In the absence of Harmanpreet and Ismail, the Mumbai Indians allrounder steered the ship well to take down RCB

Ashish Pant03-Mar-20242:15

Takeaways: Win toss, win games? Contrasting days for Devine and Sciver-Brunt

Regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur still not fit? Frontline fast bowler Shabnim Ismail also not available? A packed stadium rooting for the home team? No problem said Nat-Sciver Brunt as she marshalled the Mumbai Indians side with aplomb, silencing the M Chinnaswamy crowd, and on the way seeing her side catapult to the top of the WPL 2024 points table.Long before Amelia Kerr caressed a Georgia Wareham delivery through point to ace Mumbai’s 132-run chase in 15.1 overs, Sciver-Brunt had laid the foundation for the win, through her captaincy and all-round play.Right from the toss which Mumbai won and elected to field, Sciver-Brunt barely put a foot wrong. It couldn’t have been easy. With two of the most prominent names missing from the playing XI, she had a tough initiation to WPL captaincy against UP Warriorz, with Mumbai going down by seven wickets.Related

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Sciver-Brunt didn’t have a lot of time to reflect on the loss – just two days – and with Harmanpreet and Ismail still missing, back she was at the helm. This time though, she looked much more settled and in control from the get-go. Most of the surfaces so far in the WPL have shown a tendency to get better to bat on as the night progresses. Sciver-Brunt knew wickets would be key, so off she went ringing in the changes, in the hopes of preventing the batters from getting into rhythm.Mumbai employed four different bowlers in the first six overs. There were mostly just one-over spells with no one getting more than two at any point in the game. And the plan worked. Issy Wong sent back Smriti Mandhana in the third over with Sciver-Brunt taking a smart catch back-peddling from extra cover. The captain herself trapped S Meghana with an excellent bouncer and by the time the powerplay was done, RCB had already lost three wickets with their run rate below six an over.Barring Ellyse Perry (44) and to an extent Wareham (27), none of the RCB batters looked settled at any stage. And the credit for that should go to how well Sciver-Brunt shuffled the bowlers around and the bowlers themselves for responding to her tactics. She later returned to end the Perry-Wareham stand as well, finishing with 2 for 27 off her four overs as RCB were restricted to 131 for 6.2:38

Amelia Kerr: Nat’s been amazing in ‘incredible’ Harmanpreet’s absence

“You don’t want to bowl too many in a row apart from at the start of the game when a bowler might be swinging it, you don’t want to get lined up too much,” Sciver-Brunt said after the match. “We reviewed the game [that they lost to UP Warriorz] really the other day and put some things right today. That was a pretty complete performance from our side today and we are pretty happy in the camp.”Wong also echoed her captain’s statement about how continuous changes in bowling disrupt a batter’s rhythm.”I feel it is easier as a bowler because you never really get a chance for someone to line you up,” Wong said. “Especially in this short format, we’ve seen people bowl really good first overs, come back and bowl again and it is easier to get lined up having bowled two in a row. I think that definitely helps us bowlers, the batters don’t necessarily have that continuity.”With job done with the ball, it was now time for Sciver-Brunt the batter to shine. She came in at the fall of Yastika Bhatia’s wicket, with Mumbai already off to a flyer. Sciver-Brunt got off the mark with a cheeky reverse paddle past short third before square-driving Sophie Devine past point as Mumbai raced to 60 for 1 in their powerplay.Thereon, it was more about taking her side as close to the finishing line as possible for Sciver-Brunt. She found an ally in Kerr, who found boundaries at regular intervals while the captain was happy to turn the strike over. The duo added 49 off 35 balls for the third wicket and by the time Sciver-Brunt fell for 27, victory was only 14 runs away.Kerr, who finished the chase and ended up with an unbeaten 24-ball 40, was effusive in praise of the way Sciver-Brunt led Mumbai in Harmanpreet’s absence.”Nat has been amazing. Obviously, Harman has been an incredible leader for Mumbai. For Nat to step up the way she has, has been outstanding,” Kerr said. “She has captained England before in games and she has got a great way about it. She is very level and calm and has a good cricket brain.”I thought tonight was exceptional as well. It’s been great. We are obviously looking to having Harman back too. She is key for Mumbai, but Nat has done a great job and I think that is the beauty of this team is that everything is so seamless, and we just get on with it.”Sciver-Brunt was the fulcrum behind Mumbai’s title win in WPL 2023, with runs and wickets aplenty. Now, armed with the added responsibility of being stand-in captain, she remains undeterred. She might not be in as flawless a form as she was last season, but her presence and cricketing smarts will be essential in Mumbai’s quest to add another silverware to their cabinet.

