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Taniya Bhatia, who hasn’t played a T20I since the World Cup final in March 2020, is back in the squad

S Sudarshanan11-Jul-2022Offspinning allrounder Sneh Rana has made a comeback to the national side, finding a place in India’s 15-member squad for the Commonwealth Games starting July 29 in Birmingham. Rana, who returned to the side in 2021 after a five-year gap, had been rested for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka that concluded last week.In another surprise move, the selectors included Taniya Bhatia as one of the two wicketkeepers alongside Yastika Bhatia, with Richa Ghosh left out of the main squad and named as one of the three standby players. Taniya’s last T20I appearance was the World Cup final against Australia in Melbourne in March 2020.Poonam Yadav, who didn’t get a game during the Sri Lanka tour, and Simran Dil Bahadur were the other two players in the standby list.Harleen Deol, who was included only for the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour, has also found a place in the squad.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ahead of the tour to Sri Lanka, head coach Ramesh Powar had said that Rana had been rested with a view to managing her workload. “Sneh has been rested for this series and she is in the NCA working on her fitness,” he said. “Moving forward, the FTP that we have, there are about 20-25 T20 games and we want our players fresh for all the series. We want to manage the workload of the bowling unit as well as the batting unit. We are trying to balance it out. As of now, she is being rested and is working on her fitness.”Yastika’s elevation as the primary wicketkeeper, meanwhile, has been a recent development, with India having earlier preferred Ghosh’s skills with the big gloves in addition to her hitting down the order. Ghosh was India’s preferred keeper during the ODI World Cup this year, having been one of the stand-out players in the ODI series against New Zealand that preceded the tournament, scoring 146 runs at a strike-rate of 114.06 and an average of 48.66. But she managed only 81 runs in seven innings at the World Cup, getting into double figures only twice.Ghosh’s poor form continued through the Women’s T20 Challenge, and then into the tour of Sri Lanka, where Yastika took over keeping duties after the first T20I.Taniya has not played a competitive game since the Women’s T20 Challenge, but played a vital knock during that tournament, scoring 36 off 33 balls and putting on 82 with Harmanpreet Kaur to rescue Supernovas from 18 for 3 against Velocity. Taniya’s international record with the bat is modest, however, with her 22 T20I innings so far bringing her an average of 9.22 and a strike rate of 94.31.Jemimah Rodrigues, who made a successful return to the side in Sri Lanka after missing out on selection for the Women’s World Cup earlier this year, kept her place in the Commonwealth Games squad. She scored 72 runs in the three-match T20I series, including a player-of-the-match performance in the first match, where her unbeaten 36 bailed India out of trouble. S Meghana, who batted at No. 3 in each of those matches, also made the squad, though it is as yet unclear if she has been included as a back-up opener or as a No. 3.Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar will form the seam attack, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma are the main spin options, with support from Deol’s legspin and Rana’s offspin.This year’s Commonwealth Games will include women’s cricket for the first time, with the eight-team tournament to be played under the T20I format. India are grouped alongside Australia, Pakistan and Barbados in Group A. India begin their campaign with the tournament-opener against Australia on July 29, before taking on Pakistan on July 31.All matches will be played at Edgbaston in Birmingham.Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (ice-capt), Shafali Verma, S. Meghana, Taniya Sapna Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh RanaStandby: Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav, Simran Dil Bahadur

The fact that Bangladesh batters didn’t score any hundreds and Zimbabwe had four made “a huge difference,” he says

Mohammad Isam11-Aug-2022Bangladesh’s ODI side has to address a number of areas for improvement, according to captain Tamim Iqbal. Their streak of five consecutive series wins was broken by Zimbabwe, who chased down two challenging totals – 291 and 304 – in the first two ODIs, before petering out in a 105-run loss in the third game on Wednesday.Tamim, who has been in charge of the side since January last year, said that a loss against a lower-ranked side would sting a bit more and hoped that this would ram home the message for improvement in the side.”Talking about improvement is often boring, and it usually comes up when we have lost a match or a series,” Tamim said. “If we had lost to Australia or India, say [Virat] Kohli or [Steven] Smith had played such knocks against us, we wouldn’t have really taken it to heart. They are top players. They are top teams. We didn’t have much to do. I am not belittling them. [Sikandar] Raza, [Regis] Chakabva and [Innocent] Kaia played unbelievably well, but it proved that we have a lot to improve in our ODI side.Related

