suddenly as it had started, and the winding roads leading up to the bay are bathed in the phosphorescent yellow hue of the dim streetlights. About a hundred metres short of Elliot’s Beach, the Uber stops next to a permanent -painted entryway to an apartment block in Besant Nagar, so named after Britisheducationist Annie Besant, who established the Theosophical Society a stone’s throw from where I stand. I learn that my friend, whose apartment I will be staying in until the end of India’s match in Chennai, is a good two hours away from getting home. I drag my strolley over the wet pavement towards the beach for a lonely wait. But then Liyaqath, parked at the intersection of the residential avenue and the beach road, calls out to me once again.He has pushed his seat back as far as possible and is smoking a herb. Potent, aromatic coils waft from the window as he enquires where I’m headed. On finding out that I’m at a loose end, he says: “Come come, sit inside. Want to try? It is very good, from Idukki.”Penguin Random House”Sure. But can we go to the beach? I happen to have a bottle of whisky that I got for my friend. Would you like to try some of that?”Each of us having accepted the invitation to indulge in the other man’s poison, we sit on the low peripheral wall around the Kaj Schmidt Memorial, a monument consisting of a single archway to remember a Dutch man who died while saving a British girl from drowning in undivided India. That was when this city was very much still Madras. The tide is low and calm, and it laps gently against the receding shore. Watching it, we smoke and drink, drink and smoke.In the silence, we hear two young lovers close by, their faces hidden under a thick jacket, giggle and playfully admonish each other for getting too frisky. I also catch the strains ofTamil commentary from the Ahmedabad match. I follow the sound and identify three flower-sellers as the ones listening to it, squatting in a line on the sand as they arrange strings of jasmine in coir baskets.Just as the might of the intoxication kicks in, Liyaqath nudges me in the ribs with his elbow and holds out his phone, showing me a picture of a girl no older than five, maybe six. “My daughter. Mahira.”I nod my spinning head.”I named her after Thala.”It doesn’t strike me immediately, so he smiles and pokes me again.”What, sir? Didn’t get the connection? Dhoni, sir! Mahi, sir! That is how I chose the name.”We are now lying on the sand, hands behind heads, looking up at the inky sky in our dizzy silence. Two boys in college uniforms trudge past us with their noses stuck into a mobilescreen. I yell out to them for the score. “Over, over, all over,” one of them shouts back. “Ravindra hundred. Conway 150. Both not out.”Somewhere in the far west of this vast, vast country, the World Cup has well and truly begun. A nation will live and breathe nothing else over the next six weeks, one deep lungful at a time.

At 46, the ageless wonder leggie still has what it takes in T20. He talks about his success with Guyana and what keeps him ticking

Interview by Deivarayan Muthu11-Aug-20252:53

‘I know how to respect my team members and that’s most important’

Imran Tahir turned 46 this March but continues his Benjamin Button act in T20 tournaments around the world. In 2023 he led Guyana Amazon Warriors to their maiden CPL title and two years later he captained them to their first Global Super League title. Since turning 40, he has bagged 266 wickets at an economy rate of 6.86 in T20s. Only Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Chris Jordan, Wanindu Hasaranga and Shaheen Afridi have taken more wickets than Tahir during this period. The T20 veteran spoke to us during the GSL this July about his cult status in Guyana, captaincy style, Amazon Warriors’ spin depth, and his ambitions for the upcoming CPL season.You have played for a whole lot of T20 teams around the world but you keep coming back to Guyana. You’re the only overseas player with more than 100 CPL wickets. What’s it like to be a cult hero in Guyana?
Look, it’s very special. The team gives me all the confidence and still believes in my ability. The people of Guyana really respect and give me a lot of love, and I think that’s where you want to be. With that kind of love you always want to come back and play for the same badge, and you just want to be here every year.I think I need to do a lot of extra gym work to be here every year (). But as long as I’m doing well for the team and what they require from me, if I justify it, then , I can keep coming back to Guyana.Related

