The Sydney Sixers allrounder is having fun playing cricket again, just 12 months after the lowest point of her professional career

Andrew McGlashan24-Nov-2022Ash Gardner has gone from a career low to a career high in the space of 12 months. The allrounder was named player of the tournament for this season’s WBBL after a previous campaign where she had lost all enjoyment for the game.Gardner, who signed a new three-year deal with Sydney Sixers on Thursday, has scored 339 runs with a strike-rate 153.39 and collected 23 wickets in their dominant regular season where they secured a record 11 wins to book a direct place in Saturday’s final. It is a stark contrast, both from a personal and team perspective, to last season where Sixers finished bottom for the first time with just four wins while Gardner made 197 runs and claimed just seven wickets.Related

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Sixers were consigned to the road throughout the 2021 campaign under varying restrictions due to ongoing Covid-19 border closures and Gardner has admitted she found it very difficult while the wider Sixers outfit also struggled to lift themselves.”Being able to reflect on last year, it was probably one of the lowest points of my career, not only on the field but off the field as well, I just wasn’t happy,” she said. “I wasn’t enjoying my cricket and that’s probably what led to my downfall last year. Not being able to go home, see friends and family for over three months, was pretty challenging and it kind of showed with the cricket I was putting out there. It wasn’t up to scratch.”Now, 12 months later, I’m in such a better spot. Really enjoying my cricket and that also comes down to the personnel in this side. It’s been a fantastic change and that comes from the top, Lottie [new coach Charlotte Edwards] has been fantastic at that, making sure people have smiles on their faces.”The arrival of Edwards, the former England captain, along with new overseas players Suzie Bates and Sophie Ecclestone has been a catalyst to Sixers’ huge turnaround in fortunes. However, a feature of the season has been the spread of performances in the squad: four players have passed 300 runs (while Erin Burns has made 294) and five bowlers have taken 10 or more wickets.Sydney Sixers are in the WBBL final this year, after finishing bottom last year•Getty Images”On the field she [Edwards] was a fantastic player herself so she’s got some really good insights. But off the field she makes sure to get around to every single person whether they are playing or not just to make sure they are still enjoying themselves,” Gardner said. “Because ultimately if teams aren’t enjoying themselves throughout these tournaments that’s when you seem to be at your lowest. That was probably us last year, we just weren’t having fun playing cricket. On the flipside this year we are all enjoying each other’s company and that’s been what’s helped.”Known throughout her career as someone who can clear the fence, it has been Gardner’s success with the ball that has given her most satisfaction this season and an unexpected role as a bowler in the power surge which was implemented in WBBL for the first time.”The consistency is the area of my game I’ve probably lacked in the past,” she said. “More so with the ball, taking wickets consistently is something I haven’t been able to do and ultimately have confidence in my bowling. In the past I was probably lacking that consistency of knowing what I wanted to bowl over and over again. Now I’m a lot more mature. Feel like my game has gone to another level which is really exciting.”To be honest I never thought I’d be an option for the surge but I’ve been lucky enough to take a couple of wickets – I’ve also been hit for a few runs – but that’s the beauty…with a four-over powerplay and the surge. I know as a batter it’s a fantastic thing to able to employ, but also as a bowler you feel like you are in the game. Batters feel like they have to try and target you so that’s when you tend to take wickets.”Shortly after the WBBL season finishes on Saturday, Gardner will move into Australia duty for the first time since the Commonwealth Games as they head on the T20 tour of India. They will be under the captaincy of Sixers team-mate Alyssa Healy while Tahlia McGrath will be her understudy.Gardner is widely considered a captaincy candidate for the future but believes she already has a leadership role in the team even without a title.”Yes, they’ve got the captaincy and vice-captaincy next to their name but there’s so many leaders in that side,” she said. “I’ve been fortunate to be playing there for over five years so feel as though I’m a leader, I don’t necessarily need to have the captaincy or vice-captaincy next to main name but still feel I can use my voice and raise opinions where needed.”

The year 2026 is a big one for the United States, which turns 250 on July 4—and Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber seems set to celebrate America's semiquincentennial in style.

Schwarber will play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic, USA Baseball announced Tuesday morning—shortly before news broke that he had re-upped with Philadelphia for five years and $150 million.

The 32-year-old also competed in the 2023 event, slashing .214/.450/.643 with two home runs and four RBIs for the American silver medalists. In 2025, Schwarber led the National League with 56 home runs—the second time in four years he's led the Senior Circuit in the category.

Joining Schwarber on the team are Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, Dodgers catcher Will Smith (a '23 alum), and Brewers second baseman Brice Turang (an accomplished player on the United States's under-15 team).

The Americans are scheduled to open WBC play on March 6 against Brazil.

The Phillies' 2025 season ended in the worst way possible on Thursday night.

Just one out away from navigating out of trouble in the bottom of the 11th inning with the bases loaded and the game tied 1-1, Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering induced a slow roller off the bat of Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages that bounced off of Kerkering's foot just as Hyeseong Kim scampered home. Kerkering fielded the ball but, instead of making the easier throw to first, attempted to get Kim out at the plate.

But he airmailed the throw, allowing Kim to score the winning run, ending the Phillies' season in heartbreaking fashion.

"It just hit off my foot. Once that pressure got to me, I just thought there's a faster throw to J.T. [Realmuto], little quicker throw than trying to cross-body it to Bryce," Kerkering told reporters after the game. "Just a horse—- throw."

Making the moment even more gut-wrenching for the Phillies is that replays showed that Kerkering had time to make the throw to first base to get Pages—and that Realmuto was gesturing for him to do so. But in the chaos of the moment—a pressure cooker of a postseason scenario with thousands of screaming fans, a ball caroming off his foot and baserunners flying around the bases—Kerkering said he didn't hear his teammates calling for him to make the throw to first and didn't see Realmuto's gestures.