• Mustafizur four-for, fifties from Anamul and Afif give Bangladesh consolation win

“Ireland, whom we are playing at home and away next year, are also capable of doing similar things. But it doesn’t change the fact that we are a serious ODI team. We are a fantastic ODI team. We had a great run but the graph usually comes down. I am not going to blame the batters or the bowlers separately. We didn’t do well as a unit, which includes planning and execution. There are a lot of areas to work on to reach the top.”Tamim said that four centuries from Zimbabwe’s batters and none from Bangladesh put the two teams apart. Zimbabwe were led by Raza’s twin centuries, with Kaia and Chakabva also hitting hundreds in the big chases. Tamim also praised Zimbabwe for winning the series despite playing with a depleted side.”We couldn’t utilise our chances, they utlilised their opportunity,” he said. “They didn’t have the best possible team. Two of their main fast bowlers were injured, and two batters didn’t play. Credit goes to Zimbabwe. Two individuals took the game away in the first two matches. We didn’t have hundreds, they had four. It was a huge difference.”Tamim said that he wasn’t pleased with his own performance too, despite being one of the few batters showing an intention to score a big one quickly. He struck two half-centuries and was run-out for 19 in the third game.”Though I scored some runs, I am not at all happy,” he said. “It is such a good wicket. You just have to tackle the first ten overs. So getting a 60 and a 50-odd wasn’t enough. It was the difference between the two teams. They had four hundred and we had none.”Tamim believes that unless Bangladesh start scoring big like some of the better teams, they will struggle even on good batting pitches like Harare. “It is one of our team goals to score 350, something that we have not done before. The par score will be 300 in the World Cup in India. Apart from Mirpur and some venues in India where you can win games scoring 260-270, most of the venues are 290-310. This is what’s happening now. Soon you will see us try to reach what others are reaching.”Bangladesh won the third ODI thanks mainly to Afif Hossain’s unbeaten 85 off 81 for which he batted with the tail in the death overs. But Tamim warned that the media shouldn’t start labeling him one way or the other, which might affect his rhythm.”Don’t give any names to him yet. It is too early for him,” Tamim said. “He has a unique quality of taking the game away under pressure. He will do the same thing and sometimes get out, and then we will question him.”But I don’t want him to lose this quality, which is to want to dominate with the way he bats. It is a fantastic quality to have. It is still very early days for him, and I am pretty sure he will have a fantastic career, but it is too early to give him names.”

Evin Lewis, Colin Munro, Mohammad Amir and Matheesha Pathirana are also set to join the franchise

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2022Shakib Al Hasan has signed with Bangla Tigers as an icon player and has been named captain of the side for the fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 League, slated for November this year.Tigers also named former India fast bowler S Sreesanth as their team’s mentor, while former Bangladesh allrounder Aftab Ahmed was named the head coach and Nazmul Abedin Fahim the assistant coach.West Indies batter Evin Lewis, New Zealand’s Colin Munro, Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir and Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana are also set to join the franchise along with Shakib.Shakib, who was recently named Bangladesh captain for Asia Cup and T20 World Cup, has participated in the tournament before, playing five matches for Kerala Knights in the inaugural edition. He has a prolific record in T20s, scoring 5974 runs at a strike rate of 121.59 in 367 matches and picking up 418 wickets at an economy of 6.78.For Sreesanth, this will be his first coaching stint after he announced his retirement from domestic cricket in March this year.”It is befitting that Shakib plays for the Bangla Tigers,” the team owner Mohammad Yasin Chowdhury said. “He is a fantastic ambassador for Bangladesh cricket. From day one we have been keen to include him in the squad but due to the busy schedule of the national team, we were unable to secure him till this season. He is a dynamic, experienced, dedicated, passionate and motivated player as well as an inspirational captain, who will no doubt lead the squad from the front.”The Tigers, who were led by Faf du Plessis, finished third last season after winning six of their ten matches in the group stage.

