The result of the game could have been quite different had KKR held on to their chances

S Rajesh18-May-2022Kolkata Knight Riders made an incredible attempt at an extremely tough run-chase, but when they ultimately fell two runs short, it would have been impossible for them to not think about the three lives they offered Quinton de Kock, the one player who made all the difference tonight.de Kock got three chances, and Knight Riders paid heavily for them. First, when he was on 12 off 10, Abhijeet Tomar shelled a regulation chance at third man; then, when he was on 68 off 47, Sam Billings missed a chance behind the stumps. Finally, in the 20th over, Nitish Rana dropped de Kock on the boundary at square leg, when he was on 127 off 66.ESPNcricinfo LtdAccording to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, the first two chances cost Knight Riders around 30 runs each, and the third one six runs. Given how close the margin was eventually, it could be argued that each of those errors cost Knight Riders the game, and a chance to still be in the tournament.After the first chance, de Kock scored a further 128 off 60 (including the ball of which he was dropped). The Luck Index algorithm calculates that had de Kock been dismissed then, Lucknow Super Giants would have ended up with 28 fewer runs, which means Knight Riders would have been chasing 183 for victory.After the second chance, de Kock went on a tear, scoring 72 off just 23. According to Luck Index, that chance cost 30 runs, which means had Billings taken that catch, Knight Riders would have been chasing only 181, not 211.Surprised to see that the second chance had a higher Luck Index value than the first? Here’s why.The calculations are done assuming that de Kock would have been dismissed off the ball when he offered the chance, and the extra deliveries he faced in the innings after that chance would have gone to the other batters who didn’t bat.Since no other batter got a chance in Super Giants’ innings tonight, the algorithm would have allocated those extra deliveries to the others in the line-up, in order of the strike rate of those batters. After the first chance, de Kock scored 128 off 59, at a strike rate of 216.9. The algorithm calculates that the others would have scored 100 runs off those 59 balls, at a strike rate of 169.5.After the second chance, de Kock went into overdrive and scored his runs at a strike rate of 327.3. He faced only 22 balls after that drop, but made Knight Riders pay a huge price for that miss. According the Luck Index, the others would have scored 42, at a strike rate of 190.9.Right at the very end, with four balls to go in the innings, Knight Riders spilled another chance, and de Kock helped himself to 13 runs off those four balls (including the delivery off which he was dropped, which went for four). Had that chance been taken, Luck Index determines that six runs would have been shaved off the final total, which could have been significant given how tight the run-chase was.In a must-win game, Knight Riders made their task much tougher with those errors against a batter in full flight, and they eventually had to pay a huge price for it.

Teenage star braced for second season in the limelight after breakthrough displays in 2021

Paul Muchmore12-May-2022Most 17-year-olds don’t get recognised when taking their driving test. But it’s safe to say most teenagers don’t become an overnight star like Alice Capsey did in the summer of 2021.”It was actually a bit weird actually. I did my driving test a couple of weeks ago, and my tester knew who I was. It did go well, maybe that’s why I passed,” Capsey joked at the Surrey pre-season media day.Last season saw a dramatic rise to prominence for the teenage allrounder, who was thrust into the spotlight as the youngest player in the inaugural edition of the Hundred, where she announced herself with an eye-catching 59 off 41 balls at Lord’s for Oval Invincibles against London Spirit.While Capsey started the tournament opening the batting, she shifted down to strengthen the middle order and provide some impetus later in the innings when South African allrounder Marizanne Kapp was missing due to injury. With Invincibles also suffering from the absence of Kapp’s compatriot Shabnim Ismail for a chunk of the competition, Capsey stepped up admirably when thrown the ball by captain Dane van Niekerk. Her offspin dismissed the likes of Heather Knight, Deandra Dottin, Laura Wolvaardt and Danni Wyatt, while she maintained one of the best economy rates in the competition.Capsey finished as the Invincibles’ joint-second-highest run-scorer and their third-highest wicket-taker as they clinched the inaugural title in front of a record crowd at Lord’s, and to top her summer off, she was the Player of the Match as South East Stars claimed victory in the first edition of the Charlotte Edwards Cup just two weeks later.She was duly awarded the first PCA Women’s Young Player of the Year award and received her first professional domestic contract in October. In January, Capsey was part of the England A squad that toured alongside the senior team for the Ashes series in Australia. All of this while she was still at school.So how does she balance such a blossoming cricket career with her A Level studies?”I tried to cram as much in before I went out [to Australia],” Capsey explains, “I did a little bit while I was out there, but I tried to just take in the whole experience because it was my first time out in Australia and my first actual England A tour.”While the series against Australia A saw fairly lean returns for Capsey, a 31-ball 44 in the first T20 her only score of real note, she called the tour a “great experience” and felt that her time in the Hundred had prepared her well to face a strong Australian side.Grace Gibbs, Mady Villiers and Alice Capsey hold the Hundred trophy•Getty Images”I was actually really happy with how I performed, I didn’t really get the big scores, but I was happy about how I was going about my innings and how my bowling was going so that felt good.””I think it would have felt like a big step up if I wasn’t in the Hundred. I think the Hundred was massive for someone like me, it was kind of my first experience of a franchise competition and playing against the best in the world.”While a call-up to the main England squad feels like it’ll come in a matter of time for Capsey, she echoes Heather Knight’s comments that they shouldn’t “over-egg” her potential in the near future.”We didn’t really have any conversations, I was more just trying to show myself and show I can do it,” Capsey says. “I think like [Knight] said, I don’t want to peak too early and I’m very conscious that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like and I know that I need to be consistent this year if I want a chance of getting into the squad.”Obviously it’s a really tight squad and there’s a lot even sitting on the bench who are great players. It’s a really tough squad to get into.”Nevertheless, despite downplaying her potential England credentials, like any young player, she can’t deny that playing international cricket is the dream.”My future goal is obviously to play for England. Any World Cup is a great event – that’s kind of the pinnacle of what you want to play as a player,” she says. “It’d be great down the line to get picked for a World Cup. There’s a lot of competitions coming up now that are really, really exciting. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to play some of them.”Following her A Levels, Capsey will head into her first summer as a professional cricketer, with the start of the Charlotte Edwards Cup on Saturday, the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy following that in July, and then the second edition of the Hundred in August. Capsey says it was a fairly easy decision to forgo university and to put her full focus into cricket. With her path ahead now clear, it’s hard not to feel her excitement for the opportunities that may come ahead.”It wasn’t necessarily a tough decision because of the opportunities there are now,” Capsey said, “because obviously, a couple of years ago there weren’t regional contracts. Now there’s a bit more security, and there’s actually a pathway to having a professional career.”I think [finishing school] kind of comes at quite a nice time, finishing in June, you’ve got a few regional games I can focus on before going into the Hundred and getting ready for that. And then obviously, after the Hundred there’s a few regional structure [matches]. I’d really like to go back to Australia and play in the Big Bash at some point. So there’s lots of exciting opportunities that I can start to kind of see in the pipeline. Once I finish school, I can start to really get excited.”Looking back at her breakthrough summer, Capsey admits she was naïve about how big the Hundred was going to be for her, prior to making her bow in the curtain-raiser at The Oval.”I didn’t expect it to be as big as it was and didn’t expect the crowds,” she reflects, “so going into that first game, I was quite nervous. It was a great atmosphere. And I think it was a competition that kind of suited how I play.”I think the crowd helped me and it was just a great competition to be a part of. I think I was quite naïve going into it, about how big it was going to be, and how my performances would actually affect my career. But looking back, it was great.”Alice Capsey led Stars to victory in the Charlotte Edwards Cup final with an unbeaten 40 from 26•Getty ImagesCapsey’s aggressive batting endeared her to fans old and new as she took the Hundred by storm, and she was quick to credit her coaches for giving her the license to play in such a fearless manner.”I think it’s just how I go about my cricket,” she said, “that’s just how I enjoy it the most and you hear players say it so often that the more you’re enjoying it, the better you play. I tried to stay very true to how myself and how I played when I was younger. I love hitting the ball hard and love boundaries.”I guess there is a bit of fearlessness because I had a lot of backing from my coaches. They were great. Jonathan Batty (Surrey and Oval Invincibles coach) and Johann Myburgh (South East Stars coach) were both great in just saying go out there and do your thing. And if it does go wrong, that’s okay.”As well as the springboard the Hundred has given her own career, Capsey is enthusiastic for the impact the tournament has already made in bringing a new audience to the game. Despite the fact she will only turn 18 on the opening night of this year’s competition, she is taking the chance to be a role model for the next generation of young cricketers well in her stride.”I think the Hundred changed a lot of people’s minds last year, I think it’s just going to keep on doing that each year,” she says. “It’s given me the opportunity to go into schools and to go into clubs and see the younger generation, and also to inspire. So I personally love the coverage and being able to almost make a difference. It’s been really good.”Kids who didn’t know what cricket was are now playing cricket, and when you’re coaching that makes it so much easier because you’ve got something to relate to them with. And that’s kind of what you want from the competition – it’s to get more people involved, to get more people watching it.”I think you can see, as the competition went on, the crowds got bigger in the women’s competition, and we ended up with a record-breaking 17,000 fans at the final, which was great to be part of as a player. I think just go give it a watch.”Related

