ROUNDUP: The fourth phase of Bazball coverage
Crawley’s long leash, Pope’s struggles, & praise for ENG’s defensive batting.
Good morning!
We’ve officially entered the fourth phase in the Bazball coverage cycle; (1) We love Bazball’s intent! ➡️ (2) Bazball is the best strategy ever! ➡️ (3) England need defensive chops for tough games! ➡️ (4) Defence is the essence of Test cricket! ➡️ (5) Tests are dying because of slow run rates! ➡️ (1) We love Bazball’s intent!
An obvious casualty of the 4th phase is the high-risk, medium-reward Zak Crawley. I counted at least 6 different outlets criticising his play yesterday. I chose Paul Newman’s story for its balance and inputs from ex-English players.
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The fourth phase of Bazball coverage
🏏 Match Updates: Crawley’s long leash, Pope’s struggles, & praise for ENG’s defensive batting.
England v India:
England are at 251/4 at stumps on day one.
👉 The Athletic’s Paul Newman on Zak Crawley’s long leash.
👉 The Times’ Steve James on Ollie Pope’s underperformance.
👉 The Times’ Simon Wilde on England’s ‘serious’ batting.
👉 ESPNcricinfo’s Sidharth Monga on the Root v Bumrah (non-)battle.Sri Lanka v Bangladesh:
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets in their first T20I.England Women v India Women:
👉 ESPNcricinfo’s Valkerie Baynes on India’s vastly improved fielding.
An old-timey Kiwi T20 XI
📚 Must Read Essays: The best Kiwis to never play T20s, & Watson on coaching in the MLC.
“The Old-Timey New Zealand T20 XI”
✍️ Beyond Cow Corner takes a stab at building the best Kiwi T20 side from players who retired before T20s became a format.“Massaging mindsets and building legacies”
✍️ Cricbuzz’s Smit Patel talks to Shane Watson about the San Francisco Unicorns, his time in the MLC, and why he sees it as more than just a payday.
🗞️ Quick News: IND-W A squad announced, CWI to expand cricket in the Americas, & the WBBL’s stadium series to stop.
The BCCI has announced the India Women A squads for their tour to Australia, with Shreyanka Patil’s potential return the big news.
Cricket West Indies is working on a plan to expand cricket infrastructure through the Americas.
The WBBL’s vaunted stadium series in the MCG and SCG will not continue this year, although the MCG may still host the final.
Kumble spins a yarn
📺 A/V: Kumble on learning leg spin, & the evolution of wicket keeping.
“On the decline of wristspin in modern Test cricket”
🎤 Talking Cricket’s Raunak Kapoor chats with Anil Kumble about the development of his leg spin, and what to teach modern spinners. [Apple/Spotify]“The evolution of wicket-keepers”
📽️ IWM’s Cyrus Broacha talks to ex-India international Deep Dasgupta about the evolution of wicket keeping in the 21st century. [YouTube]
That’s it for today!
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