“We have already got a lot of answers in the last eight to ten months, and this [experimentation] will continue,” says the captain

Shashank Kishore27-Aug-202222:42

Virat Kohli on Ind vs Pak: ‘Atmosphere on the outside very different to any other game’

India will look to experiment, mix and match combinations, and continue to push boundaries in their build-up to the T20 World Cup later this year. They will also look to give players a fair run of games, even if they are not a certainty in the first XI. This was among the biggest takeaways from Rohit Sharma’s pre-match press conference ahead of the team’s Asia Cup opener against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.”Look, we’ve decided we will try things,” Rohit said. “Some things may work, some things may not work, but there is no harm in trying. Only if you try things, will you get answers.”When there is an opportunity to try different combinations, we will try. Along the way, if we make mistakes or face difficulties, we’re okay with that. We have spoken about it as a group, and there is nothing to fear.Related

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“We will keep trying to seek new answers. It can be anywhere, be it batting or bowling. We have already got a lot of answers in the last eight to ten months, and this [experimentation] will continue. When the World Cup comes around, we will see what to do and what not to do.”As soon as he finished training on Friday, Rohit made a quick dash to the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to take a look at the surface and check if there was dew. This provided a peek into the level of detailing India are going into, because they are seemingly mindful of what happened at the last year’s T20 World Cup, where the toss had a massive impact on the result. Of the last ten T20I in Dubai, nine have been won by the chasing team.”Yesterday [Friday], we spoke to the curator and told him that the toss should not be a factor, we want to see quality cricket in both innings,” Rohit said. “He [said] he will do everything he can to make sure the best cricket is displayed for all of us. We’ve heard there wasn’t any dew yesterday. Luckily, we’re playing tomorrow [Sunday] and have a chance to see the game today and see what the conditions will be like.”To assess conditions, we will be in constant touch with the groundsmen to see if there will be dew. Even if there is, we have played enough here to understand what we need to do as a team or as individuals. We should be prepared to counter what is in front of us.”5:06

Rohit ‘can see the freshness in Virat after his break’

Rohit was asked about the rivalry between India and Pakistan, and the social media chatter around it. He was also repeatedly asked about last year’s World Cup game against Pakistan; India’s ten-wicket loss was their first to Pakistan in all World Cups. Rohit said while there were discussions on learning from that defeat, it would have no bearing on Sunday’s game.”The mood is buzzing,” he said. “This is a fresh tournament, a new start. We talk about starting fresh and not thinking of what happened in the past. That’s how teams move forward. It will be challenging to play Pakistan, without a doubt. What is important is what we are thinking and what we want to achieve. We will focus on that rather than thinking about the opposition. We are here with a purpose, and we want to achieve something from this tournament. Everyone is excited to be here, they want to start the tournament on a high.”One of the key conversations in the India camp in recent times has been around mental health, especially in the wake of Virat Kohli’s revelation about how he felt “mentally weak” recently. Kohli has featured in just four T20Is for India this year, having taken breaks at different times. He told that he didn’t touch the bat for a month before coming to Dubai. Rohit, too, talked about the need to normalise the talk around mental health.”We do talk about these kinds of things a lot of late,” Rohit said. “Since Covid-19 struck, it has been difficult for a lot of players, not just Virat. A lot of players have had hard times mentally. Staying in bubbles and not being able to go outside hotels, some of those guys find it difficult, and there’s nothing wrong with it. How you led your life until then was completely different on long tours. With quarantines and all of that, it wasn’t easy.”Every player has a way to respond to it, there isn’t anything wrong if a player has his views on that. There is constant talk in our group about how the players are mentally, what they think of the game, and how we can keep them fresh. That freshness is important, especially when you are playing high-profile games. Mentally you should be fresh, otherwise you won’t be able to compete, so mental health is very important.”Rohit then proceeded to share his observations of Kohli at training and how he seems “fresher than before”. Sunday will be Kohli’s 100th T20I. He will be only the second player after Ross Taylor to play that many matches in each format.”From what I saw, I felt [he is] very good, he is looking in good touch and working hard on his batting,” Rohit said. “I didn’t feel he is thinking of too many things. He is just like how we saw him earlier. He hasn’t made extraordinary changes, but the freshness is there to be seen, given he is coming back after a month. He is in good touch. We focus as a team to give the boys chances to prepare, because preparation is key. We play the way we prepare. The way we have prepared, we have covered all bases.”

