After taming pacers, Robin’s going after demons

Robin Smith’s struggles with alcoholism, cricket’s problem with concussions, & the state of PAK-W cricket.

Robin Smith looks really good in this, but - by his own admission - he hasn’t always looked that good off the pitch.

Asia is the new land of pace

SL’s investment into pace pays off, the ICC is liable for CT delays, & cricket’s problem with concussions.

• Despite only playing 20.4 overs due to rain, Sri Lanka reduced South Africa to 80/4 on day one of their Test. ESPNcricinfo’s Andrew Fidel Fernando writes about the visitors’ investment in pace.

• Sydney Thunder beat the Hobart Hurricanes by 6 wickets in the first knockout match of the WBBL. Cricket Australia’s Laura Jolly writes about Phoebe Litchfield’s match-winning knock of 46.

• Yastika Bhatia has been ruled out of India Women’s tour to Australia due to injury. Uma Chetry has been called up as a replacement.

• Cricbuzz’s Vijay Tagore reports that the ICC may be liable for financial costs after missing a 90-day deadline for producing the Champions Trophy schedule.

• Ben Stokes skipped the IPL to prolong his England career, the ILT20 will clash with a host of other tournaments forcing players to choose, & ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller has an introduction to the Global Super League.

• 🚨NEW ARTICLE🚨 In case you missed it, Malcolm Conn wrote a piece for my newsletter about Phil Hughes, Will Pucovski & cricket’s problem with concussions yesterday.

  Hughes, Pucovski, and cricket's concussion problem

After taming pacers, Robin’s going after demons

Robin Smith’s struggles with alcoholism, Syd Lawrence’s flat-out bowling, & DC’s IPL auction strategy.

• Indian Express’ Sriram Veera has a nuanced discussion with former English cricketer Robin Smith about his career, and his struggle with alcoholism.

• The Cricverse’s Derek Pringle is kickstarting a fascinating series on his photographs; first up, the story of David ‘Syd’ Lawrence’s flat-out bowling style, his career, and his latest battle with motor-neurone disease.

• ESPNcricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi talks to DC co-owner Parth Jindal about their IPL auction strategy, while Indian Express’ Venkata Krishna B believes that most teams chose to focus on continuity - starting with defending champs KKR.

• The Telegraph’s Tim Wigmore writes about Jacob Bethell’s childhood in Barbados and how it shaped him, while BBC’s Stephan Shemilt thinks that Will O’Rourke has quietly usurped the old order of Kiwi pacers.

Hadlee signs off on the Crowe-Thorpe

Hadlee on ENG and McCullum, the state of PAK-W cricket, & a mini-doc on the 2011/12 BGT.

• The Cricketer’s Huw Turbervill talks to Sir Richard Hadlee about the upcoming England-New Zealand series, and about how he threw Brendon McCullum off the deep end as a selector!

• New Zealand Cricket has a fascinating look back at the first Test between the two sides in 1929.

• Never on the Backfoot’s Neha Shetty talks to Aayush Puthran about the state of Women’s cricket in Pakistan after the long delayed central contracts were announced. [Apple Podcasts]

• 6ixandout has another great mini-documentary on Australia’s golden generation of the 2000s, and how they rebelled against the fading of the light against India in 2011/12.

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