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Meg and Anna Lanning talk about backyard cricket, their idols growing up, and how the women’s game has grown

Brittany Mitchell24-Feb-2017Meg Lanning is considered the best female cricketer in history, she captains the national team and has just won a third Belinda Clark Medal – the highest honour in Australian women’s cricket. It would be easy for such a talented athlete to believe her own hype, but Meg Lanning’s younger sister Anna makes sure to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground.Meg made her Australian ODI debut in 2011, at 19, and her Test debut in 2013, since when she has developed into one of the most recognisable players in world cricket, but Anna Lanning says “she’s pretty humble herself, she doesn’t really like the limelight, and I think that shows in her cricket and everything like that”.”She’s obviously done really well for herself and I don’t think that anyone else could lead the country better,” Anna, herself a player with Victoria in the Women’s National Cricket League and Melbourne Stars in the Women’s Big Bash League, tells ESPN.Growing up as typical Aussie children, Meg and Anna each got their taste of cricket in the backyard; Anna has been following in her older sister’s footsteps ever since Meg first picked up a cricket ball.”I probably started playing competitively first, we played a lot in the backyard early on,” Meg tells ESPN. “I played in some regional teams in Sydney where we grew up, and I think Anna came along and watched and sort of saw how much fun it was and how much we enjoyed it. So that’s where it sort of started I guess.”

“Brett Lee was my hero when I was a bowler”Anna Lanning

There were definitely more than a few smashed windows, but it was in the backyard that Meg and Anna chose their respective disciplines of batting and bowling.”Sometimes there was brothers and an older sister as well as five of us who would join in and play [in the backyard],” Meg says. “We were all very active and wanted to play to run around as much as we could, so we just loved playing any sport and cricket was one we enjoyed at the start and continued on with.”I actually started my career as a bowler, as hard as that is to believe now given how we’ve come out, but we’d take turns. I certainly loved batting growing up; that was the real thing I enjoyed so we had some good contests, that’s for sure.”Women’s cricket was not televised while they were younger so the Lanning sisters grew up worshipping the work of many of the Australian men’s players; Meg spent years mirroring her game on that of five-time Allan Border Medal winner Ricky Ponting, and her third Belinda Clark Medal saw her move one step closer to her idol. Now, however, she herself is the inspiration for young female aspiring cricketers.Having grown up competing in the backyard, Meg and Anna now play together for Melbourne Stars in the WBBL•Cricket Australia/Getty Images”I supposed I did watch a lot of men’s cricket and Ricky Ponting was my hero growing up,” Meg Lanning tells ESPN.”I guess now the great thing is that the young girls coming through can watch their heroes and female cricketers on TV rather than it being just men’s players; I think that’s the best thing about the WBBL.”It showcases the best women’s players in the country and around the world, and really shows young girls coming through what the pathway is.”Anna, meanwhile, was happy to emulate her favourite player, Brett Lee. Even attempting his famous lengthy run-up in the backyard.”Hit the nail on the head there, Brett Lee was my hero when I was a bowler,” she says. “Like Meg said, it’s great to see now that young girls can watch their female heroes on TV in whatever sport that may be [AFL, cricket, netball].”Up in Sydney we had, it was just concrete, basically just the size of a cricket pitch, so it was a bit hard to get the full-on run-up there. It taught us to play straight because it was just windows across the house, so if you hit anything square, mum wouldn’t be happy.”

“Everyone in our family is very competitive and enjoys sport so that was just what we grew up on”Meg, on the sporty culture in the Lanning family

A family of five children, Meg and Anna sometimes had their siblings out in the backyard playing alongside them; but it’s been their family support – and competitiveness – that has truly helped them rise throughout the cricketing world.”They’ve been great supporters of us, they were quite competitive at sport growing up so they sort of know what it’s all about,” Meg says.”Our family has been great supporters of both of us; that certainly makes it a lot easier in being able to go out there and enjoy yourself knowing everyone is behind you off the field. It’s nice to have that I guess, and sport’s in the family so they enjoy it as well.”I mean they did a lot of sport. Lots of swimming, and me and Anna would often go to their training and play other sports while we waited for them to finish. That sort of helped drive our love for sport early on; everyone in our family is very competitive and enjoys sport so that was just what we grew up on. “Meg Lanning: “I’ve had to learn on the run a bit, but I think that’s really helped me […] I’ve really enjoyed captaining so far”•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesNamed Australian captain at just 21 years old, Meg Lanning had to learn on her feet when it came to taking on the leadership role.”It wasn’t something I’d given a lot of thought to when I took over. I’d only just sort of got the vice-captaincy and Jodie Fields got injured so I had to step in pretty quickly; that in a way kind of helped me because I hadn’t really given a lot of thought to it or about my style of leadership.”I’ve had to sort of learn on the run a bit, but I think that’s really helped me and every day is different on the field and off the field … there is always a lot to learn. I’ve really enjoyed captaining so far.”Anna’s journey hasn’t seen her in the green and gold uniform yet, but the 22-year-old made sure to step out from behind big sister’s shadow by travelling to England to further her cricket education.”It was cool,” she says. “I was away for five months … the first time I’ve been away from home for that long. So it was just an amazing life experience and to play some cricket against some really good English players was awesome for my cricket.”

