IPL team maps, county cricket's inequality, & RCB's WPL win
Best Cricket Stories of the Week, 23rd to 29th March 2024
“Welcome to our IPL team maps, where I hate on your personal favourite team using algorithms”; Good Areas’ Jarrod Kimber does a good job of using stats to refute any hope I had as an RCB fan for the year, but otherwise it’s a spectacular data-led preview for the IPL season.
“The extent of their pain wasn't visible in the build-up to the match. But the 88,000 fans who turned the setting into a cauldron made sure you felt it. It was a night unlike any other for Hardik”; ESPNcricinfo’s Shashank Kishore has the report on the IPL moment of the week, Hardik Pandya getting it with both barrels from everyone in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat-Mumbai clash.
“The new system is expected to put an end to controversial decisions involved in adjudicating waist-high no-balls, like in previous IPL editions”; ESPNcricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi has the best explanation of the new waist-high no balls review system installed in the IPL this season, with all calls made by a computer only.
“Maphaka is 17 and in his senior year of high school. A 10-week interruption, far from home, won't help his efforts to try and graduate with good grades. So his school books have followed him to Mumbai”; Cricbuzz’s Telford Vice reports on a fascinating detail of the teenagers who travel the world to participate in the IPL; how do they keep up with their real lives in school?
“Uniformity is a near impossible task given some clubs operate on annual turnovers scarcely more than £5m (the majority of which is provided by the ECB) while the double reigning champion county, Surrey, have an income close to 10 times that”; The Guardian’s Ben Bloom writes about how cricket’s inequality is starting to hit the English county game, with the have-nots struggling to stay afloat.
“Just over ten days after the completion of the second season of the Women's Premier League on March 17, India stars such as Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia will be in action in the red-ball tournament”; ESPNcricinfo’s Srinidhi Ramanujam writes about the return of domestic Women’s red ball games in India after six years, and how players (past and present) believe it will impact the growth of the Women’s game.
The Analyst Inside’s Simon Hughes & Melissa Story talk to Charlotte Edwards - the winningest female player ever - who’s getting ready to coach the Southern Vipers to a third straight Charlotte Edwards Cup! [Apple Podcasts]
The 81 All Out podcast flips the discussion on how T20 has changed the game by asking who would make a best of the world T20 side in the 1980s & 1990s? [Apple Podcast]
The Club Prairie Fire guest list continues to constitute a who’s who of cricketing legends, as Ravichandran Ashwin talks to Adam Gilchrist & Michael Vaughan about the IPL, his international career, India v Australia & England, and how Ashwin looked up to Vaughan growing up!
RCB have put out a mini-documentary on their WPL victory earlier this month. It’s a must watch if you’re an RCB fan.
The Grade Cricketer’s Sam Perry & Ian Higgins have a fantastic conversation with Cricket Australia board member Mike Baird on everything from politics in cricket, the Anglosphere’s reaction to India taking over cricket, and why everyone is chasing the American market.
Harsha Bhogle has a new YouTube channel where he’s uploading videos about the intersection of cricket and society. It’s fascinating stuff. The latest video is on the importance of defense in cricket and in life.
Editor’s Note
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