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The 23-year-old has the rare gift of slowing down an ultra-quick sport

Sidharth Monga06-Feb-20232:05

The secret to Gill’s back-foot play

Cricket the sport and cricket the spectacle are two entirely different universes.The operative part of sport happens in an extremely brief moment in time. It is actually a sport of milliseconds. If we assume the average pace of a fast bowler is 135kph, it almost translates to two pitches per second. The ball does lose speed, and on average, goes at 32 metres per second off the surface, according to Nathan Leamon, England’s former analyst.The quickest recorded human reaction to a visual stimulus is 120 milliseconds, which is roughly a tenth of a second. Most of the elite batters have to be roughly there or do no worse than being half as quick. That is to say they react to the ball in 20% of a second.Related

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The spectacle, though, loves languid, a word whose dictionary definition is the exact opposite of what the sport is. The spectacle can also, at times, overlook the competitive nature of the sport to whose essence only the cold numbers on the scoresheet matter and not the aesthetics of it.Languid is, admittedly, a guilty pleasure. It can also be high praise. If someone can compete and excel in this ultra-quick sport while looking languid or effortless, it follows that such a player must be extraordinarily gifted.These gifts are spotting the ball perhaps five milliseconds sooner than others, having made half your movements before the ball is released (trigger movement, for short), and having put in millions of repetitions in your formative years to almost make the shots you play your muscle memory.All this translates into a languid Shubman Gill square-drive. Or a low slip catch taken effortlessly that put one of our readers of live ball-by-ball commentary in the mind of Mark Waugh.Waugh is not a bad comparison. Similar height, similar build, similar languid movements, both excellent slip fielders, openers in limited-overs cricket, with their spiritual home in Tests in the middle order.Shubman Gill seems to have that extra millisecond to play his shots than most other players•Associated PressPart of the reason Gill seems to have so much extra time that he can play languidly is his trigger movement. It is not the classic back and across, but along where he stands, which is, unlike many modern batters, well inside the crease. Many a batter these days prepare themselves for the movement by moving forward to cut it down rather than playing the ball after it has moved. They prepare themselves by batting for hours against the sidearm, which can simulate extreme pace. So pace for modern batters is less of a problem than movement. They want to play the ball before it has moved.Gill, though, stays inside the crease with his back foot across and the front foot slightly open. The weight is committed on neither foot. Most of his shots to good balls then are just the transfer of weight back or forward. Because he plays back, he has that extra millisecond or five.A trigger movement is not always set in stone. For bowlers of extreme pace, his back foot actually goes back. His batting against New Zealand in the ODIs in New Zealand perfectly illustrated that. Against Matt Henry, his trigger was parallel and across with the front foot slightly open. Against Lockie Ferguson, he actually went back and across in preparation to face the ball.As a result, there are no frantic movements, the flow of his bat is smooth from his high back lift, and there is no bat tap. If the ball merits a back-foot shot into the off side, he just transfers his weight back. If it merits a front-foot shot, he moves the front foot only to cover the line. To cover for a length that is not exactly a half-volley, he plays on the up. As a result, it looks like things are happening a touch slowly when Gill is batting. This has been hardwired into him from a young age and repeated millions of times.This is where the difference between spectacle and sport is: Gill doesn’t do this to look aesthetically pleasing, he does it to score runs. It is the cold numbers that matter. Ask Rohit Sharma, who will happily trade his aesthetics for runs in the initial years when he was finding his feet in international cricket.Shubman Gill’s technique was put to stern test in his debut Test series in Australia•Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty ImagesGill’s technique was put to test in the sternest manner possible when he made his Test debut in Australia. Day one of the Boxing Day Test after India had been bowled out for 36 in the previous Test, 40 minutes or so, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood doing all sorts of things with the ball, a wicket lost in the first over, Gill was beaten three times in his first over of Test cricket, bowled by Cummins. Gill went on to score 45, which was crucial in the low-scoring Test. His 91 in the Gabba chase often goes unnoticed.There are many perks of playing cricket in and for India, but they come with the downside of hyper scrutiny. It is not just external. The competition for slots is so intense it is tempting to look at those outside and forget the natural law of cricket that you will fail more often than succeed. Gill faced question marks too. His luck was such that every time the team management thought of giving him a middle-order slot – he played mostly in the middle order under Rahul Dravid for A teams – a Test opener would get injured.This year, things are coming together beautifully. In ODI cricket, despite a great start to his career, he would have known he was keeping out a double-centurion and a dear friend, Ishan Kishan. He went ahead and became the youngest double-centurion in men’s ODIs. He has averaged 74 and struck at 110 per 100 balls on his way to being the quickest Indian to 1000 ODI runs. There can’t be better news for India in a World Cup year.There should ideally be room for only one anchor in a T20 side, and he went on to become the youngest T20I centurion for India while playing the anchor role at a 200 strike rate.Nobody wants it, but as luck would have it, right when Gill is in the purplest of touches, Shreyas Iyer’s injury has opened up a middle-order slot for him, and for a change, both the regular openers are fit too.If he does well at No. 5 or 6, Gill will be the heir apparent for No. 4 whenever Virat Kohli is done, just like Kohli was in the final phase of Sachin Tendulkar’s career.Gill’s time has arrived. And he has the extra milliseconds to relish it.

Their line-up has taken shape so well towards the end of the league stage that no total is safe in front of them

Vishal Dikshit10-May-20233:28

Moody: Wadhera ensuring the chase wasn’t entirely on Suryakumar was critical

One of the big questions for Mumbai Indians’ batting line-up in the last couple of years was how they would fill the massive hole in the middle order left vacant by Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard. Hardik moved on to another franchise in the mega auction before 2022 and Pollard retired from the IPL recently, giving Mumbai a headache that couldn’t be cured overnight.Somehow, in their second IPL season without Hardik and in their first without Pollard, Mumbai have assembled a batting line-up that just mowed down its third consecutive total of 200 or more while chasing, that too without any major contributions from Rohit Sharma.Rohit’s last five scores have been in single digits, and in those three 200-plus chases, he managed only 7, 0 and 3. Yet, Mumbai have raced to 62, 50 and 65 in the powerplay of those games, largely thanks to Ishan Kishan, who has blasted 42 off 21 and 75 off 41 in the last few days. Kishan is not just picking those boundaries; he is also finding that rhythm again as a clean six-hitter that had made him a mainstay at the top of Mumbai’s batting order.Related