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Along with the regional contracts, women’s salaries have been doubled for the second edition of the Hundred, and it’s the increased investment and focus on the women’s game by the ECB that Capsey believes will play a crucial part in creating more role models, growing the game at the grassroots level to feed into the elite system.”I think after the 2017 World Cup, they realised that actually, England women’s cricket is quite good, you can build on that. There’s a lot of momentum after that year.”Then the regional structures came in and we saw where it was five players per teams getting a regional contract last year, that massively boosted the competition and just how players played their cricket. It was more exciting. The higher investment into that regional structure has shown that actually, domestic players can step up at the franchise competitions like the Hundred, where there’s more pressure on them.”I’ve now personally had a lot more opportunities through it, which is just going to grow the women’s game, there are more role models in view for people to aspire to be like, and get girls and boys into cricket. The more there are [playing] at the grassroots, the better the elite will be.”

Issues with batting and bowling exposed by string of defeats to India and South Africa

Matt Roller31-Jul-2022By the time Jonny Bairstow top-edged his sweep off Keshav Maharaj out to David Miller at deep midwicket, confirming England’s joint-worst T20I defeat of all-time, the stands at the Ageas Bowl were half-empty. Supporters had given up on England’s hopes long before, preferring to beat the traffic and get home for the second half of the Euro 2022 final than watching a grim conclusion to a one-sided game.It was a moment that summed up England’s white-ball summer. Everything Bairstow has touched turned to gold this year but even he could not rescue them in the series decider, scrapping his way to an unusually scratchy 27 off 29 balls with only two boundaries, as wickets tumbled at the other end; he has scored at a higher strike rate in half of his Test innings this summer.Related

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There were even some boos during England’s run chase. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that for a very long time,” Jos Buttler said. “We’ve entertained crowds for a while – of course it’s disappointing to not put on a great show for them today. It was a bit of a reality check.” The biggest cheer of the evening came from the concourses, when Ella Toone put England 1-0 up at Wembley.Since Eoin Morgan stepped down as captain, England have won only four games and lost nine across ODI and T20I cricket; for the first time since 2013, they failed to win a home limited-overs series. They will not play another T20 international before selecting their squad for the T20 World Cup in mid-September and it is increasingly hard to see them lifting that trophy in Australia.England are not used to losing T20Is. Between June 2018 and July 2021, they won 10 of their 13 bilateral series and lost only two, but since the World Cup last year it has become a habit. They have lost all three of their T20I series and since beating Sri Lanka in Sharjah at last year’s World Cup, they have won four and lost nine.It is easy to blame England’s batters after a series of defeats, and several key players have struggled badly this summer. Most obviously, Jason Roy has been completely bereft of form or rhythm, but neither Buttler nor Liam Livingstone managed even 100 runs across the summer; only Moeen Ali, Bairstow and Dawid Malan hit half-centuries.Roy’s aggregate of 76 off 98 balls from six innings leaves him looking increasingly vulnerable, and he desperately needs a strong season in the Hundred to prove he is still worth his place in the side. His latest in a succession of slow trudges off came at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday after an innings of 17 off 18, four of which came through overthrows, and Phil Salt is waiting in the wings for an opportunity.

England’s real issue has been their bowling: South Africa’s total of 191 for 5 was the second-lowest total that England have conceded in their six T20Is this summer

“We never imposed ourselves,” Buttler said. “We never managed to put pressure back on the opposition and that timidness is the thing I’m frustrated with the most. As a team, we want to be renowned for being brave and taking risks. We haven’t performed as we’d have liked with the bat through the summer, so maybe the confidence takes a bit of a dent in those situations.”But England’s real issue has been their bowling: remarkably, South Africa’s total of 191 for 5 was the second-lowest total that England have conceded in their six T20Is this summer. Clearly, their batters have struggled, but they have regularly been chasing enormous targets which have demanded attacking shots from the outset.At various points over the last two years, England have struggled to take wickets with the new ball and to contain at the death, but this summer they have been uncharacteristically impotent in the middle overs, taking only 14 wickets while leaking 10.2 runs an over between the start of the 7th over and the end of the 16th.Their spinners have conceded 11.5 runs per over across their six games, and their seamers’ plans have often been overly defensive: when Sam Curran was bowling cutters into the pitch from around the wicket, his only job seemed to be controlling the rate against a South Africa side who were happy to consolidate before launching at the back end.”We haven’t managed to take wickets as much as we would have liked in those phases,” Buttler admitted. “Breaking partnerships is a big part of controlling the rate in white-ball cricket. That’s where as a captain, you reflect on what you could have done better.”Clearly, injuries have been a major issue. Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Olly Stone, Saqib Mahmood and Tom Curran have all missed the entirety of the white-ball summer, while Tymal Mills’ toe injury ruled him out of the South Africa series. Chris Jordan, Richard Gleeson, David Willey and Reece Topley have shown glimpses, but nobody conceded less than eight runs an over across the summer.And there is no guarantee that any of the names on their lengthy injury list will be fully fit when England name their World Cup squad. “You’ve got who’s available,” Buttler said. “Injuries are part and parcel of the game. You’ve got to be excited about the guys you have around and they have put in some performances.”Strange things can happen in T20 World Cups: Australia spent the build-up to their 2021 triumph losing to Bangladesh and West Indies and were hammered by England at the tournament itself, before a streak of four wins in a row won them the title. It would be foolish to rule out England doing the same – but as Miller settled underneath the catch that sealed South Africa’s win, it was difficult to envisage.