The series against India has gone and there are some interesting scenarios for South Africa as to how they use the final match in Delhi ahead of their home season

Firdose Moonda30-Nov-20151:46

Moonda: Delhi is all about fitness of SA bowlers

For the next ten days, South Africa will have to realign their expectations. The nine-year unbeaten run away from home is over. They will be hurting because of that – it was a hugely proud record in an era when teams struggle manfully outside of their own shores – but once refreshed from the disappointments of Nagpur they may also see it as an opportunity.Hashim Amla will not want a 3-0 scoreline on his CV, but Delhi is a chance for them to play with freedom and not be overly worried about the final outcome. If they want, they can also stop pretending they are happy with the pitches.Their first taste of being unshackled came at the Pench Tiger Reserve, 80 kilometres outside Nagpur, where they tracked down a tiger who even posed for pictures. The photographer in chief was Dale Steyn, who remains on the tour despite missing two-and-a-half Tests with injury, and whose participation, or lack thereof, in Delhi could be one of South Africa’s key considerations.

Awesome Tiger safari this morning. Dead eye Dale spotted Mr Tiger hiding in the bush, he kindly decided to take a stroll in front of us for 15min after, such a beautiful beast! #biggerthanhelooks #tiger

A video posted by DALE STEYN (@dalesteyn) on Nov 28, 2015 at 2:19am PST

On the face of it, there is no reason to risk Steyn. In fact, the talk throughout the week was that only if South Africa won in Nagpur and Delhi was a decider would they go to every effort to ensure Steyn was ready for a final showdown. But now that Delhi is a dead-rubber, Steyn does not need to be hurried back, except that what looms for the South Africa could make it a tricky decision for the selectors.Less than three weeks after South Africa return home from India, they will begin a four-Test series against England, for which they need Steyn fit and firing. If he is able to play the Delhi Test, they may want to give him overs in the legs as a warm-up for the home matches, especially as the man himself has admitted he performs better once he has bowled competitively, although there is a round of Sunfoil matches before the Boxing Day Test that Steyn could conceivably play in.If there is any doubt about Steyn’s availability he will be given the extra days off because South Africa will not want to deplete their resources even more. They are already in danger of being without Vernon Philander, who is recovering from torn ankle ligaments, for the early part of England series. That will also mean South Africa pondering giving their reserve seamers – Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange – a run in Delhi and resting Kagiso Rabada, who has played every match on tour and may be required to do the same against England.They may also want to give their reserve batsman, Temba Bavuma, time in the middle after what has been a month of carrying drinks. Although there is no obvious spot for Bavuma in the line-up, Stiaan van Zyl’s misfiring may have run its course and Bavuma could be asked to prove his versatility as a result. But if they want to be fair to Bavuma and open a spot in the middle for him, they will have to ask AB de Villiers to keep and drop Dane Vilas, who could be facing the end of the road anyway.Vilas’ body language says it all. He went from looking up keenly at big-screen replays of the byes he conceded to see how he could better his technique, to bowing his head in disappointment every time an image of him committing a blunder came up. He is unlucky in that he was given a difficult job to do in a difficult place to do it – claim the Test wicketkeeper’s spot on the subcontinent – but luck can sometimes determine who makes it and who doesn’t.For now, South Africa have resisted the temptation to recall Quinton de Kock but it is unlikely they will able to do that for much longer. As harsh as it would be to take the gloves away from Vilas mid-series, it may be the only way of gauging whether someone like Bavuma or even the extra spinner, Dane Piedt, merit a more permanent place in the line-up.This kind of experimental talk is usually unheard of in Test cricket. Even when there is seemingly nothing to play for, teams like to put their strongest XI forward. But South Africa have been unable to do that throughout the series as injuries have interfered with their equilibrium. They have been off balance for all three matches and it would be brave of them to deliberately leave themselves that way to prepare for what is ahead. Still they can do it without fearing the consequences because the challenge of this series has proved a step too far. The next challenge, though, is just around the corner.

When you take over the captaincy of a side with an outstanding T20 pedigree it can come with significant pressure, but James Vince has taken to the role with aplomb in a season where his England credentials have risen