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On Tuesday too, against RCB, Kishan took charge of the 200 chase with back-to-back sixes in the third over against Mohammed Siraj, one of the best powerplay bowlers this season. Nor did he spare Josh Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga, striking at at least 250 against each of them.Mumbai have also been rewarded for their bold decisions. At two down in the powerplay, after Rohit and Kishan fell in the fifth over, they sent out Nehal Wadhera, who was playing only his sixth T20 innings, instead of Cameron Green, and in the absence of the injured Tilak Varma. Against Chennai Super Kings three days ago, Wadhera struck his maiden T20 half-century by taking on the international names of Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theekshana, while none of his team-mates could score 30.Against RCB, the task was stiffer because the openers had just walked back with the score at 52 for 2 in a big chase. Wadhera, 22, didn’t seem perturbed by that, and he decided he was not going to merely play second fiddle to his senior partner, Suryakumar Yadav, and be content with giving him the strike for the heavy lifting. And nobody would have blamed Wadhera had he done that. Nor was he scared of taking risks in the powerplay by pulling a short ball for six despite there being a deep midwicket at the boundary. In fact, he nearly matched Suryakumar stroke for stroke in the century partnership before the latter took off for his fifty.Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera put on a partnership of 140 off 66 deliveries•BCCIWhen Suryakumar pulled Harshal Patel for four – with the help of a misfield from Virat Kohli in the deep – to start the seventh over, Wadhera drilled a cover drive two balls later for a four of his own. When Suryakumar dispatched Wanindu Hasaranga beyond midwicket for six in the 11th over, Wadhera slog-swept the same bowler two balls later for six to put a dent in the car on display beyond the boundary. If Suryakumar was striking at 156.25 at that time, Wadhera was blazing with as much fire at 157.14. Two overs later, when their partnership had swollen to 89 off just 48 balls, they had brought the equation down to a very gettable 59 off 42, and Tim David and Green were yet to bat.David had blasted three consecutive sixes in the final over of the chase to stun Rajasthan Royals barely ten days ago. He has been striking at nearly 166 this IPL and has struck the most sixes in T20s since 2022. All that only adds to the brutality of Mumbai’s lower middle order and its finishing qualities.For acquiring David and Green, two established global names in the T20 format, Mumbai still had to break the bank and spend over INR 25.75 crore (USD 3.1 million approx.) over the last two auctions. In unearthing the talent of Wadhera, handing him a T20 debut this IPL after he had played just five first-class matches, and buying him for his base price of INR 20 lakh, Mumbai have again shown the pricelessness of their scouts.Their batting might has taken shape so well towards the end of the league stage that they scripted the fastest chase of 200 or more in the IPL, and the second-fastest overall in T20s. Their last three successful chases – 200, 216, and 214 – rank among the best chases in the IPL ever, and they also hold the record for the most 200-plus chases in a single T20 season.Since no total is safe in front of them, it makes Mumbai arguably the most feared batting line-up in the IPL currently, and it’s possible they may even want that “arguably” taken out soon.

Regional pride and outsider input combine as club completes long journey back from 2016 relegation

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Oct-2023An hour has passed since Durham lifted the Division Two trophy, but Scott Borthwick is still on the outfield at Chester-le-Street.His team-mates are no longer around him, but he is not alone. David Bedingham’s dog – “a beautiful labrador” – is chasing him. After a couple of drops of the shoulder, he finds a moment to stand in one place and look up at the home dressing room.Related

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He sees players and coaches celebrating. Matt Parkinson, on loan from Lancashire, on his way to Kent, has his cap on backwards, beer in one hand, cigar in the other. Director of cricket, Marcus North, is up there too, along with family members, the groundstaff and stewards. Everyone, but him.”It feels like one club again,” Borthwick tells ESPNcricinfo. “It feels how Durham should be. How Durham always was.”Now, for the first time since 2016, they are back in Division One – where they belong.

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It was only January, but the players left their first meeting with new head coach Ryan Campbell desperate for the season to begin.The key message was simple: draws were no good to them. There was a deeper reason for that, far more ingrained into the former Netherlands coach than Bazball or the fact that draws were worth fewer points this summer.Growing up in Perth under the tutelage of Rod Marsh, Campbell was bred on the fundamentals that a batter’s job was to entertain, and doing so would allow the bowlers ample time to take 20 wickets. That, after all, is how you win first-class matches.It informed how he opened the batting in the Sheffield Shield for Western Australia, notably in a career-best 203 off 222 deliveries against Queensland at the WACA in March 2000. And now, his coaching.That he was in the northeast owes much to his wife, Leontina, “who never gets involved in cricket”. But Campbell was finding it hard to square two offers – Sussex was the other – and turned to her for some rare advice. She asked one simple question: “Who has the best squad?” Despite the two clubs finishing side-by-side near the bottom of Division Two in 2022 (Durham 6th, Sussex 7th), there was a clear answer.A collection of young players and seasoned pros, plenty with England caps, aligned with a steady stream of talent from their academy – Test match captain Ben Stokes the crown jewel – made Chester-le-Street the destination of choice. A squad capable of embracing Campbell’s vision.

“When I signed back, within the first couple of months, there was a lot of change. It was a very different Durham to what I was expecting, a different Durham to what I had left”Ben Raine on returning to the club in 2019

Yet, as the season drew nearer, something was missing. Something that had been playing on allrounder Ben Raine’s mind enough to discuss privately with Campbell. Fines meetings.”Fines” are administered for various reasons – the more ridiculous, the better, with the money accrued going into a pot. Cricketers at all levels of the game will be familiar with the practice.They are a minor yet key tenet of dressing-room culture. Perhaps it is their nature – self-policing, chaotic fun – or the fact everyone is involved in a season-long score-settling exercise where no one is above the ad-hoc laws. They were a regular feature at Durham – until they weren’t.After leaving for Leicestershire in 2013, Raine returned to the club in 2019 to find they had been scrapped. He had offers to go to Essex and Warwickshire, two Division One clubs he greatly admired, but the pull of coming home was too great.”When I signed back, within the first couple of months, there was a lot of change, which I didn’t really know about,” Raine says. “New coaches, things like that. It was a very different Durham to what I was expecting, a different Durham to what I had left.”It was a much more ‘professional’ look on things – colder, more calculating. It caught us a bit by surprise.”The reason for that shift is linked to 2016’s relegation, a punishment for financial mismanagement, requiring the ECB to bail out Durham to the tune of £3.8million along with a 48-point deduction the following season. Chester-le-Street was also stripped of Test status.Borthwick and Mark Stoneman left for Surrey at the end of that season. Likewise, Keaton Jennings the year after – all three regularly bankers for four-figure runs a season – along with seam bowler Graham Onions (both to Lancashire) while allrounder Paul Coughlin went to Nottinghamshire before returning in 2019. At the end of 2018, director of cricket, Geoff Cook, who had led Durham to three titles between 2008-2013, and his replacement as head coach, Jon Lewis, ended 28- and 22-year spells at the club, respectively.”Even for me, looking around the dressing room in 2019, it felt a completely different squad to be honest,” says Graham Clark, who has been there throughout having debuted in 2015. “A lot of the personnel had changed.”Keaton Jennings was among a number of high-profile departures from the Riverside•Getty ImagesThe turnover aligned with increasing desperation to return to the top flight, particularly after Covid-19 narrowed the club’s focus. James Franklin was installed as coach in 2019, adopting a more hardline approach which created a divide between the coaches and players. After little progress, Franklin stepped down at the end of the 2022 season.”For me as a Durham player, I used to go for drinks and dinner with Jon Lewis, who was the coach, or Geoff Cook or Alan Walker,” says Borthwick, who returned at the end of 2020.”The old head coach was ‘nah, we’re the coaching staff and the players do what they want.’ Players started developing fear of the coaches, which should never be the case.”Raine was tentative when he broached the subject of “fines” because of “the old regime”. Campbell was taken aback he even asked. All he requested was the coaches be involved, too.Every training day now begins with a “young vs old” game of football, in itself a boost to morale given football had previously been banned. Yellow cards are £2.50, reds a pricier £10, with Campbell as the referee. “He’s been a good earner,” says Raine, who is in charge of the kitty which went towards the end-of-season blowout in York over the weekend.”He reminds me a bit of Ted Lasso when he referees,” Borthwick says. “He actually doesn’t know the rules, but he laughs his head off throughout.”