Outgoing ECB chief executive faced many challenges but leaves with English cricket unfit for purpose

Andrew Miller17-May-2022Does anyone remember Chris Dehring? Those of a certain age might raise an eyebrow of recognition at a name that, in the years leading up to the 2007 World Cup, was the ubiquitous, plausible face of West Indies cricket – first as the man who spearheaded the WICB’s successful bid, then as the Managing Director and CEO of the ICC’s rather less successful staging of the tournament itself.It took barely 24 hours after that tournament’s farcical finish, in near total darkness in Barbados, for Dehring to disappear off the face of the game. Overnight, his mobile phone appeared to take a dive for Davy Jones’ Locker, pre-empting that of Rebekah Vardy’s agent, as he moved onwards and upwards to his next executive calling – a five-year chairmanship of Cable & Wireless Jamaica, as it turned out.Related

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You get the sense from Tom Harrison’s furtive departure from his seven-and-a-half year tenure at the ECB that a similar evaporation is on the cards. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that he might yet find his way back into a role within cricket – a sport that he played professionally as a young man and about which he does care deeply, contrary to the impression that he’s often given off. After all, there’s always room in this sport for someone who can land a good rights deal.But after the controversies of the past few months, it’s hard to believe he’ll have any interest in a third innings in the game. In keeping with the traditions of the modern uber-executive, whatever gratitude there might have been for Harrison’s service has long since been traded in for a golden handshake – specifically his share of the ECB’s £2.1 million bonus pot, which (awkwardly) also happens to be just £100,000 less than the current level of the board’s once-flush reserves.For the bottom line will always be the bottom line when it comes to appraising Harrison’s legacy. Even after his “we’re-all-in-it-together” gesture of a 20% pay cut during the pandemic, the ECB’s top man was still paid more than half a million pounds in 2020, and that figure rose north of £700,000 during the board’s years of plenty in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup. No matter how weighty his responsibilities – and that era since 2015 has thrown up an abundance of crises that have required his first-hand intervention – it is still a sickening sum of money to be siphoning off from the sport, and a distracting one as well, given how much his final pay-cheque has overshadowed his dying days in the job.The issue of remuneration cuts both ways, of course – it wasn’t so long ago that Giles Clarke, the last of the ECB’s blazer-breed who predated the onset of Harrison’s suits and shirt-sleeves, would seek to justify every one of his autocratic whims by pointing out that, technically, he wasn’t paid a penny during his tenure as chairman (although his expenses account took quite the pounding).

At the apex of cricket’s culture war sits the ongoing racism scandal – a catastrophic blow to the sport’s public image, and one that has been especially humiliating to Harrison in his final months in the role

Is it preferable that English cricket’s senior executive is a professional in the most literal sense, and an exorbitantly paid one as well, given the sums that he in turn should expect from the deals he brings in? Probably … even allowing for the dysfunction that he leaves behind him in the boardroom, where since October there has been no chairman on hand to unseat him and, until this past fortnight, no structure beneath him to oversee the most fundamental cricket-focused aspect of its existence. This speaks to a wider truth, that the ECB on Harrison’s watch has become too unwieldy to discharge its basic duties to the game. And for that he has been roundly complicit.Tellingly, there was no mention in Harrison’s farewell press release of the most divisive aspect of his reign – his zealous driving-through of the Hundred, a competition that may have made sense on the boardroom notepaper on which it was brain-stormed, but less so when unleashed as a fourth format in an already overwhelmed summer schedule.Instead of easing the burden on Tests as English cricket’s bread-winner, the Hundred’s existence has hastened their nosediving standards by driving four-day cricket out of the summer’s prime months. And if anyone knows of the whereabouts of 50-over cricket – the format that England ghosted on the morning of July 15, 2019 after a passionate four-year affair – approximately 4.5 million casual viewers on Channel 4 might be moderately intrigued to find out.Therein lies the oddity of Harrison’s seven-year reign. It contained around its mid-point one of the greatest glories any administration could ever hope to oversee – two, in fact, if you include the magnificently “disruptive” achievement of England’s women on the same ground two years earlier. Given the chaos of his early weeks in the job in 2015, with humiliation at the preceding World Cup coupled with the unresolved saga of Kevin Pietersen’s sacking, Harrison clearly deserves some credit for setting the game’s sights on a home World Cup, a notion that his forebears in 1999 never came close to contemplatingBut ultimately it was the players, not the administrators, who delivered that trophy with a display of unforgettable tenacity when the stakes were at their highest. It’s easy to forget now, but until the euphoria of that run-out in the Super Over against New Zealand, the mood music of English cricket had been a gut-clenching, gnawing dread. While Eoin Morgan’s men kept their eyes on the prize as best they could, the board was already deep into a furiously silent and NDA-littered game of tug-of-war with the counties as the Hundred spluttered unconvincingly into existence.Andrew Strauss and Harrison oversaw England’s post-2015 World Cup revival in one-day cricket•PA PhotosHarrison’s board won the argument in the end, but in breaking the counties’ centuries-old hold on the sport, it seems they broke too the ECB’s very . Its purpose (not always realised, mind you) used to be to draw together the various disparate strands of the game at every level, and create – at the very top of its pyramid – an England team that could win the big series, and thereby perpetuate a level of interest into each coming generation.Ever since the ECB committed its original sin of selling the sport to the highest bidder, however, it’s not been quite that simple. Harrison wasn’t complicit in that decision, of course – and his finest hour in the job, the £1.1 billion rights deal in 2017 that brought free-to-air TV, ever so tentatively, back to the game, was an important first step in righting the wrongs of the past.However, his fixation with revenue streams, over and above the human side of sport – and specifically with establishing the Hundred as a failsafe for the dreaded day when international cricket ceases to pay the bills – has fostered an air of rancour and barely suppressed civil war that has only served to hasten that date in the first place.”It is about giving more people the opportunity to be part of cricket’s future” was Harrison’s oft-repeated mantra, most particularly in the lead-up to the competition’s soft-launch in May 2019, when it seemed the ECB’s preferred route to this new market was to apologise loudly and offensively about everything that the game’s existing fans held dear, and trample over generations of softly-sold affection to access the take-it-or-leave-it types at Mumsnet – for whom such well-meaning but ultimately under-delivering initiatives as All Stars Cricket were less about inculcating a lifetime’s love of the sport, and more about an hour’s childcare during the summer months.The disdain was felt across the game – most particularly by those young enough to have been active cricketers around the time of the 2005 Ashes, and who remember both the nationwide euphoria that accompanied that summer’s Ashes, and the decade of silence that followed it. Instead of showing gratitude to a generation whose own kids are now propping up the sport’s participation levels, their fandom has been taken for granted at every turn, and their faith in the game eroded by avoidable insults – particularly on social media, where the silence that greeted the start of this year’s county season was at stark odds with the blow-by-blow updates from a distinctly underwhelming Hundred draft.And at the apex of this culture war sits cricket’s ongoing racism scandal – a catastrophic blow to the sport’s public image, and one that has been especially humiliating to Harrison in his final months in the role.On the one hand, the explosion of testimony from Azeem Rafiq in the first instance, and scores of others thereafter, is a vindication of Harrison’s zealous belief that the county system was not sufficiently appealing to those outside of its auspices – way back in 2015, he hired a cultural education specialist to instil in the ECB leadership a basic understanding of the game’s most populous demographics, and three years later, the South Asian Action Plan was launched to bridge the disconnect with the communities that provide some 30% of the sport’s recreational players, but just 4% of the professional game.It’s hard to deny he recognised the issues before they had gone mainstream – and in 2020, when the Black Lives Matter movement exposed historic grievances in the game’s already withered Caribbean heritage, Harrison’s response was honest and heartfelt.And yet, when push has come to shove on the public stage – most particularly during his desperately uncomfortable appearances before the DCMS select committees – Harrison has been reduced to a stuttering, management-speak cipher. The buzzwords with which he has ruled a succession of boardrooms hold no sway in the cut-and-thrust of parliamentary inquiry, and he was similarly scorched by Mehmooda Duke’s resignation as Leicestershire’s chair last November – Duke, the only minority-ethnic female in such a role, was understandably reluctant to be paraded as proof of the ECB’s hard-won EDI credentials.There are aspects of Harrison’s legacy that may take time to reveal themselves fully. The strides taken in the women’s game are clear to see, for all that the England team itself is at another crossroads, and if nothing else, the configuration of the Hundred as an equal opportunities competition (if not yet equal pay…) is the most obvious means to ensure year-on-year “growth” – the capitalist dream. After all, given the current levels of investment in the format, a sport that barely had a professional footing a decade ago has nowhere to go but up.And then there’s the stewardship of the Covid pandemic – not merely the navigation through the summer of 2020, an impressive display of on-the-hoof crisis-management (albeit tainted by the redundancies at the end of it), but the long-term attempts to manage the health and well-being of England’s players. The human cost of the bubble lifestyle is not yet fully realised, but in setting out to mitigate the impact of the players’ attempts to “keep the lights on”, Harrison tried to show he cared.Ultimately, however, leaders can only be judged by results. And as he leaves office with the game failing by every measure that has ever exercised public opinion – be it matters of money, morals or pure sporting endeavour – there’s really no way of saying he has left the game better than when he found it.

