Third defeat in a row for Sunrisers, who fall 21 short of target of 208

Alan Gardner05-May-20223:05

What has gone wrong for Sunrisers Hyderabad?

David Warner took centre stage in the clash between his current franchise and the one that unceremoniously dumped him last season, an unbeaten 92 from 58 setting up Delhi Capitals for a comfortable victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad, and a much-needed two points in their quest to force a way into contention for the knockout stages.Warner batted through the innings to help guide Capitals to a score above 200, after Kane Williamson had won his ninth toss from ten and chosen to insert. The Australian opener, now fourth on this season’s run-scoring charts, found a vital ally in Rovman Powell as the fourth-wicket pair combined for an unbroken 122-run stand. Powell finished with three fours and six sixes in 67 from 35, with 70 runs cascading from the last five overs of the innings to put the chase beyond Sunrisers.Needing to score at more than ten an over, Sunrisers barely managed to go at a run a ball for the first half of their innings. A requirement of 145 from ten overs, with just seven wickets standing, was an equation beyond all but the most outrageous of hitting, and although Nicholas Pooran kept them clinging to the coattails of the asking rate with a crisp 62 off 34 – his first fifty of the season – Khaleel Ahmed picked up 3 for 30 as Capitals attack closed out a win that moved them above their opponents and into fifth on the table.Warner walks the talk
Before this game, Warner emphasised the importance of one of himself, fellow opener Prithvi Shaw, or No. 3 Mitchell Marsh “scoring an 80 or 90 or even a hundred if we can”. With Shaw absent through illness and Marsh falling cheaply – following Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s wicket maiden to start the Capitals innings – Warner took it upon himself to deliver the goods.His first ball was slapped through the covers, not all that far from going to hand, but thereafter this was a supremely judged innings. He jump-started the scoreboard during a rare outing for Umran Malik in the powerplay, helping himself to three boundaries during an over that cost 23.There were a number of crunching straight drives, leg-side swats for six off Malik and Kartik Tyagi, and a clean mow over long-on against Aiden Markram’s offbreaks. Most impressive of all was his split-second readjustment against Bhuvneshwar, having changed his stance in preparation to switch hit; the ball was full outside leg (to a left-hander) but Warner played it adeptly as a right-hander to glide four to third.That came off the first ball of the 19th over, and by the end of it he had moved to 92 from 58 – and in sight of a century against his former franchise. But there was no one in Delhi blue more pumped than Warner, standing at the non-striker’s end as Powell took over against Malik, who finished with 0 for 52. Powell explained Warner’s advice at the innings break: “At the start of the over, I asked him if he wanted a single, to try and get the hundred and he said: ‘Listen, that is not how the cricket play.’ I should try to smack it as hard as I can and as far as I can, and I did that.”Powell powers Capitals
A first IPL half-century from Powell set the seal on Capitals’ innings. There was no doubting his ability to “smack it” as hard and as far as he could, as he cleared the ropes six times on the way past 50 from 30 balls. The Jamaican has fulfilled a number of briefs in this Capitals side, appearing as high as No. 3 in the order, and as low as No. 8. But here he said he had asked Rishabh Pant for time to show what he could do at No. 5, and duly repaid the management with his highest score in nine innings.David Warner and Rovman Powell stitched an important partnership for the fourth wicket•BCCI

Powell took a little time to get settled, reaching 19 from 18 balls in the 16th over. He might have been out twice by that point, however: a top-edged swipe at Sean Abbott evaded the backtracking Tyagi at short fine leg, and Williamson then shelled a simple chance at mid-off, Malik the unlucky bowler.Making the most of his reprieves, Powell slaughtered the previously unhittable Bhuvneshwar – who had 1 for 4 from 15 balls to that point – over deep square leg, then launched back-to-back sixes off Abbott, one of them sailing 104 metres over cover. On 41, he probably should have been taken on the rope, when a smash down the ground seemed set to pick out Markram at long-on, only for the fielder to misjudge the catch and palm it over the rope. Two more blows for six brought him fifty and he finished the innings with 4-4-4 off Malik, including creaming a 157kph ball – the fastest of this year’s IPL – through the covers.Sunrisers stumble out the blocks
Williamson went into this match to the backdrop of murmurs about his strike rate – and they will only increase after another scratchy outing, which yielded 4 off 11 and a fiddled catch behind against Anrich Nortje in the fifth over. That left him with 199 runs from 10 innings this IPL, and a strike rate of 96.13: the lowest by any opener to have faced 200 balls in a season.Powell had described the pitch as “very good” at halfway, and the Brabourne had seen a higher score hunted down this season – Lucknow Super Giants reaching 211 with three balls to spare against Chennai Super Kings in game seven. But the early loss of Abhishek Sharma hurt Sunrisers’ chances of a fast start, and with Williamson taking seven balls to get off the mark, his team limped to 35 for 2 at the end of the powerplay (a total boosted by Rahul Tripathi slashing the fourth and fifth balls of the sixth over for four).After nine overs, Sunrisers were 48 for 3, needing to score at more than 14 runs an over; and the rate barely came down from that point, despite the best efforts of Pooran and, to a lesser extent, Markram, who showed what might have been possible with a better platform on which to build.