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You could take the Campbell-Lasso comparison a little further. An outsider coming in, putting smiles on faces and, in turn, bringing the soul back to a group of players who had lost the thread of what playing cricket in Durham was all about.”I think we did lose touch, to be honest,” Borthwick says. “Over the last couple of years, we [the players] felt a bit distant from the club and the fans.”This friction can be attributed to the fallout from 2016. Losing talent led to an on-field malaise, which exacerbated the anger among supporters who will never forgive the ECB for their part in all this.Did it need an outsider to bring the club back together? Borthwick doesn’t think so: “It just needed a Campbell. He is an Aussie from Perth, he’s lived in Hong Kong, he’s lived in Holland. But what he has done is buy into the region.”Quite literally, having bought a house and moved his family over. Campbell’s kids are schooled in the area, and members have noted an appreciation of day-to-day life and the overall vibe of what makes the region what it is.”I talk to Marcus a lot about it, we see a lot of similarities to where we’re from” Campbell says. “Western Australia, you’re isolated. You feel like you’re against the rest of the country. Against everyone.”I never thought I’d live anywhere other than Western Australia, because I’m very parochial and I love the place. But coming here, there’s so many similarities.”Ryan Campbell and Marcus North have overseen a revival in the northeast•Getty ImagesAt a time when counties as sporting entities seem an antiquated notion, Durham, the youngest having only been granted first-class status for the 1992 season, remain a standard bearer for meaning. There is a broader sense of community even with its internal factions – loosely characterised by their football teams.”It’s a very different way of living from a lot of other places around the UK,” says Raine, who is from Sunderland. “I know people take the mick out of us, but people are a lot more friendly, they’re a lot more relaxed.”Life isn’t as serious, even with a lot of hardships.”(At the start of 2023, the Office of National Statistics revealed the northeast of England had the highest proportion of households – 54.6%, compared to a nationwide average of 51.7% – deprived in at least one dimension of education, employment, health and housing.)”When it’s time to have fun, it’s time to have fun, and I think sport is such a huge vessel for that. It’s a release from other aspects of life, and it translates into professional cricket.”Borthwick reiterates that sentiment: “Everything Rainey’s said there, it’s the nail on the head. We are working-class people. We go to work, we work hard, but we enjoy our time off.”That sense of outsiders sneering at the area prevails within English cricket. Beyond the suspicion of the London-based ECB over its treatment of Durham, compared to the leniency shown Middlesex this year for similar financial irregularities, has been a struggle to recruit from other parts of the country.”I do think the perception of the region in general has not been good,” says Clark, who hails from Whitehaven, Cumbria, more than 100 miles away to the west. “It has been quite a hard place to attract people to come to.”

“That’s when I knew I’d got them. Thankfully we won and it drilled home the message. But every player wanted to put the game on the line for us to win. I thought to myself then, ‘I think we’re going to win this competition'”Ryan Campbell on beating Worcestershire in the second game of the season

And yet, success this season has been aided by those from beyond the borders. Alex Lees came from Yorkshire and led the run charts with 1347 runs, while many regard the acquisition of wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson from Kent as one of the best signings in the club’s history. Lees is a close second.”It helped that Leesy was a northerner, as it’s not that big a move from Yorkshire,” Clark says. “But we were lucky we had Ollie Robinson on loan in the T20s in 2022. I think that’s what opened his eyes to the place and made him want to sign for us.”Even Parkinson, who had been shut out by Lancashire as he entered the final months of his deal, found a temporary home where he least expected.”I’ve played against Matt Parky for years at the Riverside,” Raine says, “and he’d always be moaning saying, ‘this is a hell hole, how can you lot play here?’ Now he can’t get enough of it.”Borthwick ensures cap presentations reiterate you do not just represent Durham, but the whole of the northeast. Newcomers are made to feel welcome from the off.When Netherlands allrounder Bas de Leede arrived in February, he was nervous. He describes himself as “tongue-tied” in his first week, unable to converse with team-mates beyond the usual pleasantries.One day after training, he was walking into town to get a feel for the place when a shout came from a passing car.”Ollie Robinson and Ben Raine were driving out,” de Leede says. “They saw me so they stopped the car and said ‘Basi, hop in’. We went out to have coffee, and then that turned into a long evening with plenty of wonderful conversation around life, cricket.”They didn’t need to do that, but it made me feel so much more welcome. That was really special when I think back.”