As the Dodgers' celebrated the thrilling walk-off win, a distraught Kerkering was comforted by Realmuto and outfielder Nick Castellanos, who ran from the outfield to make sure he got to the young reliever.

"Just keep your head up," Kerkering said his teammates told him. "It's an honest mistake. It's baseball. S— happens. Just keep your head up, you'll be good for a long time to come. Stuff like it's not my fault—had opportunities to score. Just keep your head up."

As Kerkering headed off the field, the first person waiting for him at the dugout step was Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who consoled him and shared a brief message for him.

"Just keep his head up," Thomson said he told Kerkering. "He just got caught up in the moment a little bit. Coming down the stretch, he pitched so well for us. I feel for him [Orion Kerkering] because he's putting it all on his shoulders. But we win as a team and we lose as a team."

The fragility beyond Mandhana, Verma, Rodrigues and Harmanpreet is a worry

Annesha Ghosh20-Feb-2020Within hours of announcing her retirement from T20Is in September last year, Mithali Raj picked India’s 2016 T20I series win away against Australia as “the point when things started to roll for the Indian team”. That 2-1 win marked India’s first bilateral series victory over Australia across formats.The enormity of that result, also India’s first win in a T20I series outside the subcontinent, cannot be overstated. Australia had won three T20 World Cups in the lead-in to that season, and were eyeing a “four-peat” in India in two months’ time. India, meanwhile, were touring Australia after seven years, and had only five players – Jhulan Goswami, Punam Raut, Harmanpreet Kaur, Thirush Kamini and Raj – in their 15-member T20I squad with any prior experience of playing in Australia.ALSO READ: Chance of historic leap depends on which India show upTo many followers of the game, India’s win against Australia in the 2017 ODI World Cup semi-final is the highest point in Indian women’s cricket. To Raj, as with many others who featured in the 2017 win as well as the tour of Australia the previous year, T20I series victory remains the barometer by which India judge their ability to marry potential with fearlessness.In the four years since, India haven’t been to the MCG, and both Goswami and Raj, two of India’s most experienced players, have bowed out of T20Is. Now, at the 2020 T20 World Cup, the MCG will host the final of the tournament, meaning India have an opportunity to play there for the first time since that watershed 2016 tour – in their first 20-over world tournament with both Goswami and Raj absent.The first, and potentially stiffest, challenge in India’s road to the MCG, and their pursuit of a maiden world title, comes in the form of a rival that has given them two of their sweetest victories ever. Much of how their league-stage campaign goes will be determined by the outcome of the tournament opener against Australia, and also give us an idea of whether captain Harmanpreet’s hopes of playing Australia in the final on March 8 – “if we play Australia, that [the record of 90,000 spectators] will be easily possible” – could come true or not.

We have to look at the main departments we need to focus in, not the expectations. I don’t think anyone is nervous about itSmriti Mandhana

India may take heart from the fact that seven players from the 2016 T20I series win are part of their World Cup squad and that they are the only side to have beaten Australia once in both the two latest world tournaments (in the 2017 World Cup semi-final and in the league stage of the 2018 T20 World Cup). However, overcoming them on Friday will require resilience that appears to be lacking among most of their batters.In their most recent meeting, in the final of the tri-series, India squandered a strong start from opener Smriti Mandhana because of yet another middle-order collapse, a long-standing issue that the team hasn’t been able to solve despite the appointment of head coach WV Raman in December 2018.It’s not just the fragility of their line-up beyond the top four – Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet – that might hurt India against Australia. A failure from Mandhana, such as the one in India’s only warm-up game – against West Indies – might coincide with duds down the order. In that case, to expect their bowling attack to replicate the successful defence of an under-110 score, like in that practice match, against the strong Australian line-up might be far-fetched.The form of the returning left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who finished atop the wicket-takers’ chart in the tri-series, and fit-against wristspinner Poonam Yadav augurs well. Three frontline spinners, and Harmanpreet doubling up as the fourth spinner, will leave them room to accommodate pace spearhead Shikha Pandey and a second quick – Arundhati Reddu or Pooja Vastrakar. But the efficacy of their spin attack might also make a five-pronged spin attack and a sole medium-pacer in Pandey a viable option.The cracks in India’s batting run far too deep to inspire confidence that they won’t stutter even when there’s seemingly no chance of stuffing up. The most chastening of their recent epic chokes came in the third T20I in Guwahati last year: India, chasing 120 against England, needed three off the last over, but ended losing by one run.Harmanpreet Kaur leads her team out•BCCIThat said, India have personnel whose personal bests (Harmanpreet’s 171 not out in the 2017 World Cup semi-final and Mandhana’s 83 in the 2018 World Cup league game) can be good enough to set up match-winning totals or make record chases moderately easy. In the recent tri-series, India completed their highest successful chase of 174 thanks to Mandhana’s 55 and Verma’s quick 49. Back in the opening game of the 2016 series, in Adelaide, it was Harmanpreet’s 31-ball 46. Alyssa Healy later said that India had “showed us how to play T20 cricket today”. Five months on, Harmanpreet earned a maiden contract for an Indian player at the WBBL, with offers from various franchises subsequently coming in for Mandhana and Veda Krishnamurthy and even the teenaged Rodrigues last season.Since then, Harmanpreet and Mandhana have gone on to play three and two WBBL seasons respectively, to varying degrees of success. Harmanpreet’s maiden WBBL season, where she was adjudged her side Sydney Thunder’s Player of the Tournament, built on the epochal 171 not out and her 103 against New Zealand in the 2018 T20 World Cup opener, an innings of similar degree of belligerence. In the 19 T20I innings since, though, she hasn’t made a half-century.”Each and every member of the squad has a part to play and we need to give our all to win any game [at the World Cup],” wrote Harmanpreet in her column for the ICC two weeks ago. “I’m just hoping I can step up and win some games for my team when they need me.”Mandhana, meanwhile, between sustaining an injury in her first season (for Brisbane Heat in 2016-17) and an up-and-down campaign one year later in her second dig (for Hobart Hurricanes in 2018-19), has gone on to establish herself as one of the most imposing, consistent batters across formats.”This is my third T20I World Cup… and yes, every World Cup has been bigger than the previous one,” Mandhana said of the hype around the build-up to tournament, especially to Friday’s opener. “Expectations work both ways. For me as a player, if people expect something from me, I feel good about it and I take it as a responsibility. We have to look at the main departments we need to focus in, not the expectations. I don’t think anyone is nervous about it.”Those two, and Verma and Rodrigues, could well make the difference between victory and defeat for India, not just against Australia but through the World Cup. There is a potent, spin-heavy bowling attack too, but it might come down to those four batters when the going gets tough, and even otherwise. If they fire, India are a better team. If they don’t, well, fans of the team would hope it doesn’t come to that.