Alan Gardner21-Aug-2014James Vince is the batting saviour that England do not need. At least, not right now. Having waited until the last six months before the World Cup to soup up their ODI top three with a belligerent boundary-hitter, in the form of Alex Hales, England have had two (three if you count Surrey’s punkish white-ball opener Jason Roy) come along at once.The inclusion of Hales for the forthcoming one-day series against India had become something of a cause celebre, an unstoppable juggernaut accompanied by the sense that denying the public a chance to see his Popeye forearms engaged in bowler destruction over 50 overs for England would be a grave affront; the apparent obsession with “building a platform” likely to drive a significant section of those who follow the team to erect a scaffold of their own.Vince is understanding, even if the promotion for his England Lions room-mate provided an inevitable buzzkill for his own chances. The pair opened together four times in the Lions’ triangular series earlier this month, during which Hales scored the second of four List A hundreds in as many weeks. “He’s a high-class player,” Vince says, equably.”I think Hales has proved himself in international T20 cricket, he’s done well for Notts this year in all formats, he did well for the Lions and I think he rightly deserves a go.””High-class” is the sort of epithet often attached to Vince’s batting, his elegance drawing almost contractual comparisons with Michael Vaughan. Vince, having played T20 all his career, is a more aggressive hitter than Vaughan, if not quite up to Hales’ level of blunt-force barbarism, and has attracted attention as a future international player ever since breaking into the Hampshire side as a teenager. A tally of 1220 first-class runs at 61.00 this season, alongside 398 at a strike rate of 151.33 in NatWest T20 Blast, indicates the breadth of Vince’s talent.While a dip in form around the start of the Royal London Cup may have cooled his chances of an ODI call-up even before Hales unleashed a storm, it is the Blast that provides Vince with another chance to buff his credentials. In his first season as Hampshire’s T20 captain, he has led them to a record fifth successive finals day, having scored an unbeaten 93 off 51 balls to upstage Hales – who dropped Vince along the way – and Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in the last eight.Vince, tall and rangy, with big, wide eyes that in other circumstances might be described as soulful, is considerably quieter than his two predecessors, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Dominic Cork. That is not surprising, given that his is still only 23, having being appointed Hampshire’s youngest post-war captain. He was not an obvious candidate, having rarely done the job while coming through Hampshire’s academy system but, according to Giles White, the director of cricket, his increasing maturity, not to mention greater consistency with the bat, encouraged the gamble.It probably helps that in domestic T20, Hampshire are cricket’s equivalent of , so smoothly do the team’s component parts work. White calls Vince an “astute leader, tactically” and believes he could do the job in longer formats and, potentially, at a higher level. “With captaincy comes a management part off field, making decisions and being responsible and that’s something he’s in tune with.”Vince admits that, given the side’s run of success, there was added pressure in accepting the role. “In a way, having made four finals days in a row and won it twice, I didn’t want to take the captaincy and end up going out in the group stages,” he says. “We made the quarter-finals and that was rewarding and then to go away to a very strong Notts side and win there, that was a special day.”As I’ve gone on I’ve become more confident in the decisions I’ve been making. I’m sure the other guys, when I first started, they weren’t too sure how I was going to go in the job. Hopefully they’ve got a bit more confidence in me now, as I’ve got more confidence in myself. I’m less hesitant and backing myself to take decisions.”Added media responsibilities are another chore and, to begin with, Vince tugs compulsively at his tracksuit sleeve when answering questions. Like many modern players, he prefers to let his cricket do the talking. Before signing a contract with Hampshire, he played as either a centre-half or target-man forward with Reading’s academy and still goes to watch QPR with his dad – though it is hard to imagine him putting in a “reducer” tackle or bellowing from the terraces.As a forceful limited-overs opener capable of flowing middle-order strokeplay, it is tempting to see him as a potential successor to Ian Bell in England’s set-up. Hales may be packing a couple of extra sticks of dynamite but Vince’s first-class record suggests a stronger base for Test cricket. Here again, though, England are suddenly well stocked, with Joe Root and Gary Ballance, both a few months older than Vince, flanking the effervescent Bell in England’s resurgent (for now) Test side.He says it is “quite hard to gauge” how he is currently viewed by England and, naturally, was disappointed not to score more than 58 runs in four innings for the Lions. The T20 against India at the end of tour could offer another opportunity, perhaps as a partner for Hales. After the 12 months England have had, another saviour might come in handy after all.”Seeing those guys go on and play gives you belief that you would be able to cope at that level, having trained with them and played with them. I’ve always wanted to play for England and I’m going to try my hardest to do that, if my time comes soon or if it doesn’t, it’s out of my control really.”Although not completely out of his control, as he will attempt to show at Edgbaston on Saturday, beginning with the Blast semi-final against Lancashire. Leading his side to another title would be “extra special”, he says. Just as Hampshire have found the majority of their T20 opponents vincible in recent years, so their bright young captain has been rapidly overcoming obstacles. Maybe England will soon consider some of their white-ball problems Vince-able too.

When in Kolkata, there’s plenty of advice from the stands for the cricketers on the field

Saurav Dey04-Jan-2013Choice of game
I had never watched an India-Pakistan game from the stands, having missed them every time Pakistan had visited India. So this time I planned in advance.I was confident India would win and level the series since I regarded them a better ODI outfit.Team supported
This was a must-win game for India, so I was desperately rooting for them.Key performer
Nasir Jamshed steered the ship for Pakistan, scoring at a brisk rate with Mohammed Hafeez, and continued on even after Hafeez’s dismissal. By the time Jamshed got out, he had scored half of Pakistan’s runs, thus ensuring they got a respectable total on the board. He got a standing ovation from the crowd after reaching his century since this was his third consecutive century against India (including the one at the Asia Cup in 2012).One thing I’d have changed