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There are a few ways of unpacking just how emphatic Durham’s performances were this season. They topped Division Two by 66 points, winning seven and losing just once.A line-up full of positive cricketers did as Campbell preached. Their top five run-scorers boasted strike rates over 60 – Bedingham (second) and Robinson (third) going at 77.08 and 88.66 – ensuring they collected 54 out of a possible 70 batting points. In turn, their bowlers managed 39 out of 42 bonus points.Promotion was confirmed in their round off, with many of the squad oblivious to the fact it was a possibility. Leicestershire’s failure to earn any batting points against Sussex meant Durham would finish in the top two. Robinson, who had been checking the score, posted a celebration emoji into the WhatsApp group. Some of the replies queried what it was about.If that felt like an anti-climax, the penultimate match of the campaign at New Road made up for it. Needing a five-point swing to be certain of top spot, Durham dismissed Worcestershire for 313, earning three bonus points with the ball to the hosts’ three spurned with the bat, winning the title with a round to spare.”That was really cool in the middle of the pitch, everyone coming together,” says Raine, who dismissed Dillon Pennington for the title-sealing wicket. “I felt bad for the two opening batters, they had to run off to get padded up when everyone’s hugging in the middle. Everyone’s over the moon and these two are trying to switch on to go in and bat.”Ben Raine gets a hug from Matt Potts after securing a one-wicket win over Yorkshire•Getty ImagesThat night’s celebrations were understandably raucous, spilling into Bushwackers – a Worcester institution among students and county cricketers. Board members and office staff had also made the trip, with a few too many beers consumed. Durham posted 371 for 4 the following day, a marvel given how some of the top six pulled up that morning.This, however, does not necessarily feature as a standout highlight. Raine mentions the opening defeat against Sussex, who chased down 231 with just two wickets to spare, as a seminal moment.”Everyone was disappointed about it, but it seemed to bounce off people,” he says. “I could tell looking around the room at Hove that no one was sitting worrying or lacking confidence. It was just disappointment of how we played. Even a loss, when we got back on the bus, I felt we had a different mindset.”Campbell regards this defeat as crucial to the whole project. “We played a very poor 20 to 30 minutes,” he says, referring to cluster of wickets at the start of Durham’s second innings which meant they only posted 189.”I pointed that period out to say, you know what, there isn’t any other reason we lost than the fact you went into your shells. You became defensive and you stopped backing your abilities to score, and stopped looking to score.”The following week, the season-opener at Chester-le-Street, was another thriller. Chasing victory on the final day, they pulled out of their second innings on 254 for 4 to give Worcestershire 314 to chase in 70 overs. They won with 5.2 overs to spare.”The question that I ask my players all the time and they get sick of me asking is ‘how are we going to win this game of cricket?'” Campbell says. “That morning, I didn’t even need to ask. They were all saying, ‘we’re going to declare, we’re declaring now’.”And that’s when I knew I’d got them. Thankfully we won and it drilled home the message. But every player wanted to put the game on the line for us to win. I thought to myself then, ‘I think we’re going to win this competition’.”That willingness to risk it all is why Borthwick references the one-wicket win over Yorkshire in which Raine finished unbeaten on 50, after vital support from No. 10 Matthew Potts (25), to knock off a target of 246.”I think that game proved to me that we weren’t scared of losing. When you get a dressing room with that mentality, it’s so special.”Even when choosing a standout individual, the name that pops up most is not on the podium in either discipline.Raine – the brains of the bowling attack, according to Campbell – finished with 60 dismissals. Borthwick considers England’s clean bill of health over the summer a blessing as it meant Potts could play as many as 11 matches and take 54.Lees, Bedingham and Robinson churned out international-quality runs. Parkinson, along with Australian Matt Kuhnemann and New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel, combined to ensure “the spinning position” returned 45 wickets.Graham Clark scored three centuries this season – tripling his tally in first-class cricket•Getty ImagesBut the player singled out is Clark. His 818 runs, from various situations, was his best return in a season, with three centuries quadrupling his first-class tally.”I reckon he was the one I took the biggest risk [on],” says Campbell, who wondered why such a clean ball-striker had been pigeonholed as a white-ball batter, restricted to just seven first-class matches in the previous three years. “People were shaking their heads when I said he was going to bat six for us, because I love his aggression.”There was another reason Campbell wanted to push Clark. He noticed he was the glue in the dressing room: “If I could succeed with Graham, because he’s so popular – ‘Mr Durham’ – then the whole team is going to be elated and take to another level.”I have a beer occasionally and think I’m pretty proud to have given him the opportunity to shine. I think every single person in the northeast is so happy for him.”The sentiment is reiterated by Raine: “I think his [Clark’s] success this year has epitomised what we’re about. Seeing him doing well lifts everyone around him.”Clark, naturally, dismisses that notion, instead throwing praise on the other batters. “They made my job easy.” But he does concede a more positive approach with the bat has seen him flourish.”I had an idea how a four-day batter should look, and I think I have just stuck with that tradition. I realised you can be a bit more expansive and protect your wicket. The style has suited me, to be super positive.”And it helps that it feels like a team of friends rather than players pushed together. It’s been such a fun environment. I’ve loved every minute of it.”

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“It’s funny,” Borthwick says, still on the outfield but now being shouted at by his team-mates to join them. “When the opportunity came up to go back to Durham, I had a year left on my contract with Surrey. So I said to Alec Stewart [director of cricket], that how he feels about Surrey and Chelsea is how I feel about Durham and Sunderland. There’s no place like home.”It’s at this point Borthwick starts to get a bit emotional: “I’ve had a few beers, so I apologise.”This is my fourth trophy with Durham – two Championship titles, the One-Day Cup and now this. But this feels like the most special one, being captain, getting us back to where we belong. I mean, it’s a Division Two trophy but, honestly, there were members in tears.”Durham celebrate after being crowned Division Two champions•Getty ImagesMany of those members have spent the last couple of months thanking Campbell. He diverts the praise elsewhere: the players deserve all the credit, and North for assembling the squad. He is just grateful to be here.It is over a year since Campbell suffered a heart attack while on holiday with his family in the UK. He was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital and spent a week in a coma.The regular hospital visits and the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in his chest – “my insurance policy” – are constant reminders of what might have been. The wife and kids get hugged a little longer each day. Even for a man who has always seen coaching as a form of guardianship, those under his care now mean that little bit more to him.”I’m very humbled to be given a second chance at life but also a second chance at coaching,” he says. “This could have all been so different.”Life and sport often run in parallel, but it is hard not to wonder if the presence of Campbell at Durham is a rare perfect intersection. There are strands of the multiverse where only one or neither are around, and yet here they are, key factors in second chances for both.None of that is lost on Campbell. And thus, there may be no better person to lead Durham back into the top flight. Someone who himself has come back from the brink and has a deep appreciation for what is still to come.”I wasn’t here when things went bad in 2016,” he says. “I’m hoping we can put it behind us, and all the Durham faithful can let it be and we look ahead, never look back.”We want to be winning the first division, we want to be one of the big boys. That’s my job – making us one of the biggest clubs in the country. And I’m going to do all I can to put that in place.”

The hill city, which is home to the Palace of the last King of the island, is set to stage one of the world’s great sporting rivalries

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Sep-20233:07

Shaheen Afridi vs India’s top order will be defining – Wasim Jaffer

Even in the hinterlands of the hill city of Kandy, excitement has built over their hosting of one of the world’s great sporting encounters.It is not an unassuming city. The elites here will deride the capital as a crime-ridden, sweat-festival, on account of Kandy and its surrounds being a whole 500 metres higher than Colombo, and supposedly superior for its having resisted colonialism for three centuries longer than the coasts of Sri Lanka. The city has also just this week finished hosting the Esala Perahera – the most glittering Buddhist procession on the island, which starts from the Palace of the last King of the island. Do not trifle with this place.But even here, who can possibly resist India v Pakistan. On the eve of this match, the Abeetha Ground, a little under 2kms from the Pallekele Stadium, was packed with potential match-goers, seeking tickets to the big show. The Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh match had been only about 60% full, partly due to the high price of tickets, controlled largely by the Pakistan Cricket Board, the official hosts of this Asia Cup.Related

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An Asia Cup XI featuring the best from the subcontinent