Coach Dave Houghton has created “a happier place” in the team, and young quick Evans is among the players benefiting from the change

Danyal Rasool16-Oct-2022There was a bit of a stir when Zimbabwe finally unveiled their men’s T20 World Cup kit, just a few days out from their first game of the tournament, against Ireland on Monday. The crimson red had been replaced by a fiery yellow, with an image of the bird that symbolises an independent Zimbabwe. That bird isn’t a phoenix, but, in that orange against the clear yellow, it looks almost aflame, ready to rise from the ashes.Which is perhaps apt. Because just four months ago, it looked like Zimbabwe wouldn’t need to design a World Cup kit at all. They had just played T20I series at home against Namibia and Afghanistan, and lost both. And at the World Cup qualifiers, one loss could have put paid to their chances. Their chances of getting to the tournament were iffy. But they made it.Related

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No player’s fortune embodies what Zimbabwe cricket went through in this time – both the nadir and the rebirth – as well as Brad Evans’. Evans, the 25-year-old fast bowler, made his debut against Namibia in May. With Zimbabwe losing the final two games of that series, it would perhaps have felt more like a hazing ceremony than an induction.”As a Zimbabwe side, we are starting almost from rock bottom,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “When I joined, we lost to Namibia in a five-match T20 series. That’s rock bottom.”He doesn’t want to talk much about his time under former coach Lalchand Rajput, pointing out that he wasn’t there long enough to form a nuanced opinion. But when he speaks about Dave Houghton’s arrival, he sits up in his chair. The eyes sparkle; the contrast he draws need not be put into words.”Forget the cricket. The changing room between the two series that I played is such a different place. It’s jovial, guys are making jokes. It’s just a happier place,” Evans said. “The only thing that Dave has come in and done is said, ‘Guys, I don’t care if you get out, but I want you to play your shots’. So you’ll see someone play a terrible shot and you’ll think, ‘Oh, my god, what do you think the coach is going to say to him?'”But Dave will actually just ask him about his thought process and say, ‘Maybe try this next time; but I like the way you batted today’. That gives that same guy the freedom to go out next time and still try and express himself. He doesn’t hammer guys for getting things wrong because at the end of the day, we’re all human.”

“If you have 11 guys being aggressive, the chances are two or three of them are going to come off on any given day,” he says. “And the day that five or six guys come off on a day, we’re going to beat anyone in the world”

Comparisons with Bazball are easily drawn, even though Houghton, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, had declined to get into them, saying Brendon McCullum “was a slightly bigger player doing it with a slightly bigger side”.But in the last three months under him, Zimbabwe have scorched their way through the World Cup qualifiers, beaten Bangladesh in T20I and ODI series, come within inches of a win against India, and won a first-ever ODI in Australia.Evans was part of three of those four campaigns, taking five wickets in an ODI against India and hitting the winning runs off Mitchell Starc in Townsville. “I was quite disappointed, though, because we needed one to win and I hit the ball and it went for four. But because we ran the single, they only gave me one,” he says in mock frustration. “No one’s going to even know that I cover-drove Mitchell Starc for four.”Such excitability would have been unthinkable in May. The confidence – the swagger, even – this purple patch has bred, streams through in everything Evans says about his still-new international career. While Houghton’s decades-long experience meant he was content to play it down gently, Evans’ youthful exuberance allows him to play up Zimbabwe’s World Cup chances.”It’s jovial, guys are making jokes. It’s just a happier place,” Evans says about the Zimbabwe change room since Dave Houghton has taken over as coach•ICC via Getty”If you have 11 guys being aggressive, the chances are two or three of them are going to come off on any given day,” he says. “And the day that five or six guys come off on a day, we’re going to beat anyone in the world.”A pause follows that statement, but Evans ends it by doubling down. “Honestly, we’re not untalented cricketers. Everyone can play a cover drive or a sweep shot. Everyone can bowl an awayswinger. Everyone can spin the ball. The day five or six people fire in a day, there’s no one we can lose to,” he stresses. “We can take big teams further. We’re just trying to get into the swing of things. This is the way we want to play and hopefully guys are pulling in the same direction. That’s what we’re after.”His words struggle to keep up with his emotions, and it almost feels like he’s producing an impromptu team talk. It suddenly becomes clear how much buy-in Houghton has managed to achieve in such a short time.”The way that Dave structures his training sessions is telling,” Evans says. “The other day, we batted in pairs. You had six overs in pairs to bat and try and score as many runs as possible. It was quite intense because we’ve got a squad of 15 guys all trying to put their hands up and get into the playing XI for the World Cup. There was no consequence for getting out. Normally a coach might say, right, we’re doing this drill, and if you get out, it’s minus five runs or something like that.