During the chase, 16-year-old debutant Aayan Khan gave them a scare but the visitors held their nerve

Mohammad Isam25-Sep-2022Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz led Bangladesh out of trouble an occasion each as they beat UAE by seven runs in the first T20I in Dubai. In front of a sparse crowd mostly made up of expat Bangladeshis, the visitors picked up their first T20I win in the country.After being put in, Bangladesh recovered from 47 for 4, then withstood Chirag Suri’s fiery start with the bat, before 16-year-old debutant Aayan Khan gave them a final scare in the last three overs of the 159-run chase.Afif top-scored with an unbeaten 77 while Miraz took three wickets and two superb catches, one of his own bowling, before Shoriful Islam’s two wickets in the last over sealed the game for Bangladesh.Opening woes continue for Bangladesh
Sabbir Rahman and Miraz walking out to open the innings for Bangladesh laid to rest all the speculation about the opening pair since their curtailed training camp in Dhaka a couple of weeks ago.Their stand, however, lasted just nine balls when Sabbir struck Sabir Ali down to Basil Hameed at deep square leg. Miraz also didn’t look too comfortable, falling for 12 off 14 balls with two fours, top-edging one back to the fast bowler Zawar Farid in the fifth over.In between, the returning Litton Das also fell for 13, although he did start with a lot of intent, hitting three boundaries.Meiyappan’s double-strike
Bangladesh got into further trouble when legspinner Karthik Meiyappan removed Yasir Ali with his first ball. The delivery held its line, sending the visitors into a tail-spin at 47 for 4 in the eighth over. Meiyappan has been a revelation since his debut last year, having now taken 16 wickets in ten T20Is. When he lured Mosaddek Hossain out of the crease, and had him stumped for three, it looked like UAE were on the ascendancy.Afif to the rescue, again
Afif, though, stood firm amid a flurry of wickets. He has already been Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in T20Is this year, so there was a bit of consistency expected of him. He dominated the 30-run stand for the fifth wicket with Mosaddek, before adding 81 in an unbroken stand with captain Nurul Hasan.Luck was also on Afif’s side. He was dropped at deep square leg twice, on 2 and 63. But he struck the ball well through the leg side, regularly hitting it behind square, which seems to be one of his favoured areas this year. He missed a few scoops and ramps, and the straighter bat shots yielded more runs. He finished with three sixes and seven fours – Bangladesh will be happy that they have at one batter who is showing good form.Suri lights up UAE’s chase
Suri started with a boundary spree but Bangladesh had a lucky break in the middle. In the fifth over, a shot from Suri brushed bowler Shoriful’s fingers on its way to the stumps at the non-striker’s end to find Muhammad Waseem out of his crease. Waseem had struck a four and a six in his run-a-ball 15, but the home side needed a harder push.Suri then struck the ball brilliantly against Mustafizur Rahman in the last over of the powerplay. He timed the ball behind square on the off side for two fours before adding a third with a swivelled pull when Mustafizur came around the wicket. The 14-run over took UAE to 43 for 1 after six overs.Miraz comes to the party
The chasing, however, fell flat when Miraz got into the act. He had Suri stumped in the eighth over for 39 off 24 balls. In his next over, he had the dangerous Aryan Lakra for 19.After that, it was the turn of Miraz the fielder. UAE captain CP Rizwan tried to crack Mustafizur through point, but Miraz dived to his left to complete an excellent catch. Shoriful then removed Basil Hameed, before Miraz took his second brilliant catch of the game. Off his own bowling, he dived full length, once again to his left, to intercept Vriitya Aravind’s leading edge.Aayan’s near miss
Afif ran out Farid with a direct hit from deep before Mustafizur bowled Meiyappan in the 17th over. At that point, UAE required 35 from three overs with just two wickets in hand. It looked like the game was all but over before young Aayan struck three fours in the next two overs. He and Junaid Siddique took 14 and 10 off the 18th and 19th over respectively, which also featured Mosaddek dropping a sitter in the deep. Mohammad Saifuddin dropped an even easier chance at cover, but both fielders redeemed themselves by taking a catch each to complete the win.