A low-scoring game dominated by the bowlers was not the ideal way to launch a tournament which hopes to embrace a new audience

Sidharth Monga04-Jun-20242:06

Maharoof: Pitch in New York ‘not good enough’ for a T20 game

Were we not entertained?
Even for a traditional cricket fan, this match was a bit of a hard-sell. A diehard fan might have found some excitement during some tight overs when South Africa were chasing 78, but otherwise it was just too loaded in favour of the bowlers. There was just too much bounce, and unpredictable bounce, which made six-hitting next to impossible. It was going both up and down, left and right. And it was happening not in the air but after the ball bounced, which gives batters very little time to adjust. They can defend their wicket but can’t possibly score quickly.Why was the pitch so difficult? Surely they didn’t do it on purpose?
It is hard to say. These drop-in pitches were prepared by an experienced groundsman from Adelaide who knows the assignment. Perhaps they haven’t had enough time to settle down with enough cricket played on them. There are four pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, and six for the nets at Cantiague Park. They were all prepared at the same time. India have done the most training at Cantiague Park, and they have seen them behave better day by day. Perhaps these will too.Related

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Or perhaps the curator is leaving extra grass because the square of four pitches has to host eight matches in 10 days. He obviously doesn’t want them to die down by the time the New York leg is nearing its end.But aren’t these expert batters? Why couldn’t they adjust and score at least a run a ball through grounded shots?
The outfield wasn’t great. There were quite a few shots that would have fetched fours in standard conditions, but this is a heavy sandy outfield. Even aerial shots that clear the infield were bouncing in it and plugging.Can anything be done about the outfield? Perhaps shave some of the grass?
That could make it dangerous for the fielders. Already they are not too keen on diving. Perhaps they could consider bringing the boundaries in.Hang on, why do we want standard conditions?
Because T20 is the shortest format of cricket. It is the vehicle to take it to newer outposts. There is just not enough time to adjust to such variable conditions. It creates competitive imbalance, giving the bowling side a huge advantage. As you saw, the side batting first didn’t have the time to realise 120 was a good score and kept losing wickets trying to aim for a bigger total.Especially in tournament play, cricket always aims for standard conditions because you want the players to shine and not the conditions. In the ODI World Cup in India last year, the governing body kept rating pitches “average” whenever they deviated a bit from the norm.Looking good, but what about the pitch?•ICC via Getty ImagesBut didn’t Sri Lanka win the toss? Why did they choose to bat first?
They possibly didn’t know what to expect from these pitches.And why is that?
They only just arrived two days ago after spending their entire night in the Miami airport because of a flight delay. Then the actual facility doesn’t have practice pitches. Looking at how they would be practising elsewhere, they chose to rest rather than make the trek all the way from downtown Brooklyn to Long Island. Even on match day they woke up at 5.30am to make it in time. They were practically sleepwalking.Why are they staying so far?
The other hotels in the vicinity are fully booked by the other teams who are here for longer.That sounds like a nightmare. Why go through all this to come to New York when you can’t get a cricket field in the city where there are enough hotels to house all the teams?
New York is arguably the best city in the world. Like any business, cricket wants to expand. It is aiming for the richest consumers of sport.Then why play at 10.30am on a Monday?
In the biggest existing market for cricket, India, it was 8pm on a Monday. That’s primetime. You can’t completely ignore the existing audience in order to make an outreach to a newer one.There was significant help for the fast bowlers•Associated PressWere they entertained at least?
Going by the texts I received, no. They are generally traditionalists so most of them were laughing laughs of vindication. It was the loudest I told you so.I can understand they must be feeling like that girl in the meme where the boy is walking with her but looking at someone else.
That’s not a question but I will grant you this one. It is quite accurate.So is this a total disaster?
No, there is a cheat code. India vs Pakistan, arch rivals with a shared bloodied history. It has already sold out two stadiums in and around New York. It will rescue everything.Did it really need a World Cup for that particular game to be sold out? Because from what I understand it is a completely inconsequential match, which tells me these two teams can sell out anything.
Yes, it is inconsequential unless at least a couple of big upsets take place in other matches in this group. It is also correct that you don’t even get easier opponents in the next rounds if you win this match.But no, those two teams can’t play each other outside multi-nation events because of the politics between the two countries. Between you and me, the governing body even rigs the draw to make sure they play each other at least once.Hmm. But it’s not like the 1800s when Canada and USA played international cricket for the first time. The conditions needn’t have been such an unknown. Surely if the expat fans are selling out two stadiums, they must be wanting to play too? If they had stadiums here, you wouldn’t need to bring in untested pitches from Australia.
Yeah, but you can’t blame the ICC for that. Developing grounds and pitches is the job of the national board.Why didn’t they do it then?
USA Cricket? Now that’s a whole can of worms even the ICC opens with a visor and gloves on.How much did they spend on this makeshift stadium again?
Well, that really is the $30 million question.