New England coach backs Eoin Morgan ahead of first ODI against Netherlands

Matt Roller15-Jun-2022Matthew Mott has revealed that he was interviewed as a candidate to become Australia’s men’s head coach but was beaten to the job by Andrew McDonald before taking on the men’s white-ball role as part of England’s new coaching set-up.Mott, 48, coached Australia’s record-breaking women’s side from 2015 until their victory in this year’s World Cup final but decided to apply for the vacancy with the men’s team after Justin Langer’s departure. Speaking in Amstelveen ahead of England’s three-match ODI series against the Netherlands, Mott said that he had applied with low expectations and that his details had been kept on file by the recruitment company running both processes.”I actually applied for the Australian role when Andrew McDonald got it,” Mott told the PA news agency. “To be honest, I didn’t think I was a realistic chance of getting it: I knew he was doing a good job [as assistant coach] and there was a fair chance that it would stay like that but I thought it was an opportunity to test myself. I hadn’t interviewed for seven or eight years either, so just to try that.”But as it turned out there was some connection with the two companies that ran the process, they actually put me on a shortlist for the England job, so once that opportunity came up, I was very excited.”I’ve known Rob [Key] a long time: I haven’t spent a lot of time with him but our connection goes a long way back and I always had a lot of respect for him as a captain, so I thought he’d be pretty good to work with as well. Once I knew Brendon [McCullum] got the role as well, it seemed like all the stars aligned and it was going to be a good, new mix and people I had a rapport with and respect for. It felt like a pretty exciting challenge ahead.”England have not split their coaching roles along format lines since 2012-14, when Andy Flower (Test) and Ashley Giles (limited-overs) shared the jobs with limited success, but Mott said that along with Key and McCullum, he would find a way to make the system work by looking at “the bigger picture”.”You need a healthy respect for the other person and to understand your own bias,” he said. “We’re all going to want what’s best for our team but that’s where I suppose Rob plays a key role, managing the expectations of both coaches. At some point there’s always going to have to be greater emphasis on one of the formats and whether you’re leading into a World Cup or a big Test series, that clarity on who has priority there is really important.”It can’t be equal all the time because it won’t work. It’s really clear at the moment the Test series is taking a bit of priority – it’s a big Test series in the context of where England’s at in the red-ball [game]. As we get closer to the T20 World Cup, I’m sure the white-ball team will probably get a greater say in the picking of the players. That’s all to be managed well and you’ve just got to park your ego sometimes and look at the bigger picture and between the three of us, we can certainly work that out.”Mott has signed a four-year contract and one of his key calls will be managing the succession planning around when Eoin Morgan steps down as captain. Morgan has been short of runs over the last 18 months and has struggled with his fitness this year, but Mott suggested that he is “a long way off” the point where he is no longer worth his place in the side.”It’s something that Morgs and I have already discussed: he always says he wants to be picked as a batter in that team on form and merit all the way through and when he feels that’s not the case then he would step aside,” Mott said. “I think that’s a long way off being at that point.”Great players go through runs at different times and sometimes you flick a switch and it turns and you wonder what all the fuss has been about. Watching him bat [in the nets] today, he’s in pretty good positions, he’s going well and you can already tell what a profound influence he has on the leadership of this group.”He hasn’t spoken a lot yet but you can tell when he speaks, everybody is listening. That leadership is something that’s probably not as recognised as much from the outside as it is inside. He’s got a lot of great cricket ahead of him.”When I took over the Australia women’s team, they were used to winning and so there’s that pressure of expectation straight away which is a good thing. Expectation is a privilege which is not afforded to too many. I’d rather it that way. This team has functioned well, there’s no doubt about that, but where you want to be is competing in all the finals all the time – that’s the next frontier.”