They chanted names, they came up with slogans, and they did what they haven’t been able to do for years – show their love for the game

Umar Farooq in Rawalpindi09-Feb-2020″, Babar Azam, Babar Azam.”The meaning of this expression might get lost in a literal English translation. But if you know Urdu, you should be able to tell how big a compliment it is. It literally translates to ‘the prime minister of hearts’, and when thousands chant it in unison in Urdu, it can give you goosebumps.Pakistan are playing only their third Test in the country since the return of international cricket to Pakistani soil, after spending a decade playing “home” matches in the UAE. It’s possible that the ongoing Test has seen more people in the stands in Rawalpindi over the last three days than at all of the Pakistan matches in the UAE over the last 10 years combined. The intensity of the excitement among the crowd at the stadium may go some way towards establishing the enormity of its size.

“, Imam-ul-haq, Imam-ul-Haq.”

This doesn’t mean anything at all when translated literally. What the fans did in Rawalpindi was to pick up an ad jingle for TUC biscuits and make it rhyme with Imam-ul-Haq (who was not even playing the Test).The Rawalpindi Stadium doesn’t have a massive capacity; it can accommodate close to 17,000 fans but it benefits from being the twin city of Islamabad, the country’s capital. There were phases of play over the past three days when the Test appeared to be progressing at a glacial pace but, in the stands, there was never a dull moment. Chants of ” Pakistan” and “Pakistan ” rang aloud, lending testimony to how fervently the fans missed the cricket in the country over the last decade.Even though hockey is Pakistan’s national sport and inspired many youngsters growing up between the ’70s and early ’90s to develop a liking towards sports, it never quite had the allure of cricket. With the two Ws – Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram – at their peak, it was in the ’90s era, that cricket had the most profound impact on the nation’s consciousness. Pakistan has since become a largely one-sport country, the game turning into a powerful means to influencing several generations, with one of their all-time greats, Imran Khan, going on to become the prime minister.

” Fawad Alam, Fawad Alam.”

“A little bit of bread, a little bit of gravy, and then Fawad Alam, Fawad Alam.” Don’t go hunting for the meaning of this chant either; it’s just another creative chorus the Rawalpindi crowd came up with to celebrate the return of top-flight cricket on home soil.There was a time in Pakistan when not only stadiums would be packed during international games, but hundreds of fans would throng the grounds even during net sessions to catch a glimpse of their favourite overseas players. Traditionally, Test cricket in Pakistan may have never consistently drawn full houses, but there hadn’t been any want in passion among Pakistan’s cricket fans, until the connect between the sport and its followers in the country snapped in the wake of the attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.AFPThat era of Pakistan’s “home” matches being played in the UAE won’t be remembered for how the fans received it. It forced nearly a generation of them to stay glued to their television sets even for their home matches, instead of filling the stadiums and cheering for their favourite players. Pakistan played 31 Tests from 2009 to 2019 in the UAE, lost only eight of them, and achieved historic feats, but all in front of scant crowds. They whitewashed the then No. 1-ranked England 3-0 in early 2012, Misbah-ul-Haq slammed the fastest Test century at the time, against Australia in 2014, equalling Viv Richards’ mark, and a day-night Test was played there in 2016 which Pakistan won against West Indies, but again, with not as many fans to witness it.

“, Yasir Shah, Yasir Shah.”

By now, you must have learnt the drill: Don’t bother with the meaning; it’s another food-related chant forced to rhyme with a player’s name. Here’s the translation, anyway: “A (ice lolly made of condensed milk) is for five, a tea for 10, and there’s Yasir Shah.”When Azhar Ali got out in the first innings, the crowd erupted with the name of the incoming batsman, Babar Azam. He has already achieved the status of a hero in Pakistan and the fans’ chants made Shan Masood say to Alam, who was carrying drinks: “This is the sort of thing our players haven’t been able to experience for 10 years. To see your team-mate have his name chanted by your countrymen tells you everything.”All those years spent in the UAE has meant the cricket infrastructure in Rawalpindi has not been upgraded adequately. The stadium still has cemented stands with not enough chairs. That, however, didn’t discourage the fans from turning up in big numbers at the ongoing Test. Could this mark the dawn of a new era, with more cricket coming back to the country on a regular basis? If the attendance over the first three days is anything to go by, the passion among Pakistan fans for cricket on home soil has received a shot in the arm.

It’s time to re-evaluate your loyalties and find out who you should be supporting

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2020Now that we all have to take an enforced break from supporting our favourite national teams, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate our loyalties. This test is designed to determine your personality type and tell you which national team you should really be supporting. Every country’s team plays a different brand of cricket and has a different history, and just because you are born in one country doesn’t mean you’re not actually meant to support another’s team. So don’t be surprised if the results of this quiz shatter some illusions.