Most key members of the current team are nearly 35 years old, but there’s an exciting, young crop emerging

Andrew McGlashan26-Jun-2024Well, that escalated quickly.

Barely 48 hours after beginning their Super Eight game against Afghanistan with five wins from five at the T20 World Cup 2024, Australia’s campaign was over. The drama went down to the wire as the hectic scenes between Afghanistan and Bangladesh played out, but by then it was out of their hands.It is the nature of tournament cricket, especially where stages are as condensed as this. Similar fates could have happened to other teams: South Africa were a whisker away from being eliminated based on one defeat; India were not mathematically safe heading into the Australia match.But it means that for all the good cricket Australia played earlier in the tournament – and they hadn’t fluked themselves into a strong position – it all came to nothing. For the second T20 World Cup running, they have underachieved. In 2022 it was a group stage exit on home soil; in contrast to this edition, where a strong start faded at the worst time, on that occasion, they paid the price for a heavy first-up defeat against New Zealand.So what does it all mean for Australia’s T20 cricket heading into the future?Horror catching show
If you want to pinpoint one area where it went wrong, it was the fielding. The poor outing against Scotland may not have mattered on the day (and they still won the game) but it wasn’t a blip. Against Afghanistan, they had one of the worst days in recent memory with five dropped catches, albeit none were sitters, a missed stumping and sloppy groundwork. Take 20-25 runs off the target and it is likely a very different outcome – the pressure chasing 125 instead of 150 would have been significantly less.Related

