The quick bowler went more than 600 days between first-class appearances after his return to New South Wales, but made up for lost time last season

Andrew McGlashan26-Sep-2022Chris Tremain, the New South Wales pace bowler, was one of the few professional cricketers in Australia who wouldn’t have minded last season not coming to an end in late March.”I was probably the only one,” he says with a laugh.Tremain is in his second spell with New South Wales having started his career there before moving to Victoria. The return, six years later, came ahead of the 2020-21 season but he ended up not featuring in the first XI the entire summer.Last November, when he finally found a place in the Sheffield Shield team, against his former team Victoria, it had been 634 days between first-class matches. In that time, during which the world had been taken over by the pandemic, his professional outings had amounted to three BBL games for Sydney Thunder.He quickly made up for lost time, ending the Shield season with 24 wickets at 15.95 in five outings and was named New South Wales’ men’s player of the season. However, as the new campaign begins, with Tremain certain of his place in the team, he admits his immediate feeling was not one of savouring his much-awaited success.”I didn’t actually let myself enjoy it that much. I wasn’t very modest about it, either,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “People would come up and say ‘gee, you bowled well today’ and I would say ‘f****** surprised, are you’, especially when it was blokes from New South Wales saying ‘you bowled really well’. I was like ‘yeah, I’ve been doing it against you guys for the last five years’.”Then to balance that out, I never really stood back and said I’m proud of how I’ve bounced back. Even with the awards, I spent a lot of the time saying it’s great to win an individual award, but I really want to win Shields, win trophies, because with a career getting into the 30s you are closer to the end than you are the start. You really just want be in a successful team.”Kurtis Patterson, the New South Wales captain, conceded their previous selection was proved wrong. “He was fantastic when he came in last year,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Certainly as an organisation we can put our hand up and say we got that one wrong, leaving him out of the side for as long as we did, because he really led from game one and was rightfully our player of the year.”**Chris Tremain walks off the SCG after taking five wickets against Tasmania•Getty ImagesLooking back on his season – and more – on the sidelines, a situation exacerbated by the need for Covid bubbles and hubs that made it very difficult to find playing opportunities at short notice, Tremain reflects honestly on how it played out.”Maybe not second thoughts [about the move], think I did the right thing, but I was sort of left in limbo,” he says. “Sitting on the sidelines for those 18 months was horrid. I hated it.”I contemplated retirement quite frequently, my wife talked me out of it so many times. It was just a really challenging period. If I was injured or not bowling well then it would have been okay because I’d have had a little carrot dangling in front of my nose. But I was just fishing in the dark a little bit for that 18 months, waiting and waiting. But I knew when I got an opportunity, when I picked up the tools and went back to work, that everything would be okay.”However, to get that opportunity he needed misfortune for a team-mate. There was some 2nd XI cricket to keep him ticking over, and he captained the side, but even that created some mixed messages about whether he actually had to prove he should be recalled. A conversation with Shawn Bradstreet, the NSW assistant bowling coach, provided some clarity.

I went, this is the most dysfunctional relationship I’ve ever been in because they show you a little bit of interest, you come crawling back, then they throw you away and go with someone else. Then you get better, come crawling back again, and they discard you againChris Tremain on putting aside the Australia dream

“When you are sitting on the sidelines kicking cans because you aren’t playing, the guys who are playing, your team-mates and your mates, they know for me to get a go they had to get injured or bowl poorly,” Tremain says. “No one wants that to happen. It was a really hard balancing act. I actually spoke to a handful of boys about it. I would say, ‘it’s not that I think I’m better than you, or you can’t do this job, I just want to get to a point where I’m able to do it with you’.”There was a lot less cricket. You just had to try and get the load in at training but it was never the same. That was a little challenging, mentally I was a shot duck for a lot of the time. I was sort of getting information that you don’t need to prove anything, then from other people I was getting you need to prove you are better than these guys to get a spot, but I had no way of doing that.”[Shawn] sat me down and said, ‘mate, they’re both right. You do need to prove it, but you don’t need to do anything differently to prove it…it will prove itself’. Had we not had the conversation, I would probably have come into the first Shield game trying to prove I still had it.”In the end, it was the injury scenario that played out to open the way for Tremain when Trent Copeland and Liam Hatcher were both sidelined. After the match at the SCG had been delayed by a day when Will Sutherland tested positive for Covid, New South Wales batted first and made 233 thanks to the efforts of debutant Hayden Kerr.Then, having waited more than 600 days, Tremain had ball in hand. With his first delivery, he found the inside edge of James Seymour. Two balls later, Peter Handscomb was lbw. In his next over, Matthew Short was caught a second slip. After two overs, Tremain had 3 for 2.”When I got that opportunity I just said I’d go and do my job again, it’s worked for the last seven or eight years so it will work again. And it did. I just knew I needed a crack at it.”

I never really gave myself the time to sit back and give myself a pat on the back and say, well done