Also, why did K Gowtham bowl the final over? Key questions from the Kings XI vs Mumbai match answered

Saurabh Somani01-Oct-20202:59

How do Kings XI solve their death-bowling woes?

Why did offspinnerK Gowtham bowl the last over? Simply put, because the Kings XI Punjab have a lack of death-bowling options. The player with the most experience and credentials for bowling at the death is Chris Jordan, but they’ve found it difficult to fit him into the XI. Mujeeb Ur Rahman has also had some success at the death, but he has not been in the XI either.Moreover, the Kings XI opted to bowl out Sheldon Cottrell by the 13th over. While Cottrell had a good day with 1 for 20 in four overs, it meant the last seven overs would have to be shared between Mohammed Shami, James Neesham, Ravi Bishnoi and Gowtham. None of those options have been very good at the death. There was a case for slipping in the Gowtham over early on, but KL Rahul perhaps did not want to bowl the offspinner with Rohit Sharma set at the crease. He didn’t go to Glenn Maxwell either.That miscalculation would go on to hurt the Kings XI. In the history of the IPL, only 18 times has a right arm offspinner bowled the final over in the first innings. And the last time it happened before this game was in 2014. Gowtham ended up delivering the second-most expensive final over by a spinner, with Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya smashing 25 runs off it.How do Kings XI solve their death-bowling woes? It looks increasingly likely that they’ll have to bring in at least one of Mujeeb or Jordan, most likely in place of Neesham. How much that fixes their issue remains to be seen.ESPNcricinfo LtdDoes the ICC need to rethink the DRS rule on runs taken? At the end of the 17th over when Mumbai were batting, Mohammed Shami appealed successfully for an lbw against Pollard. Pollard reviewed it and replays showed the batsman had got an inside edge on it, so the decision was overturned. However, in accordance with the ICC’s rules, the ball was deemed dead and so the single the batsmen had completed did not count. It was a legitimate run for Pollard and Mumbai, and on another day, it could have significantly impacted the result.

Pollard and #MI denied a single. LBW given. Reviewed. Inside edge confirmed. But the easy run they took won’t count. Dear @ICC, this might cost someone the World Cup someday. Need a rethink. Umpires will have to reserve their decision till the ball is dead. #MIvKXIP

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 1, 2020

Essentially, according to the rules, “the batting side, while benefiting from the reversal of the dismissal, shall not benefit from any runs that may subsequently have accrued from the delivery had the on-field umpire originally made a Not-out decision, other than any No-ball penalty”. Also, “if an original decision of Not out is changed to Out, the ball shall retrospectively be deemed to have become dead from the moment of the dismissal event. All subsequent events, including any runs scored, shall be ignored.”Think back to the IPL 2019 final. Lasith Malinga got Shardul Thakur lbw with the final ball. Chennai Super Kings reviewed. Even if the decision was over-turned, Super Kings would have been denied the runs. Thakur and non-striker Ravindra Jadeja could have run two but their team would have lost by one run still because the runs wouldn’t have counted.Did KL Rahul start too slowly? In their last game against the Rajasthan Royals, Rahul seemed to consciously opt for the anchoring role while opening partner Mayank Agarwal went at the bowling. The merits of whether that should be the approach adopted or not are a debate for another day. But in a chase on a big ground against a quality bowling side like Mumbai, the Kings XI might have been better served by Rahul going harder at the start than he did, instead of slipping into strike-rotation mode.He eventually finished with just 17 off 19, which is always the danger in a T20 when you play an anchoring role: you can end up dismissed before you have “caught up” so to speak, which leaves your side in deeper trouble.The approach seemed more inexplicable given how the Kings XI had structured their side: lots of batting depth and fewer bowling options. They had Gowtham – T20 strike rate of 162.24 – batting at No. 8. In theory, that much depth should free up the openers to go harder.How did Mumbai tie down Glenn Maxwell? He came into IPL 2020 on the back of some great form for Australia against England, but so far in the tournament, Maxwell hasn’t really taken off. He had a good opportunity to correct that today, having walked in in the ninth over and with a free-striking Nicholas Pooran for company.However, Maxwell couldn’t get any sort of timing, power, or balance in his shot-making. He was particularly tied down by Rahul Chahar’s legspin. It isn’t a mode of bowling that has particularly troubled Maxwell overall – he averages 21.26 at a strike rate of 167.01 against leggies overall – but Chahar’s execution was spot on. He bowled 10 balls to Maxwell, giving him nothing straight or straying on the pads, and slowing it up. If Maxwell wanted to hit him, he had to manufacture his own pace while going against the turn and reaching for the ball: nine balls were outside off, only one was on the stumps. The ploy worked, and Maxwell eventually fell to Chahar, slogging to deep midwicket.Glenn Maxwell hasn’t had the best IPL so far•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy did Karun Nair bat at No. 3? Nair’s game is suited to batting in the top order. He has not really played as a finisher in any IPL team or for his state side Karnataka, so if he’s in the XI, he fits in better at the top of the order. In some ways, once they decided that Nair is part of their starting side, Kings XI were a little hamstrung in terms of batting order flexibility.There is also the argument to be made that the likes of Pooran and Maxwell should get the maximum number of balls to face, which is best served by having them at three and four. If Kings XI want to split them to add greater heft to their batting, they would still make a better fit at three and five.Nair hadn’t come out to bat against the Rajasthan Royals, when the opening partnership went deep, so his role seems to be a floating one, where he comes in if an early wicket falls. What the Kings XI need to decide is whether they need a floater if they bat so deep.

