A Hundred complexities

The best cricket stories of the week, 17th to 23rd August 2024

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1

A Hundred complexities

The Guardian’s Raf Nicholson catches up with Alice Capsey to understand why The Hundred has been such an important tournament for Women’s cricket.

“If there is one player who encapsulates how the Hundred has changed the landscape of women’s cricket, it is Alice Capsey. Three years ago, she was an unknown 16-year-old hoping she might get selected for Oval Invincibles.

Within a year she was making her England debut; subsequent stints in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia and the Women’s Premier League in India confirmed her status as one of the biggest superstars in global women’s cricket.

“The Hundred changed my life,” she says.”

• The Telegraph’s Scyld Berry writes about the differences between the Men’s failures and the Women’s successes with The Hundred; “Why the Hundred remains so divisive” [Paywall]

• BBC’s Sam Drury writes about the state of The Hundred in light of the ECB’s hopes for global investment; “What next for The Hundred?”

2

Spinning into the history books

438 & Beyond’s CS Chiwanza traces Keshav Maharaj’s improbable journey from nearly quitting cricket at 22 to becoming South Africa’s most prolific spinner ever.

“When Maharaj made his debut, South African cricket was a world away from the Tayfield era where spinners played a central role. Spinners were considered an optional extra. They were dropped when the team needed a spot to slot in a pacer or batter. A batter who could spin the ball a bit had a better shot at selection than a frontline tweaker.

Maharaj’s career has followed the expected ‘spinner’s path’, for the most part. His stats show that he has played 87 Test innings, what they don’t show is that he has not been asked to bowl a single delivery in 10 of those innings and also delivered 10 or fewer overs in 25 innings.”

3

Everybody gets a cricket league!

Cricket Et Al’s Peter Lalor writes about the growing proliferation of franchise leagues across the world.

“The cameras contrived a crowd shot of six blokes pushed uncomfortably together on a group of plastic chairs under a shade cloth, but it was obviously staged. They did their best to look excited but frankly they just looked perplexed. And uncomfortable. A half dozen random strangers was, apparently, the best they could do to manufacture some artificial excitement. It harked back to the days when the Big Bash used to pay good looking young people to attend and pretend they were having a good time.”

4

The best of the rest

• Cricbuzz’s Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi talks to Naseem Shah about the pressures of playing for Pakistan; “At times it is like I am playing two matches at once”

• ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Fidel Fernando catches up with a player from Sri Lanka’s golden team; “Angelo Mathews: 2014 was the best year of my career and the England series was the icing on the cake”

• An uncredited Daisy Cutter piece talks to Georgia Adams about diversity in cricket, and different approaches to marketing Women’s cricket; “Daisy Cutter x Georgia Adams”

• Hindustan Times’ Somshuvra Laha writes about the extinction of the off spinners; “Who after Ashwin and Lyon?”

• Cricket and Stuff’s Harigovind S analyses Smriti Mandhana’s batting improvements; “At the peak of her powers, Smriti Mandhana is still improving”

5

The best videos and podcasts

• Robin Uthappa opens up about his own mental health struggles in the wake of Graham Thorpe’s suicide. It’s pretty rare for anyone with his reputation to be so open and vulnerable, let alone someone from India.

• Jarrod Kimber recalls the lost batting talents that could’ve propelled Zimbabwe into cricket relevancy.

• Cricket Australia have a documentary in their Stories After Stumps podcast about the simmering Victoria & Queensland domestic rivalry at the turn of the millennium, and how it all came to a head during the 2001 Sheffield Shield decider. You don’t need to know any of the history or protagonists to enjoy this one! [Apple Podcasts]

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