When the Shield resumed after the BBL – where Tremain did not get on the park for Thunder; he has now moved to Hobart Hurricanes – he took five wickets in a victory against Queensland at the Gabba (also making vital runs in a low-scoring encounter) and seven in a win over Tasmania at the SCG, the two games New South Wales won in their truncated season.”Even when we were playing in Shield finals [for Victoria], the best thing about it was we knew the season was coming to an end,” he says. “Win, lose or draw, you just knew the season was done. Not that we don’t enjoy doing what we do, it’s just there is always a relief when you can put your feet up and say that was an okay season, a good one or there’s stuff to work on. [But] for me, [last season] was five games, a couple of one-dayers and no Big Bash so I would happily have kept going.”**Tremain tried to find some overseas opportunities this winter but has not played enough games for Australia to qualify for the County Championship. He had planned to go to Darwin with the Melbourne Renegades’ squad for some T20, but injury put paid to that. In fact, having been largely injury-free for six years, he’s been hit by a couple of problems in the lead-up to this campaign.The first was a small stress fracture in a rib – “a strange place to get it for a fast bowler,” he says – then he damaged the cartilage in his ribs when he was leaning over a gate at home. “So the last month or so my ribs have been taking a beating, but everything is shaping up well.”Tremain is a believer in the best way to stay fit to play cricket is by playing cricket. He admits the medical staff sometimes see it differently, but everyone has reached the start of the season with him able to get into the Marsh Cup side ahead of the Sheffield Shield beginning against Western Australia on October 3.Which leads to what another successful summer could mean. Tremain is still only 31 and averages 23.58 in first-class cricket. Since his debut, only four bowlers have taken more Shield wickets. His recent Victoria team-mate Scott Boland burst onto the Test scene at the age of 32 last summer with the magical spell of 6 for 7 at the MCG. Does Tremain, who played four ODIs in 2016 as part of a second-string bowling attack that also included Boland, still harbor those dreams?A pumped up Chris Tremain celebrates•Getty Images”I haven’t allowed myself to feel that way for a long time because I feel it’s a little bit counterproductive,” he says. “I spent a lot of my 20s with that a driving force, that I really want to get that Baggy Green. I got to 26 or 27, probably when I came back from India on an A tour [in 2018] and didn’t get picked in a Test squad to the UAE when I was probably at the peak of my powers.”I went, this is the most dysfunctional relationship I’ve ever been in because they show you a little bit of interest, you come crawling back, then they throw you away and go with someone else. Then you get better, come crawling back again, and they discard you again. So I just wiped it and thought, well, look, you have my number, if you want me to do a job give me a call, if not, the only thing I care about is putting my name on trophies.”Sadly we have fallen short of that in the last couple of years but having only played first-class cricket, the feeling of winning Sheffield Shields is the best I’ve achieved so to recreate that is now goal number one. Playing for Australia, or advancing a personal career, is a byproduct of doing that.”Tremain has featured for Australia A again since 2018, against England Lions in 2019, and he does add that, as Boland shows, “there is always time.” But however that plays out, it is not at the forefront of his mind. With a career back on track, he hopes to be less hard on himself this summer.”I never really gave myself the time to sit back and give myself a pat on the back and say, well done. Fingers crossed if there’s moments this season when things go well, I can sit back, have a beer, and go that was a good shift today.”

It makes no sense, follows no script, and laughs in the face of conventional wisdom, but Pakistan are somehow in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup

Danyal Rasool06-Nov-20222:27

Mumtaz: ‘The middle order has stepped up and saved Pakistan in every game’

If the only value of bilateral T20I cricket lies in the opportunity to make the right tweaks ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup, then Pakistan spent the last year wasting everyone’s time. They built in seven (7!) games against England, ostensibly to experiment with the top order, only for Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to open in six of them.They wanted to trial Shadab Khan further up the order, but he wouldn’t bat once in the top four. When, in a tri-series against New Zealand (yet more T20Is!) they did try Shadab in the top four, he whacked Ish Sodhi around for fun. It suddenly made so much sense. So of course, they didn’t bat him there again next game. Like against India in the Asia Cup, where Mohammad Nawaz had come in at number 4 and sensationally won Pakistan a match they looked to be stuttering in. He wouldn’t bat there again all tournament.Related

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We didn’t understand this side well enough, though, you see. Rizwan and Babar always had to open because they were Specialist Chasers™. It didn’t matter whether the total was 140 or 200, these two were built to run it down. Never mind that Babar and Rizwan are what you might imagine the opposite of Marilyn Monroe to be: if you couldn’t live with them at their worst batting first, you didn’t deserve them at their best batting second.So the first game Pakistan chased at this World Cup, they had Babar and Rizwan up top, of course. They threw in Shan Masood, too, because it never hurts to have too many anchors, right? And they were set 130 by Zimbabwe, a chase so built for anchors it was almost offensive. It was all set up so beautifully for Pakistan it was too tempting not to fluff this up. No World Cup is as valuable as brand reinforcement and narrative consistency, so naturally, Pakistan fell short by one run.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan always had to open as they are Pakistan’s Specialist Chasers™•AFP/Getty ImagesIt was their second defeat of the tournament, and they sat dolefully at the bottom of a group containing Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, less than a fortnight after they had lifted a T20 tri-series trophy in New Zealand. The first defeat, too, came in the most characteristic fashion, complete with a top order failure, a middle order salvage, and a lower-order slap and dash to perfectly set their fast bowlers up to defend 160. They duly put India to the sword, and pretty much the game to bed, only for Virat Kohli to play the T20I innings of his life and deny Pakistan at the last.The match against the Netherlands was that one clinical game Pakistan sometimes have when they’ve stunk a place up so much everyone’s left, and therefore no one’s watching to put any pressure on them. Haris Rauf hit Bas de Leede in the face, Mohammad Rizwan’s strike rate finally realised 100 isn’t the speed limit, and there was some wholesome content to be had from Haris giving de Leede some encouraging words and a cuddle.Shadab Khan celebrates after dismissing Soumya Sarkar in the crucial encounter against Bangladesh•Getty ImagesJust like 2007 and 2009, though, Pakistan suddenly discovered the value of the low-value wicket up top, and the futility of anchors in this format. Fakhar Zaman’s injury saw them replace him in the squad with Mohammad Haris. He’s a man who has travelled alongside the team without playing so much he might have been mistaken for a hanger-on, the sort of person sports stars end up stuck with and don’t know how to shake off.Pakistan had the entirety of the Asia Cup, the seven matches against England, and the tri-series in New Zealand to figure out if this Haris bloke might be any use to them. They gave him all of eight balls in those 18 T20Is. He tried to hit the ball too much, took far too many risks, and looked like he had never met the forward defensive shot in his life. How would he play against high-class fast bowling in Australia? No, thank you, out you go.Having made that judgment call, there was only one thing to do. “You want to play a World Cup, boy? Here you go, you play tomorrow.”Not against the Netherlands or Zimbabwe to get settled in. “We play South Africa tomorrow, and good news, you’re playing. We’ll stick you right there in the top order, just after Rizwan or Babar get out for a strike rate so low it might even shock Temba Bavuma. There’ll be lots of pressure to get runs quickly. You like to do that, yeah? Well, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje like to test out how strong helmets are. Let’s see who wins.”Even Wayne Parnell smacks him on the grill second ball. But the six balls he faces off Nortje and Rabada see him plunder 22 runs. Pakistan have hit one powerplay six all tournament; Haris smashes three in 11 balls. Pakistan realise attacking cricket can also be quite fun, an epiphany that neatly escaped them through the scores of build-up T20 games they had been playing. Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab wallop everything, their 103 runs coming off a combined 57 balls. They blow South Africa away, a side that was top of the group, just beat India last game and thrashed Bangladesh by 104 runs.