It’s an opportunity for three of the four teams to reach their maiden PSL final

Danyal Rasool and Umar Farooq13-Nov-2020Despite the explosion of T20 leagues around the world over the past decade, what takes place over the next few days in Karachi will be unique. Eight months after the PSL was called off abruptly on the day of the semi-finals due to a possible Covid-19 outbreak, the league is back to finish what it started off in February. A world away from the heaving crowds that greeted the PSL’s complete return to Pakistan, the conclusion will be played out to an empty National Stadium under strict bio-secure conditions.But this isn’t just a box to be ticked, there is history at stake for each of the four playoff competitors. With the historically successful Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators, the two most successful sides in the tournament’s history, out, there’s glory up for grabs for four teams, three of whom have never so much been in a PSL final. Lahore get their first taste of PSL playoff action when they take on Peshawar Zalmi in an eliminator; the latter are the most established remaining team in the league. At the top end, Multan Sultans, who were, by some distance, the best team in the group stages, take on Karachi Kings, who will eye a golden opportunity to seal a title at their home venue. We look at each of the four teams, and how they shape up ahead of Saturday.Multan Sultans It’s third time lucky for Shan Masood’s side, who, like Lahore, have never been involved at this stage of the competition before. But they didn’t just squeeze into the last four, they barged through as trailblazers, and, without the extended break, were hot favourites to storm to the title. The hiring of Nathan Leamon as Director of Strategy was followed by the franchise’s public declaration that data would drive decision-making, and that appears to have helped. They were the only side to win six games in the group stage, and the first to seal safe passage to the last four.Imran Tahir and Sohail Tanvir were near the top of the wickets charts while maintaining economy rates below eight, while a lethal combination of big hitters and accumulators with the bat made the franchise a fearsome force to be reckoned with. Masood provided solidity at the top while each of Rilee Rossouw, Khushdil Shah, Zeeshan Ashraf and James Vince played match-winning innings in separate matches, distributing the workload amongst the team while relieving pressure on individuals. Throw in Moeen Ali, who chipped in with both runs and wickets, and it was hard to see any weaknesses oppositions could target.But all that’s changed now. Multan have been the hardest hit in terms of player availability, with travel restrictions and Covid-19 all taking their toll on the side. Vince, Fabian Allen and Moeen will be unavailable to them, while Mahmudullah, a replacement for Moeen, was also ruled out because he tested positive for Covid-19. Adam Lyth, Joe Denly and Brendan Taylor have been brought in as replacements, with Multan hoping they can help the side pick up where they left off in March.Squad: Shan Masood (c), Adam Lyth (England), Ali Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Joe Denly (England), Junaid Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Ravi Bopara (England), Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), Rohail Nazir, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Usman Qadir and Zeeshan AshrafPeshawar Zalmi Zalmi can claim the most high-profile new signing for the playoffs, bringing in South African captain Faf du Plessis in what was marketed as a bit of a coup for the franchise. However, they’re not without their setbacks either, with the absence of Kieron Pollard, who just recently helped his IPL side Mumbai Indians to yet another title, likely to be keenly felt. Tom Banton might have had a season to forget, but the absence of his explosive potential at the top will be missed, as will the leadership qualities of the charismatic Daren Sammy, who is unavailable for logistical reasons. Most of the replacements are local, with Sohaib Maqsood, so instrumental to Southern Punjab’s run to the final in the recently concluded National T20 Cup, the highest-profile one. Hardus Viljoen, Khurram Shehzad and Saqib Mahmood are the other inclusions.It’s been an up-and-down season for Peshawar Zalmi, who only crept into the last four due to a better run-rate than Quetta Gladiators, ending the group stages with a negative win-loss ratio for the first time in their history. It was also their lowest group stage finish; in all but one of the first four seasons, Peshawar Zalmi have found themselves perched at the top come playoff time. They do, however, boast some of the most coveted PSL assets, with captain Wahab Riaz the third-highest wicket-taker this season. Hasan Ali, too, was instrumental, which makes his absence due to injury all the more dispiriting. Kamran Akmal, meanwhile, is now PSL royalty, and was on top of his game this season, too, with 251 runs at a strike rate of 162.Haider Ali’s stock, meanwhile, has risen since a promising start to his PSL career earlier this year, while Carlos Brathwaite, Liam Livingstone and Shoaib Malik are decent enough players to have in one’s ranks. Whether they’re good enough to win T20 competitions, though, is very much up for grabs, and if Peshawar are to ensure they don’t fall at the first hurdle to Lahore Qalandars, they will perhaps need some of their stalwarts to come to the party in a big way.Squad: Wahab Riaz (c), Aamir Ali, Adil Amin, Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Haider Ali, Hardus Viljoen (South Africa), Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin and Yasir ShahLahore QalandarsAfter spending four hard years sitting at bottom, Lahore Qalandars finally turned a corner, making it into the play-offs for the first time. They have long struggled to make a mark in the PSL, never getting past the group stage and often finishing last. They started horrendously this season too, losing four out of first five games but turned their fortune around remarkably, winning four out of the final five pool games to end the jinx. Things fell into place for them this year with a settled captain in Sohail Akhtar, and relying on players from their own player development programme has appeared to pay dividends.They were helped by some devastating performances by their two Australian players in Ben Dunk and Chris Lynn. Dunk was the breakout player for them, amassing 247 runs in his last four knocks at an average of 123.50 and a strike rate of 226.61. The momentum might have been lost somewhat with an 8 month gap but Qalandars feel confident they can keep the run going. Lynn’s absence will, no doubt, be a huge setback, but in Tamim Iqbal, they have an able replacement, and haven’t been hit as badly as some others by player absences.The most encouraging sign for Qalandars is the form of their key players. Age does not seem to be dimming Mohammad Hafeez’s ability, while the most high-profile recruit from their player development programme Haris Rauf is in the form of his life, and an established member of the Pakistan T20 side. Shaheen Afridi is the country’s leading fast bowler in every format, and one of the best fast bowlers in the world by now. Whisper it, but Lahore might be in a position to go all the way here.Squad: Sohail Akhtar (c), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, David Wiese (South Africa), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Shinwari, Samit Patel (England), Haris Rauf, Salman Irshad, Ben Dunk (Australia), Farzan Raja, Jaahid Ali, Abid Ali, Mohammad Faizan, Maaz Khan, Dane Vilas (South Africa) and Dilbar HussainKarachi KingsKarachi Kings may have the privilege of playing at home, but their 2020 campaign will forever be tinged with significant poignance. Head coach Dean Jones guided the side to a second place finish, their highest in PSL history, but in a tragic twist of fate, won’t be around to see the job through, after he died of a heart attack on September 25. Team president Wasim Akram will take on the management role for the side, whose defining feature has been the strength at the top of the order. Power-hitter Sharjeel Khan is paired with Babar Azam, the highest run-getter in PSL history, as well as the leading runscorer this season, with 345 runs at 49.28.It was a Karachi Kings player in Alex Hales who was believed to have contracted Covid-19 in March, which necessitated the postponement of the playoffs. He never ended up getting a test, though he later said he was severely symptomatic and “99% sure” he had the virus. He is set to return for the tournament once more, and set to play a key role at the top of the order for Imad Wasim’s side. But it is the absence of another English player, death bowler Chris Jordan, that may hurt the side; he is due to take part in England’s T20I series in South Africa. As such, Mohammad Amir, who has fallen out of favour at the national level, will have to take on increased responsibility, and perhaps even stake in T20 claims with a standout performance here.A player whose stock has soared since the postponement is Karachi Kings wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. He wasn’t even the first-choice keeper for Karachi, with Chadwick Walton playing most games in the group stage, but has since become an all-format regular for Pakistan, and expected to feature heavily over the next few days. Imad Wasim, too, will have to take on responsibility with the ball at the top of the innings, while young left arm spinner Umer Khan may once again prove a key player for the home side.Squad: Imad Wasim (c), Aamer Yamin, Alex Hales (England), Arshad Iqbal, Awais Zia, Babar Azam, Cameron Delport (South Africa), Chadwick Walton (West Indies), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Sharjeel Khan, Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), Umaid Asif, Umer Khan, Usama Mir, Waqas Maqsood and Wayne Parnell (South Africa)GMT 0700 Salman Irshad has replaced Agha Salman (ankle injury) in the Lahore Qalandars squad.