Jackson Bird hit back with a haul of his own but the visitors’ lead was 292 by the close

AAP02-Dec-2022South Australia’s quicks put their side in control against Tasmania as the visitors closed in on a 300-run lead at stumps on day two of their Sheffield Shield match in Hobart.Tasmania were rolled for 149 in just 50.3 overs at Blundstone Arena, leaving them 180 behind on the first innings. SA opted not to enforce the follow-on and expanded their lead to 291 by stumps.Daniel Drew was unbeaten on 54, having struck nine of his 76 balls for four.Veteran quick Jackson Bird worked his way through the SA top order, having taken the last two first-innings wickets to finish with 3 for 68.Related

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South Australia added 20 for the last two wickets early on day two to get them to 329, and their three quicks took control of the game after Tasmania’s openers put on 33.Tasmania lost 5 for 33 either side of lunch, with Brendan Doggett causing most of the early damage, taking three of the first four wickets.Fellow pacers Nathan McAndrew and Wes Agar maintained the pressure on a pitch offering some assistance for the quicks.”We spoke about bowling hard and heavy into the wicket and trying to make the most out of the divots that were there,” Doggett, who had taken just four wickets in three previous Shield appearances this season, said. “Wes Agar did a great job along with Nathan McAndrew, we all put in our best efforts.”Jake Doran, who returned a positive COVID-19 test on day one, was the only home batter to get on top of the SA attack. He scored 42 off 53 balls and put on 66 for the sixth wicket with Beau Webster after Tasmania were floundering at 5 for 66. However, Doran’s dismissal triggered another slump of 5 for 17 either side of tea.”Throughout the day they constantly challenged our defence and got rewarded on a wicket that’s still got a little bit of life in it,” Tasmania captain Jordan Silk said. “Their bowlers hit the wicket quite hard and challenged our defence and unfortunately we weren’t quite up to it today.”I thought full credit probably goes to their bowlers and the way they were able to make us feel unsettled out there.”

Irfan Pathan believes the back-up can be in the form of spin-bowling allrounder, given the 2023 World Cup will be in home conditions

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2023Gautam Gambhir, the former India batter, says the team needs to identify a back-up for seam-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya as a priority as they build towards the 50-over World Cup at home this October-November.”They need to quickly identify a back-up for Hardik; if something happens to him, India will be in serious, serious trouble,” Gambhir said on “Road To World Cup Glory”, a show on Star Sports that will be aired in full after the first T20I between India and Sri Lanka.

Watch Gambhir, Irfan and Srikkanth’s full take on Star Sports

Watch the full show on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Hindi soon after the first T20I between India and Sri Lanka this evening.