“There’s perhaps no point talking about rebuilding for 2024 when this World Cup comes to an end, because Pakistan rebuild on the hoof, right in the middle of World Cup campaigns”

Rizwan’s consistency over the past two years means there’s no template for how to play when he isn’t fit and firing. For all the criticism around his alleged conservatism, he has spent the last two years before this World Cup averaging 64.51 and striking at 131.89. It prompts Pakistan to brush aside all criticism and stick with him as their man up top. So, across five innings, here, his average drops to 20.60, and he’s striking at 100, the lowest among all players at this World Cup to have faced over 100 balls.It is almost impudent for Pakistan to have the cheek to dream of a semi-final spot with their T20 setup in this state, but here in Adelaide, the Netherlands have just beaten South Africa. It is close to the only thing that could keep Pakistan in the hunt, and just about encapsulates Pakistan perfectly. The form team of last year’s World Cup, with the number one ranked opening batter in the world, bowlers so fast and skilful it’s almost unfair to stock them all into one team, preparation so exhaustive it could generate performances through muscle memory alone. And yet, their hopes come down to a sleepy, sunwashed Adelaide morning, and how well a 38-year-old Stephen Myburgh playing his last match can attack Kagiso Rabada, or how fast Roloef van der Merwe can run backwards to dismiss David Miller.They still have their own work to do, needing to beat Bangladesh, and are well on their way with the ball. But Babar and Rizwan almost parody themselves as they inch their way along, an alarmed Pakistan fanbase watching the asking rate rise ominously up. Even Mohammad Nawaz, who’s shot up to three ahead of Haris for no discernible reason can only manage 4 off 11. Haris comes in and whacks just enough to break the back of the low-scoring total because, surprise, that is what hitters with a license to slog do. Shadab, of course, has been shunted far down again, but who can really keep up anymore?This team’s in the semi-final, folks. It makes no sense, follows no script, laughs in the face of so much received wisdom we’ve come to learn about T20 cricket. There’s perhaps no point talking about rebuilding for 2024 when this World Cup comes to an end, because Pakistan rebuild on the hoof, right in the middle of World Cup campaigns. And they’ve made it to six out of eight T20 World Cup semi-finals doing that, a feat unmatched by any other side.You really can’t understand Pakistan cricket. You can only enjoy it. And on days like today in Adelaide, that can seem ever so easy.

Shadab Khan was a key part of the club’s planning and has already shown why

Cameron Ponsonby29-Dec-2022A friend makes bionic limbs. Back when he was studying for his masters, he went to his supervisor with a question about a process he had been following.”Potentially a stupid question,” he put to the tutor, “but I’ve noticed everyone does this thing that way. But why can’t we do it this way?””I don’t know,” came the reply. Six months later and bionic limb friend would give a presentation to an international audience on his discovery.Sometimes it pays to ask why not. In August at this season’s BBL draft, Hobart Hurricanes set tongues wagging after they pursued a unique draft strategy that saw them tap up an under-utilised corner of cricketing talent: Pakistan.Related

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“Surprised everyone,” was one review. “An interesting tactic,” another. “Punter [Ricky Ponting] explains draft gamble,” a third.The assessments were accurate, in that Hurricanes had departed from convention, with no other team picking a single Pakistani player (Usman Qadir has since joined Sydney Thunder as a replacement) and Hurricanes choosing three. But also confusing, in that there doesn’t seem to be a reason why Hurricanes’ noteworthy strategy should be of such, well, note. This isn’t the IPL, there’s no ban on signing them here.And sign them Hurricanes did. What’s more, in Shadab Khan, Asif Ali and Faheem Ashraf, Hurricanes’ “draft gamble” saw them bring together the three most internationally experienced players of any teams’ picks, with 181 caps between them. Sydney Thunder were next closest with 144; Adelaide Strikers further off the pace with 115.In particular, Shadab was their man. At the very first planning meeting months out from the draft the view was that the team was in need of a power-hitting, spin-bowling allrounder. Cue months of conversations going round-and-around in circles as all parties aggressively agreed with each other that Shadab, yes, Shadab, was the one they wanted.