“West Indies are beatable, but at the same time, they can beat anyone else in the world. If they have a day out, they’re going to be tricky to beat. But at the same time, they can have a bad day and they can be poor and we can have a good day and beat them”Brad Evans

“With the idea that if I get out, it’s just a dot ball, there’s so much freedom to play your shots. And you should have seen the quality of cricket that was on display in that little centre-wicket training. It was ridiculous.”

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Zimbabwe’s dearth of fast-bowling resources has been well documented, as has the tendency for any exciting prospect they do produce to end up in other, more affluent parts of the world. Evans looked like he was on a similar trajectory when he left St John’s College in Harare – a prestigious institution that has produced several world-class athletes – a year before finishing, accepting a sports scholarship to Cardiff University. He had a future in county cricket in mind, and eventually a British passport.”I did really well whilst I was at school,” he says. “I was playing Sussex second team. But then once I left school, it wasn’t allowed anymore because I was on a different type of visa. So I actually had to stop playing second-team cricket overall.”He was faced with the prospect of a frustrating wait for a passport that could take several years. “I just looked at my life and I thought, by the time I leave uni, I’m going to be 23 years old. And in that time, I wouldn’t have been able to play much cricket. I felt like my cricket was on the decline. So about halfway through university, I sort of made up my mind that I was going to come back to Zimbabwe and pursue my career here.”Evans possesses the self-belief and confidence elite sport seems to demand as a prerequisite, but tempers it with disarming self-deprecation. He says, almost matter-of-factly, that he “had visions of playing for Zimbabwe at 18” and was confident he was good enough. He talks about becoming a batting allrounder by the end of his career, “someone like Ben Stokes”. But immediately after, he insists he isn’t comparing himself with Stokes, and a few minutes later, even laughs off the idea that he was always destined to be a fast bowler for Zimbabwe.Brad Evans celebrates after cover-driving Mitchell Starc to win the game for Zimbabwe•AFP/Getty Images”Fast bowling happened because I started sliding down the batting order,” he says with a laugh. “Growing up, I was an opening batter and quite a good one. There came a stage where I did have a growth spurt and then I just thought, why not bowl?”My first three years of bowling fast, I remember there was one game where I bowled 60 extras. I could not control the ball. And the opposition made around 140 and 60 of those were my extras. But I could bowl quickly. By the age of 14, I’d broken two people’s arms by bowling bouncers. So I could bowl quickly, but I just couldn’t control it.”All that despite never really receiving much professional fast-bowling coaching. “Gary Brent [former Zimbabwe fast bowler] tried to get me to bowl a little bit more front on and I think I took a little bit just before I did my ankle a year and a half ago,” he says. “But apart from that, I’ve always been a free spirit and just gone out there and played my cricket the way I play my cricket.”It is an attitude well suited to Houghton’s philosophy. He had said he wouldn’t consider his side to have qualified for the World Cup until they reached the Super 12 stage of the tournament, and it’s a message he appears to have drilled into his players well. Evans accepts the opening game against Ireland is a must-win, and feels even West Indies could be beaten.”West Indies are beatable, but at the same time, they can beat anyone else in the world. If they have a day out, they’re going to be tricky to beat. But at the same time, they can have a bad day and they can be poor and we can have a good day and beat them,” he says. “We’re not going there to come back before the main World Cup starts.”If Zimbabwe can manage to scale these lofty heights over the next week in Hobart, it won’t just be that dashing yellow kit causing a stir. And this time, everyone will notice if Evans cover-drives Starc for four.

With a focus on leading a revolution, he pushes past tanking numbers that never really quantified his worth

Vithushan Ehantharajah25-Feb-2023For what it is worth, Ben Stokes looked pissed off. Even if he had only himself to blame.His head whipped back, looking to the heavens to stare down god himself after the ball came off the splice of his bat, grimacing as he felt the contact and narrowing his eyes as he saw substitute fielder Scott Kuggeleijn get into position. There were a few choice, self-flagellating words, a punch to his bat, and the kind of trudge off that, in a previous era, might have suggested the robustness of the walls of the Basin Reserve’s newly erected players’ pavilion were about to be tested.His balance was wrong, movements were off, and he played a shot selected by his own internal magic 8 ball that led to his downfall. Such an end, in truth, never seemed that far away. As far as cameos go in an otherwise engrossing production, his 27 off 28 was less Ana de Armas in and more Ana de Armas in . Coming in with one half-century in his previous ten innings, this slogger-like innings is how it has been for a while.Related

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But that’s fine by him. Because there’s an important caveat to toss in here – it didn’t matter. Stokes came to the crease at 323 for 4 in the 68th over, and left with England 362, saving his best timing of the day for when he called in his side on 435 for 8. New Zealand went into lunch on 12 for 2 and closed the day on 138 for 7. Even if rain plays a further part in proceedings as expected, the tourists are already in a commanding position to make it 11 wins from their last 12 Tests.That, really, is the only number Stokes cares about right now. And, really, is there a statistic that matters more, even in as selfish a sport as this? You do remember that “1 win in 17″ stat, don’t you? The batting average tending one way, the bowling average tending the other – all distractions in the eyes of someone already being talked of as one of England’s best captains.”I’m at a stage now where I would much prefer to leave a mark on other people’s careers than look to make mine more established,” he had stated before the start of this series. For a player who has been responsible for some of English cricket’s biggest highs in the modern era, and a person who, through personal toll, is focused on improving the lives and experiences of those nearest and dearest to him, tanking numbers that never really quantified his worth is no tax at all.

“Ultimately I think it’s more important the contributions he is making as a leader at the minute. Because he is getting the best out of ten other players and that in itself is massive for this team”Joe Root on Ben Stokes