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You turned 46 this year but you keep finding ways to take wickets and win games. How do you manage your body and mind in this fast-paced T20 world?
Yeah, look, it’s tough. But I’m a bit lucky now because I have more time to do training than [having to] keep playing. I think that gives me a bit more benefit – I look after myself well, eat well and try to sleep on time and just be loyal to my job. Then when I get to play, I know I can give my 100% to my team.You had a great GSL, where you led from the front. How has the build-up been, leading into CPL 2025?
Last year it was a bit of a rush. We jumped out of a flight and started playing GSL. So I felt like this year we should get together and have a camp and see how we can improve as a team. All of us, [including] guys coming from overseas, worked very hard and looked to improve on a few things and it paid off for us.Red and green spell go for Tahir: Guyana is home for him, the Pakistan-born leggie says•CPL T20/ Getty ImagesI hope we can carry this form into the CPL, where we also have a couple of youngsters who are not part of the GSL with us. But we picked them for the CPL, and they were there for the training camp, and I’m sure they’ve had a good experience with the senior players before they get to play the CPL. All in all, it was a good effort from the franchise to get everyone together and build this team for the GSL and CPL.In 2023, Warriors won their first CPL title under your leadership, and they came close to defending it successfully last season. How would you describe yourself as a captain?
Yeah, look, I’ve only been given one opportunity in my life as a captain. I just feel like I don’t have to prove anything to anyone about my captaincy or skills. I use my experience during captaincy, and I know how to respect my team-mates. I think that’s the most important thing in a team environment.When you’re happy for each other, play for each other and respect the team culture [success follows]. I’d rather be a player, but whether I play as a captain or player, I want everyone in the team to be happy and respected. That’s what I try to do in this team, and hopefully [as long as] I have this responsibility, I want to share my experience with the players and make sure the youngsters, if they want to learn something, I can try and help them through our senior players.Like we have some really good local players in our squad. Romario Shepherd, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul have been with the franchise for a long time, and to have them around, I’m sure it’s a great learning experience for the youngsters. And like I said, if there’s any spinners, even batters or bowlers with whom I can share my experience, I want to help them. I feel that’s my job as a captain.Over the years you have been mentoring spinners in leagues around the world. Is that something you enjoy?
Yeah, I think so. I don’t do it for the camera. I just like to share my knowledge. I think not many shared their knowledge with me when I was younger, and that was a bit of a sad part. But if you want to be a professional cricketer and you want to achieve your dreams, then you have to work hard and keep learning and that’s what my belief is.Tahir and Gudakesh Motie celebrate a wicket in the 2023 CPL final, which gave Guyana Amazon Warriors their first title in the tournament•Ashley Allen/CPL T20/Getty ImagesI don’t want youngsters to go through [what I did]. I want them to know what a slider, googly and flipper is. I’d rather want them to know it at the age of 15. Then they can serve their country or franchise in a better way than I did because I came to international cricket very late and showed my skills late in my career. I’m still trying to improve.So from my point of view, wherever I go, I just want to share my knowledge and pass it on to the youngsters. I do like to talk about legspin bowling and see how the other spinners think about the game and how my thinking is. So it’s always nice to talk about the game and share my knowledge. When I do that, I feel good deep in my heart.You were a pioneer as a wristspinner in T20 cricket, bowling flat and quick and getting your googlies to zip. How do you think your bowling has changed as T20 has evolved?
You always want to keep learning. It doesn’t matter how good you are; you always learn about the game every single day, and that’s what the game has taught me throughout my career. Spinners play a big role in modern T20 cricket these days and you need to keep improving your skills.Apart from legspinners, even left-arm spinners and offspinners have high skill levels these days. You have to work hard to be successful in the international arena because you know the batsmen are waiting for any [mistake]. If you see a slow ball [flighted] in the air, they want to hit, and the batsmen have got so many shots these days. So, as a spinner, I always want to keep improving.The googly and the flipper have brought you a lot of wickets. Have you explored any new variations?