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They were better against India, but there was still a crucial miss. Australia had fought back in the latter half of the innings after Rohit Sharma’s onslaught. Hardik Pandya had 4 from 6 when he skied one into the off side against Adam Zampa. Mitchell Marsh was underneath it at backward point but somehow couldn’t hold on. Pandya would finish on 27 of 17 balls, twice clearing the rope off Marcus Stoinis in the penultimate over. Had the catch been taken, those runs may well have been scored by the next batter, but it could also have trimmed a few off the total. The difference between 205 and 190?A tournament too far?
During the tournament, Matthew Wade admitted his career would have been finished if Australia hadn’t won in the UAE in 2021 when he emerged as a key finisher. Around the 2022 edition, he indicated it would be his last. Yet here he was, back again for another go in 2024. It’s easy to make these calls in hindsight, but was it one too many?Wade was untidy at times behind the stumps and missed a stumping chance against Afghanistan. With the bat, he had two opportunities to play decisive hands – against Afghanistan and India – but couldn’t reprise that 2021 success. The role Wade had of finisher is one of the hardest in the game, getting precious little time in the middle if everything goes well, then expected to win games from the toughest of positions. But that’s why the best are so highly regarded.Josh Inglis is a favourite to take over from Matthew Wade in the format•Getty ImagesWade had been excellent in India last year during the five-match T20I series play in the hangover of the ODI World Cup. He was Australia’s leading run-scorer with 128 at a strike-rate of 166.23, and it went a long way to shoring up his spot for this tournament. The selectors have liked having a left-handed option in the middle order.But the future was there on the bench. Josh Inglis replaced Alex Carey one game into the ODI World Cup and while his stock in trade in T20 is not as a finisher – only 13 of his 113 T20 innings have come below No. 4 – he had previously shown his adaptability, and he is an excellent player of spin. Inglis could bat a little higher in a reshaped order.Ellis’ time
One of the themes that ran through the tournament was Australia’s big three: Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.They were managed in the group stage, but there were compelling reasons why they should play. Starc had hit his stride dramatically late in the IPL, Cummins bowled very consistently amid a torrent of runs in that tournament and Hazlewood’s development as a T20 bowler has put him among the best in the world. His figures against India were remarkable and his tournament economy was a miserly 6.04. Cummins claimed back-to-back hat-tricks.Starc ended the tournament with an economy of 8.55 after a one-over mauling by Rohit in St Lucia (2 for 45 was a good return in that context, but it was a key over to go badly) and, given his stated desire to prioritise Test cricket, there’s a chance he may not return for a sixth T20 World Cup in two years’ time when he will be 36.He is, without doubt, a white-ball great. During the tournament he became the leading wicket-taker across both World Cup formats. But since taking 10 wickets at 16.40 (economy 6.83) at the 2012 T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, the next four editions have brought 22 wickets at 29.54 with an economy of 8.90. Drilling down further, in three of the four games Australia have lost in the last three T20 World Cups – against England (2021), New Zealand (2022) and India (2024), Starc’s powerplay figures read 5-0-71-0.Nathan Ellis impressed in his limited outing•Associated PressThe understudy, Nathan Ellis, has made a compelling case. He played three matches, although only ever as a replacement for those rested or Starc’s tweaked calf against Namibia. In those three games he took four wickets and conceded 6.72 an over. While facing Oman and Namibia perhaps needs to be viewed with a slightly difference lens, his death overs against Scotland were outstanding and a key reason Australia weren’t chasing closer to 200. Now is the time for him to entrusted to grow as a leader of the T20 attack, whoever it’s in place of.What next for Australia’s T20 side?
So, on that note, what of the future? Unlike ODI World Cup cycles which take four years, in T20 it’s now just two (and, in fact, less so heading to 2026 with that tournament in India and Sri Lanka scheduled for February).Hazlewood said after the India loss that he did not see a massive turnover. But he will be 35 by the next tournament. David Warner has retired and Wade will surely now be moved on. Glenn Maxwell will be 37, Marcus Stoinis 36. Cummins will be the youngest of the big three at 32. Captain Marsh will be 34.Marsh will provide an interesting debate. His preparation for this tournament was hindered by a hamstring injury that took longer to heal than expected. He never quite hit his straps with the bat and didn’t bowl, although was able to by the Super Eight. Was the batting a question of form or the burden of captaincy? Only he’ll know that, although he was well placed against India when Axar Patel plucked out his wonder catch.The nucleus of the next generation is already taking shape. That’s led by Jake Fraser-McGurk along with Inglis and Ellis (who are already both 29) alongside Cameron Green and Matthew Short of those who were in the Caribbean. The selectors will hope legspinner Tanveer Sangha can shake off his injury issues, the same for quick Jhye Richardson. Spencer Johnson could be a Starc like-for-like. Xavier Bartlett is also among the next in line.There is no crisis in Australia’s T20 cricket, even if the manner of their exit in the Caribbean will raise some questions, but the make-up of their next squad – to tour Scotland and England in September – will be fascinating and should give an indication of early plans for 2026.

New Zealand’s opening batter looks to put the disappointment of a group-stage exit at the home ODI World Cup in 2022 behind her

Valkerie Baynes19-Oct-2024While a T20 World Cup final represents a prime opportunity to inspire young children to start playing cricket, this one in particular carries important meaning for another group – women in their mid-to-late 30s who are not ready to give up on sport. And nor should they, says Suzie Bates.Bates, New Zealand’s 37-year-old opening batter – and sometimes closing bowler, says she is proud to fly the flag for women against “ageist” attitudes.”I probably take it for granted, but the fact that I’m over 35 and still competing and that I’ve never given up on my dream, I think as females you do feel societal pressure to give up on pursuing your dreams,” Bates said. “People expect you to do other things at a certain age, and that is what is so exciting about women’s sport, it is just growing and growing and we are breaking down barriers every single day.Related

