Is selling your cricketing soul…a good thing?
The best cricket stories of the week, 29th March to 4th April 2025
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Is selling your cricketing soul…a good thing?
The Cricket Monthly’s Matt Roller goes behind the scenes at Hampshire, who were the first County Club so far to sell out to an Indian owner. In less than a year, the club has become unrecognisable.
“Even signing Shane Warne on a lucrative contract in 2000 could not prevent [Hampshire] from relegation to the second division of the County Championship. More pressingly, they were running out of money. "The club was basically insolvent," [former majority owner Rod] Bransgrove says.
Now, Hampshire are at the vanguard of English cricket's new era.”
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Surrey’s surefire success strategy
The Times’ Simon Wilde breaks down the principles underlining Surrey’s County dominance, and their determination to lengthen the dynasty.
“We’ve increased the quality each year and that’s something I learnt from [former Manchester United manager] Sir Alex Ferguson. He’s the person I’ve read about a lot, and learnt a lot from. I’ve been lucky enough to be in his company a couple of times. It’s about what to do when you’re winning. I’ve taken that in and it’s working nicely.”
The Guardian’s Tanya Aldred reports on Yorkshire’s optimism before the season, after years of off pitch issues hindering them; “Yorkshire’s fresh start: ‘It will be tough, but we’ve got everything in place”
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Put the round peg in the round hole
Three Slips and a Gully’s Divyansh Peswani shifts through the data to make the case that IPL teams should send out batters based on match conditions rather a fixed order based on batter preferences.
“If Virat Kohli bats for your T20 side at No. 3…he cannot possibly be your ideal No. 3 bat in all conditions. Now when I mean ‘‘in all conditions,’’ I am not referring to how the pitch is playing out, but instead…what’s required of the batters that have not come out to bat just yet. If there’s an early wicket, you’d want Kohli to come and maybe do some damage control, play the anchor, see you through safe so that your team at least bats the full quota of overs.
But if you have Kohli slotted at 3 and your first wicket falls in the 10th over, typically the point after which a lot of overs are bowled by spin (a match-up he prefers less than pace), it’s not all too rational to send him out then. You’re not maximizing your batting resources.”
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The best of the rest
ESPNcricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi catches up with an MI coach on Jasprit Bumrah and bowling in the IPL; “Shane Bond: 'If you ask any injured player if they're okay to play, they'll say yes”
Sydney Morning Herald’s Daniel Brettig talks to South Australia’s Sheffield Shield hero about his prodigious start, fall, and return to the top; “When Jason Sangha was 12, an opponent threatened to kill him. He has some advice for Sam Konstas”
ESPNcricinfo’s Sidharth Monga methodically takes apart a controversial BCCI’s scheduling choice; “Do we need to remind the BCCI that a Test in Delhi in November is a bad idea?”
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The best videos and podcasts
Sports Entrepreneur Podcast’s Marcus Luer has (finally!) released the last part of his in-depth chat with Lalit Modi about how the IPL adventure blew up on him, from the success of the first two seasons to gangsters and becoming persona non grata in his home country. [Apple/Spotify]
Sky Sports’ Mike Atherton & Nasser Hussain talk to Charlotte Edwards about her plans for the England Women’s side. [YouTube]
IWM’s Cyrus Broacha talks to journalist Shashank Kishore about all things RCB over the last 18 years, from on pitch failures to off-pitch successes. [YouTube]
Good Areas’ Jarrod Kimber & Behram Qazi discuss a topic that’s annoyed me for years - why don’t people talk about field strategy and placements more?! Oh, they also do talk about it a bit - especially about how powerplay fielding has evolved. [YouTube]