The likely reason for him skipping the series is the fact that the matches aren’t part of the ODI Super League

Mohammad Isam29-Jun-2022Shakib Al Hasan is expected to skip the ODIs against West Indies next month, BCB president Nazmul Hassan said after a board meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday. Shakib was initially named in all three squads, but now it seems he will leave the tour after the T20Is.Shakib led the side for the first time in three years during their 2-0 Test series defeat to West Indies last week. He was made captain after Mominul Haque resigned from the position shortly before the tour.Towards the end of Bangladesh’s Test against Sri Lanka last month, Shakib made a caustic remark that he was available for all three formats in the West Indies since he was named in the squads. But Hassan said that he had asked for the leave before the West Indies tour.”I heard that he [Shakib] had earlier [before going to the West Indies] told Jalal Yunus that he might not play the ODIs,” Hasan said. “I guess if I talk to him today or tomorrow then I will get to know about it clearly. But he did not notify the board officially yet. But you can consider this as an official notice as he verbally relayed the message to Jalal .”The likely reason for Shakib skipping the ODIs is the fact that the matches aren’t part of the ODI Super League. Taijul Islam has reportedly been named his replacement in the ODI squad. Bangladesh are already without Mohammad Saifuddin, Shohidul Islam and Yasir Ali, who were all part of the white-ball squads.It is understood that Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who was in the Test and ODI squad, will also join the T20I squad. Taskin Ahmed, who was supposed to play only the ODIs, will take part in the T20Is, too.Bangladesh play three T20Is on July 2, 3 and 7, before the ODIs on July 10, 13 and 16.

Jermaine Blackwood and the uncapped Yannic Cariah have been called into the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2022Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Gudakesh Motie have all been ruled out of the ODI series against New Zealand, which will potentially be crucial to West Indies’ hopes of direct qualification to the 2023 50-over World Cup.Hetmyer has withdrawn for personal reasons while Paul is out because of an injury, and Motie has failed to recover from the hand injury he sustained while playing against India last month.Related

• West Indies include Kevin Sinclair for New Zealand ODIs; Shimron Hetmyer returns

• Ben Sears replaces injured Matt Henry in squad for West Indies ODIs

The three games are West Indies’ last of the Super League. They are currently in sixth position with 80 points, having won eight and lost 13 of their 21 fixtures so far. Depending on how many points they take from this series there is a chance they could slip out of the top eight – direct-qualification positions – for next year’s World Cup, to be played in India.”The pressure has been on from the beginning to try and win cricket games but this team has been together for a while now,” captain Nicholas Pooran said. “We knew that this series was for points. The pressure, I don’t think we are looking at it from that perspective, in terms of we have to win and must get points. The guys know what’s at stake here and we know what we have to do to be successful.”Jermaine Blackwood, who played his only two previous ODIs back in 2015, and uncapped legspin-bowling allrounder Yannic Cariah have been called into the squad for the three games in Barbados, with Odean Smith travelling as a reserve. Cariah, 30, was recently a part of the West Indies A side that played two four-day games against Bangladesh A.”Now is the right time to integrate him into the senior team set-up,” Desmond Haynes said of Yannic Cariah•Getty Images

“Hetmyer has to attend to a family matter in Guyana. Unfortunately, Motie is not yet able to rejoin the squad and Keemo is struggling with an injury,” West Indies’ lead selector Desmond Haynes said. “However, it provides an opportunity for Yannic Cariah to get a chance. He is someone that has been performing well on the regional circuit and we feel now is the right time to integrate him into the senior team set-up.”Kevin Sinclair, the offspinner who is uncapped in ODIs, is also a new face in the squad. Roston Chase had earlier been ruled out through injury and Fabian Allen for personal reasons.”We are looking to broaden the pool of players and we have decided to give Sinclair an opportunity,” Haynes said. “He has been in the system for a while and was also in the A team to play against Bangladesh A in the upcoming series. We believe with his calm approach and skills he will do well in the matches against New Zealand.”West Indies ODI squad: Nicholas Pooran (capt), Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Shamarh Brooks, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair.

Opportunity for Babar Azam to get back among the runs after a string of low scores; both sides likely to rest key bowlers

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Sep-2022

Big Picture

Both economies are on the verge of collapse – Sri Lanka’s, it might be argued, is collapsing already; both nations are straining under outsized external debt; and both are negotiating with the IMF for relief. It is the first of two Pakistan vs Sri Lanka matches to finish the Asia Cup off. Welcome to the first Debt Trap Derby.On their way here, both teams have done a lot of high-class chasing. Sri Lanka set a Sharjah ground record when they ran down 176 against Afghanistan.Pakistan chasing 182 against India with one ball to spare was perhaps even more impressive, before Sri Lanka also defeated India with one ball to spare soon after.Related