A caution-first mindset, a lack of long-term vision, and an overreliance on overseas stars at the BPL are among the reasons for this muddle

Mohammad Isam09-Apr-2021If you followed Bangladesh’s recent results in New Zealand, you wouldn’t wonder why more of their cricketers aren’t making it big in T20 cricket. It can be assumed that teams that get bowled out in 9.3 overs – the third-shortest completed innings of all time – don’t have great T20 players. And that’s true of Bangladesh. There’s the IPL on as we speak, and all of two Bangladeshis are a part of it – Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, the only two to have played with any regularity in the competition over the years, Shakib much more than Rahman.It comes down to a lack of T20 skills. There is a genuine lack of big hitters in the batting line-up, which has left a huge gap in Bangladesh’s overall white-ball performances. They don’t have legspinners or other unorthodox bowlers of any prominence in the domestic circuit. Orthodox bowlers, be it pace or spin, don’t have much mystery about them. Bangladesh’s T20I cricket often feels like a watered-down version of their ODI cricket. The personnel are not too different, and they follow ODI-like plans and patterns.

“A franchise doesn’t have the opportunity, nor do they even try, to develop a player. Suddenly a foreign coach comes, we take a few selfies with him, and that’s it.”
Senior Bangladesh coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim

No surprise then that Bangladesh are tenth in the ICC T20I team rankings. They are also at the bottom of T20I teams in terms of win-loss ratio in the last five years.Over the years, BPL franchises have been heavily reliant on their overseas stars•BPL‘We ‘don’t have the culture’To Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the senior Bangladeshi coach best known for mentoring Shakib over the years, the show in New Zealand suggested that the Bangladesh players had lost the plot in their heads even before taking the field.”We played against a quality opposition in conditions that weren’t suited to our cricket, but I think the perception that we don’t play well in T20s has got into everyone’s head,” Fahim tells ESPNcricinfo. “This may contribute to the mentality that we can afford to lose and play badly; there’s not much expectation. We could have been a bit more positive. It was always going to be hard to beat New Zealand in their own conditions, but we should have played better.”Fahim, who has worked in the BCB as an Under-19 coach and as national development manager for many years, feels the New Zealand tour was another example of the lack of boldness in Bangladesh’s approach – a precondition in T20s.”We don’t have the culture that allows the positive and fearless cricket so needed in T20s,” he says. “We worry a lot about consequences when playing cricket at any level, be it club or national team. We don’t have the physical build and neither do we play a lot of T20s. But, on top of that, if we can’t even play 100% fearless cricket, it becomes a huge hindrance in T20s.”It’s almost an echo of what Mahmudullah had to say after Bangladesh lost a T20I series 2-1 in India in late 2019, the last match – the decider – by 30 runs after they collapsed from 110 for 2 to 144 all out chasing 175.”Honestly, we have a long way to go in T20s. We are a team dependent on skilled hitting, not big hitters. If we can be consistent with our game sense and mentality, we can improve in this format,” he had said. “It is important to back players in T20Is where it is hard to be consistent. As a team and the management, we should back players who are going through a rough time.”As for the missing fearlessness, Neil McKenzie, who worked with the national team as batting coach for two years between 2018 and 2020, had tried to analyse the problem early last year, after Bangladesh lost the T20I series in Pakistan.”There’s no doubt that Bangladesh is full of very talented cricketers, but we need a little bit more consistency,” he had said. “I want someone to be selfish in terms of winning games for the side. Not selfish for their own right. Selfish for not giving it away. If I have an 80, why can’t I follow it up with a hundred, 140 or 200?”A little bit more hunger for that consistency. A lot of the time, the guys are happy to play the next game. If you get a 40 or 60. It is the wrong mentality. I want the guys to try to be the best in the world, or be the best Bangladesh batsman. I think that’s what we are trying to instill. We are making progress. But it has been a little bit frustrating.”Shakib has been the only Bangladeshi regular in the IPL over the years•BCCIWhy has the BPL not helped?During the seven seasons of the BPL’s franchise-based model, the teams have depended mainly on overseas players to take charge of all the important phases in the games, especially the powerplay and the death overs, whether with bat or ball.”We give all the important positions to the overseas players during the BPL. We let them handle all the crisis moments, which means our players can never gather that experience,” Fahim says. “What’s glaring is that these overseas players end up adapting to our conditions better. Afghanistan won here quite easily (in 2019) because this is not a foreign land to them anymore.”A franchise doesn’t have the opportunity, nor do they even try, to develop a player. Practice is only for three or four days before the tournament. Suddenly a foreign coach comes, we take a few selfies with him, and that’s it.”Nafees Iqbal , the former Bangladesh opener who has managed the Khulna Titans for the last five years, agrees that the BPL model hasn’t done much for the country’s T20 cricket.”It is very true that we pick overseas players who will make an impact in the powerplay and death overs, and it honestly does make it difficult to provide opportunities to local players,” Nafees says. “But you can’t really blame the