Yeah, there are a few, but you’ll only get to see it on TV. I’m not the kind of guy who would talk about it in interviews and put it [the thought] in people’s head (). But yes, I’m still working on a couple of things and hopefully I can be able to bowl those balls in the future.ESPNcricinfo LtdAmazon Warriors have almost every variety of spin in their attack. What do you make of the spin depth?
It’s a blessing for Guyana that we have so many spinners when we come up against left-right hand [batter pairs]. [Gudakesh] Motie is very good, and our local core is very good. We’ve also got Moeen [Ali].Motie has become a world-class spinner. Having these spinners helps. You see different batsmen coming with different plans and you can just throw the ball to any of these spinners who can challenge any batsman. Trying to get wickets as quick as we can is our plan, so we try to keep putting pressure on the opposition and make sure we demolish their batting plans – whatever they come up with.You touched upon Moeen, another senior figure in the side. You also played with him at the SA20. What does he bring to Amazon Warriors?
Moeen is another great spinner and batter, who brings a lot of experience. His record speaks for itself. To have someone like him in the team is only going to benefit you. He also shares his experience with youngsters and other team-mates. He’s really committed and we’re lucky to have him in our squad. We’re hoping he will have a good time again in Guyana.Does having a spin-friendly home pitch empower you to be more attacking as the lead spinner?
Look, the spinners we have, they have performed all over the world. If the ball turns for us, it’s also turning for the opposition. It just means we’re using the facility better than the others. So I don’t like it when people say, “Oh, Guyana turns” and stuff like that.Yes, it turns, but for both teams, and we need to use our variations. So we try and upgrade our skills. That’s what we do here in Guyana. Myself, Motie and Moeen – all of us have picked up wickets on some of the flattest decks in the world. The most important thing for us is the combination of the team and we try to break partnerships and batting plans with that combination. So far we’ve been successful and hopefully we can carry this form into the CPL.The bane of T20 batters everywhere: Tahir trots out his Victor Gyökeres celebration•GSL/Getty ImagesThe CPL is known for its funky celebrations. Your sprint is perhaps the OG one, but what’s the story behind doing Ronaldo’s “Siuuu” and Victor Gyökeres’ celebrations recently?
I have to because my son [who is travelling with Tahir], he asked me to do it (). The celebrations are purely for him. He just loves football. I actually don’t know the guy [Gyökeres’] who does this celebration, but I know he’s a footballer. But look, it’s nice, I want to put a smile on my son’s face and hopefully a smile on the faces of other people as well, if they like it.You’ve been there and done that in international cricket and every T20 league around the world. At 46, how do you remain so passionate about the game?
I’m the kind of guy who got [success] very late. And when you have a dream to be on the stage where I’m now, I think I just don’t feel like letting it go. I want to live the dream [as long as] I keep playing. If I’m playing, I want to give whatever I have to my team, and that obviously comes through passion. If you don’t have passion for anything, you won’t be successful in life.At the SA20 and even in the GSL, you were throwing yourself around in the field and there was a spectacular grab in the eliminator at the 2024 SA20. How proud are you of such fielding efforts?
I have to do extra work on my fielding and thanks to all the practice sessions with our coaches, the energy and the focus they gave… they gave me a lot of confidence. I take a lot of pride in my fielding, and I feel like if I can take one or two catches, I can change the game. That gives me bigger joy, but I think some people might have been more shocked than appreciative of my catches (). But no, generally a lot of people still appreciate such catches.What are your ambitions heading into CPL 2025?
Yeah, the team and the combination looks really good. It’s all about how we start the competition and that’s the most important thing. Going into the competition, the first few games are important and the GSL [success] will help a lot. We’ve been playing a good brand of cricket in the GSL and I believe that will set the standard for us in the CPL.We just need to stick together and before the tournament starts, we will have a camp for a few days. Things have been looking good so far. The only thing we can do is work hard and give it back to our fans in Guyana.