• Naseem Shah – wunderkind from Lower Dir who conquered Sharjah

• Sri Lanka are discovering new heroes, one match at a time

• Nawaz thrives on 'positive pressure' to give Pakistan all-round edge

Although Pakistan’s middle and lower orders collapsed against Afghanistan, leaving No. 10 Naseem Shah with the task of hitting big blows to get them across the line, this batting order has a decent body of work behind it, and will arrive at these last two matches with some confidence.Sri Lanka’s batting has only clicked more recently and, even then, almost exclusively while chasing. However, between Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, they have got destructive batters in form. Pakistan have relied a little more heavily on Mohammad Rizwan, who is one of only two batters with more than 200 runs in the tournament so far, with 212 at an average of 70.66.On the bowling front, Pakistan perhaps have a clear advantage. But then, both teams are likely to rest key bowlers for this dead rubber.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWLL
Babar Azam has been having a poor stretch this Asia Cup•Associated Press

In the spotlight

Four innings, 33 runs, a strike rate of 117: Babar Azam, arguably the best batter in the tournament, is having a poor stretch. There is no obvious reason for the low scores, so perhaps it is a mixture of confidence and luck. Either way, you don’t expect him to stay down for long. If Sri Lanka opt for a weaker bowling attack for this match, perhaps he will have the chance to bounce back.If you think Babar’s stretch is bad, Charith Asalanka has made 0, 1, 8, and 0 so far, eating up 21 balls for those nine runs. He had been Sri Lanka’s find of the T20 World Cup on these very pitches last year, but has seemingly hit a wall, having also failed to put up notable scores in a domestic T20 competition shortly before this tournament. Sri Lanka will likely give him one more game to get it right. But the likes of Ashen Bandara, who had done well in that same domestic competition, is breathing down his neck.If Sri Lanka rest Wanindu Hasaranga, they may bring Jeffrey Vandersay in•AFP

Team news

Sri Lanka might swap Asitha Fernando, who has been expensive, for one of the younger quick bowlers Matheesha Pathirana or Pramod Madushan; the latter, if he plays, would be making his debut. There is also a chance of Sri Lanka resting Wanindu Hasaranga so as to not give Pakistan a look at him ahead of the final, and bringing in Jeffrey Vandersay.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Dasun Shanaka (capt,), 6 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 7 Chamika Karunaratne, 8 Jeffrey Vandersay, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Dilshan MadushankaPakistan may give Naseem a break for Hasan Ali. There is also a chance that Shadab Khan might be rested, with Usman Qadir coming in.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Iftikhar Ahmed, 5 Khushdil Shah, 6 Asif Ali, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Shadab Khan/Usman Qadir, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Pitch and conditions

As usual, the Dubai pitch is expected to favour the team batting second, with dew perhaps forming in the second innings to hamper the bowlers. It will be the same surface as the one used by India and Afghanistan on Thursday and so, as such, will be worn.

Stats and trivia

• Sixteen of the last 18 matches in Dubai – not counting the result between India and Afghanistan on Thursday night – have been won by the chasing side. The only teams who have lost batting second are Hong Kong and Scotland.
  
• Overall, Sri Lanka have lost 13 and won only eight T20Is against Pakistan. They won the last three in a row, but that was back in 2019.

South Africa allrounder guides chase with nerveless innings after Brave suffer another final collapse

Matt Roller03-Sep-2022Oval Invincibles defended their Hundred title thanks to Marizanne Kapp’s nerveless, unbeaten innings of 37 off 33 to steer them past Southern Brave in a rematch of last year’s final.After choosing to bat first, Brave collapsed from 83 for 2 after 74 balls to post just 101 for 7, struggling to find any impetus on a tricky, two-paced pitch in front of a 20,840 crowd at Lord’s.Invincibles lost regular wickets in the chase but for the second final in a row, Kapp was the matchwinner – this time, with the bat. Coming in at 33 for 2 – which quickly became 33 for 3 – she marshalled their inexperienced middle order and dragged them over the line with six balls to spare.”The way Marizanne batted under pressure was just awesome,” Suzie Bates, Invincibles’ captain, said. “She’s one of the best allrounders in the world and today she showed why: under pressure, she’s even better.”Our bowling group did an outstanding job to keep them to that score. It was always going to be a nervy chase but it’s brilliant to have young players perform.”Slow and steady
Southern Brave’s success has been characterised by attacking batting, with the depth of their line-up allowing Danni Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana licence to go hard at the top of the order, particularly during the powerplay.They made a bright start on a slow pitch: Mandhana, who missed last year’s final, pierced the infield with a crisp cover drive to the second ball of the innings, and Sophia Smale’s second set – the last five balls of the powerplay – was clearly targeted as Wyatt crashed consecutive fours through the off side and Mandhana lofted over the leg side.Both openers were caught and bowled. Shabnim Ismail removed Wyatt, settling under a difficult chance after cranking the pace up to 78mph with a hard-length ball that skewed up into the leg side, and Mandhana miscued back to Smale to leave Brave 39 for 2 after 39 balls.Sophia Dunkley and Tahlia McGrath, the engine room of Brave’s batting, set about the rebuild and batted with plenty of attacking intent, but generally struggled to find gaps. At 74 for 2 with 30 balls remaining, they needed to launch at the back end.Invincibles fight back
Dunkley and McGrath exchanged boundaries when Invincibles brought Eva Gray, their sixth bowler, into the attack, but when McGrath fell to the final ball of her first set, it sparked a collapse that proved defining.They failed to score a boundary in the final 26 balls of the innings and added only 18 runs for the loss of five wickets in that phase. Maia Bouchier, their designated finisher, was starved of the strike and finished 9 not out off 11 balls.Invincibles were brilliant at the death, squeezing hard. Alice Capsey took 2 for 6 across a set of 10 consecutive balls, split across both ends: Dunkley edged through to Lauren Winfield-Hill, who took a smart catch, and Georgia Adams was caught at deep midwicket. Ismail rearranged Freya Kemp’s stumps, and Amanda-Jade Wellington miscued Kapp to mid-off.Eva Gray’s dismissal of Tahlia McGrath triggered a collapse•Getty Images