I always talked with Darren [Berry] about the basics because [in Pakistan] we don’t have coaches since childhood, we’re self-made players so he helped me with all this stuffShadab Khan

The only problem for Hurricanes was that they had the last pick on auction day. But, if the last few months have proved anything, it’s that they were placing value where others weren’t. And Shadab went unpicked.”We could have alleviated two and a half months of planning,” head coach Jeff Vaughan said, in a sod’s law sort of a way, “but we’re really pleased to get our man.”In addition to a global superstar in Shadab, they added Asif, a powerful middle-order batter who represented Pakistan in the recent T20 World Cup. Asif’s pick was a surprise to most, but again, the best case scenario for Hurricanes.”We were very pleased to get Shadab into Asif Ali,” Vaughan said. “Another of our first two picks.”In a sport increasingly focused on marginal gains buried in laptops, Hurricanes were picking cash off the ground that everyone else was too busy to notice.This connection with Pakistan isn’t a coincidence. Vaughan spent time in the country earlier this year when he was coaching with Australia while Ricky Ponting, the head of strategy, has long been a public advocate of Pakistan’s white-ball talent. But the real link comes through assistant coach Darren Berry who spent two years coaching at Islamabad United alongside the late Dean Jones.”It was a brilliant experience with Dean Jones and Darren,” says Shadab, who worked extensively with the pair when they headed up the team.”I always talked with Darren about the basics because [in Pakistan] we don’t have coaches since childhood, we’re self-made players so he helped me with all this stuff. I spent two years in Islamabad with Darren so it’s good for me because in a new set-up, the coach is the same.”For all the money that gets handed around franchise leagues, you can’t put a price on the importance of personal relationships. And it was Ponting in particular who wished to lean on this. Cricket is a global game, but it would be naive to assume that coming from overseas will always be plain sailing. Playing alongside those you know from home can help make the transition easier. Not only are Shadab, Asif and Faheem countrymen, but they are all club-mates too, with Islamabad.”It’s brilliant,” says Shadab of being signed alongside Asif. “Because it’s not usually we play like that when we play in overseas leagues. I play a lot so my English is a bit better, but it means I can help Asif. Because [the] accent is a bit difficult for me,” he adds with a laugh. “Sometimes even I don’t understand and I can take care of him as well.”It was certainly something we discussed throughout,” Vaughan said of Hurricanes’ focus on ensuring as welcoming and friendly an environment as possible. “I mean number one was to pick the best players. But we all know when we play cricket and when we travel the world with people that we know or we’re comfortable with and we’re friends with, it makes your time and your experience a hell of a lot a lot easier.”And just seeing Shadab and Asif for the last week and a half has been great, they’re like brothers, they really are.”Asif Ali almost stole a remarkable victory at the SCG•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesHurricanes have been rewarded on the pitch for looking after their players off it. Shadab has hit the ground running with contributions with both bat and ball, and Asif contributed with a fantastic, but ultimately doomed, innings 44 off 13 balls in their loss against the Sydney Sixers. Meanwhile, Faheem is soon to join up after unexpectedly being called to the Test squad against England.The theoretical availability of Pakistan players had been the final piece of the puzzle for Hurricanes’ strategy although these best laid plans have nonetheless been partially undermined. Shadab leaves in January for a white-ball series which was expected, but Faheem’s inclusion in the Test side was not, with Zak Crawley and Jimmy Neesham chosen as replacements respectively.”Faheem was one that we planned on probably not being in the [England] Test series,” Vaughan said. “I’m very pleased for him that he did get selected, but that was certainly part of the strategy, weighing up the best players, but also their availability. And I think most teams went down that route of not necessarily selecting the best players who can only play four or five games. Longevity was a fair bit of it as well.”Historically and currently, English players have had the strongest ties with the BBL. And in particular, second-string England players, as their availability is often all but perfect.But now with global T20 sands shifting, the BBL could see other sides following Hurricanes’ example. Of particular significance is that the two new competing T20 tournaments, the ILT20 and SA20, are all-but completely Indian owned. Of the ILT20s six teams, five are run by Indian business with the only Pakistani player signed, Azam Khan, being picked up by the sole American franchise Desert Vipers. Meanwhile, the SA20’s six teams are all owned by the same companies that operate the IPL and has seen no Pakistanis signed, although the league has stated they wish for Pakistan players to be involved in the future.A caveat here is that Pakistan’s home white-ball series against New Zealand and the West Indies means availability of their top players would have been poor, but it nonetheless plays into the creeping fear of Pakistan cricket that as the IPL spreads its wings, their players may be further marginalised and denied opportunities in global leagues.How fictional or far away that reality is doesn’t really matter today. The monster under the bed may not be real, but it still keeps people up at night. An ever more powerful IPL is unlikely to be good news if you’re a player from Pakistan. Which, in contrast, makes tournaments such as the Hundred or the BBL that are board-owned a more attractive and likely destination for Pakistan’s stars.For the BBL, Pakistan offers available, high quality players. Which begs the question, why spend your life doing way, when you could be doing it .

Islamabad-Multan diary: While the focus on safety is very understandable, it regrettably drains the travelling reporter’s experience of authentic local flavour

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Dec-2022It was probably when heading outside for my first cigarette in Multan that I realised the true nature of this tour.Islamabad was fine, the spectre of heavy security easy to ignore given the scale of the Serena Hotel, the drives to the ground, and the occasional manufactured dalliance into the real world. But lighting up and seeing four police officers form a square around you as if they are about to start up an impromptu game of rondo was a reminder of the lengths local law-enforcement people need to go. Everyone here harbours a collective responsibility to do their bit for this England tour of Pakistan. They thought I might try and leave my hotel, but I knew better than that after the way they panicked when a colleague tried to go for a wander. No one can leave without police presence and getting out at night is a straight no-go. Hopefully that softens, but I’m not holding out much hope.Related