Speaking on the latest edition of the podcast, director of England men’s cricket Rob Key had this to say on Stokes’ batting: “He just thinks he’s going to smack it ten rows back. And everyone else, he makes them all justified in what they do by what he is doing because he is prepared to take it to the limit.”Since the start of last summer, Stokes has attacked 20.1% of deliveries faced. Comparing that to 33 innings across 2019 and 2020 when the attacking percentage was just 8.5% (it was in this period, of four centuries and six fifties, that his technique and approach were so finely tuned he was a legitimate shout to bat No. 3) shows how significant a shift this has been. He averaged 50.41 in that section and currently averages 35.07 in this one.As for the impact he is having on others, we are having conversations about Harry Brook involving the words “Don Bradman”, while James Anderson and Stuart Broad are still winning matches for England in 2023. Young and old are thriving on the field and having the times of their lives off it. Joe Root, the median on that spectrum, registered century number 29 and what he regards as possibly the most satisfying of the four he now has under his best mate’s leadership.”Ultimately I think it’s more important the contributions he is making as a leader at the minute,” said Root, who had the gig for five years before stepping down last April. “Because he is getting the best out of ten other players and that in itself is massive for this team.”The thing is, those two things – batting as if he has had too much sugar, and making sure everyone else is sweet – aren’t all that linked. Certainly at the start of all this, there was a clear need to not just show his charges where the edge of the cliff was but also the pool at the bottom if they veered off it. The collective needed to take the leap as one, in their own ways. But it’s pretty obvious from the innings this winter in Pakistan, Mount Maunganui, and this first one in Wellington that he’s now preaching to the choir.Except that Stokes’ duties extend beyond the field. In the changing room during an innings, he goes around pumping the tyres of those next in or congratulating/lifting those who have returned. He knows pretty much how everyone in the squad ticks – staff included – and takes a different tack with different personalities. He remains an encouraging voice in the ear of opener Zak Crawley while balancing trust and respect with the members of a seasoned bowling attack who like things a certain way. A case in point: he was happy to announce an unchanged line-up for this second Test after confirming the recoveries of Anderson, Broad and Ollie Robinson by text the morning before.Ben Stokes has won 10 out of 11 Tests after taking over the captaincy from Joe Root•Getty ImagesBefore Stokes became captain, the worry was the negative effect it would have on the allrounder. Little did we know that would come about through self-sacrifice. Though we’re probably fools in that regard – this is yet another example of putting himself on the line for the good of the team. You wouldn’t put it past him to one day sit out a Test yet stick around in the dressing room as the designated hype man.Root’s admiration for where Stokes is right now should be heeded, because the initial dip and late rise in Root’s form while wearing the armband was evidently in search of a happy balance between self and side he never truly found. “I think there were times when I was only focused on everyone else, and there were probably times when I was overly focused on myself,” he admitted on Saturday evening. “And I think it just comes through time and experience of understanding how you manage both.”Among this is a concern that does need to be tracked. Stokes no longer plays warm-up matches and has stripped down his training considerably from his previously intense levels. His left knee – the one he lands on when he bowls – requires constant management. His bowling now comes from the same place as his batting: primarily the short, energy-sapping spells because he wouldn’t want to ask his quicks to do anything he wouldn’t, especially the harder, nastier bits. Considering he is one of the best reverse-swing bowlers in the team, there is a sense that fuller spells may be fewer and farther between in case he has to save himself for when the ball stops talking.Of reassurance are the knocks of last summer at Trent Bridge and Old Trafford. The former against New Zealand, unbeaten for 75 in pursuit of a target of 299, dovetailing with Jonny Bairstow as the straight man and then pulling out all the shots to see things home with Ben Foakes for company. The latter the more encouraging: coming in in the first innings when South Africa, 1-0 up in the series, had eyes on making the second Test a second-innings shootout, absorbing pressure (44 from 100 deliveries at one point) before finishing up 103 from 163. England, posting 415 for 9 declared, won by an innings.That, along with the big-stage stuff of being the main man in a couple of World Cup finals, makes you wonder if the quiet at the moment is actually fine. He raises his game for the biggest moments, when he is seemingly the only hope.Not all situations require a saviour. Superman doesn’t rescue cats from trees. Iron Man probably leaves tax fraud to the IRS. You never see Batman slashing the tyres of a car parked on a double yellow, do you?His team-mates have full faith that Stokes will produce another typically big performance when it’s needed most. And heck, maybe it’s overdue that they are stepping up while he takes a step back. That they no longer need saving, for the time being, is because he is working his magic elsewhere.

Everything you need to know about the inaugural edition of the tournament, including key players from each side