Wasteful Brave
Invincibles have relied heavily on their opening pair, Winfield-Hill and Bates, throughout this season but lost both for single-figure scores in the final: Winfield-Hill was stumped by Carla Rudd’s lightning-fast hands off Anya Shrubsole, and Bates inside-edged Wellington onto her own stumps via her pad.Brave needed regular wickets to stand a chance, but were profligate in the field: Capsey was dropped twice, by Shrubsole and Mandhana, during her cameo of 25 off 17, and several misfields allowed Invincibles to build partnerships without worrying about the required rate mounting.Kapp’s star turn
Kapp has turned big-game performances into a habit: she took 4 for 9 in the Hundred’s inaugural final and won the match award in the WBBL final at the end of last year for Perth Scorchers, and Invincibles were always favourites as long as she stayed in.Back-to-back boundaries off Wellington, the season’s leading wicket-taker, got her up and running before she punished Shrubsole for straying in line, and she survived a number of scares when beaten on the inside edge.Mady Villiers and Kira Chathli both fell cheaply but Emily Windsor, the 24-year-old batter in her first innings of the season, held her nerve at the end. She charged Wellington’s penultimate ball, pumping her back down the ground for four, and after Kapp had slashed McGrath through the off side, Windsor did the same to seal the game.”It’s been an amazing journey,” Kapp said. “You’re always nervous in finals and the wicket was really tough, but luckily we got across the line.”Brave have only lost three games across both seasons of the women’s Hundred, but two of them have been in finals. As Invincibles lifted the trophy, they were left to reflect on a second successive near-miss.

The 18-year-old is tipped as the next big run-scoring star in Australia cricket but likes to avoid the spotlight

Tristan Lavalette07-Oct-2022Late on day two of the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and New South Wales, as the shadows deepened at the WACA Ground, 18-year-old Teague Wyllie flicked a frustrated Nathan Lyon to the boundary.As his team-mates and the sparse smattering of fans collectively rose in the terraces, Wyllie walked slowly towards batting partner Matt Kelly and finally, almost reluctantly, raised his bat.In just his third first-class match, Wyllie became the youngest Shield centurion since Ricky Ponting in 1992-93. It was a feat made more impressive considering only two other batters compiled half-centuries in the bowler-dominated match, which WA won by eight wickets in a powerful launch of their title defence.”He [Wyllie] said ‘tax accountants don’t celebrate when they do their tax return so I shouldn’t celebrate scoring a hundred’,” chuckled WA captain Sam Whiteman, who spoke to ESPNcricinfo after the match. “He loves batting and is an impressive young man. He feels like he’s 28.”Related

• Wyllie named in CA XI squad to face South Africa

• WA's new 'Wild Thing' Lance Morris hopes to get even faster

• Under-19 World Cup 2022: Wyllie, Dhull, Brevis and Wellalage headline ESPNcricinfo's Team of the Tournament