Eden Gardens was packed with more than 60,000 spectators hoping for a high-scoring thriller, but the game fizzled out the moment India lost their first wicket. I’d have liked to change the Indian collapse, because the last 40 overs of the game were the most boring display of cricket I’ve ever seen. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and showed no intent to even go for the chase.Face-off I relished
Making full use of the new two-bouncer rule, the Pakistani bowlers were intent on banging it in short one after the other, making the audience groan and say, “We didn’t bowl bouncers at you”. Ashok Dinda did try a couple of bouncers but they were called wides. Mohammed Irfan was particularly intimidating with his height and the kind of bounce he was extracting.We expected a good contest between Irfan and Virat Kohli once the batsman was beaten and responded with a boundary off Irfan in the next ball. But Kohli disappointed everyone by getting out in the over after that.Wow moment
Jamshed’s wicket was the top moment of the game for me and the home crowd. Pakistan had raced to 150 for 2 in 27 overs and the only way they could be restricted was by triggering a collapse. That meant getting the wicket of Jamshed, who was refusing to budge. In the 42nd over, Jamshed skipped down the track to hit the ball but missed it. He was far out of the crease, giving Dhoni a chance to easily stump him. Dhoni fumbled but managed to drag the ball back to the stumps. The decision was referred to the third umpire and the crowd kept its fingers crossed. A cheer was first heard from somewhere near the corporate boxes, where spectators had access to television sets. Then we saw Kamran Akmal come down the pavilion. A roar went up when we finally saw the third umpirer’s decision on the big screen. A few cheeky fans waved at Jamshed and yelled, “Jamshed ji, ta ta”, which sounded something like the name of the legendary Indian industrialist.Close encounter
Gambhir, fielding at deep square leg, was called out by the crowd, ” Gautam da“. But the Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain didn’t turn, prompting disappointed fans to ask. “Will he be fined if he waves back?”, “Why can’t he even look at us?”Kohli was asked how many phone numbers he managed to get, alluding to a cellphone ad in which he tries to get a girl’s number. The ad was repeated on the giant screen all day long.Shoaib Malik got called “” (son-in-law), since he is married to Indian tennis player Sania Mirza.Shot of the day
Jamshed hit a couple of sixes off Dinda against the run of play. Dhoni’s six off Junaid Khan was also memorable.Crowd meter
Eden was packed to the brim. The crowd was in a good mood during the second half of the Pakistani innings and responded with some well-orchestrated Mexican waves, which also received applause. The fans at Eden are usually armchair critics who chirp non-stop: “Why is Dinda bowling short?”, “Why did the Indians miss so many half-chances?” “Why is Raina bowling and not Yuvi?”, “That throw to the wicketkeeper should have been three inches to the left”, “Why wasn’t Ishant’s quota completed in his third spell?”, “Why was Yuvi given the ball?” (after he conceded two boundaries), and so on.During the Indian innings, the eight runs conceded by Pakistan through overthrows were loudly applauded. India were constantly reminded that this wasn’t a Test, and had they anyway been good at Tests, they wouldn’t have lost to England. The IPL was also blamed for India’s poor show. The Pakistani bowlers were also praised for their splendid bowling.Many spectators had purchased tickets in the black market and were busy comparing the rates at which they got them.Entertainment
Since the Cricket Association of Bengal completed its 25th anniversary of India-Pakistan ODIs last year, (the first India-Pakistan ODI was held in 1987), several veteran Indian and Pakistani cricketers were felicitated in the ground during the interval. As the first round of cricketers rode around the ground on vehicles, people asked, “Where is Dada?” When Ganguly was finally spotted bringing up the rear of the second round, standing alone and waving at the crowd, there was a huge round of applause. But minutes later, whispers began, “Where is Sachin?”VVS Laxman also got a huge round of applause during the procession and chants.Banner of the day
Amid the gloom and doom, one poster stood out: “GOD should not have forgotten the Garden of Eden”. The crowd really missed Tendulkar.Sandeep Patil and Ramiz Raja being felicitated at the ground•BCCIView of the day
In the evening, a dozen kites hovered over the stadium, swooping down on the insects, bugs and small bats attracted to the floodlights. They were more attractive to watch than the Indian batting.Haircut of the day
The giant screen showed that Kohli had won an audience poll for the best haircut by a whopping 52%, beating Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant. At least an Indian won something.Marks out of 10
6.Overall
Terrific atmosphere from a passionate and knowledgeable crowd. If only the quality of cricket was better and there was something to look forward to. Sixty overs of the match were enjoyable. The last 40 were painful. When India batted, the wickets fell as if it was a Twenty20, and Dhoni made it look like a Test by farming the strike till the end. Every dot ball was applauded sarcastically, every ball defended got a “well played”, and the spectators laughed at the lack of intent shown by India, and overall, at their own misery.

In Kolkata everyone’s a cricket watcher, and what better place to watch it than at the stadium that has come to be an emblem of the city?

Soumya Bhattacharya17-Nov-2010One of my most thrilling cricketing memories from boyhood comes not from what I witnessed on the pitch, nor from a game I’d seen on TV, nor from an account of one I’d heard on the radio. It concerns what happened in the south Kolkata home in which I spent several years as a boy.It was a sticky summer’s evening in 1984. My father, having just returned from his clinic, called me and, with a smile, handed me a small, glossy card.On the top left-hand corner was the crest of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), and across the middle, in block capitals, were the words “LIFE MEMBER”. On the reverse, in blue ink, were my name and a number.For a Kolkata boy, this was a gift of monumental significance. What it meant was that, by virtue of being a member of the CAB, I was assured of a place at the Eden Gardens whenever a game was played there. I wouldn’t have been happier had I been given the moon no sooner than I’d asked for it.For several years before that, my father had called in favours to get me tickets. On occasions my mother’s side of the family – almost all of them members of the CAB – had offered me tickets. But this gift of his was putting an end to all that scrounging and begging. I now had the right to be at the Eden whenever chose.Even before I watched a single game there as a LIFE MEMBER (yes, I think of the phrase capitalised) – even before the evening was over – I had begun to place myself at the heart of the mythology of the life member at the Eden Gardens. We and Eden have a history, these members think. We are family. We are inseparable. And therefore we become card-carrying members and representatives of Kolkata’s cricket cognoscenti. (What a word. What a .)It is the truth, though, that the Eden Gardens – that vast amphitheatre hemmed in by huge stands, so unlovely and yet so full of allure – is central to Kolkata’s overriding passion for the game. Unlike in, say, Mumbai, the local cricket league in Kolkata doesn’t assume much significance. Local football some people still have time for. But local cricket? Oh, no. In Kolkata it is the Eden – and one being there on match day – that is a true reflection of fandom. (Of which more in a minute.)A lot of this has to do, I suspect, with the fact that Bengal has produced so few international cricketers of real class that you won’t need even a single finger to tot them up. In Kolkata, as in all Indian cities, little boys with stardust in their eyes dutifully practise with expensive kits on the city’s . But perhaps their interest dwindles after a while; perhaps they give up because they find out they are not good enough; perhaps they just become investment bankers or poets.And that is where Bengal’s – and Kolkata’s – fanaticism about Sourav Ganguly comes in. Sport is an inescapable part of our popular culture, and Kolkata, despite being big on culture (if you don’t have much else to show for yourself – like, say, top industrialists or a lot of money, culture is your badge of distinction), has no culture of producing top players.In Kolkata, you have a lot of people who will talk intelligently about a lot of players. But where are our own? Ganguly fired Kolkata’s imagination because he was the talisman the people of the city had been looking for. In Ganguly came the answer to years of prayer for a hometown boy who had made good. And how good he made.For Kolkata, when it comes to cricket there is Ganguly and the Eden Gardens. But long before there was Ganguly, there was the Eden.

