“After every show, I’d put my head down and cry”
The sexism that nearly broke Mandira Bedi in '03, the ICC screwed up the World Cup & how China introduced cricket to North Korea.
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Pakistan go out with a whimper
PAK’s batting struggles, the importance of lop-sided games & the WC’s incompetent organisation.
Pakistan beat Ireland by 3 wickets in both teams’ final match before they go home. ESPNcricinfo’s Sidharth Monga writes that Pakistan need to accept the realities of batting in modern T20 cricket if they are to progress next time.
Sportstar’s Ayan Acharya has a fantastic interview with The Netherlands’ Logan Van Beek about how associate nations need to progress at World Cups, where his country is at after a disappointing tournament, and why lop-sided matches are important for cricket development.
ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller writes about the extraordinary journey of Johnson Charles; owner of just 54 T20I caps, but on course for his third World Cup win. Indian Express’ Shivani Naik writes that Ottneil Bartmaan has quickly become the go-to difference maker for South Africa.
ESPNcricinfo’s Sidharth Monga questions the organisation of the tournament after three matches in Florida were cancelled despite limited rain on match days. Revsportz’s Boria Majumdar laments the lost opportunity in America because of the ICC’s decision to de-prioritise fan experience.
USA’s qualification for the Super 8s grants them immediate qualification for the next tournament. Forbes’ Tristan Lavalette reports that they make it to a third T20 World Cup in a decade as the ICC & American stakeholders are considering bringing it back to USA for the 2032 edition.
Cricket West Indies’ CEO Jonny Grave has spoken in some detail about India’s responsibility to support other cricketing nations due to the country’s economic dominance of the game. Meanwhile Exchange4Media’s Sonam Saini reports that Indian broadcasters are seeing an uptick for ads as the World Cup progresses successfully.
Mandhana mauls South Africa
Profiling IND-W’s stars, Nepal should ditch Lamicchane, & how China introduced cricket to North Korea.
India Women beat South Africa by 143 runs. Cricket.com’s Gaurav Nandan Tripathi praises Smriti Mandhana’s crucial 117-run innings for the win.
ESPNcricinfo’s Sruthi Ravindranath talks up D Hemalatha’s chances of making an impact on this series after she’s finally gotten her national team chance, while her colleague Srinidhi Ramanujam writes about the emergence of Arundhati Reddy 2.0, who has worked on her mentality to perform at the highest level.
Revsportz’s Gargi Raut watched the newly launched Women’s Bengal Pro T20 League, and came away quite disappointed with the technical, tactical & fitness levels of the players.
Cricbuzz’s Amish Mulmi has a piece on the growth of cricket in Nepal; and why they are now big enough to jettison Sandeep Lamicchane despite his clear talent.
Bit of a throwback piece from last year (about a topic from a 15 years ago!) that I just came across today; NK News’ Shreyas Reddy has a story with the title “Bowling over Pyongyang: How a Chinese club brought cricket to North Korea”. That’s the most enticing headline I’ve seen in a long time!
“After every show, I’d put my head down and cry”
Mandira Bedi’s struggles hosting the ‘03 WC, & building gender equality in cricket.
Humans of Bombay have an exclusive interview with Mandira Bedi. It goes into multiple aspects of her life, but luckily there are timestamps for the cricketing bits; becoming a high profile female anchor for the 2003 World Cup, the everyday sexism of the role that left her crying every night, & how she overcame those challenges.
The Paddock and The Pavilion’s Stephan Wallis talks to Fairbreak Global CEO Cheryll Rogers about the Aussie company’s ambitions to improve gender equality in cricket. [Apple Podcasts]
Editor’s Note
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