• Wyllie's maiden hundred hands Western Australia control

• Nine for Morris as WA make winning start to Shield defence

While Wyllie’s reserved celebration caused mirth for his team-mates, it underlines his maturity beyond his age and should serve him well amid being bandied around as Australia’s next great batter. He topped Australia’s batting at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year and was named in the tournament’s most valuable team.”A lot of the lads take the mickey out of me for not taking the helmet off but I just don’t like the attention from it,” Wyllie told reporters in Perth on Friday.”My old boy drilled into me when you get a hundred that the job is not done. So I’ve never been a massive fan of carrying-on…because I’m just trying to get the team into a good position.”His 104 off 204 balls masterclass rescued WA from a precarious 100 for 6 as the No. 5 calmly batted with the tail to lift his team to 258 and an invaluable 78-run first innings lead in the low-scoring contest.Having come through the ranks as an opener, the tall Wyllie – who stands over six foot – is already an intimidating figure at the crease but his batting is built on compact defence and eyeing the long haul. He’s perhaps a throwback to a more sedate time although can shift gears when needed. While more senior batters were undone by the seam and bounce on a tricky WACA pitch, Wyllie played straight and produced several eye-catching drives down the ground.”Test cricket is the goal and I believe it is the pinnacle when it comes to cricket,” he said. “I’ve always loved batting for a long period of time.””I’ve never been a massive fan of carrying-on…because I’m just trying to get the team into a good position”•Getty Images

It is little surprise then to learn who he has modelled his game on.”I idolised Rahul Dravid growing up,” Wyllie said. “He values his wicket more than anyone. Growing up I modelled my game on him a bit when it comes to valuing his wicket and batting for long periods. Kane Williamson is another who I try to learn a lot from.”Wyllie, who grew up in the regional city of Mandurah less than an hour from Perth, has long been seriously devoted to cricket having eschewed playing other sports competitively. It led to “burnout” three years ago, but Wyllie’s found a better balance as he starts his professional career and enjoys playing golf and watching TV shows when he’s not carefully honing his game.But his life has already started changing and becoming busier, as he quickly realised when he received around 500 messages from friends and family after his Shield heroics.Surrounded by a wealth of experience, including mentor Shaun Marsh, Wyllie has received a particularly wise tip to deal with his growing stardom.”I’ve spoken to a few of the senior guys…they got rid of social media. I haven’t gotten to that stage,” he said.But you feel Wyllie will handle keyboard warriors similarly to how he blunts exasperated bowlers.”I don’t go looking into social media comments because it’s just white noise and it doesn’t matter that much,” he said. “I tend to stay out of the spotlight…I love batting.”

“For the fans and spectators, it is hard to make a connection because you’re not sure who is playing”

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2022Steve Waugh feels that the cricket-watching public, at least in Australia, “has almost overdosed” on the game, and it has reached a point where the interest levels are on the wane.”There’s a lot of cricket, it’s hard to follow as a spectator, it’s very hard to keep up with it,” Waugh said on SEN’s show. “The three one-dayers against England [earlier this month, which Australia won 3-0] seemed pretty insignificant, really. I mean, what were they playing for? There wasn’t big crowds, I think the public has almost overdosed on cricket.”Related

• ICC World Cup Super League scenarios – West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Ireland contest for one spot

• Hayden: 'Australian team has some thinking to do'

• Green gung-ho about IPL 2023 but hectic calendar will make it tough, warns Warner

Australia have a rough few months coming up. They are getting ready for the two-Test series at home against West Indies, which will be followed by three home Tests against South Africa in December-January. After a short gap, they travel to India to play four Tests and three ODIs in February-March before playing Afghanistan in three ODIs, also in March. There are a number of T20 leagues through this whole period, including Australia’s own BBL, and the IPL, where many Australian players are set to be involved, will start late March. They then have the Ashes series in England, and possibly the World Test Championship final before that, followed by limited-overs assignments in South Africa and India before the 50-over World Cup in India in October. The cricket doesn’t stop after that either, with fixtures against India and Pakistan before the end of the year.”You want the special series to be iconic, like the Ashes, and against India when they come out here,” Waugh said. “It’s hard to follow the Australian side because every time they play they have a different team on the field. For the fans and spectators, it is hard to make a connection because you’re not sure who is playing.”I don’t know if it’s anyone’s fault but you need that consistency in the Australian side. You want to know who’s in the squad every game, you want to be following it closely and it’s really hard to do that right now.”Prior to the series, Australia had a disappointing run at the men’s T20 World Cup, at home, failing to qualify for the semi-finals after a heavy loss to New Zealand and a washout against eventual champions England. Waugh called the performance by the defending champions “a massive shock”, where “no one really stepped up and took the bull by the horns”.When asked if that was at least in part due to the changed, and changing, landscape of cricket, where players take part in leagues around the world, and play in different styles under different captains and coaches, Waugh didn’t disagree.”It’s a bit unsettling, with different captains and different styles and, you obviously perform better under some and you think you’ve got better ideas than others and, yeah, it would be hard to be, I guess, the captain of the Australian side,” he said.”There was pretty much one captain [when he played], and you knew what the style was, and how you’re going to play, and you knew the personalities. Yeah, they are all over the place and [it] probably is a bit unsettling.”