But for this game, the PCB has released lower-cost tickets to locals, particularly in the very popular grass banks at Pallekele. This works out to almost the same price (roughly LKR 1500 – Approx USD 5) as tickets for Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka. But perhaps helped by the fact that the India v Pakistan match is on a Saturday, these tickets are in greater demand.On the field, while the teams trained, it felt pretty low key. It has often been said that two nations that share so much (language, culture, food) should not be so irredeemably opposed. And on the eve of this big match, both India and Pakistan shared a desire to train under lights. Pallekele had the facilities to have them both in at the same time, and so, Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam were running through their warm-ups and later fielding drills, less than 50 metres away from where Mohammad Siraj was bowling bouncers to Virat Kohli.The India-Pakistan bromance was in full swing at the tandem practice session in Pallekele•Getty ImagesThe Pakistan coaching staff was cracking jokes with their players. Morne Morkel, Pakistan’s bowling coach, ran in off a few steps to bowl mostly rank off-side wides to the batter in the centre net. In the nets area beside the ground, Babar paused to watch every time Suryakumar Yadav or Shreyas Iyer, batting three nets away, sounded like they middled a ball.Sometimes fireworks let off in the western reaches of Amritsar can been seen in east Lahore.In the next week, BCCI officials are scheduled to visit Pakistan. PCB officials are set to be at the border to meet them. This is the way plans stand for now. But this is South Asia. Calls from high-ranking ministers happen. Nationalist sentiments frequently trump meaningful reaching out.On the field, it is 11 guys playing cricket against 11 other guys. The tandem practice session at Pallekele ended with Shadab Khan and Mohammad Rizwan being greeted by Kohli at the top of the steps, just by the dressing rooms. Shadab and Kohli stopped to speak.At the press conferences, in a small room near the nets, where dozens of sweaty media dudes (it was almost all dudes) gathered to vacuum up every word said by the captain of each team, Rohit Sharma said this: “They are a very good team, last few years they’ve done really well, whether it’s at the T20 World Cup or in the 50-over format. No team becomes No. 1 just like that. Pakistan has worked hard a lot to get there, looks like a unit. We’ll have a good challenge to play against them.”In the past, Babar has been equally generous to India’s cricketers. Though both teams are no doubt aware of the immensity of the occasion, on this neutral ground, there seemed to be a straightforward, no-big-drama, going-through-the-motions vibe to their preparation.When the game goes live on Saturday, perhaps hundreds of millions will be watching. In the stands will be tens of thousands, whose alliegances may be split (Sri Lankans are historically supporters of Pakistan, but have lately grown fond of India as well, though this has often been when India are playing teams outside South Asia).Perhaps because of its airs, Kandy seems an appropriate place to host this match. A fitting seat of kings.

The fiery quick had the Centurion crowd buzzing, as he expertly took on the cloak of responsibility in an inexperienced South African pace attack

Firdose Moonda26-Dec-2023″He’ll hit your head… hit your head… Kay-Gee… Kay-Gee, Kay-Gee-Gee-Gee…”Except he won’t.That’s Gerald Coetzee’s job but his name doesn’t quite work to the “Zombie” tune.But Kagiso Rabada will hit you elsewhere. Your forearm, if you’re Shardul Thakur. Your glove, if you’re Jasprit Bumrah. Your ego, if you’re almost anyone else.Nevermind that he hasn’t had a taste of competitive action in five-and-half-weeks, has been nursing a bruised heel in the lead-up to this game and had bowling partners with all of 13 Tests between them, Rabada had the SuperSport Park crowd composing lyrics with his name in it. He took his 14th five-for, and first against India, and put South Africa into a position of relevant satisfaction after they chose to bowl first with helpful overhead and ground conditions. He even looked like he wanted to hit someone on the head when he started with a clear short-ball plan upfront. It worked when Rabada had Rohit Sharma caught on the hook at long leg, and, as another great South African quick used to say, cut the head off the snake early on.Related

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At the other end, Marco Jansen followed his example and sent down three overs of mostly short balls, none of which looked entirely menacing. Since being mauled by India at Eden Gardens in the World Cup, Jansen has not quite looked the same – and Rabada believes it’s part of the growing pains of getting into international cricket which he just had “ride out and find a way”, and he was replaced by Nandre Burger.The angle from the left-armer caused immediate problems for Yashavi Jaiswal and Burger beat his outside edge twice in the first six balls and stuck to that line in his next over to take the edge. Then came the line on the pads, which India were wise to, which was intended to tempt the batters into following the ball. “We could see they are using it as a tactic,” Vikram Rathour, India’s batting coach said. “And because the bounce is more and there’s tennis ball bounce, it’s difficult to control as a batter.”Shubman Gill fell into the trap and gloved Burger behind but that was not the dismissal that South Africa felt justified in their approach in the morning. It was two overs later, when Virat Kohli flicked a Burger legstump half-volley to square leg and was put down by Tony de Zorzi. “Seeing as though we have two left-armers in our attack, we were trying to swing the ball in and with the bounce we could extract, that was a tactic. Temba had a gut feel about the best way to get a wicket, so it did make sense and it almost worked for Virat,” Rabada said.But when it did not, South Africa took a little long to adjust to their Plan B. From 38 for 3 when Kohli was dropped in the 14th over, India got to 91 in 26 overs at lunch – and scored 53 runs in 12.1 overs and just over four runs to the over. That’s not necessarily a catastrophic momentum shift but it was also at that time that South Africa lost Temba Bavuma to a second hamstring injury in as many games and had had to regroup. They returned after lunch having “readjusted” their plans, as Rabada put it and “looked to bowl in the channel”.

“He is such a fantastic player that when you play against him you really have to be on. I’m just glad I got the fainty (faint edge).”Rabada on Kohli’s dismissal