Sport is an inescapable part of our popular culture, and Kolkata, despite being big on culture has no culture of producing top players

The English poet and critic Ian Hamilton once said: “I don’t play much football, but you should watch me watch it.” That’s just as true for Kolkata and cricket. We don’t have world-class players, but we are world-class spectators. We take the watching very seriously indeed. And if the venue where one can do the watching, live, is called the Eden Gardens, well, where else would one rather be?The answer, of course, is nowhere. would rather be at the Eden than anywhere else. A lot of people would do anything at all do be there on the day of a cricket game. (Which is why, that present from my father, the CAB membership that allowed me to be there without having to do anything at all, was so decisive.) When in 1978 I first went there to watch India play Alvin Kallicharran’s West Indies, 90,000 people packed the stands on the final day of a dead Test match. Half the ground fills up for a Test match these days, but I suppose it’s still like how I first remember it for an IPL game – especially if Ganguly is leading the Kolkata Knight Riders.Going to the Eden is Kolkata’s annual picnic; it is a secular festival (as feverishly anticipated, as wide in its reach and as rich in its enjoyment) as huge as the city’s other festival, Durga Puja.The first time I walked through the crowd heading towards the ground – the first time I walked with this crowd – I was frightened. I had never seen so many people together. The tight columns made me feel claustrophobic; I feared a stampede. In the years that followed, once I had got used to it, I would get off the bus and plunge right in, taking my place behind the last person in the long queue. It was a good couple of kilometres to the ground. Hard work when there’s no place to put your feet, when all you see in front of you is a sweat-stained shirt and all you can feel is the guy behind you steadying himself in the crush. Just occasionally, to your right you can see the vacant road. There are so many policemen – on foot, on motorbikes, in jeeps, chattering agitatedly into their walkie-talkies. The emptiness of the road only draws attention to how packed tight you are.I no longer live in Kolkata. I remembered all this – vividly, with the sort of sharpness that the recollection of something so crucial to our days and ways is supposed to bring – while having lunch in a Mumbai restaurant with the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Richard Stagg, and his deputy in Mumbai, Peter Beckingham.Both men are ardent cricket fans. And the moment they knew that I had spent many of my growing-up years in Kolkata, they started talking about the Eden Gardens. They said their time in India would not be complete till they watched a game there. I could sense that they found the image of Kolkata inseparable from the image of the stadium that lies at its heart. (No stereotype is without a core of truth.) And I smiled to myself, and felt again that sudden, keen stab of desire: the wish to , to sit in those stands, Block L or B, one on either side of the Club House, behind the bowler’s arm if he was coming in to bowl from the Club House end, and to see on the other side of the ground the flag fluttering on top of the High Court from which the other end derives its name.I know it’s something that hundreds of thousands of people in Kolkata and from Kolkata will feel. For us, the notion of cricket has been bound up with the Eden.I know something else, too. I know how I shall anticipate – and once it occurs, be fulfilled by – a particular moment. That is the instant I first see the ground. I’d be past the police and I’d be walking through the long, wide, musty corridor beneath, and then, between the stands. And then, in one unforgettable moment, I’d see the field. I’d see its shimmering, immense expanse of smooth green, framed by the stands, beneath a patch of open sky.I’d feel inordinately thrilled – as, I know, did thousands of others. And I’d feel blessed. Because I know that as long as I care to turn up, the Eden will always have place for me.

England played it their way … and crashed straight into a West Indies team ready for the sucker-punch