Hardik only recently returned to full fitness after dealing with a back condition that he’s had to manage over the past few years. The upcoming ODIs against Sri Lanka, where he’ll be vice-captain, will be his first one-dayers since the tour of England in July 2022.Irfan Pathan, the former India allrounder, believes that the back-up for Hardik doesn’t necessarily need to be in the form of a seam-bowling allrounder because the tournament will be played in India. To illustrate his point, he cited Yuvraj Singh’s exploits at the 2011 World Cup, where he was Player of the Tournament with 362 runs and 15 wickets courtesy his left-arm spin.”In these conditions, you’re allowed to have two spinning allrounders,” Irfan said. “Guys like Washy [Washington Sundar], Axar [Patel], [Ravindra] Jadeja, and most importantly Deepak Hooda also [should be] in your scheme of things. Because he’s a batter; he just took four wickets in the New Zealand series. He [Hooda] needs to get a long run.”Who should make up India’s pace attack at the World Cup?
Irfan also said having an out-and-out quick in Umran Malik will give India’s pace attack the X-factor, especially on flat decks where the ball may not seam much. Gambhir, meanwhile, welcomed Jasprit Bumrah’s return, saying he will be the team’s biggest strength at the World Cup.Both Gambhir and Irfan were unanimous in their support for Prasidh Krishna, who has impressed in his limited opportunities with his hit-the-deck style that helps him generate steep bounce at excellent pace. Krishna hasn’t played any form of cricket since the tour of Zimbabwe in August, having picked up a back issue in September.”He’s a guy who can give you extra pace and bounce, he’s my guy,” Irfan said. “Avesh Khan can also be someone who can get bounce even on show pitches. You need guys who can give a little extra on such wickets.”Kris Srikkanth, chairman of the selection panel who picked the 2011 World Cup-winning team, had a different line-up in mind. “Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj will be my four pacers, along with Hardik Pandya’s medium pace. The matter ends.”‘Take a break from T20 cricket, not ODIs’ – Gambhir
Workload management amid an increasingly packed calendar has been a hot topic of late, with India rotating players and not often fielding a first-choice XI. If this is the case in 2023 as well, Gambhir said, the focus should be on having first-choice players play ODIs and rest during T20I series or the IPL.”This year [the core group should be focusing on] ODIs for sure. If they want to take a break, people who are playing all the three formats, they can definitely take a break from T20 cricket but surely not from ODI format. They have got to play together – I think the biggest mistake Indian cricket has made in the last probably two World Cups has been that they [the core players], these guys have not played enough cricket [in the lead up to the World Cups] together.”Tell me how many times have we got the best playing XI on the park? We haven’t. Only during the World Cup we decide to have the best playing XI… The break has to happen in the T20 format and not 50 overs.”And from the [IPL] franchisee point of view, [if] franchises have to suffer, they have to suffer. Indian cricket is the main stakeholder, not the IPL, the IPL is just the byproduct. So if India goes on to win the World Cup, that is the big ovation.”

Marcus Stoinis and Hilton Cartwright could not quite finish the chase as Heat moved up to third

AAP22-Jan-2023Brisbane Heat’s late season surge towards the BBL finals continued with a thrilling four-run victory over Melbourne Stars at the Gabba.Left-arm quick Spencer Johnson bowled the last over of the match for the second time in as many games. Stars needed 14 but Johnson contained Marcus Stoinis and Hilton Cartwright with nerves of steel.Heat’s win was set up by an unbroken 133-run stand by wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson and English import Sam Hain who lifted the home side to 188 for 4 batting first.The last-placed Stars needed 44 with 14 deliveries to go before Cartwright and Stoinis were both caught off full tosses that were correctly ruled over the waist.The pair walloped sixes and fours to set up a final ball showdown. Johnson unleashed the perfect yorker and kept Stoinis quiet.Heat, on 13 points, can now wrap up a top-five finals position with a win over Hobart Hurricanes in Launceston on Wednesday. The table is that tight the Heat could finish as high as third or still miss the finals, depending on results.Stars opener Tom Rogers smashed 41 off 20 balls to get the visitors moving quickly in pursuit of the total in an innings that included three huge sixes over the leg side.Mitchell Swepson (2-23) was the key with the ball for Heat with his accurate legspinners pegging back the early momentum.Earlier, Hain and Peirson came together at 55 for 4 in the seventh over and paced their liaison to perfection by taking 30 runs off the two power surge overs to up the ante.Peirson, playing his 101st BBL game for Heat, was pugnacious square of the wicket while Hain unfurled a vast range of shots, including a reverse ramp for six. It was a rescue mission that could yet prove decisive in ensuring the Heat play finals.England international Luke Wood came out breathing fire and brimstone in a fearsome opening spell for Stars.He blasted out Josh Brown and Marnus Labuschagne in his opening two overs and almost had Matt Renshaw first ball. Renshaw ran himself out for 7 when he took on mid-off Adam Zampa and lost.