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Since arriving in Pakistan at the end of November, the sense of local pride at hosting England for a first Test tour since 2005 has been abundantly clear. But in Multan, you can feel the anxiety.Cricket has only just returned to this city after 14 years, following a few ODIs against West Indies in March, and it is clear the PCB isn’t keen to take the training wheels off the place just yet. And fair enough. These international tours, costing US$ 2 million a pop, are so reliant on Western sensitivities. If the choice is between making your guests feel frustrated and safe and liberated and exposed, then, yeah, why wouldn’t you choose the latter?There is a sense among the travelling press corps that those who have never been to Pakistan before, like myself, won’t get to see the real Pakistan before we leave. As important as the cricket is on this occasion, it largely defeats the point of touring.The previous week in Islamabad was heavily cricket – one-of-a-kind cricket, to be fair – but for a visit to the British High Commission. It was pegged as one of the few places to openly consume alcohol in the city, and barring the plush setting and three levels of security clearance required, it basically ended up with all the English media packed into what was a glorified cricket club bar talking loudly, playing pool and asking if they had anything else other than BrewDog (they did – plenty). Just as that night was winding down, an invite came for a jaunt into Islamabad. Specifically, a house party.No, this was not simply another manufactured Anglo comfort rouse. A friend of a friend had an in, and three of us were cool by association. An hour later, we found ourselves in the kind of house that would be the final boss on MTV Cribs.If the choice is between making your guests feel frustrated and safe and liberated and exposed, then why wouldn’t you choose the latter?•Getty ImagesIt was surreal for many reasons, but perhaps the most heartening was the breadth of those in attendance. The kind of bolshy creative types responsible for layers of culture among younger generations. Quite apart from being made to feel totally welcome was the gratitude of getting an opportunity to glimpse into a side of Pakistan that is rarely considered. This, we were told, was the start of Islamabad’s party season. Many in attendance were prominent members of niche yet thriving industries, some of whom were back from abroad to catch up with old friends in their old haunts. All older, worldlier, and a little more appreciative of home and how it forged them.During the 3am ride back to the hotel through the dark empty streets of Islamabad, the glee at finally seeing something real beyond those who come to cheer in the stands reinforced something: there are many personalities of Pakistan, but they will only reveal themselves to you if you’re willing to meet them more than halfway.As I recall that thought now, on the eve of the second Test, maybe a cricket tour is one of the worst ways to do that, especially with England? None of this is inauthentic, but also none of this is real. Perhaps other opportunities to embrace the real Pakistan will come before I head home, especially with Karachi on the horizon. My aim for now is to at least shake its hand in Multan.

And India and Pakistan make everyone else uncomfortable with their Asia Cup saga

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Jun-2023If there are still those who consider England the home of cricket, then India is cricket’s Vegas mega-mansion. The glitz has been impossible to miss for years now. They are highrolling like no one’s ever highrolled before, carving out vast tracts of real estate on the calendar for the IPL, raising obscene sums from broadcast contracts, and drawing more nations, more players, more companies, and more spineless political shills into orbit.If the Briefing sounds grumpy about all of this, it has nothing to do with our not being on the Indian cricket gravy train. It’s because we have morals*.We thought we were friends
Dearest BCCI,We hope you are well. Your president looks dashing on his magazine covers.We are writing after receiving the new proposal at the ICC, which suggests the BCCI will receive 38.5% of the ICC’s net revenue over the next four years. As India is the nation that contributes the most to the media rights’ value, it is, of course, only right that the BCCI gain the most from the ICC’s profits.However, we were dismayed to see that we receive a mere 6.89% and 6.25%, which is less than $40 million per year. This is almost as little as Pakistan and not much more than New Zealand.Forgive us BCCI, but perhaps there is some mistake? Did we not come together as brothers in 2014 to carve out the greatest shares of the ICC’s net revenue between the three of us? Did we not together invent the reasoning for this lionising? How could this have possibly turned upon us?We will of course not go so low as to seriously suggest that the global game is best served by an egalitarian spirit at the ICC, or that it may ultimately be counterproductive for one side to dominate all others at global events. The plan was to dominate them together.Concerned,The England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket AustraliaDon’t cry because it ended; smile because it happened
“Bro, how great was it when it was just the two of us?Imperial Cricket Council 4eva *handheart emoji*”Franchises eye year-round player contracts
It’s now become commonplace for cricketers to retire early from internationals to spend time with their franchise families. But indications are that IPL franchises are about to step it up several gears, by signing players on for the majority of the year to play in various leagues owned by the same bosses around the world.Just to flex, Chennai Super Kings even used England Test captain Ben Stokes as the world’s most expensive benchwarmer for most of his two months at the IPL.Asia Cup drama
As Oscar Wilde once famously said, “Everything in the world is about sex. Except the Asia Cup. The Asia Cup is about scheduling difficulties.”This year’s tournament, which almost everyone will agree would be excellent practice for the World Cup, is supposed to be hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board. And the PCB don’t just want to host, they want to HOST it. None of this “take the profits but play the games in the UAE” stuff. They want the Asia Cup to come home, baby. They’ll show it the biryani joints of Karachi, the architecture of Lahore, the broad avenues of Islamabad, and hold it safe and tight when the Pindi boys get too close.But like the aunties who lead rival factions of the family, India and Pakistan are intent on making this get-together uncomfortable for everyone yet again. India, unwilling to travel to Pakistan, have suggested that their matches be played at a neutral venue. The BCCI even went as far as to invite heads of the Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and ACC boards to the IPL final, while floating Sri Lanka as a potential alternative venue (much to SLC’s joy, because obviously the BCCI would never dump its allies the moment it no longer needs them).Is this any way for the big South Asian boards to behave, though? Should there not be bonhomie based upon mutual joys? Joys such as the dance (Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka), crowd violence (Afghanistan vs Pakistan), the threat of nuclear war (the big boys), and wild gesticulating (Virat Kohli vs Naveen-ul-Haq).While the scheduling remains uncertain, the likes of Nepal – who deserve a big tournament, having won 13 of their last 14 ODIs – are in limbo.In 2035 on the Briefing:
– Sri Lanka player selfishly abandons franchise who made him what he is to pursue glory with his national team.- Star 15-year-old batter in Shropshire believes he can get into his favourite Kanpur Autocrats IPL side if he works hard enough, though any of the other 35 teams would do.*Our morals are currently available for sale if the BCCI would just return our communications via telephone, email, Instagram, or Onlyfans DM