Again, it was Rabada who led the new approach. He brought the stumps into play with a full delivery that beat Shreyas Iyer’s inside edge and bowled him. Iyer was dropped on 4 and dismissed for 31, so South Africa would have been pretty pleased with the way they limited the damage. Similarly, Kohli was put down on 4 and it took an even better delivery from Rabada to remove him. It pitched full, and jagged away to take the outside edge. “(Usually) he just seems to cover those,” Rabada said. “Or play and miss. He is such a fantastic player that when you play against him you really have to be on. I’m just glad I got the fainty (faint edge).”The Kay-Gee chants that had been building at Castle Corner reached their crescendo then. Despite no hitting on the head taking place. In fact, the song probably made the most sense when Rabada generated bounce from a good length that reared up to hit R Ashwin’s glove on the handle and popped up to third slip. That was wicket No.4 and there was more to come.Coetzee was the one who smacked Thakur on the helmet with a fast, short ball that he was late on and Rabada only managed a blow lower down, on the arm. But it was he who dismissed Thakur, in classic fashion, when he nicked off going for the drive and that sent a full house into a frenzy. “We love it. Summer vibes in South Africa,” Rabada said. “I had to pinch myself at a stage because it was a packed house. Last time we played a Test here was against the West Indies and it wasn’t even half-full and before that, we played India (during the Covid-19 pandemic) and there was no one in the stands. It was just fantastic.”Arguably, those who turned up should have made more to cheer about. Apart from the two dropped catches, South Africa were not always consistent or threatening enough but before we criticise them too harshly, there’s a reason for that. Before today, Jansen had only played 11 Tests and Coetzee, two. Burger was on debut. They are young players, who are still learning at this level and will need (and also won’t have a great deal of) more game time to develop their disciplines. They are also not holding bowlers by nature – and we may yet question South Africa’s decision to leave Keshav Maharaj out of their XI – which we need to remember. For now, the trio is in their international infancy and they have Rabada’s full support. “They are magnificent bowlers,” Rabada said. “And they are wicket-takers; they’ve proven it. They have an x-factor about them.”All that also only makes Rabada’s performance all the more impressive. Since his debut against India in 2015 – when he was named in the XI in the absence of an injured Morne Morkel – Rabada has had to step into a role of responsibility but only once did he carry as much as he did today. In the 2019 Test against India in Ranchi, the rest of South Africa’s attack had 12 caps and 45 wickets between them; today the rest had 13 caps and 53 wickets. Then, in very different conditions, Rabada took 3 for 85 and India declared on 497 for 9. This time he has 5 for 44 and India are 208 for 8, a score Rabada says South Africa would have taken.There is more rain around, though the forecast has been incorrect so far, but historically the second and third days are best for SuperSport Park. If the weather continues to puzzle and the pitch plays to reputation, South Africa would be right to consider themselves in front.

And who has the most Test runs after their first 15 innings?

Steven Lynch05-Mar-2024Yashasvi Jaiswal had scored 971 runs in 15 innings after the fourth Test. Has anyone ever had more after 15? asked Suhail Badrinath from India
Only seven men have had more runs after 15 Test innings than Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 971. He’s not far behind the West Indians Frank Worrell (980) and Lawrence Rowe (983). Then there are five in four figures: the leading Indian, Vinod Kambli (1005), Australia’s Neil Harvey (1045), Herbert Sutcliffe of England (1050) and another West Indian, Everton Weekes. And as I seem to say so often, it’s not a great surprise to find one name well clear at the top: Don Bradman had no fewer than 1445 runs after his first 15 Test innings.With the final Test in Dharamsala looming, to move up the list Jaiswal would need to have more than Worrell’s 1116 runs after 17 innings. Harvey had 1118, Rowe 1131, Sutcliffe 1158, Weekes 1251, Graeme Smith 1258… and Bradman 1471. Six other men had more than 1000 runs after 17: Len Hutton (1077), Harry Brook (1028), Gary Ballance (1019), Kambli (1011), Sid Barnes (1010) and George Headley (1009),Mumbai’s last two batters scored centuries in the Ranji Trophy the other day. Has this ever happened before? asked Satyam Sinha from India, and several others
Mumbai were 337 for 9 in their recent Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda in Mumbai when last man Tushar Deshpande joined Tanush Kotian. Neither had scored a first-class century before, but by the time Deshpande was out for 123 Mumbai had advanced to 569; Kotian was left with 120 not out.There’s only one more instance of Nos. 10 and 11 both scoring centuries in the same first-class innings. It also involved two Indian players – but a long way from the Mumbai maidans. In the third match of the 1946 tour of England, against Surrey at The Oval, the Indians had an undistinguished 205 for 9 when last man Shute Banerjee joined the No. 10, Chandu Sarwate. Both of them were actually reasonably accomplished batters: Sarwate finished his career with 14 first-class hundreds, and Banerjee with five.In 1946, against an attack containing Alec Bedser – soon to make his Test debut – the last pair more than doubled the score. They eventually put on 249 before Banerjee fell for 121, leaving Sarwate with 124 not out. “Both gave masterly displays and neither at any time appeared in difficulties,” thought Wisden. The watching John Arlott was also impressed: “The stand was chanceless; Sarwate sent one streaky shot through slips but no catch went to hand. The two men batted capably and correctly, defending well against Bedser, who bowled industriously, and scoring chiefly in front of the wicket by strokes made out of confidence and with no trace of last-wicket anxiety.” The Indians went on to win the match, and Arlott concluded: “The last-wicket stand changed the team’s outlook from that of 16 newcomers to that of a team playing the game at which they excelled in their own country.”Going back to the recent match in Mumbai, Deshpande’s century was only the 13th by a No. 11 in all first-class cricket, the highest being 163 by the England legspinner Peter Smith for Essex against Derbyshire at Chesterfield in 1947. In last week’s game, Hardik Tamore also scored a century, after going in first: it was only the second time the No. 1 and No. 11 had scored a century in the same first-class innings, after Ferozuddin (133) and Ahsan-ul-Haq (an unbeaten 100 in 40 minutes from No. 11) for Muslims against Sikhs in Lahore in 1923-24.Fourteen of Brian Lara’s 34 Test hundreds came in Tests lost, the last of them in 2006 in a loss against Pakistan•Arif Ali/AFP/Getty ImagesBhargav Bhatt took 14 wickets for 312 runs in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final. Was this the most expensive such haul? asked Minal Acharya from India
Baroda’s slow left-armer Bhargav Bhatt had figures of 7 for 112 and 7 for 200 in the Ranji quarter-final in Mumbai mentioned above.The database-crunchers on the Ask Steven page on Facebook soon tuned up their fingers. Pete Church from Australia worked out there had been only four more expensive ten-fors in first-class cricket: another Indian spinner, CS Nayudu, had eye-watering figures of 11 for 428 (6 for 153 and 5 for 275) for Holkar against Bombay in the Ranji Trophy final at the Brabourne Stadium in March 1945; the great Australian Test legspinner Clarrie Grimmett took 10 for 394 (4 for 192 and 6 for 202) for South Australia against New South Wales in Sydney in 1926; another Aussie, offspinner Jason Krejza collected 12 for 358 (8 for 215 and 4 for 143) on his Test debut against India in Nagpur in 2008; andNorman Williams, another legspinner from South Australia, had 11 for 326 (6 for 134 and 5 for 192) against Victoria in Adelaide in 1928. The Sri Lankan slow left-armerSandaken Pathirana also conceded 312 runs in taking 11 wickets (8 for 184 and 3 for 128) for Moors against Colts in Colombo in 2018.The most runs previously conceded in taking 14 or more in a match was 289, by Grimmett in the course of 16 wickets (9 for 180 and 7 for 109) for South Australia against Queensland in Adelaide in 1934. The most for exactly 14 wickets was 271 (8 for 119 and 6 for 152), by the Uttar Pradesh seamer Ashish Zaidi against Haryana in a Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Faridabad in 1991. (Thanks to Charles Davis for that one.)After Joe Root’s hundred in defeat against India in Ranchi, I wondered which batter had the most Test centuries in a losing cause? asked Thiagarajan Kaushik from India
Joe Root’s unbeaten 122 in the fourth match of the current series in Ranchi was his 31st century in Tests. Of those, 20 have come in victories, seven in draws, and only four in defeats.That puts Root fairly low down on the list you’re asking about: some 24 batters have scored five or more hundreds in Test defeats. Top of the pile is Brian Lara, who made no fewer than 14 centuries in losing causes; Sachin Tendulkar made 11, Shivnarine Chanderpaul nine, and Mohammad Yousuf eight.I was pleased to see Ireland win a Test recently. We seem to have a high turnover of players – how many men have appeared in all Ireland’s Test matches? asked Patrick Newton from Ireland
Ireland have so far used 29 players in their eight men’s Tests, and the only one to appear in all of them – including the victory over Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi last week – is the current captain Andy Balbirnie. Offspinner Andy McBrine played in seven, and batters James McCollum and Paul Stirling in six. Here’s the list of most Tests played by Ireland cricketers.Ireland got off the mark with a win in their eighth men’s Test. Australia are the only country to win their first (the first of all, against England in Melbourne in 1877). England (also in 1877), Pakistan (1952) and Afghanistan (2019) all won their second Test, and West Indies (1930) their sixth.All the other countries took longer in terms of matches: Zimbabwe won their 11th Test (1995), South Africa their 12th (1906), Sri Lanka their 14th (1985), India their 25th (1952), Bangladesh their 35th (2005), and New Zealand their 45th (1956, some 26 years after their first).While we’re talking about Ireland, we should mention that their women’s team won an official Test match – the only one they’ve played so far – back in 2000, when they defeated Pakistan in Dublin in July 2000.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The allrounder has come out of retirement to win the T20 World Cup in a region where he has had CPL success