S Sudarshanan12-Jan-2023The inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup is set to get underway on January 14 with 16 teams divided into four groups. The top three sides from each group qualify for the ‘Super Six’, where the teams will be pooled into two groups of six. Group 1 will have the teams from Groups A and D, while Group 2 will have sides from Groups B and C.The top two sides from each group will then progress to the semi-finals, both of which will be played in Potchefstroom on January 27. The final will take place at the same venue on January 29. All the matches will be played across two venues each at Benoni and Potchefstroom. Both the semi-finals and the finals have a reserve day in place.Here’s a snapshot of each of the 16 teams that are set to participate:GROUP AAustraliaCaptain: Rhys McKennaCoach: Sarah Aley with Erin Osborne and Dulip Samaraweera as assistant coachesKey players: Ella Hayward, Amy SmithPlenty of Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and Women’s National Cricket League experience in the squad. Legspinning allrounder Jade Allen, offspinner Hayward, legspinner Smith, and fast bowler McKenna have been regulars for Sydney Sixers, Melbourne Renegades, Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Stars respectively, in the WBBL. Hayward also topped the run charts in the Under-19 Female National Championships playing for Victoria Metro. Left-arm seamer Lucy Hamilton also made her bow for Brisbane Heat in WBBL 08.Squad: Rhys McKenna (capt), Chloe Ainsworth, Jade Allen, Charis Bekker, Paris Bowdler, Maggie Clark, Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Ella Hayward, Milly Illingworth, Eleanor Larosa, Claire Moore, Kate Pelle, Amy Smith, Ella Wilson.BangladeshCaptain: Disha BiswasCoach: Dipu Roy ChowdhuryKey players: Marufa Akter, Disha BiswasThree players in the squad – Marufa, Dilara Akter and Rabeya Khan have represented Bangladesh at the international level while the Under-19 captain Biswas got her maiden call-up in the senior side’s tour to New Zealand late last year. There’s also a lot of hype about fast bowler Marufa.Squad: Disha Biswas (capt), Shorna Akter, Rabeya Khan, Marufa Akter, Dilara Akter, Misty Rany Saha, Reya Akter Shika, Sumaiya Akter, Afia Humaira Anam Prottasha, Mst Unnoti Akter, Mst Dipa Khatun, Leky Chakma, Asrafi Yeasmin Arthy, Jannatul Maoua, Mst Eva.Sri Lanka captain Vishmi Gunaratne is a player to watch out for•Sri Lanka CricketSri LankaCaptain: Vishmi GunaratneCoach: Shashikala SiriwardeneKey player: Vishmi Gunaratne, Dewmi VihangaGunaratne is the only capped player in the squad. She is known for her strokeplay and impressed with a steady 45, her best T20I score, against India last June. The six-team Female Under-19 Youth League was held in September last year and most of the players participated.Squad: Vishmi Gunaratne (capt), Dahami Sanethma, Umaya Rathnayake, Rashmi Nethranjalee, Rashmika Sewwandi, Dewmi Vihanga, Manudi Nanayakkara, Sumudu Nisansala, Pamoda Shaini, Vidushika Perera, Dulanga Dissanayake, Rishmi Sanjana, Nethmi Senarathne, Harini Perera, Vihara Sewwandi.United States of AmericaCaptain: Geetika KodaliCoach: Shivnarine ChanderpaulKey players: Geetika Kodali, Isani VaghelaEleven of the 15 in the squad have experience in international cricket with most of them forming the core of the USA side that finished eighth in the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in September 2022. Kodali, Vaghela and Snigdha Paul also have experience of rubbing shoulders with the renowned names in T20 leagues. The trio was part of the inaugural Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) last September while Kodali also featured in the Fairbreak Invitational T20 tournament last May.Squad: Geetika Kodali (capt), Anika Kolan, Aditi Chudasama, Bhumika Bhadriraju, Disha Dhingra, Isani Vaghela, Jivana Aras, Laasya Mullapudi, Pooja Ganesh, Pooja Shah, Ritu Singh, Sai Tanmayi Eyyunni, Snigdha Paul, Suhani Thadani, Taranum Chopra.GROUP BEnglandCaptain: Grace ScrivensCoach: Chris Guest with former offspinner Laura Marsh and Darren Franklin as assistantsKey players: Grace Scrivens, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Sophia SmaleDespite leaving out Freya Kemp – who’s unfortunately injured now – and Alice Capsey, England have players with the experience of playing in The Hundred. MacDonald-Gay and Smale won it with Oval Invincibles in 2022 while Hannah Baker and Scrivens were part of Welsh Fire and London Spirit respectively. MacDonald-Gay had also picked up a six-wicket haul in a T20 warm-up against the touring senior Indian side last September.Squad: Grace Scrivens (capt) Ellie Anderson, Hannah Baker, Josie Groves, Liberty Heap, Niamh Holland, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Emma Marlow, Charis Pavely, Davina Perrin, Lizzie Scott, Sophia Smale, Seren Smale, Alexa Stonehouse, Maddie Ward.Rhys McKenna and Grace Scrivens share a laugh•ICC via Getty ImagesPakistanCaptain: Syeda Aroob ShahCoach: Mohsin KamalKey players: Shawal Zulfiqar, Syeda Aroob ShahPakistan resisted the temptation to name big-hitter Ayesha Naseem but have put together a strong squad led by Aroob. Zulfiqar topped the batting charts in the Women’s Under-19 T20 Tournament held in August 2022. She scored 172 runs in five games at a strike rate of 137.60. Aroob topped the bowling charts with nine wickets from five matches as well as was third in the run-scoring charts – her 160 runs in five innings coming at a strike rate of 179.78.Squad: Syeda Aroob Shah (capt), Aliza Khan, Anosha Nasir, Areesha Noor, Eyman Fatima, Haleema Azeem Dar, Haniah Ahmer, Laiba Nasir, Mahnoor Aftab, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam, Shawal Zulfiqar, Warda Yousaf, Zaib-un-Nisa, Zamina TahirRwandaCaptain: Gisele IshimweCoach: Leonard NhamburoKey players: Gisele Ishimwe, Henriette IshimweRwanda have played 44 T20Is; Henriette and Gisele have featured in 44 and 43 of those respectively. The pair brought their experience in the Under-19 circuit, helping Rwanda Under-19 Women win the Africa Qualifiers to make the inaugural T20 World Cup. Apart from the duo, Belyse Murekatete also has experience of international cricket. Henriette was also part of the Heather Knight-led Barmy Army team in the Fairbreak Invitational T20 Tournament.Squad: Gisele Ishimwe (capt), Merveille Uwase, Henriette Isimbi, Marie Jose Tumukunde, Giovannis Uwase, Sharila Niyomuhoza, Sylvia Usabyimana, Henriette Ishimwe, Divine Gihozo Ishimwe, Belyse Murekatete, Cynthia Uwera, Cesarie Muragajimana, Rosine Uwera, Zurafat Ishimwe.ZimbabweCaptain: Kelis NdlovuCoach: Trevor PhiriKey players: Kelis Ndlovu, Michelle MavungaThe team was in Saphale, a distant suburb in Mumbai, for a month-long camp in November 2022 where they held match simulations as well as had practice games with local sides. Allrounder Ndlovu was the highest wicket-taker for Zimbabwe at the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in September 2022 and also their second-highest run-scorer. Mavunga is the other capped player in this squad.Squad: Kelis Ndlovu (capt), Kelly Ndiraya, Kay Ndiraya, Adel Zimunhu, Natasha Mutomba, Vimbai Mutungwindu, Danielle Meikle, Tawananyasha Marumani, Michelle Mavunga, Olinda Chare, Kudzai Chigora, Betty Mangachena, Chipo Moyo, Faith Ndhlalambi, Rukudzo Mwakayeni.GROUP CIrelandCaptain: Amy HunterCoach: Glenn QuerlKey players: Amy Hunter, Georgina DempseyIn November 2021, Hunter broke Mithali Raj’s record to become the youngest women to score an ODI century. She also scored a quick 40 in November 2022 to help Ireland beat Pakistan in a T20I. Dempsey is the other player in the squad with experience of international cricket.Squad: Amy Hunter (capt), Siúin Wood, Zara Craig, Georgina Dempsey, Rebecca Gough, Abbi Harrison, Jennifer Jackson, Joanna Loughran, Niamh MacNulty, Aimee Maguire, Kia McCartney, Ellie McGee, Julie McNally, Freya Sargent, Annabel Squires.Amy Hunter grabbed the limelight when she broke Mithali Raj’s record to become the youngest women to score an ODI ton•PCBIndonesiaCaptain: Ni Luh DewiCoach: Nuwan ShiromanKey players: Ni Kadek Ariani, Ni Luh Dewi, Lie QiaoIndonesia defeated PNG 2-1 in the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier to book their spot in the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup before blanking Singapore XI 3-0 in a bilateral series in November. Ariani, their opening batter, has also been their key bowler with Dewi also contributing in the middle order.Squad: Ni Luh Dewi (c), Thersiana Penu Weo, Ni Kadek Ariani, Yessny Djahilepang, Sang Ayu Puspita Dewi, Lie Qiao, I Gusti Pratiwi, Ni Kadek Murtiari, Ni Putu Cantika, Ni Kadek Dwi Indriyani, Desi Wulandari, Ni Made Suarniasih, Gusti Ayu Ratna Ulansari, Dewa Ayu Sasrikayoni, Kadek Ayu Kurniartini.New ZealandCaptain: Izzy SharpCoach: Sara McGlashanKey players: Georgia Plimmer, Fran Jonas, Kayley KnightPlimmer, Jonas and Isabella Gaze are players with international experience in the squad. Knight finished atop the wicket-taking charts for New Zealand Women’s Development side in the T20s against India Under-19 in Mumbai last year. They had also played against the West Indies Under-19 and there is a fair bit of Hallyburton Johnstone Shield, New Zealand’s premier women’s one-day competition, experience in the squad.Squad: Izzy Sharp (capt), Olivia Anderson, Anna Browning, Kate Chandler, Natasha Codyre, Isabella Gaze, Antonia Hamilton, Abigail Hotton, Fran Jonas, Louisa Kotkamp, Kayley Knight, Paige Loggenberg, Emma McLeod, Georgia Plimmer, Tash Wakelin.West IndiesCaptain: Ashmini MunisarCoach: Steve LiburdKey players: Jannillea Glasgow, Trishan HolderWest Indies played a quadrangular series in Visakhapatnam featuring the India Under-19 A and B teams and Sri Lanka, after which they played a couple of matches against the New Zealand Women’s Development side in Navi Mumbai where batting was their Achilles heel. Holder is the only player in the squad with international experience having made her T20I debut for Barbados in the Commonwealth Games last year. Djenaba Joseph has played four T20Is for the senior side while Glasgow had gotten a call-up to the West Indies squad but haven’t played an international yet.Squad: Ashmini Munisar (capt), Asabi Callendar, Jahzara Claxton, Naijanni Cumberbatch, Earnisha Fontaine, Jannillea Glasgow, Realanna Grimmond, Trishan Holder, Zaida James, Djenaba Joseph, K D Jazz Mitchell, Shalini Samaroo, Shunelle Sawh, Lena Scott, Abini St Jean.GROUP DIndiaCaptain: Shafali VermaCoach: Nooshin Al KhadeerKey players: Soumya Tiwari, Hurley Gala, Shabnam MD apart from Shafali and Richa GhoshApart from Shafali and Ghosh – who bring in a combined experience of 121 international matches – the entire squad has had a lot of cricket under their belt together as a group. They were part of the Under-19 Women’s Challenger Trophy in November last year, Quadrangular series featuring Sri Lanka and West Indies, a five-match T20 series against the New Zealand Development side and then five T20s against South Africa in Pretoria.Squad: Shafali Verma (capt), Shweta Sehrawat, Richa Ghosh, G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mendhiya, Hurley Gala, Hrishita Basu, Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD.Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh have a combined experience of 121 international matches•Getty ImagesScotlandCaptain: Katherine FraserCoach: Peter RossKey players: Ailsa Lister, Katherine FraserFormer Scotland head coach Mark Coles had earmarked Fraser for greater things, when he took charge. Fraser apart, Lister and Olivia Bell are the capped internationals. Fraser was the joint-highest wicket-taker for Scotland while Lister was third in the list of run-scorers for them in their sixth-place finish at the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier last September. They were beaten by the USA in the unofficial warm-up clash ahead of the Under-19 World Cup before returning the favour in their first official warm-up game.Squad: Katherine Fraser (capt), Ailsa Lister, Molly Barbour-Smith, Olivia Bell, Darcey Carter, Maryam Faisal, Maisie Maceira, Orla Montgomery, Niamh Muir, Molly Paton, Niamh Robertson-Jack, Nayma Sheikh, Anne Sturgess, Emily Tucker, Emma Walsingham.South AfricaCaptain: Oluhle SiyoCoach: Dinesha DevnarainKey player: Seshnie NaiduCricket South Africa fielded the Under-19 team coached by Devnarain as the fourth team this year in their domestic T20 tournament, the Women’s Super League. South Africa lost all four of their Under-19 matches in Pretoria against India ahead of the T20 World Cup. Legspinner Naidu was impressive throughout and picked up seven wickets in the series. However, at the T20 World Cup, all eyes will be on how their batting shapes up.Squad: Oluhle Siyo (capt), Elandri Janse Van Rensburg, Simone Lourens, Anica Swart, Karabo Meso, Madison Landsman, Kayla Reyneke, Jenna Evans, Miane Smit, Ayanda Hlubi, Seshnie Naidu, Refilwe Moncho, Mona Lisa Legodi, Nthabiseng Nini, Jemma Botha.Theertha Satish was third-highest run-scorer in all women’s T20Is in 2022•Asian Cricket CouncilUnited Arab EmiratesCaptain: Theertha SatishCoach: Najeeb AmarKey players: Mahika Gaur, Theertha Satish, Vaishnave MaheshSix of the squad members were part of the Women’s Asia Cup last year. Theertha was the third-highest run-scorer in all women’s T20Is in 2022 while Vaishnave picked up 29 wickets last year, joint-third in all women’s T20Is.Squad: Theertha Satish (capt), Vaishnave Mahesh, Samaira Dharnidharka, Lavanya Keny, Sanchin Singh, Rinitha Rajith, Indhuja Nandakumar, Siya Gokhale, Mahika Gaur, Avanee Sunil Patil, Archara Supriya, Rishitha Rajith, Geethika Jyothis, Sanjana Ramesh, Ishitha Zehra.