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“It’s not just the young players, it’s players in our team coming back after having children. I’ve even been in the team with two parents [Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu] who are able to have a career and have children. I just think we can be a little bit ageist and even more so with females in terms of what they can and can’t do. So I’m happy to wave that flag.”I keep myself young by hanging out with people who are a lot younger. When I hang out with people my same age, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, that’s right, grow up!’ But there’s a lot of potential to challenge those notions. At the end of the day, age becomes a factor, but as long as you can keep contributing, it shouldn’t matter.”She was speaking on the eve of Sunday’s T20 World Cup title clash in Dubai, where New Zealand will play last year’s runners-up South Africa, guaranteeing a new champion.But throughout almost three weeks of competition, many stories involving players approaching the age of 40 and performing at the highest level have come up.New Zealand have Bates, 35-year-old captain Sophie Devine, and seam bowler Tahuhu, who just turned 34 but whom Bates jokingly considers a fellow “grandma” of the team.Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu all have been playing international cricket for over 15 years now•ICC/Getty ImagesLegspinner Afy Fletcher, who was part of the West Indies side knocked out in the semi-finals by New Zealand, is a 37-year-old mother to a toddler. She ended the tournament with ten wickets, which before the final was equal to Nonkululeko Mlaba of South Africa and just two behind leading wicket-taker Amelia Kerr of New Zealand, drawing praise from coach Shane Deitz for her ability to reinvent herself as a bowler at this point in her career.”Age is just a number for Afy, so we don’t worry about her age,” Deitz said. “Our bowling coach, Ryan Austin, has done a really good job with her. They sat down and had a chat early in the year… he challenged her to be the highest wicket-taker for this year in the team.”She really took that on board and got more variations and she’s worked really, really hard on her fitness and all aspects of her game and batting as well. And now she’s got a few more years left in her, I hope.”Pakistan’s Nida Dar will turn 38 in January, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur is 35 and Sri Lanka have three bowlers – Inoshi Priyadharshani, Inoka Ranaweera and Udeshika Prabodhani – aged 37, 38 and 39 respectively.But age and experience has done nothing to dampen the excitement of taking her team into a first World Cup final in 14 years for Bates, at least not once the tension of an eight-run win over West Indies had eased.

“I keep myself young by hanging out with people who are a lot younger. When I hang out with people my same age, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, that’s right, grow up!’ But there’s a lot of potential to challenge those notions”Suzie Bates

“It wasn’t actually until today when I went and had a swim in the beach that it hit me and I got a bit teary-eyed,” Bates said. “With the adrenaline and everything that’s going on, you’re in a bit of shock.”If you’ve been a White Ferns fan while I’ve been in the team, there’s been a lot of ups and downs, highs and lows, and they’ve ridden that rollercoaster with you. So we’re carrying those emotions, that they’ve got something to celebrate as well as us.”The celebrations are all the sweeter now, not only because New Zealand came into this tournament on a ten-game losing streak, but the fact that they failed to get out of the group stages in their home ODI World Cup in 2022.”When you get one opportunity in a career to have a home World Cup and you don’t quite nail it, that comes with a lot of disappointment,” Bates said. “We had a really great fan base during that World Cup and we had some really tight matches and we were so close to getting through to that semi-final stage, so personally that’s really motivating.Suzie Bates is happy to fly the flag against “ageist” attitudes•ICC/Getty Images”Especially from where we’ve come from, when a team’s been able to bounce back after ten losses in a row, the pride and the resilience that we have as a group makes it so special and we’ve never given up on each other.”And that’s the support staff, [head coach] Ben Sawyer, he’s been through the wringer trying to get this team believing in themselves, and a huge credit has to go to him for just keeping on backing that same group when results weren’t coming our way.”As this will certainly be Devine’s last T20I as captain following her decision to hand over the team to the next generation of leaders, New Zealand’s desire for her to sign off with a title burns bright.”When you play team sport, your goal, your ultimate goal is to be a world champion,” Bates said. “It’s been all those tournaments that have motivated me, and I know Sophie as well. It feels like it’s just all built to this moment and we get one more opportunity tomorrow to have a good dig. The most overwhelming thing about it was it has felt like a really long journey to get back to this point.”New Zealand cricket and women’s sport is all the richer for the fact that players like Bates have stuck around for so long.