Danyal Rasool04-May-2024It is hardly a secret that Imad Wasim’s return to Pakistan’s T20I side has nothing to do with any long-term goal, and everything to do with one singular tournament. The 35-year-old allrounder has struggled with fitness issues in the past, and recognises his healthiest days are behind him; he even quit international cricket last year. But with a T20 World Cup around the corner, much of it in the West Indies, where he has enjoyed so much success at the Caribbean Premier League, he couldn’t help be tempted.So when PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi called him up, Imad’s decision, in truth, was an easy one to make.”I came back for one reason: not just for the sake of playing,” he says in a media interaction. “Amir and I returned for one reason – to have one last go and win the World Cup. For the last while, we’ve been playing T20 World Cup semi-finals and finals, which is a very big achievement. But the truth is no one remembers the semi-finalists and finalists. People remember the champions. Our goal is to play those semi-finals and finals, and then to win that tournament. The result is in God’s hands, but the players’ mentality is to go and win the tournament.”Imad is speaking at the Gaddafi Stadium a few moments after the end of a training session held as part of a three-day camp before Pakistan fly out to Ireland and England for preparatory T20I series ahead of the World Cup.It’s a blistering hot day; Lahore’s summer heat was delayed by a few weeks this year, but now the sun blazes down, as if to make up for lost time. These aren’t exactly conditions Pakistan can expect in Dublin, but as a test of fitness, Imad, and the rest of the side, are being put through their paces.And Imad hasn’t put himself through this because it’s a lifestyle he wants for these twilight years of his career, but because he feels one final tilt at glory beckons. He wouldn’t officially confirm the World Cup as his last international tournament, but it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to work out what he’s saying.”I returned not for my own benefit, but to represent my country in the best possible way and finish on a high note,” he says. “And to try and please this nation of 250 million so we can celebrate together. This is our mission and our goal. Whether we achieve it or not who can say? It does not matter to me whether my contribution is small or big as long as we win the trophy. It’s easier said than done, but I think if we play united and to our potential, we won’t lose to anybody. That is my faith.”Imad Wasim regularly bowls in the powerplay for Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL•CPL T20/Getty ImagesImad’s return was contentious within Pakistan, stirring a debate around rewarding players who quit with a World Cup spot, but by now, has learned to shut out outside noise. Which is probably just as well for a player who’s perhaps the Pakistani equivalent of Vegemite in human form. He provokes especially strong feelings amongst both his supporters and detractors and while saying he “respects everyone’s opinion”, doesn’t feel like he needs to engage with it.”I don’t feel outside pressure, just the stress of the match,” Imad says. “I only feel pressure centred around my performance, and nothing else. If you start thinking about outside pressure as well, you can’t perform effectively. I don’t say this arrogantly, but with confidence, that what happens and is said outside doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I only worry about what my team needs of me, and whether or not I am delivering it.”This according to him, even extends to the biggest of occasions, with Imad calling the hype around any India-Pakistan clash “huge”, but tries not to think about it at all.Related

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Because ultimately, in that short conversation with Imad, what becomes very obvious very quickly is the one goal that appears to consume his every thought at the moment. “I am back for the World Cup, to be honest with you. I am thinking of nothing else, not even my body. If we win the World Cup, what better way to finish would there be?”

Self-belief has been be an important aspect of their cricket lately and it came in handy against India

Madushka Balasuriya28-Jul-20242:58

Sri Lanka show they aren’t solely reliant on Athapaththu

It was around an hour after the winning runs had been struck, and the once packed-to-the-literal-brim 16,000-capacity Rangiri Dambulla stadium had filtered clear. A pocket of fans, largely kids, had been let onto the ground, near the players’ dugouts.Standing behind a minimal police cordon, they called out for “Chamari [older sister]”. They were at it for almost 10 minutes straight, when suddenly the decibel levels rose exponentially. Chamari Athapaththu – still on the ground, acquiescing to every bystander, every interview request, every interaction really – had finally made her way through to her adoring young fans.She walked up to them raised one hand, and held the Asia Cup trophy in the other. If this was a dream come true for those kids, could you just imagine what it might have felt like for Athapaththu?Here she was in the twilight of her career, standing in a moment that she, maybe even two years prior, could have hardly conceived. India, an opponent that had seemed almost untouchable, had been vanquished. A new set of players now ready and willing to take on the responsibility, a responsibility that had for so long been hers and hers alone to bear. And most importantly, women’s cricket finally getting its due.This was no token viewing, no passing crowd. This was pure emotion, unadulterated joy, and total entertainment. This here was change in its most tangible form. There’s a girl tomorrow that will pick up a bat because of this, a parent that would encourage it, not dismiss it. This was a dream manifesting into reality.

