The Smithsonian Gallery
The best cricket stories of the week, 6th to 12th June 2026.
1
The Smithsonian Gallery
📊 Mark Doman, Alex Palmer & Nathanael Scott have a fantastic graphic story breaking down Steve Smith’s batting style, which gives us a great look into the attention to detail needed by elite players and analysts.
2
Forging a sport through will power
✍️ Raf Nicholson traces Charlotte Edwards’ iconic career, and her latest challenge at the helm of ENG-W.
“No England team has been as successful - before or since - as the one Edwards captained in 2009. In that year, in the space of five months, they won both the 50-over and 20-over World Cups; whitewashed Australia 4-0 in an ODI series; and won that summer’s Ashes.
That success, Taylor explains, was hard-earned. Eighteen months previously, Edwards had been forced to pick up a team in “utter disarray”, when coach Mark Dobson unexpectedly left his role midway through the 2008 Ashes tour down under. “We were effectively coach-less,” Taylor says. “That was the moment Lottie really stepped up into that role of captain.”
“In their own words”
✍️ Matthew Henry talks to the ENG-W players who lifted the 2017 World Cup on home soil about the experience.
3
Are RCB fans happy?
🚨 Tarutr Malhotra runs a poll to determine what fans think of RCB’s off-field actions in the last 12 months; the Parade, the Dayal retention, the Raipur relocation, and more.
“The Man Behind the RCB Revolution”
✍️ Shuvaditya Bose talks to Freddie Wilde about turning around RCB’s fortunes.
4
The best of the rest
“Life as a domestic batter”
✍️ Adam Burnett talks to three youngsters in Australia to understand the difficulties of breaking out from the pack to make their mark. It’s a great look at just how tough domestic cricket really is.“A Slow Pitch is a Low Pitch”
📊 Himanish Ganjoo reminds us he’s an academic first with a mathematical breakdown of what makes a “slow” pitch in cricket.“The IPL Venue Fingerprint Map”
✍️ 📊 Amol Desai analyses the nuances of major Indian pitches.“A Tired Pessimist”
✍️ Giles Wilcock on Andrew Stoddart, the English captain whose international career came to a premature end because of the social pressures of amateurism.
5
The best videos and podcasts
“The foundations for ENG-W cricket”
📽️ Katya Witney interviews players, coaches and journalists to remember how ENG-W won the 2009 World Cup. [YouTube]“T20 World Cup Preview with Suzie Bates”
📽️ Valkerie Baynes & Firdose Moonda talk to NZ’s Suzie Bates on her final World Cup, and why she’s walking away after. [YouTube]“Bowling, Beckham & Winning the WPL”
📽️ Katherine Sciver-Brunt & Ebony Rainford-Brent talk to Lauren Bell about becoming one of the deadliest bowlers in the Women’s game. [YouTube]“The Match That Saved Australian Cricket”
📽️ Cricket by JB remembers the infamous tied Test between IND & AUS in September 1986. [YouTube]