Duckett’s open-secret transfer from Welsh Fire epitomises behind-the-scenes dynamic

Matt Roller22-Mar-2023Ben Duckett has spoken to enough people about the Hundred that he is confident he knows which team will sign him in Thursday evening’s draft, and for how much money.But as he stands in the Long Room of the Trent Bridge pavilion at Nottinghamshire’s media day, he finds himself in an unusual position. “It feels really weird doing this interview,” he says, smiling. “Because I can’t say who it is – but that team is somewhere I’d love to go and play.””That team” is Birmingham Phoenix, not that Duckett is at liberty to confirm as much. Phoenix have the third pick in the draft and have already signed their full quota of three overseas players; it is an open secret that they will use it to add Duckett to a top order that already includes Will Smeed, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone – unless Southern Brave or Welsh Fire spring a surprise.Fire, his team in the first two seasons of the Hundred, could theoretically bring him back if they want to, by using their Right-to-Match (RTM) card. But Duckett has made it clear to Michael Hussey, their new coach, that he would rather move on after Fire’s winless 2022 season: “He said he wanted me, but I said that I’d made my decision now and I want to go somewhere else, wished him all the best and said, ‘please don’t Right-to-Match me’.”Ideally, Duckett would have liked to sign for Trent Rockets, but after winning the title last year they are last in the draft pick order, and will likely bring back Tom Kohler-Cadmore instead. “I’ve spoken to teams going into the draft so I’m quietly confident,” Duckett says. “But I know that it is a draft and we’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed I end up where I’m hoping to be.”Duckett’s situation encapsulates the bizarre world of the Hundred draft: it is an event which has passed largely unnoticed by the majority of English cricket fans since the tournament’s glitzy launch at Sky Sports’ studios three-and-a-half years ago, but one which can significantly alter the trajectory of players’ seasons – and even their careers.ECB/The HundredIt is a world inhabited by agents, coaches and general managers, who are engaged in a “constant stream of communication” every spring, according to Craig Flindall, Birmingham Phoenix’s general manager. “Even at this late stage, I’ve had emails, WhatsApps, phone calls from people trying to get their players right in the mix.”The Professional Cricketers’ Association estimated that around 300 domestic players have agents, the majority of whom are in regular communication with those running Hundred teams. The extent of agents’ influence depends on who you ask, but teams are generally more interested in updates on injury and availability than lists of statistics or footage.There are 30 contracts available in the men’s draft on Thursday, of which 10 will go to overseas players. A handful of domestic players are certain to attract interest, and some have verbal guarantees from teams: Tom Abell, for example, has for several weeks been pencilled in as Hussey’s captain at Fire.But others will watch the draft with a sense of anxiety, particularly those who have missed out before. The potential fall-back of a deal nearer the time – either as one of two ‘wildcard’ selections after the Vitality Blast, or as a replacement – is no substitute for the security of a contract four months before the Hundred’s opening fixture.Some counties will be playing pre-season games on Thursday, and might be in the field when the men’s draft starts at 5pm. “I might be out in the field, so I might have to get someone to give me a wave if I’ve been picked up,” says Olly Stone. “I’m not 100% sure at the moment but hopefully, a selection somewhere will come.”Stone was released by Phoenix after missing the Hundred through injury. “They didn’t want to retain me, or they’d already used their retentions, so I’m back in the draft,” he says. He has had contracts with Phoenix and Northern Superchargers, but is yet to feature in the competition: “I’m guessing I’ll have a new team this year. It could be third time lucky, as they say.”With only one English head coach in the men’s competition – James Foster at Superchargers – most coaches rely heavily on their general managers, assistant coaches and analysts for advice ahead of the draft. Some Hundred teams draw heavily on players from their affiliated counties, often due to shared support staff; others ignore them altogether.Decisions at the draft often seem baffling – and sometimes, they are. But in general, they can be explained by the fact that teams are not starting from a blank canvas, but working back from what they expect their best XI to be, and using their draft picks to fill in gaps left after confirming their retentions in February.Moeen Ali signs autographs after Birmingham Phoenix’s victory over Trent Rockets•PA Images via Getty ImagesThat means that wicketkeeper-batters, for example, will be in high demand on Thursday, since there are several spots to fill: Tom Banton has scored 179 runs in 14 innings in the Hundred, but will probably be drafted for at least £75,000. By contrast, most teams have already identified their main spin options so some consistent T20 performers may not win deals at all.Trent Woodhill, the competition’s high-performance consultant, is tasked with ensuring that as many leading male overseas players as possible register their names for the draft. And despite a series of late pull-outs – led by Mitchell Starc and Anrich Nortje – there are more than 350 names competing for 10 spots on Thursday.But availability is a constant headache. “It’s very, very difficult to know what is going on with the international schedule,” Flindall says. “We’ve got the Future Tours Programme until 2027, but things tend to move about a bit. It’s not as much in the interests of overseas boards to make players available, compared to ECB where it’s in their interests that the competition is a success.”This year, straight after the Ashes, are all the Australian players going to be available? There’s a Pakistan series against Afghanistan at the end of August that may or may not impact things. You’ve got the CPL and the US league going on. There’s a few moving parts – you have to really factor in availability for your overseas players.”The result is that every year, high-profile overseas players have gone unsold; this year, several teams have opted to retain players who are only on the fringes of international teams in the hope that they are more likely to be released to appear in the competition. More and more teams are looking to prioritise availability, and signing domestic players with their early picks.”There will be overseas players taken at £60,000 who are better players than domestic players taken at £125,000 – just look at last year,” says Freddie Wilde, an analyst and strategic consultant for Oval Invincibles. “Availability is a massive challenge in a lot of leagues – even the IPL – and the Hundred is no different. There are fewer rival leagues – the CPL starts towards the back-end – but there are often bilateral series that crop up.The studio set-up for the inaugural Hundred draft in 2019•Getty Images”Sometimes you will draft an inferior player because he’s fully available; or you might go the other way, and say ‘we’d rather have a better player for five games than a worse player for eight games’. Different teams will go about it in different ways, and there’s no right or wrong answer.”Invincibles have consistently loaded up on domestic players early in the draft, holding back two overseas selections for later on. “We’ve always had Sunil Narine at £125,000,” Wilde adds, “but we’ve always liked to wait for our other overseas picks. We’ve got multiple plans or scenarios that we might adopt, and which one we go for is largely dependent on who is taken before our first turn.”Some overseas players also enter the draft with a high reserve price, knowing they are unlikely to be picked. Last year, Tabraiz Shamsi went unsold at the top reserve price of £125,000 but signed a pro rata deal with Rockets as a replacement when Rashid Khan was unavailable; Adam Zampa has registered for the draft with the top reserve price this year, in anticipation of a similar replacement deal elsewhere.Related