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Rewind two hours and you would have forgiven Athapaththu wondering if her dream was busy transitioning into a nightmare.Related

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It had all been going according to plan up until that point too. Seeing how strong India’s batting had been leading up to this final, there was a sense that Sri Lanka really needed to win the toss and chase. As events would conspire, they ended up losing the toss but still wound up chasing since India felt a third-use pitch might only get tougher for batting later on. Sometimes you write your own scripts, other times it’s simply written for you.And so it was that Athapaththu, as she might have visualised heading into this game, was spearheading Sri Lanka’s unlikely chase to a first-ever major trophy. Sure, she had lost Vishmi Gunaratne early – a run out that Athapaththu admitted was largely her fault – but now she had Harshitha Samarawickrama by her side and things were going well.With India’s 165 square in their crosshairs, the pair had maintained the required rate at around eight an over for the entirety of their 63-ball 87-run stand, and Athapaththu in particular was batting as well as she had done across the tournament. But with 72 needed, the plan was ripped from her hands; with 48 balls left, she was back in the dugout, bowled around her legs.Chamari Athapaththu hit 304 runs at an average of 101 and a strike rate of 147 in the Asia Cup•Sri Lanka Cricket”I wanted to get at least another 20-30 runs, because I knew if I brought the target closer the team would be able to do the rest,” Athapaththu said after the game. Her concerns were warranted. Against Pakistan in the semi-final, a similar thing had happened. There Athapaththu fell with 21 needed from 21, and the team proceeded to lose three more wickets before squeezing through with one ball to spare.

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The foundations for this victory, though, had been laid much earlier, by about 18 months, when Rumesh Ratnayake was appointed as women’s head coach. That term – appointment – is being used loosely here because, to date, Sri Lanka Cricket are yet to acknowledge it. Ratnayake was brought in on an interim capacity prior to the 2023 T20 World Cup and has remained in the role ever since.His impact on this side has been nothing short of transformative. This is after all pretty much the same side – barring a few changes – that was brushed aside by India in the 2022 Asia Cup. However over the past year, each subsequent victory has served to feed that ever-growing belief.”The staff has given us huge support,” Athapaththu said. “They’ve brought in so much in terms of thinking positively, keeping certain things in the past. If a catch is dropped or if there’s a marginal call on a decision, we don’t discuss those things. We only look at how to score better in the next game, how to make sure we take the next catch that comes.”It may sound simple, but that’s because it is. Belief after all is a tenuous thing. When you have it everything is golden, but holding on to it, that part is tricky. Many professionals go through good and bad periods in terms of self-belief, but right now this Sri Lanka side is riding the wave.Athapaththu: When I was batting with Harshitha [Samarawickrama], I told her… if I get out you’re going to have to be the one to finish it.•ACCThis mindset was certainly put to the test against India. Smriti Mandhana, dropped by Harshitha Samarawickrama on 10, went on to score a 47-ball 60. Samarawickrama’s day then got even worse when she dropped Richa Ghosh when she was just on 5, and to aggravate matters further, on 9, Ghosh was given not out despite having clearly nicked behind.The India wicketkeeper went on to smash Kavisha Dilhari – Sri Lanka’s best bowler to that point – for 18 in the penultimate over, and India, who had been looking at a total of around 150 were suddenly in line to clear 170. Only an excellent final over from the ageless Udeshika Prabodhani prevented that.”Once something like that happens, you can’t live with that feeling. You gotta just focus on what needs to be done next. We have to look at what we can and can’t control. Yes, Harshitha dropped some catches but she came out and played a match-winning innings.”I spoke to her at that point and said ‘that’s over, focus on the next thing’ because we needed her in the right mindset to bat.”When I was batting with Harshitha, I told her not to doing anything rash. I’ll play my natural game, but if I get out you’re going to have to be the one to finish it.”And finish it she did. With Dilhari by her side, Samarawickrama brought up just her sixth T20I fifty in 59 innings, as the pair took Sri Lanka home with eight balls to spare. Dilhari’s six down the ground to win the game, a perfect encapsulation of how far they had come, not just on the field but in terms of their own self-belief.Sri Lanka players celebrate with the Asia Cup trophy•ACC

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Ten out of 10, no 100 out of 100. That’s probably how many times Harmanpreet Kaur would have snaffled up the catch that was presented to at mid-off in the 16th over. Samarawickrama was on 45 at the time and both she and Dilhari were just starting to roll. A wicket there and the whole complexion of the chase might have changed, with two new batters at the crease. Pakistan all over again.But while this was an ordinary catch, it also wasn’t. Because an entire stadium was rooting against it. Sixteen thousand people, all around Harmanpreet, were manifesting her to drop it. And when she did, there was an explosion, as if it wasn’t just a cricket ball that had hit the floor but a grenade.An explosion of joy. An explosion of relief. A kindling of a feeling. A feeling that maybe this was meant to be.But spare a thought for Harmanpreet. If this sort of atmosphere was new for the Sri Lankan players, it was equally so for this Indian side. Sure, they’ve played in front of packed crowds before but there can’t be many times when they’ve faced one so hostile.When Harmanpreet spoke after the game, she was able to analyse it rationally. Yes, India hadn’t been at their best. With the bat they were quieter than usual, and with the ball they weren’t as penetrative as they would have liked. For them, this is an unfortunate speed bump on the road to the greater prize of October’s T20 World Cup.But let that not take anything away from Sri Lanka, nor let it be the end of the story. 1996. 2014. And now 2024. This will no doubt go down as one of the finest cricketing achievements by a Sri Lankan side, but if their own mantra is anything to go by, they won’t have long to look back on it. To quote Athapaththu, that’s over, now focus on the next thing.

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s all been worth it for a household that has been through everything

Firdose Moonda24-Dec-2024Timing, as they say in sport, is everything, and it was about a year ago that Corbin and Eathan Bosch went through some of their father Tertius’ things.Tertius had passed away in tragic circumstances in 2000, when Corbin was five and Eathan not yet two. The pair knew him only through the memories of others, including their mother Karen-Anne, who held on to a lot of Tertius’ playing kit. Among the things the brothers found was a 1992 World Cup shirt. “It was pretty special,” Eathan, a cricketer in South Africa’s domestic set-up, tells ESPNcricinfo. “And also just to see what the kit looked like back then and what it’s like now. I must say I wouldn’t be able to play in that kind of kit. It’s just so thick and heavy.”Related

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At the time, Eathan didn’t think he’d ever have reason to put the shirt on, but kept it with him anyway. Two days ago, that changed. He was invited to a hospitality suite at the Wanderers for Corbin’s ODI debut and decided on his outfit as he walked out of his front door. “It was a pink day so I thought I was going to wear a pink shirt, but then at the last second as I was leaving I remembered I had the [1992] shirt and I thought, ‘let me wear it.’ When I got to the stadium, I just put it on,” Eathan says. “I just thought it was a special occasion, and what better way to celebrate Corbin’s debut than wearing one of my dad’s shirts?”

From building with Lego at home, to making your ODI debut for the Proteas.

Corbin Bosch talks us through the whole experience leading up to last nights match and the game itself!#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #PinkDay #SAvPAK pic.twitter.com/mqaoPgxSzM

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 23, 2024