Eight years on from a tournament that changed everything, women’s cricket stands poised for the next big leap

Vishal Dikshit12-Aug-20250:45

Harmanpreet on her 171*: ‘A lot of things changed in women’s cricket’

Unprecedented broadcast coverage. Record-breaking global reach. A ten-fold increase in prize money. First use of the DRS. The Spidercam and drone looming over Lord’s for the first time. And an epic final that separated England and India by just nine runs.That was the 2017 Women’s World Cup. When the 50-day countdown to the 2025 edition began on Monday, the echoes of 2017 still resonated loudly for the players who will take the field from September 30, for those who have walked away in recent years, and even those who watched it on their screens around the world.For many Indian fans, any mention of the 2017 World Cup immediately brings back Harmanpreet Kaur’s jaw-dropping knock in the semi-final against Australia, and the heartbreaking loss of a trophy that came within touching distance. Fans of South Africa remember missing out narrowly on what would have been their maiden final appearance. For followers of England it was a tournament that broke new ground, and one that launched a new leader in Heather Knight. For Sri Lanka supporters it was about Chamari Athapaththu announcing herself to the world via her 178 not out, also against Australia.1:37

Rodrigues’ memories of the 2017 World Cup as a 16-year-old

While eight teams battled it out in what seemed like just another World Cup, they became, perhaps unknowingly, part of a much bigger movement, and a pioneering event. Every individual effort came to mean so much more.”That knock was really special to me and for women’s cricket,” Harmanpreet said on Monday, recalling her 171* against Australia. “After that knock a lot of things changed personally in my life, and especially in women’s cricket also, because at that time I didn’t really know what had happened because that time I was totally off social media. But when we came back to India, and even though we lost the World Cup [final], the amount of people who were waiting for us, cheering for us, I think that was something very special. Still, when I remember that innings I get goosebumps. I think that was a very special innings and I’m very happy that came from me.”The way Harmanpreet took down the world champions, and the manner in which England and India went toe to toe a thrilling finale three days later, crowned a transformative World Cup that broke several records for women’s cricket viewership in India, a country that makes up a big chunk of the overall numbers. For the tournament in all, there was a 500% increase in viewing hours in India, and as many as 126 million viewers from the country watched the final alone. The reception India’s players got back home despite losing the final was another mark of the dizzying growth of their fan following.Eight years on, women’s cricket continues to feel the echoes of Harmanpreet Kaur’s breathtaking 171* against Australia•Getty ImagesJemimah Rodrigues, who will soon feature in her first World Cup, remembers those heady days well.”So when they played the final at Lord’s, I was 16-and-a-half at that time, and I remember Mumbai Cricket Association had told all the members over there – the Under-19 girls – to go and felicitate our girls at the airport and receive them because they were expecting no one to come,” she said on Monday. “They thought the women’s team has done so well it’s our responsibility [to welcome them].”And I remember at 5.30am we were at the Mumbai airport; I was having an India flag ready to welcome our team. And I still remember that all these players were very tired and at the same time disappointed because they were so close, yet it felt like so far and they walked out of the airport thinking that nobody is going to be there. And at 5.30am the whole airport was packed with media and crowd. And people right now would think that’s normal but at that time for women’s sport it wasn’t.The 2017 World Cup: A victory for England, and an even bigger one for women’s cricket•AFP”So I remember this whole bunch of players coming in – we could see through the glass window – and, seeing so much crowd, going back inside because they were not prepared for it. And I think that was for me the turning point in women’s cricket in India.”The women’s game had spread far and wide, and into uncharted territory. Of the 156 million viewers who watched the World Cup from India, 80 million were from rural parts of the country. It undoubtedly contributed to more girls picking up bat and ball, and to the calls for a Women’s IPL growing more persistent. Eight years on, the results are as evident as they could be, with the Women’s Premier League (WPL) three years old and the ICC billing the upcoming World Cup as “the next leap” for women’s cricket.”When I see people around, especially [since] I come from Sangli, which is not the biggest [of] cities in India, but I see a lot of parents getting their daughters and they have a clear plan that ‘I want my girl to play for India or WPL,'” India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said. “The number of girls playing cricket at this moment is massive and it’s a lot to do with how the last eight years have panned out and the steps which BCCI has taken in recent times, and the WPL. All of those things together, it’s been a massive thing and we’re just fortunate that we’re part of a movement for women’s cricket which we all feel really happy and proud about.”A 16-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues (fourth from right) awaits the return of India’s players from the 2017 World Cup•ESPNcricinfo/Annesha GhoshSoon after the 2017 World Cup ended, it was clear that the tournament had not just been about that Harmanpreet knock or Sarah Taylor’s lightning stumping down the leg side or the Natmeg making its first big appearance or the viral visuals of Mithali Raj reading Rumi before going out to bat. It wasn’t just a change of direction, or a step up. It was a true transformation. A quantum leap.”The 2017 World Cup actually transformed women’s cricket not [just] in India but globally, I would say, because social media was relatively new, the ICC did their part in campaigning and promoting on a larger scale,” Mithali Raj said. “[I remember] I was packing for the World Cup and the [Men’s] Champions Trophy was being played – India vs Pakistan – and I switched on the TV, and I was listening to the commentary while packing. And I heard the commentators go, ‘The next big event is the Women’s one-day World Cup’ and they showed the captains’ hoardings at the stadium.”So quickly did things change in the women’s game that players’ bucket-list fantasies began to get ticked off, one by one. Soon after that World Cup, Mignon du Preez had said, “Imagine turning up at Wanderers or Eden Gardens to watch a women’s game sold out fully?” And within three years her wished turned into reality – perhaps with an upgrade – when an 86,174-strong crowd packed the MCG for the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup: a new attendance record for a women’s cricket event. Athapaththu, meanwhile, called for an Under-19 World Cup; that tournament got underway in 2023. The WPL isn’t just up and running; it’s already the biggest women’s league in the world.1:52