The St Lucia Kings power-hitter has turned into an all-weather T20 batter who is especially dangerous against spin

Deivarayan Muthu16-Sep-2025Since July 2024, New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert has been living out of a suitcase, enjoying stints in eight different T20 leagues around the world besides playing for the Black Caps. From Galle in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) to Guyana in the Caribbean Premier League, in which his team have got to the elimination stage, Seifert has stamped his authority in different parts of the world.Weeks or months of play-sleep-travel-repeat can be challenging but Seifert has embraced it. He is now gearing up to bring home back-to-back CPL titles for St Lucia Kings.”Yeah, I have enjoyed it [being a T20 globetrotter],” Seifert says before the CPL knockouts. “It can be a bit tough on the family at times as well, being away for so much. But it’s also good to bring them away on certain tours. On the whole, it’s been great. Not only T20 competitions but international cricket as well with the Black Caps.”When Seifert burst onto the international scene in 2018, he was billed as the next Brendon McCullum. Like McCullum, he was adept at charging at bowlers and playing a number of funky shots, including the reverse sweep and scoop.Related

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McCullum himself was so impressed with Seifert that he brought him into the Trinbago Knight Riders team when he was their head coach in 2020. Seifert was part of the TKR side that enjoyed an unbeaten run to the CPL title that season, and he also had a spell as New Zealand’s main keeper-batter, but he needed a bit more time to mature.That growth was achieved by playing T20 cricket around the world. Seifert has expanded his range of shots in the past 14 months, and more specifically in this CPL, he has emerged as the best spin-hitter. He has smashed 200 off 103 balls from spinners at a strike rate of 194.17 – the highest among batters who have faced at least 50 balls of spin in this edition. It’s not common for an opening batter to be this proficient against spinners in spin-friendly conditions, and only highlights Seifert’s rise as an all-weather T20 batter.”No matter how good you are, you’re always looking to grow as a player,” Seifert says. “But most importantly, you’re learning. And one of these great opportunities that these [T20] tournaments give you is that you play with the world’s best players and learn from them and be in the same dressing room as well away from the guys back home in New Zealand.”When I first joined TKR, I think that was my first franchise competition. That was amazing. Not only to be coached by McCullum but to be in the same dressing room as the likes of [Kieron] Pollard, [Nicholas] Pooran and then [Andre] Russell. The CPL is not an easy place to come to, from an overseas point of view, for your first couple of years, but I’ve learnt off those guys, and with the Kings as well. Now into my fifth season at the CPL.”ESPNcricinfo LtdSeifert 2.0 can take down mystery spin too. When his former team, TKR, threw Sunil Narine and Akeal Hosein at him in the powerplay in Tarouba, he took 36 off 17 balls from them. He could have opted to sit back and play them out in what was a modest chase, but Seifert was keen to throw the first punch.”They are some of the best spinners in the world. Especially Narine, I rate him probably as one of the best spinners in the world still. But yeah, because we bowled first, we knew what the wicket was. I was hoping to get off to a good start and make the run chase easier. One thing I’ve tried to be working on is not try to think of Narine bowling at you. It’s just trying to watch the ball and reacting.”I’ve always had the square game – my hockey background helps me play those sweeps. I think over the past, those used to be my go-to shots. But now it’s actually just trying to pick the right times, right conditions, right situations of the games to play those shots. And if you are on a good wicket, you can look to hit straight more often. Batting against spin has definitely been one of my areas of focus over the last two years and it’s paying off.”Last month Seifert reached his zenith against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons at home in Gros Islet, when he cracked a 40-ball century, drawing level with Russell for the fastest in the league. He finished with an unbeaten 125 off 53 balls, the highest score by an overseas player and second-highest overall in the CPL. Seifert rates that innings as “one of the best knocks” in his career.”I just want to go out there and do my thing. Obviously, we were chasing 200 [205],” Seifert says. “Probably when I got to about 80-odd, I said: right, when it’s your day, make it your day and finish the job for the team. And I wanted to make sure I was there at the end, being that batter that helped win the game for the team rather than getting out on 80 and making someone else come in and finish the game. So that was probably one of my biggest ticks from that knock: getting the job done.”

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