George Dobell in Antigua02-Feb-2019If you kept driving your car into a tree, you wouldn’t expect your insurance company – or the police – to be pacified by the response “but that’s the way I drive”.And if you kept setting fire to your house, you might think twice about cooking with paraffin.But England’s batsmen seem reluctant to accept change. Whatever the pitch, whatever the match situation, they appear to think that attack is the best form of defence.Antiguan roads are not especially wonderful. They contain the sort of pot-holes which can swallow a family-sized car. But you wonder if, each day, Trevor Bayliss sits upfront with the team’s bus driver urging him to go faster in a bid to reach the ground before the pot-holes can get them.In this game, England were given a perfect example of how to negate these conditions by West Indies’ batsmen. Both Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo prospered by playing straight, refusing to follow or chase the ball and being prepared to resist for long, scoreless periods during which they had to jab the bat down on the ones which kept low and tried to keep the hands below the deliveries that reared.At one stage Bravo – not so long ago a T20 specialist – went 174 balls between boundaries. His half-century – believed to be the slowest (in terms of minutes) in Test history by a West Indies batsman – was painstaking, but it also took this game beyond England. It was a masterclass in denial and selflessness for the team cause.England’s batsmen seem either unwilling or unable to replicate such an attitude. They won’t – in general – dare to be dull or bore to draw. They react to every challenge (with one or two exceptions, such as the Ben Stokes-Jos Buttler rearguard against India at Trent Bridge) by trying to hit the ball harder, further and faster. Is this really because they believe it is the best way to prosper in such circumstances? Or because they don’t trust their defensive games?Either way, this is an episode that raises more questions about the coaching standards within the England team – who has improved in this environment, after all? – and the structure of county cricket. It is hard to imagine there has been a time in the history of English cricket when there has been such a dearth of top-order batsmen and openers, in particular.When you add to that the lack of fast bowlers and quality spinners and you are left with a domestic system – squeezed into spring and autumn, as it is – that is simply not delivering enough players of Test quality. It might be noted, however, that it is delivering limited-overs players. It’s not hard to see where the ECB’s priorities have led us.Perhaps this isn’t entirely fair. Joe Root, for example, received almost impossible deliveries in both innings, while Joe Denly was out leaving a ball. England have also been outgunned in this series – just as they were in the Ashes in Australia – by tall fast bowlers who hit the pitch harder and gained more from it as a result. They bowled straighter, too, claiming nine wickets with bowled or leg-before dismissals, while England claimed just one; albeit in one fewer innings.England dropped several chances, too. It’s not all the batsmen’s fault, by any means. West Indies have, in all departments, outplayed England.But the point remains valid. Too many England players are putting too low a value on their wickets. Buttler (who was punished for playing across the line) has one century from 30 Tests; Bairstow (who missed a lavish drive) has been bowled 29 times in his Test career – that’s 29 times out of 102 dismissals; more than any Test batsman this decade – and Stokes’ Test average is now down to 32.88. Stokes (bowled off an inside edge while driving) hasn’t scored a Test century since the incident in Bristol and has averaged 24.83 in that period; it was 35.72 before.Moeen Ali, meanwhile, has seen his Test batting average drop to 30.28, Rory Burns wasted a solid-looking start to his innings by guiding a cut to the slips cordon as obligingly as if he had been asked to provide catching practice and, without being unkind, Denly was fortunate not to make a pair having been reprieved by the umpire in the first innings and a dropped chance in the second. Suffice to say, he didn’t look the most convincing answer to England’s opening problems.This cannot be dismissed as an aberration. Not once in four innings this series have England reached even 250 and not once in Sri Lanka did they make 350. Only once in seven Tests in the English summer did they reach 400.We know this England batting line-up has some talent. But talent works best when it is allied to rigour and discipline. At present, this England set-up is looking a little too cosy, a little too forgiving. That dressing room – especially that batting line-up – could do with a dose of cold reality. It isn’t quite what it thinks it is. If they are going to insist ‘this is the way we play’ then England will need to find other players with a bit more sense and sophistication.

By virtue of finishing in the top two, both teams who are similar yet dissimilar in their methods, will have two shots at reaching the final

Shashank Kishore22-May-20235:49

Moody: Super Kings might turn to Jadeja in the powerplay

Big picture: Titans and CSK – similar yet differentIt is no coincidence that Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings, teams that have built their campaigns around continuity, consistency in selection and role clarity, have earned the right to a second chance by finishing in the top two.MS Dhoni’s leadership traits are something Hardik Pandya, his opposite number, has deeply embodied over time. The backing of misfiring seniors, handholding junior players, encouraging the uncapped, boosting morale of players on the bench are all characteristics of a popular leader for whom the team would go the extra mile.Hardik’s handling of Vijay Shankar, once seen as his competitor, or young Noor Ahmad and Josh Little, to cite a few examples, has been as exemplary as Dhoni’s handling of Ajinkya Rahane, Tushar Deshpande or Matheesha Pathirana.Related

Dhoni on CSK's success: Pick the best players and give them the best slots

Malinga on Pathirana: 'I somehow want to make this guy even better than me'

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Hardik is Neymar as Neymar could rarely be

Shami succeeds flying in the face of T20 logic

With the bat, Vijay is enjoying his best year at the IPL with the backing he has seldom received elsewhere. Mohit Sharma’s journey from a net bowler, who swallowed his ego to sharpen his skills last year, to being one of the key bowlers this season is also a result of the captain’s backing.Rahane’s career appeared to have hit a dead end until he linked up with CSK. An injury to Ben Stokes gave him a foot in the door. Five games in, he broke the doors down with a batting approach seldom seen earlier. Now, as he gears up for the playoffs, Rahane’s career has received an unlikely second, or maybe third, wind with the prospects of being a World Test champion looming.Shivam Dube’s journey from an inconsistent allrounder to an on-demand six hitter against spin or Deshpande’s evolution from an erratic seamer riddled with no-ball problems and consistency to a gun striker are all examples of players thriving under the freedom and backing Dhoni has given them.Tuesday’s Qualifier 1 will pit these two similar, yet very different teams against each other in what promises to be a blockbuster clash. CSK will enjoy more than a slight edge, given they’ll have the home advantage emphatically by their side. The Chennai fans will have one more chance to celebrate their larger-than-life icon, their talismanic leader as a place in the final is a step away.Titans will quickly have to shake off weariness from their final league fixture against RCB that went past midnight. A long road trip to the airport and the subsequent processes to board will be perhaps longer than the flying time to Chennai itself. To do this all in the space of a few hours, knowing there’s another game to look forward to the next evening will no doubt be another test for the table-toppers.That they’ve made it this far for a second straight season is as much credit to the team as it is to the management. Now for the opportunity to be only the second team, after CSK in 2011 and 2012, to have a second straight crack at a home final in their second year of existence. It can’t get bigger than that.7:14

Runorder: What can MI and CSK’s turnaround be attributed to?