Mithali Raj: India’s confidence a big boost heading into home World Cup

The seeds for all this were also sown in the planning stages of the 2017 World Cup. That tournament saw the use of DRS for the first time in women’s cricket, even if it wasn’t available for all games. It was at the same tournament that the ICC increased the prize money tenfold, to USD 2 million, a big step aimed towards achieving parity with the men’s game. The winners, England, took home USD 660,000, more than three times the entire prize purse (USD 200,000) of the previous edition, 2013. The increased prize money was, in fact, just the icing. The cake had already been handed out to all eight participating teams by their home boards in the form of central contracts in the years leading up to the World Cup, which ensured that all the players turned out as professionals with just one aim: to take the game to the next level.Eight years later, the tournament comes to India, a country that played a major role in boosting those viewership numbers back in 2017, and the country that hosted the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup. That tournament ended with a final that drew a crowd of over 90,000. What kind of numbers will the 2025 Women’s World Cup bring with it?”The upcoming World Cup is the next springboard for the next phase of the journey for women’s cricket,” ICC’s new CEO Sanjog Gupta said on Monday. “In every sense, the growth of women’s cricket in the last eight years particularly has brought us to this moment where it’s time for women’s cricket to take the next leap. And this World Cup is the aperture or springboard for that next leap.”

In the absence of Broad and Anderson, the challenge for Stokes and McCullum is to manage their bowling strategy

Sidharth Monga30-Jun-20251:53

Did we see a refined version of Bazball at Headingley?

Since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took over as captain and coach, England have won 16 out of 21 home Tests, winning series against New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka, and drawing the Ashes 2-2. The essence of the way they play lies in scoring quickly rather than batting longer. In the Ashes, England’s batters scored 2920 runs in 3938 balls; their bowlers conceded a similar number of runs – 2851 – in 5389 balls. They lost 85 wickets and took 93.England have looked to upset the way Test cricket has viewed risk. It seems they have felt good balls are over-rated and have looked to score off them. Not all boundaries, but boundaries and, as a result of that approach, singles and twos into the spread-out field.In that Ashes, for example, Australia’s fast bowlers bowled 40.1% of their deliveries on a good length of 6-8m; England 41.7%. However, England batters averaged 39.35 and scored at 3.69 an over against this good length as against Australia’s average of 14.97 and scoring rate of just 1.82 per over. England took 37 wickets from a good length; Australia 20.Related