• The Hundred 2023 – Men's draft picks

• The Hundred 2023 – Women's draft picks

• Duckett, Stone, Topley, Willey on the move ahead of 2023 Hundred draft

• Ben Duckett committed to 'every single England chance I get' after rapid format switch

• Stevie Eskinazi: 'I couldn't be sitting in front of the TV having done much more'

Phoenix, meanwhile, managed to retain Shadab Khan for 2023 despite the fact that his replacement deal last summer was so short-lived, it was never even circulated to other teams. “We got retentions rights on him,” Flindall explains, “so it was an obvious pick for us.”It is a situation that epitomises the bizarre world of drafts in short-form cricket, particularly in a tournament that has predominantly been viewed through the lens of a sportstainment event rather than a cricket league with competitive integrity. Scrutiny and transparency surrounding player recruitment have both been negligible.Players are relieved that the draft is back on live TV this year, having been staged behind closed doors over the last two years with picks subsequently drip-fed out via press release. But for those making the picks, being back on the clock – albeit remotely, rather than in the Sky studio – might induce some nervous flashbacks.”In 2019, when we picked Kane Williamson, I couldn’t find him on the software system,” Flindall recalls. “It was probably only for 10 seconds, but it felt like about 40 – and you only had 100 to make each pick. I was in this mad panic, live on Sky: ‘S***, I can’t find Kane, what am I going to do?'” The ECB will hope that things run more smoothly on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Stoinis muscled LSG to an elusive home win with a takedown of Mumbai’s fast bowlers

Deivarayan Muthu17-May-20232:52

Moody explains how Stoinis outsmarted Mumbai Indians

The Ekana Stadium didn’t roll out the black-soil turner for the final league game in Lucknow this IPL, but the red-soil one was just as difficult for all batters – except Marcus Stoinis.He was the only one to strike at over 170 on that track, his expertly-paced unbeaten 89 off 47 balls being the difference on Tuesday. Like most other batters on the day, Stoinis had started slowly, scoring 35 off his first 29 balls, but cranked up to top gear to smash 54 off his last 18.This was Stoinis’ best IPL score. This is already Stoinis’ best IPL season in terms of both runs (368) and strike rate (151.44). Before this game, a large chunk of Stoinis’ runs had come away from Lucknow on better batting tracks. Lucknow Super Giants might have been tempted to bump him up to the top, where he has been successful for Melbourne Stars in the BBL, once they decided to bench Kyle Mayers for their last home fixture. Instead, LSG promoted Deepak Hooda to open with Quinton de Kock and backed Stoinis’ muscle in the middle order.ESPNcricinfo LtdStoinis channelled all of that power in the 18th over, bowled by Chris Jordan. He went 6, 4, 4, 6, 4. The first ball was a 144kph length ball on the stumps that disappeared beyond the bigger long-on boundary. It brought up Stoinis’ half-century and had LSG’s mentor Gautam Gambhir on his feet, applauding the landmark. Jordan then took pace off the ball, but Stoinis still picked away him for fours on either side of the wicket. Then Jordan marginally missed the yorker and bowled a low full toss. It was still a hard-to-hit delivery, but Stoinis extended his arms and launched another six over the long-on fence. Jordan was left scratching his head in utter disbelief.Related

• Marcus Stoinis brings the muscle in Lucknow's thrilling victory

• Mohsin Khan: 'I had given up hope of playing cricket at one point'

But this sequence wasn’t particularly special because Stoinis always dominates Jordan in T20 cricket. Overall, Stoinis has taken Jordan for 151 runs off just 61 balls at a strike rate of almost 250 without being dismissed in T20s. However, the one-handed sixes off both Jason Behrendorff and Akash Madhwal in the 19th and 20th overs were truly remarkable.Both Behrendorff and Stoinis play for Western Australia in domestic cricket. The left-armer knows that Stoinis relishes pace on the ball, so he denied him pace and pushed a dipping yorker away from his swinging range. Stoinis got beaten by the change-up, and his bottom hand flew off the bat on impact, but he still manufactured enough power and elevation with one hand to clear long-off. Madhwal then just missed his middle-stump yorker on the final ball of the innings, but Stoinis created swinging room and enough power with just one hand again to clear long-off.2:31