Form guideChennai Super Kings WLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Titans WWLWWTeam news: Will Hardik bowl?Hardik hasn’t bowled in three games now. When he last bowled in a game on May 7 against LSG, he didn’t complete his quota. Against RCB, without Hardik the sixth bowler, Yash Dayal and Mohit conceded 93 off their eight overs. If Hardik isn’t bowling, they might require either Dasun Shanaka or Rahul Tewatia to chip in, depending on conditions in Chennai.Josh Little, who featured in eight of Titans’ first 10 games, is back in India after international duty with Ireland and could replace Dayal in the side. If Titans go down that route, Abhinav Manohar is likely to return in place of Shanaka.CSK don’t believe in making too many changes, so expect them to go unchanged.Impact Player StrategyTitans have mostly used Shubman Gill or Vijay Shankar as Impact Player when they bat. With Gill set to play the WTC final within a week of the IPL finishing, it’s perhaps prudent to not expose him to potential on-field injuries. That said, Vijay gives them an additional bowling option, if required. However, he hasn’t been called in to bowl a single over so far this season. With the ball, one of them will likely be substituted for Mohit Sharma.Gujarat Titans (probable XII): 1 , 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Yash Dayal, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Noor Ahmad, 12 Ambati Rayudu’s sharp catching may have earned him the right to not be subbed off in the Qualifier 1•BCCIPathirana and Dube have been used as Impact Players in each of their last three matches. In the previous game, Ambati Rayudu had a chance to provide a rare glimpse into his fielding abilities with a stunning catch at mid-off. So, after having a minimal role on the field for much of the group stages, Rayudu may well have earned the right for continuity. Is Dhoni thinking that way, though?Chennai Super Kings (probableXII): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 , 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Tushar Desphande, 12 Stats that matter Jadeja has a particularly good match-up against Hardik, having dismissed him twice in four innings. In comparison, Gill has struck at 153 against him without being dismissed even once in 36 deliveries. Shami has the wood over CSK’s openers. He has dismissed Conway on each of the two occasions they’ve faced off earlier, including the tournament opener. Shami also has the lid over Gaikwad, who has only managed to score at a strike rate of 70. It’s the lowest strike rate he has had against any pacer off whom he has faced at least 15 deliveries. Gaikwad hasn’t let being dismissed by Rashid alter his approach against the legspinner. His strike rate of 147 is the third-best in the IPL among all batters who’ve faced a minimum of five overs from Rashid. The 32 sixes Tewatia has hit in the death overs is the joint-most – alongside Jadeja – by an Indian since IPL 2020Pitch and conditionsHot weather, surfaces on the dryer side and spin-loading – all pretty common at this time of the year in Chennai. Expect it to be no different. The defending team will have to contend with some dew later at night. Four of the seven games so far this season at Chepauk have been won by the chasing side.

Shaheen Shah Afridi is the only specialist fast bowler in the Pakistan XI

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-20252:31

What is Oman’s best chance of challenging Pakistan?

Toss Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on an exceptionally hot day in Dubai. Every game in the tri-series Pakistan won last week was won by the side setting a target. Salman Agha opted to keep following the pattern that worked for his side in Sharjah.In acknowledgement of the pitch’s partiality to turn, Afridi is the only specialist fast bowler in the Pakistan XI, while both wristspinners Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed play.Oman captain Jatinder Singh said they would have batted first too, and also confirmed they opted to go with a “spin-heavy side”. This is Oman’s first game since February, and the first one since a pay dispute caused turmoil within the group. A large number of mainstays of the Oman side are no longer with the team.This is the first game of the tournament for both sides.Oman 1 Aamir Kaleem, 2 Jatinder Singh (capt), 3 Hammad Mirza, 4 Vinayak Shukla (wk), 5 Hassnain Shah, 6 Shah Faisal, 7 Mohammad Nadeem, 8 Zikria Islam, 9 Sufyan Mehmood, 10 Shakeel Ahmed, 11 Samay ShrivastavaPakistan 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Hasan Nawaz, 6 Mohammad Haris (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Sufiyan Muqeem, 11 Abrar Ahmed

Harry Kane has expressed his excitement over Tottenham's signing of Mathys Tel, encouraging the 19-year-old forward to enjoy himself in the Premier League. The Bayern Munich striker, who played alongside Tel in Germany, praised his potential and work ethic while also reflecting fondly on his own Spurs journey, saying "life is good" since moving to Bavaria.

Kane urges Tel to 'enjoy himself' in Premier LeagueEngland captain praises young strikerSpurs signed Frenchman on permanent dealFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Tel joined Tottenham in the winter from Bayern Munich on an initial loan, and then made the move permanent this summer. Kane, Tottenham’s record goalscorer, spent 18 months alongside Tel in Bavaria, and has now urged the youngster to 'enjoy himself' in the Premier League with Spurs.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT KANE SAID

Speaking to Tottenham media after Spurs' 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich this week, Kane said: "He’s got great potential. Whether he’s playing as a left winger or a striker, he gets into dangerous areas, he can finish the ball well, and he’s good one-v-one.

"I don’t want to put too much pressure on him – he’s going to the Premier League, he’s still extremely young although he has a lot of experience here, he still has to develop and improve, he knows that and he works hard to do that, so I just want him to go and enjoy himself, have confidence and hopefully he can shine in the Premier League."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Kane also reflected on his decision to join Bayern, calling it "a great experience" for both him and his family. He added: "Life is good. It’s been a great experience so far, I’m enjoying my time here, the family are enjoying it, so yes, I’m looking forward to the season ahead. Obviously, this is a journey that started at Tottenham from when I was 11 and took me to where I am now – I’m appreciative of everyone who has been involved in that journey and I’m thankful to the Tottenham fans as well, they’ve been a big part of it."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR TEL AND KANE?