Allrounder gears up for Australia debut after playing nearly a decade for Ireland

S Sudarshanan05-Dec-2022A 3am phone call is seldom a gleeful one.Seam-bowling allrounder Kim Garth, who made her international debut for Ireland in 2010 at the age of 14, received a maiden call-up to Australia’s T20I squad for the tour of India – where they play five T20Is starting December 9 in Mumbai. She wanted to convey the happy news to her parents in Ireland immediately.”I rang mom and dad straightaway. They were pretty worried something had happened obviously when you get a call at 3am,” Garth, 26, said in a virtual press conference on Monday.Related

• Garth makes a case to be Australia's permanent spearhead

• Garth gets Australia call-up; Healy named captain for India T20I tour

• Kim Garth leaves Irish cricket for future in Australia

“[National selector] Shawn Flegler gave me a call two weeks ago. It was in the middle of the afternoon and I think it was the day after we played Hobart Hurricanes and I had an absolute shocker that day. It was a quick call telling me I was included. I was surprised and very excited.”It’s been a few big years moving across the world through your career. Things like this make it all worthwhile.”Garth quit Irish cricket in June 2020 to move to Victoria with an aim to play cricket for a living. But it was not an easy decision. Having played 34 ODIs and 51 T20Is for Ireland, she perhaps could never have played international cricket again.”[Possibly not playing for Ireland again] was a big factor in how difficult the decision was to make,” Garth said. “I knew what I was giving up but at the same time I knew the strength of the domestic system here, how strong the local players were. The WBBL was a big pull for me to become a local as they attracted top international players.”Having played a few years in grade cricket [in Australia], I have seen some of the lifestyle the girls live and play cricket every day for a living and not have to work other jobs at the side. It’s something I really wanted to do and it was a now-or-never type of thing. I knew it would – I think I was 23 [24] when I made the decision – take me a couple of years to become a local. And if I left it any longer, it wouldn’t be worthwhile.”It was a difficult decision to leave family behind but [I have] no regrets now.”Opportunities to play top draw cricket were few back then in Ireland. During the course of Garth’s nine-year international career as an Irish, Ireland played 64 T20Is and 44 ODIs. Since January 2021, they have played 27 T20Is – joint third-most among all sides – to go with 14 ODIs.”It’s not necessarily a step up but about consistency of the games we are playing,” Garth said about her possible T20I debut for Australia. “When I was playing for Ireland, we played sides like Australia, India, South Africa but didn’t do it regularly enough. Which is now exciting for the Irish now that they are getting more consistent fixtures against those sides, which is cool. It is not about the step up but the consistency.””I feel like I have put in some good consistent performances in the domestic cricket over recent years and I am really excited to take the next step up and get back to international cricket, albeit for a different team.”After moving over to Australia, Garth played the Women’s National Cricket League, the domestic 50-over competition, for Victoria from 2020 and then the Women’s Big Bash League for Perth Scorchers in 2020-21 followed by two years with Melbourne Stars. In the process, she got her permanent residency in Australia and became a local player in the WBBL.Garth is also no stranger to Indian conditions. She was part of the Ireland squad that played the T20 World Cup in 2016. “With the humidity and heat it does swing around a bit,” she said hoping to use it to her advantage if given an opportunity. Garth is used to bowling with the new ball for Victoria as well as Stars.Among her team-mates on the current tour, Garth has dismissed Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen in internationals. While playing in the WNCL and WBBL has meant she rubs shoulders with the Australian national cricketers more often, it could still make for interesting banter at breakfast.”I have Annabel Sutherland on my team [Stars] in the WBBL and Ellyse Perry with the WNCL [Victoria],” she said. “Just from playing against the girls, you get to know them early. Being part of Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers, I have known the girls which is nice.”Ellyse Perry has been very supportive over the last year. [I] got a very nice message from her and she rang me up after Sydney Sixers’ last group game, which was cool. She’s been a big support of mine and a very good friend.”I have played against them more playing domestic cricket than internationals.”It is not easy to break into the Australian XI given the depth and experience around. But if Garth does make her Australia bow on the India tour, the next call back home to her parents will not be at odd hours.