Bishop: The way Stoinis paced his innings was superb

The yorker is arguably the bowler’s best delivery in T20 cricket, but Stoinis’ swing is so powerful that he can hit sixes off that length with just one hand on a used pitch. Kieron Pollard, who used to do this often on the field, was helplessly watching all the carnage unfold from Mumbai’s dugout.Tom Moody, the former Australia allrounder and an analyst at ESPNcricinfo, tried to make sense of Stoinis’ one-handed bombs.”It’s been done with the pace of the delivery, so therefore he gives his bottom hand away, but still the velocity of the swing coming down through the arc and he just extends the swing through with the top hand in control of the striking of the ball,” Moody said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time:Out. “It takes strength, it takes balance and control because you still have to have your head in a strong position. If you throw your head back from that position, the ball is going nowhere. It’s a case of he’s been done [in] there, but he just extends that top hand through the ball to make sure he gets maximum contact.”That ability to hold his shape and use his reach has also helped him get on top of spinners this IPL. It was on display against Mumbai Indians again, with punchy sixes off Hrithik Shokeen and Piyush Chawla soon after the powerplay. With LSG currently third, this skill could also prove useful in spin-friendly Chennai for the playoffs. Throw in the pace dominance, and Stoinis has proved to be a man for all surfaces this season.

Royal Challengers scored only 61 runs in the overs between 7 and 14; Super Giants amassed 117 in the same phase

Ashish Pant11-Apr-20233:39

Pooran: ‘I hit a couple out of the park and that got me going’

Seldom does a team conceding 212 in a T20 game go into the break between innings thinking they have done all right. However, on Monday night at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where 200-plus totals have been scored 24 times in the IPL, the feeling was that Royal Challengers Bangalore had left a few runs out in the middle.The feeling became even stronger when Marcus Stoinis, first, and Nicholas Pooran took down the Royal Challengers bowlers, despite Lucknow Super Giants having started poorly in their big chase.When Stoinis walked out, Super Giants were 23 for 3 after four overs. At the same stage in their innings, Royal Challengers were 33 for no loss, with Virat Kohli scoring quickly, though Faf du Plessis was struggling.Related

Marsh and Hasaranga return to lift Capitals and RCB fortunes

Stats – Super Giants' super chase, Pooran's 15-ball half-century

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Last-over scramble: Wickets, a RONSBU missed, and a bye

The foundation was set, but Royal Challengers managed only 61 runs in eight overs after the powerplay, with Kohli and du Plessis slowing down against spinners Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, and Amit Mishra.In contrast, Super Giants hit 117 in the same phase – the second-highest in the league’s history.During that phase in the chase, Stoinis bludgeoned a 30-ball 65, and when Pooran arrived at the crease in the 11th over, Super Giants were ahead of where Royal Challengers were at the stage, despite losing four extra wickets. His 19-ball 62 didn’t quite finish the game, but it was 24 needed in three overs with four wickets in hand then.It generally comes down to small margins in T20 cricket. Where Royal Challengers slowed down against spin, Super Giants took Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed for 65 runs in four overs. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, scored 93 in ten overs of spin.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt might not have had to do with intent, or a milestone in the case of Kohli, who took ten balls to go from 42 to 50. When he did, off 35 balls, du Plessis was on a run-a-ball 18. Momentum shift? Yes, but the surface did seem to hold up a touch for the spinners in the first innings, and got better to bat on progressively, which made stroke-making easier.”When we were batting, it was quite slow between overs seven to 14; a little bit dry,” du Plessis said at the post-match presentation. “Then as the innings went in the last five overs, I think maybe there was a bit more moisture and the ball started skidding better, and that was the case right through the second innings. Really nice to bat on, really nice for good cricket shots.”Pooran agreed, at least as far as the second half was concerned. “The wicket was really nice to bat [on],” he said. “It was about cashing in, getting in the right positions and executing.”The numbers against fast bowling were quite different. Kohli hit 33 in 19 balls against them, striking at 173.68. Against spinners, he scored at 112. Du Plessis scored 37 off 20 balls against the quicks at 185, which dropped to 161.53 against spin. Among the top three Royal Challengers batters, only Glenn Maxwell went quicker against spin than pace. In comparison, Stoinis scored at 283.33 against spin (34 off 12) and Pooran at 380 (19 off five).2:04

Parnell: Stoinis and Pooran looked like they wouldn’t mis-hit anything

And this, that the top few Royal Challengers batters would go at the quicks more than at the spinners, wasn’t a surprise to the Super Giants players.”We always knew that they would target the powerplay hard and would slow down after the powerplay,” Pooran said after the game. “That was the discussion we had. But that’s how they play their cricket, they obviously try to set up the game and try to go for a strong finish.”Which they did, but “Bishnoi and Krunal bowled extremely well after the first few overs and probably kept us back after an electric powerplay”, as Maxwell admitted.Apart from his batters’ struggles against spin, the ineffectiveness of his own spinners is also a cause of worry for du Plessis. Wanindu Hasaranga is expected to join the squad soon, and that should provide some relief. But with four of their next five games to be played in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers will have to devise a plan to contain the opposition. And score more. Because, as Stoinis pointed out, at the Chinnaswamy, “history suggests that 200 is pretty much par a lot of the time”.

Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda discuss Australia’s victory in the Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2023Australia took a 4-0 lead in the points-based women’s Ashes by winning a hard-fought Test at Trent Bridge. Afterwards, Valkerie Baynes and Firdose Moonda got together for Ladies who Switch to discuss a record-breaking performance from Ashleigh Gardner, the bravery of Alyssa Healy and what it all means for England’s chances of regaining the Ashes.