The allrounder’s career came to a close with Sydney Sixers’ Challenger final defeat at the SCG

Andrew McGlashan03-Feb-2023When it comes to T20 cricket, Dan Christian has been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the trophies. As his career came to a close with Sydney Sixers defeat at the SCG on Thursday, he perhaps unsurprisingly left the game extolling the virtues of the format, and believes that what appears to be the unstoppable growth of T20 is the key to other parts of the game surviving.Christian ended with 409 T20 matches, currently the ninth-most ever, and nine trophies in the cabinet with success in England, the Caribbean and South Africa along with Australia. This year’s BBL, which has been a resurgent one for the competition, overlapped in part with the new leagues in South Africa and the UAE plus the Bangladesh Premier League.The BBL will actually be trimmed back, and perhaps as soon as next season if things can move fast enough, with a reduced 43-game tournament part of the new broadcast deal, but overall the amount of domestic T20 around the world is only likely to go one way.Related

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“I don’t think we are really overloading it,” Christian said. “And I’m saying that based on how many people watch it on TV, [and] the crowd in Perth the other day was unbelievable and it will be a sellout in the grand final.”I understand there are plenty of competitions going on around the world but the reason there are plenty of competitions is that people want to watch them, be that at home on the couch or going through the gates.”Think the T20 game is the key to ensuring the other formats survive, it’s encouraging new people to come through the gates and new people to take the game up.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The format was barely out of nappies when Christian played his first T20 game in 2006 so he has witnessed the game’s evolution at first hand. He feels the biggest change is now the level of planning which goes into every moment of a match.”When it first started it was a bit Mickey Mouse, no one knew how to really play it, [it was] just an abbreviated one-day game but now all 240 balls are really well planned,” he said. “More often than not it’s one really good over that will win or lose the game whereas in the other formats you have plenty of time to make up for those good or bad overs. In T20, everyone is so precise now, the bowling is so precise and the batting is so good, you can’t miss or guys just hit it for six.”Christian, who was also capped 43 times by Australia and picked out his debut at the SCG as a career high point, had decided a little while out that this would be his final season having ended a long association with Nottinghamshire during the last English summer. There was no fairytale end, and the chance of a 10th title, as Heat took out a low-scoring scrap on a difficult SCG pitch.Coaching is a likely future path for Christian who had a taste of it during the men’s T20 World Cup in Australia earlier in the season when he worked with Netherlands.”I’ve been in the game so long, definitely not lining up to do a 9 to 5 job,” he joked. “I’ll probably put my hand up and try and get a gig somewhere.”I’ve really enjoyed being an older player and being able to help the younger guys in whatever way shape or form that I can, be it with tactics or with any kind of experience that I’ve had. I suppose coaching’s the exact same thing without the pressure of having to perform on the field.”Moises Henriques, Sixers’ captain, praised Christian as the ultimate team man who always wanted to be involved in critical moments of a match.”He’s always been a pleasure to play with. As a captain, he’s one of those guys who always wants to bat and always wants to bowl,” he said. “No matter where we are in the game he’s coming up and giving me a nudge on the shoulder. They are the type of guys you love having in your team because they are up for the contest.”I just hope he enjoys the next chapter of his life and doesn’t try to force it too quickly. He’s been playing cricket for a long time so hopefully for him it’s six months of golf somewhere, and just enjoy that, get his handicap even lower and then he can worry about working after that.”

Defending champions Oval Invincibles have kept the core of their 2022 squad together

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-2023The first-ever women’s Hundred draft took place on Thursday evening, with each team making between four and six picks to fill out their squads having earlier retained between two and four players from their 2022 cohort.Welsh Fire, picking first, tried to sign Sophie Devine and Danni Wyatt, only to be thwarted by Birmingham Phoenix and Southern Brave respectively, who used their Right-To-Match cards to keep hold of their players. Eventually, they made Sophia Dunkley their first pick.Each team will fill out their squad in an open-market process before the tournament starts on August 1, with two teams – London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix – both in the market for a third and final overseas player. Here is how the squads stack up for now.