Connolly, Hobson add 41 off just 15 balls to seal unlikely chase for Scorchers’ fifth title

Tristan Lavalette04-Feb-2023Teenager Cooper Connolly and Nick Hobson kept their cool in a nerve-jangling chase as Perth Scorchers ended Brisbane Heat’s remarkable revival with an epic five-wicket victory to win their fifth BBL title.Chasing 176, in a fitting end to a madcap BBL season, Scorchers endured a see-saw filled with two horrendous run-outs but also composed batting from skipper Ashton Turner then Cooper and Hobson at the end.It came down to Scorchers needing 10 off the final over with Hobson turning from villain to hero with a six then a boundary to trigger bedlam at a near-capacity Optus Stadium. The crowd of 53,886 was the largest for a cricket game at the Burswood venue and the fourth biggest BBL crowd in history.

Connolly and Hobson, the unlikely heroes

For such a veteran team, Scorchers endured a somewhat tardy performance with bat and ball marked by Stephen Eskinazi’s run-out from a direct throw after casually attempting an easy single. He failed to have game awareness and barely made an attempt to stretch out to make his ground in an embarrassing dismissal.After losing in-form Cameron Bancroft and Aaron Hardie in quick succession, Scorchers were in trouble at 3 for 54 with the crowd muted.But in strode Turner, who has performed a slew of rescue acts this season in a bounce back season for him. Scorchers needed him to put on his cape again with run rate spiralling over 11 and he put the foot down with a six off Xavier Bartlett kick-starting him and sparking the home faithful.Turner dominated the strike from Josh Inglis, a power hitter in his own right, but who was content playing the support act. They put the foot down during the power surge overs in the 15th and 16th over as Turner notched his half-century with a six.But the match turned during a dramatic 17th over with Inglis holing out off Bartlett before Turner was run out in an awful mix-up with Hobson.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Scorchers needed 39 off 19 runs but Connolly stepped up and smashed 18 runs off James Bazley in the 18th over to swing the match.Connolly, a former Australia Under-19 captain, rode his luck when he was dropped on 19 by Josh Brown in the deep before Hobson, an accountant in his day job, added to Scorchers’ lore with the winning blow.

Johnson steps up but in vain

Heat’s remarkable late season revival had been largely attributed to the returns of Test stars Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne. But tearaway Spencer Johnson also gave Heat a jolt after debuting mid-season and he increasingly gained confidence through close mentoring from Khawaja.Dubbed the ‘Italian stallion’ due to his heritage, Johnson promised to be a handful on the traditionally pace-friendly Perth Stadium surface having claimed his first three-wicket BBL haul last start against Sydney Sixers. He didn’t disappoint. bowling at speeds near 150 kmph, and claimed the key wicket of Hardie, who had twice bludgeoned Heat this season.Johnson roared with delight as Heat increasingly believed, but they ultimately fell short in heart-breaking fashion. They will rue Brown’s dropped catch but will be mighty proud of almost claiming an unlikely second title against all the odds.

Behrendorff musters his wealth of experience

It felt like it was going to be a tough outing for veteran left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff after his superb opening over unluckily went for 13 after three inside edges to the boundary from Brown.But Behrendorff, the only player in the match who was part of the final between the teams a decade ago, was unruffled and continued to bowl a nagging line.Taking his lead, Scorchers did well to tie down Heat after an initial onslaught from Brown, including spinner Connolly who bowled shortly after the powerplay having only bowled one over in his short BBL career. He handled the pressure well to concede just four runs but Scorchers struggled to break a blossoming partnership between Nathan McSweeney and Sam Heazlett.Cooper Connolly came out all guns blazing with a 11-ball cameo•Getty Images

At 1 for 104, Heat took the power surge in the 13th over at a pivotal juncture with Behrendorff returning to bowl his final over.He struck immediately to dismiss Heazlett with a menacing short delivery that was caught at short fine leg then dismissed skipper Jimmy Peirson in almost identical fashion. Behrendorff finished with 2 for 26 to be the standout as his fellow seamers all proved expensive.

Bryant rediscovers big-hitting best

Peirson bravely decided to bat even though Scorchers had almost mastered chasing this season with a 9-2 record when batting second, including twice cruising over the line against Heat.Perhaps he was swayed by the stifling temperatures, which hovered at 38 degrees when the game started forcing some fans to seek relief in the watering holes dotting the stadium.Peirson would have felt vindicated when Brown carved 25 off his first 10 balls before McSweeney and Heazlett steadied Heat with a 79-run partnership. But Heat were mostly tied down in the middle overs marked by a dire power surge yielding 2 for 8. They needed a lift in the backend and big-hitting Max Bryant responded with 31 off 14 balls, including a trio of sixes.Once part of a devastating opening partnership with Chris Lynn, Bryant had failed to carve out a regular spot before being recalled against Sydney Sixers last start. He wound back the clock and his momentum spilled over to a final ball six by Bartlett to lift Heat to a highly competitive total that ultimately proved not enough.