BPL franchises. Winning the trophy is their only motivation, since they don’t earn revenue like IPL franchises do.”So, by and large, Bangladeshi players don’t get to – or manage to – impress much in their own T20 league. What chance do they have in overseas competitions?Mustafizur Rahman played a key role for Sunrisers in his debut season (2016)•BCCIThe occasional splashOnly Shakib and Rahman are playing in this season’s IPL.Shakib has been around since 2011, winning two titles with the Kolkata Knight Riders, for whom he is back this season. He is among T20’s glitterati, currently the sixth-highest wicket-taker in all T20s and is among only two players to have scored 5000 runs and taken 350 wickets in the format. He is a major drawcard, having played in all the major T20 tournaments.Rahman won the 2016 IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which he also won the award for the best emerging player. The Rajasthan Royals, his team this year, is his third IPL team in five years.Both took the international route to the IPL. The Knight Riders picked Shakib in 2011 after he emerged as a match-winner for Bangladesh and became the No. 1 allrounder in the ICC ODI rankings. He didn’t have a T20 record worth talking about at the time, but had established himself as a dependable allrounder. Rahman shot to the limelight after picking up 11 wickets in his first two ODIs against India in 2015.But beyond them, there’s little. Abdur Razzak (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Mohammad Ashraful (Mumbai Indians) and Mashrafe Mortaza (Knight Riders) have played one match each in the IPL over the years, while Tamim Iqbal was in the Pune Warriors rolls in 2012, but didn’t get a game.What about other T20 leagues?Tamim is a regular at the PSL, and has played in the CPL and in domestic T20 tournaments in England and New Zealand. Mahmudullah has played a couple of seasons in the CPL and PSL too, while Mushfiqur Rahim played three matches for the Karachi Kings in the PSL in 2016. In the Abu Dhabi T10 last year, eight Bangladeshi cricketers – including Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Sohag Gazi and Nasir Hossain – took part, but none of them did anything of note.Nafees, who also worked as Rahman’s translator in the 2018 IPL, while he was with the Mumbai Indians, pointed to two factors – fairly straightforward reasons – that are holding back Bangladeshi players, especially when it comes to the IPL.”Firstly, India is considered the factory of producing batsmen, so usually the IPL franchises are only interested in batsmen who have the X-factor, like AB de Villiers or Andre Russell,” Nafees says. “They are more interested in overseas allrounders and bowlers. Most of Bangladesh’s top players are batsmen, which limits their opportunities in the IPL. Mustafiz is an exceptional bowler while Shakib mainly plays as a bowler.”Secondly, our T20 team’s track record isn’t great. It is not like our one-day team. I think it is important to have an impact in your (country’s) team, before you can be considered anywhere else. Someone like [Kieron] Pollard obviously played well for West Indies first. The moment a player does well for his country, he will attract attention, and then he will get picked in tournaments.”Shoriful Islam impressed at the Bangabandhu T20 Cup•Raton Gomes/BCBLight at the end of the tunnel?The picture isn’t pretty. An absence of specialist T20 skills is a primary reason for the continued lack of big performances. Bangladesh claim they have skilled hitters but not power hitters. That’s true. Scoring patterns from domestic T20 tournaments clearly show that very few Bangladeshi batsmen can be dominant in the way we are used to seeing the top T20 batsmen be. Junaid Siddique is the only Bangladeshi in the top ten for powerplay strike rates, while there is no one in the top ten for strike rates in the last five overs.As for bowlers, there’s no legspinner or unorthodox spinner breaking the door down. The rare 140kph quick or orthodox offspinners or left-arm spinners haven’t shown any remarkable ability in T20s. It is a well-known fact that unique skills have a better chance of producing the spectacular in T20s.Although Bangladesh’s cricketers play many T20 tournaments at the amateur or informal level, the BPL hasn’t quite become what it could have, and not just for the reasons mentioned earlier. Corruption, unpaid wages, and impulsive rule changes have all affected the tournament, and the BCB eventually fell out with the original franchises in 2019 and ran the tournament on its own.”The BPL could have given us a lot, had we tried to take something out of it,” Fahim says. “The board considers the number of foreign players, media coverage and earning money as success. But that’s not it. The BPL should be used to strengthen our players.”In a bid to keep cricketers busy during the pandemic, the BCB organised the Bangabandhu T20 Cup last year. The tournament didn’t feature overseas players, so Bangladesh’s best cricketers got a chance to have more of a say in critical moments in T20s. That could help.”I think tournaments like Bangabandhu T20 will produce players,” Nafees says. “If we have seen domestic players tackle difficult situations in this competition, we will consider him for a similar role in the next BPL.”There weren’t many groundbreaking performances in the Bangabandhu T20s, though, but newcomers like Parvez Hossain Emon, a part of the Under-19 World Cup-winning side, and rookies like Anisul Islam, Mukidul Islam and Shoriful Islam showed they could hold their own in tough moments.It could be a starting point. In a country where talented T20 cricketers are not falling over each other to be noticed, a bit more desperation might help – desperation on the part of the BCB and other stakeholders. There are two T20 World Cups in the next two years, and there are several spots up for grabs. It’s up to the players to make those positions theirs.