Hardik Pandya is now a more experienced captain, and Shubman Gill comes into the IPL in excellent form

Hemant Brar24-Mar-20234:00

How crucial is Miller’s form for Gujarat Titans?

Where Gujarat Titans finished last seasonRight at the top, winning the IPL title in their debut season.Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2023Hardik Pandya (capt), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Shivam Mavi, Yash Dayal, R Sai Kishore, Abhinav Manohar, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat (wk), Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Sai Sudharsan, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, David Miller, Matthew Wade (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Kane Williamson, Josh Little, Odean Smith, Noor AhmadPlayer availability – David Miller arrives lateDavid Miller will arrive in India on April 3, after South Africa’s ODI series against Netherlands. So he will miss Titans’ first game, the tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings on March 31. He should be available for selection for their second match, against Delhi Capitals on April 4 in Delhi.Related

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Ireland fast bowler Josh Little missed the recent ODI series in Bangladesh as he was recovering from a hamstring strain, but he has joined the Titans squad. He will, however, leave for two home ODIs against Bangladesh in the second week of May. The rest of their overseas contingent should be available for the whole season.What’s new with Gujarat Titans this yearTitans have three new overseas players: Kane Williamson, Odean Smith and Little. The trio replaces Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dominic Drakes and Lockie Ferguson. Wicketkeeper KS Bharat and fast bowler Shivam Mavi have also been recruited and could be in action at some stage during the season.David Miller will miss the opening game of IPL 2023 because of South Africa duty•BCCIThe good – Shubman Gill and Co high on confidenceThe current Titans squad looks better than last season’s title-winning team. Hardik Pandya has gained experience as captain, and has added the inswinger to his bowling arsenal. Shubman Gill will be much more assured after his recent success at international level. Rashid Khan is fresh from winning the PSL title with Lahore Qalandars. He was the third-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 20 scalps in 11 games at an economy rate of 6.53 (the overall tournament economy was 9.20).Their top seven has a good mix of right and left-hand batters, especially if Matthew Wade features in the first XI, and the presence of Hardik and a few bowling allrounders ensures they bat deep.Playing home games at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with a possible 100,000 fans cheering for them, will in itself be an advantage. Moreover, the venue allows Titans to pick from a variety of pitches. Given they have the squad – especially the bowling attack – for all kinds of surfaces, they can choose what sort of pitch to play on depending on the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.Titans also arranged three pre-season camps under head coach Ashish Nehra to warm themselves up for the tournament. In short, all the ingredients are there to avoid second-season syndrome.The not-so-good – Does Wriddhiman Saha work at the top?Their back-up overseas players, apart from Williamson, are thin on international experience. Even Williamson is not a natural in T20 cricket. Other than that, they have most bases covered. Perhaps another proven Indian batter would have made their first XI even stronger. That player could have slotted in at No. 3, with Wade replacing Saha at the top.Schedule insightsTitans are among three teams (Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad being the other two) who play alternate games at home and away all through. This means they will be travelling after every game, and will have to work harder at managing the play and travel workloads of players.The big question