Tel will aim to make an immediate impact at Tottenham as they push for a top-four finish this season. Kane, meanwhile, is preparing for another campaign with Bayern and the challenge of delivering more silverware.

CSK are yet to win an away game this IPL and their next two matches are on the road

Srinidhi Ramanujam13-Apr-20242:57

Moody’s advice to CSK:’ Deny Bumrah wickets’

Match detailsMumbai Indians (P5 W2 L3 7th) vs Chennai Super Kings (P5 W3 L2 3rd)
Mumbai, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)Big pictureIt’s the IPL’s biggest rivalry. At the Wankhede Stadium. On a double-header Sunday. But has the rivalry mellowed down this time? Possibly because it’s the first time in over a decade the CSK-Mumbai game will not witness Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni as captains, as Hardik Pandya and Ruturaj Gaikwad have taken over at the helm. So, what’s in store in this new era?Two away games and two losses. It’s a small sample size, but CSK are yet to post a win away from home in this IPL. After winning three out of five games, they now go on the road – the first stop is Mumbai and then Lucknow – before going back to Chepauk after 15 days. Can they be at home, away from home, when they meet a strong host?Mumbai, though, registered two wins in a row after succumbing to three straight defeats. The turnaround was possible due to their strong batting performances. Their top six batters strike at more than 147 each and this firepower reflected in their scores of 234 for 5 and 199 for 3 in their last two games, which were played at the Wankhede Stadium. With Suryakumar Yadav finding his feet sooner than later with a 19-ball 52 in his second game after returning from injury, Mumbai’s line-up is looking solid again.However, the same cannot be said of the bowling group. Barring Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai’s bowlers have been guilty of going for plenty of runs. They have been expensive at the death, especially, going at 12.31 runs an over – the third-most runs leaked by any team thus far in this IPL (before the Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals game on Saturday).CSK would also want to tighten their bowling. In their two away losses in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, their bowlers struggled for early wickets. There’s still uncertainty surrounding their pace mainstay Matheesha Pathirana’s participation. Against a dangerous Mumbai side on a seam-friendly surface, CSK will be expecting the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Deepak Chahar to do the bulk of damage.Related

CSK-Mumbai rivalry enters new era

'I am six foot three, 100 kgs' – Mitchell is easing himself into Rayudu's role at CSK

Form guideMumbai WWLLL (most recent match first)
CSK WLLWWTeam news and Impact Player strategyMumbai Indians
Mumbai opted to bring in Shreyas Gopal as the like-for-like replacement for Piyush Chawla in their last game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A fit and firing Suryakumar could be used as an Impact Player, swapping for fast bowler Akash Madhwal.Likely XII: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 , 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Shreyas Gopal, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Gerald Coetzee, 12 Chennai Super Kings
Matheesha Pathirana did some bowling before CSK’s previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders at home but didn’t feature as a precautionary measure. Coach Stephen Fleming is hopeful of having his death-bowling specialist back for Sunday’s game or next Friday’s clash against Luckow Super Giants. While Mustafizur, who had to leave for home to work on getting a US visa, returned to the XI at Chepauk, Chahar had missed that match with a niggle. He might return to the team against Mumbai, if he’s fit.Likely XII: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 , 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sameer Rizvi, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Matheesha Pathirana/Maheesh Theekshana, 12 1:48

Who will be CSK’s key batter in Mumbai?

In the spotlight – Bumrah and ChaharJasprit Bumrah is fresh off a five-wicket haul against RCB and has been phenomenal in containing the batters. He is the only Mumbai player to have an economy rate under six this IPL and he has claimed seven of his ten wickets in three innings at the Wankhede, at a stunning economy rate of 5.75. In an otherwise misfiring bowling unit, Mumbai will once again rely on Bumrah, the most experienced fast bowler in the attack, to keep CSK quiet, especially at the death.For CSK, how Deepak Chahar performs in the powerplay will be key to their success. At the Wankhede, he has fared well in the first six overs, picking up ten wickets in ten games at an economy rate of 7.59. Chahar is also the only player who hasn’t played for Mumbai Indians to have taken wickets in double digits in this phase at Wankhede. With four wickets in four matches this season, can Chahar step up against the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav?1:25

McClenaghan: The Wankhede conditions will suit Ravindra

Stats that matter Shivam Dube’s IPL strike rate is as low as 111.97 at the Wankhede, his home ground in domestic cricket. CSK have the third-best death-overs economy rate (9.85) in IPL 2024 so far, with Mumbai at 12.31, the third-worst in the same phase. Mumbai have bowled a total of 173 dot balls, the second-fewest for a team this season. Kishan’s strike rate this IPL is 182.95 so far, his best in any IPL season.Pitch and conditionsIn the last match, Hardik Pandya termed the venue as a “chasing ground” – two of the three matches in this IPL were won by the teams batting second. After a low-scoring opening game in which Rajasthan Royals chased down 126, Wankhede has been a batting paradise, with a total of 834 runs hit in the next two games. One can expect another high-scoring match on Sunday. The surface has also assisted pacers traditionally.Quotes”Everyone thinks about hitting offspinners, when they come into the attack. Even I have the same mentality as a batter – to try and hit at least two sixes against offspin. I use that mentality while bowling and try prevent myself from getting hit. If there is no turn, I try to attack batters and pick up wickets.”
“Ruturaj is as cool as it gets; I know the last captain was pretty cool and this guy is cut from the same cloth. He is such an impressive young man around his game and what he needs to do. He is unfairly put into a bracket where he is called slow but you need to have context to some of these stats. The last game was a great example of how a leader plays.”