Malan, Jordan among players with point to prove as Eoin Morgan thins out his options

Matt Roller18-Mar-2021Loyalty and faith are two of Eoin Morgan’s most obvious qualities – right up until the point when he reasons that he no longer needs someone in his England team.In the four years leading into the 2019 World Cup, David Willey was an ever-present member of England’s squads, offering new-ball swing, left-arm variation and useful lower-order hitting. But when Jofra Archer became available, Willey was swiftly removed, and Sam Curran’s emergence as a younger like-for-like alternative has seen him slide down the pecking order at alarming speed.Then take Liam Plunkett. Morgan backed him as his middle-overs enforcer throughout the four-year cycle, sticking by him even through patches of lean form. But after Plunkett’s vital three-wicket contribution in the World Cup final, he was discarded without ceremony. Morgan’s ruthless streak has been a feature of his captaincy – and that’s before even considering the case of Alex Hales.So as England build towards the T20 World Cup, the handful of players who are yet to ink their names into his starting XI for the first game of the tournament will be desperate not to test his loyalty. Based on their performances in this series, eight players are locks in that side: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, Archer and Mark Wood – as well as Morgan himself. That leaves the four others who have appeared in this series – Sam and Tom Curran, Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan – feeling the heat.Jordan has missed only one of England’s last 52 T20Is, but has struggled in the past three games, conceding 114 runs in his 10.5 overs. He has been much less effective in his specialist role at the death of late: since the start of the series in South Africa in November 2020, he has leaked an eye-watering 13.22 runs per over for England when bowling in the final four overs of an innings.In particular, Jordan has struggled to land his yorkers with anything like the precision he once did. Across his last seven T20Is, he has bowled eight yorkers at the death, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, conceding only 12 runs; but he has bowled 19 ‘full’ balls and eight full tosses, which have cost 59 between them. While he has clearly been backed by Morgan, the pressure on his spot is greater than ever.Tom Curran is in a similar boat. Trusted ahead of Wood in the South Africa series, Curran’s 10 overs in that series cost 116 runs, and when Wood’s heel injury gave him a chance in India, his two overs went for 26. The shelf life of slower-ball specialists is often short, and with Saqib Mahmood leading the charge for a spot in the squad during the Pakistan Super League before its postponement, Curran may be looking nervously over his shoulder.Chris Jordan has struggled to land his yorkers with the accuracy of previous seasons•BCCIFor Malan, this has been a difficult series. His penchant for starting slowly before exploding when set has been scrutinised at length, and has clearly worked well for him over the last 18 months, as demonstrated by his remarkable T20I record. But his last three innings – 24 off 23 balls, 18 off 17 and 14 off 17 – have exposed the problems with that method, not least given the number of balls he has chewed up during the powerplay.Malan will have plenty more opportunities to prove his worth, and may well benefit from spending the next two months preparing in Indian conditions regardless of whether or not he is a regular for Punjab Kings, but there is a nagging feeling that, for all his individual success, he may not be a perfect fit for England in a crucial spot.Working as a pundit for Sky Sports, Dinesh Karthik suggested England should move Stokes up to No. 3, with Sam Billings replacing Malan in the middle order to break up their run of left-handers, while in Hales, Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone and Joe Root, England have several players who will put pressure on Malan’s place over the next six months.Related

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As for Sam Curran, his role in the side as a floating No. 7 has left him as something of a bit-part player, epitomised by his efforts in Thursday night’s game. His solitary over cost 16 runs – though he did, controversially, account for Suryakumar Yadav – and with the bat, he was cleaned up by Hardik Pandya for 3 off 5 when England needed fireworks from their lower order.Curran has performed creditably with the ball in this series, varying his pace well and using his skill with the new ball to bowl a wicket maiden to KL Rahul, and has conceded only 7.44 runs per over. But that he has bowled only nine overs across four games – and faced just 10 balls with bat in hand – reflects his limited involvement.Another strong showing for Chennai Super Kings would serve as a reminder of his all-round skill, but as things stand, it is hard to escape the conclusion that Sam Curran’s contributions have been sporadic. If England opted to replace him, they might change their balance with a spin-bowling allrounder in Livingstone, Moeen Ali or Liam Dawson, or even open the door to Willey, whose performances in last summer’s ODI series against Ireland suggested he has plenty more to offer; Moeen’s own struggle to get back into this side demonstrates how cruel selection can be.Trusting out-of-form players to come good has been a motif of Morgan’s leadership since he took over as England’s limited-overs captain, evidenced by Roy’s return to run-scoring form in this series following a barren run against the ball spinning away from the bat in particular. Morgan’s faith in Roy has been unwavering for the simple reason that he has stuck so closely to his ultra-attacking role; while some players would go into their shell during a lean spell, Roy has tried to swing his way back into form.It sends a clear message to those who are battling for spots: if you put your own success ahead of England’s, you won’t last long. Once you are outside of what Morgan perceives to be his strongest XI, it is a formidable task to get back in it.