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Let’s restrict this to good-length balls on and just outside off stump to qualify good balls better. England lost no wicket to such deliveries, scoring at 4.05 an over, but took seven wickets and conceded at 2.13 per over.The trend continued in every series, though averaging 40 against good balls in the Ashes was truly a one-off. The New Zealand series is more representative of Bazball because both sides bowled a similar number of good-length balls – 1140 and 1097 – but England scored 517 runs for 18 wickets to New Zealand’s 288 runs for 16 wickets. More shots played but similar number of wickets lost.Against South Africa, England’s batters averaged 14.23 and scored at 2.79 per over to the visitors’ 7.17 and 1.55. Against West Indies, these numbers were 30.66 and 3.33 as against the visitors’ 9.3 and 2.1.2:38

Is Stokes’ bowling workload a worry?

A prerequisite to score against what the world regards as good balls is flatter pitches. Not pancake flat, but surfaces on which you can hit through the line of the ball and ones that don’t deteriorate much. That’s why Bazball didn’t work in India. The surfaces in England, though, have complied. The Dukes balls getting softer sooner hasn’t hurt them either. In fact, the conditions have tended to improve for batting as the match has progressed to the extent that bowling first is now the preferred choice in England. The batting averages for each innings in England since 2022 have been 32.28, 34.98, 26.91 and 44.7. Stokes knew what he was doing when he chose to bowl against India in Leeds.Batting, though, is the easier part. To win Tests on these flat pitches, you need to take 20 wickets. The real heroes of England’s home run are the bowlers, who have found ways to take wickets by consistently swinging the ball more than their opponents and also bowling a higher number of high-seam deliveries.Take the Ashes. When bowling on a good length, England’s bowlers extracted 1.008 degrees of swing on average as against Australia’s 0.637. Their average seam movement was only negligibly higher, but this is where we need to look at high-seam deliveries. Ones that nip more than 0.5 degrees, which could point to the use of wobble-seam deliveries. England bowled 489 deliveries that seamed big left to right as against Australia’s 238. They nipped 414 deliveries big from right to left as against Australia’s 272.England will need to bowl better lengths against India•PA Photos/Getty ImagesHigher average swing and more big-seam deliveries for England’s bowlers, to go with their batters playing more scoring shots to good lengths, has been the trend during the Bazball years. They seem to understand better than the visitors that you try and swing the ball more between overs 11 and 30, and wobble the seam at other times.England have had three constants to facilitate that: flatter pitches, skilful and experienced bowlers in these conditions, and attacking batters. In Jimmy Anderson, Broad and Ollie Robinson, England had a lot of class in the bowling department.Now, against India, they have an attack comprising Chris Woakes and Stokes as the only two experienced fast bowlers. Brydon Carse was playing his first first-class match at Headingley. They struggled to, in the words of Broad, hold length, although they did swing it more than India. They bowled only 37.95% of their deliveries in the good-length zone as against India’s 47.33%. Their average swing of 1.119 was higher than India’s 0.917. India outbowled England on high-seam deliveries on a good length by 133 to 69.The flat pitches and attacking batters are there, but the third ingredient is missing for England. They don’t have the class in the bowling, and this is where India’s chance of countering Bazball lies. Bear in mind England still managed to average 45 and score at 3.46 an over against the good length, but India were 33.75 and 2.23.If the pitches remain flat, we could see England using short-pitched bowling and creative fields more often. How they manage their strategy in the absence of world-class bowling will be interesting to see. As will India’s plans to counter them.

England beat NZ in a rain-affected T20I series, but all the talk remains about the upcoming Ashes. Andrew McGlashan joins Alan Gardner and Andrew Miller with the latest from down under

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2025England clinched their T20I series against New Zealand 1-0 after another washout in Auckland, with attention now turning to the ODIs – and the Ashes campaign beyond. On this week’s pod, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Andrew McGlashan to discuss the development of Harry Brook’s T20 side as well as the latest news from Australia, including an update on Pat Cummins’ fitness and Marnus Labuschagne pushing for a Test return.