All posts by csb10.top

A theme of regeneration and renewal is gripping English white-ball cricket at present, even if – on the early evidence of their T20I series with Australia – England’s rebooted team remains a work in progress. Down on the south coast, however, where one of the stories of the summer has been unfolding, Sussex have already shown how quickly teams can flourish when the right culture is put in place.Barely 18 months ago, Sussex were perceived as a club in crisis. Whether it was a conveyor-belt of departures at player, coach and executive level alike, or a grim first-class haul of three wins (and 19 defeats) in as many seasons, there was little cause for cheer among the deckchair-dwellers of Hove.Now, however, the mood has been transformed. Sussex are riding high at the top of the County Championship’s second tier, with promotion firmly in their own hands, and the confidence that has given to a young, pared-back squad has rubbed off on their T20 Blast campaign too. A solid second-place finish in the South Group, and a rousing quarter-final win over Lancashire, propelled them to Finals Day for the first time in three seasons. And now, as Paul Farbrace, the club’s head coach put it, Sussex aren’t just off for “a nice weekend in Birmingham”.Related

• Ollie Robinson shows Sussex he's still got it, even as England turn the page

• Tymal Mills: Blast schedule is 'stupid' with England players missing Finals Day

• Somerset sweat on Tom Banton after twisted ankle during football warm-up

• Chris Jordan backs Surrey to switch mindsets for Somerset Blast challenge

• David Payne hopes powerplay 'super-strength' can propel Gloucestershire to Blast glory

“Yes, we’re delighted to be here, but we haven’t come to make the numbers up,” Farbrace said. “It’s very English to talk about, ‘oh, it’d be nice to do okay’ … we’re here to win the tournament, and we’ve got to win two more games to do that. If we don’t, and somebody beats us, well, good luck to them. They’ll have deserved to have won it. But we’re definitely here to win.”The current mood around the club is, quite literally, infectious. “We started well in the Championship, so that had a knock-on effect into the T20 side,” Farbrace said. “And then, when we went back from T20, we won the two Championship games in the middle. So the belief is there among the players, and there’s an expectation to win.”It’s a common theme among this year’s Finals Day attendees. With the exception of Gloucestershire, whose surge into the last four came at just the right time, the three other teams still in contention have enjoyed stellar seasons across formats. Surrey are still on course for a third consecutive County Championship title, despite Thursday’s thrilling loss to their closest rivals Somerset, who are themselves eyeing a rare treble, with the Metro Bank final against Glamorgan to come next week.”Sometimes you can say, well, we haven’t quite got the squad, so we can only compete in one format. No, you can compete in both,” Farbrace said. “And the expectation isn’t just about our first-team performances. The commercial team, the people in the office, the groundstaff … everybody is excited by the progress the team’s making. It makes their jobs a damn sight easier because they’re not getting stick from people that they might have done two years ago.”Sussex’s turnaround in fortunes isn’t just down to luck, however. From the moment of Farbrace’s arrival in February 2023, the club focused on red-ball cricket as a means to shore up their basic discipline, but, after a season of steady improvement under Ravi Bopara, the appointment of Tymal Mills as T20 captain has gone on to turbo-charge their ambitions in the Blast.”There’s been a lot more role clarity, there’s been a lot more clear thinking, and clear planning,” Farbrace added. “We’ve got the right people in the right places, which is no disrespect to Ravi, because he scored an awful lot of runs and took a lot of wickets. But the addition of Dan Hughes [as overseas player] has been absolutely outstanding, and the non-selection of Ollie Robinson for England has helped us enormously.”But Millsy’s done a fantastic job on and off the field as captain. I think every game we’ve gone into, we’ve been exceptionally well prepared because of the work he did in the winter with Luke Dunning, our analyst, and James [Kirtley, T20 coach] … what needed to improve, the collation of all the stats, and talking to every player about what their game looked like, and where they needed to get to.”Mills, now 32, knows of what he speaks. In 2018, he played under Luke Wright as a key member of the last Sussex side to reach the Blast final, and though they lost on that occasion to Worcestershire, that team is still recalled as one of the greatest in the format’s history – featuring luminaries such as Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan and Rashid Khan, not to mention a young Phil Salt, England’s current (stand-in) T20I captain.”That team we had five or six years ago was an awesome team, and we turned up to every game expecting to win, because of the players we had on paper,” Mills said. “But it dissipated quite quickly, and it probably wasn’t a viable way of running a club the size of Sussex, with probably six or seven players only playing T20 cricket.”Daniel Hughes is currently the Blast’s leading run-scorer•Getty Images

But now, as a rare single-format squad member, he will arrive at Hove, as Farbrace puts it, “chomping at the bit” to get stuck into the competition, and making sure everyone is ready to raise their game.”The club rightly had to shift focus towards Championship cricket, but once I’d put myself forward for the captaincy, it wasn’t with the aim to solidify, it was to win,” Mills added. “And a lot of our players have surprised themselves with how good they could be in T20 cricket.”It is a game that you can’t just turn up and play, and hope to do well. Maybe 15 years ago, you could see how you go and have a laugh. But T20 is proper business now, and if you want to be good at it and you want to be successful at it, you’ve got to put in time, and you’ve got to put in effort, and you’ve got to think about it.”So that’s something that I think we’ve changed now at the club, especially with our batters, who have started to scratch the surface of what they can do in T20 cricket. The club’s in a good place, because the boys have started really well in the four-day stuff, so we had a lot of players scoring runs, taking wickets, winning games. That puts you in a good place, and you haven’t got half your squad who are out of form and nicking off, and not confident or comfortable with their technique.”One disappointment for Sussex is that they will be denied the chance to deploy one of the modern greats of T20 cricket during Finals Day, with Archer tied up on international duty. It’s a situation that Mills decried as “stupid” in the wake of their quarter-final win, but as Kirtley acknowledged, his absence isn’t exactly a novelty for the club.”Jofra is a world-class act and, realistically, he can’t be replaced,” he said. “But for 14 games, we played without him and qualified. So, it’s actually far easier to plan not to have him, and when he does play, it’s a bonus.”We also lost Danny Lamb, who was doing the workload up the hill at Hove… no one can replace those shoes. But, we’ve played some really good cricket, and different individuals putting their hand up at various times, and I expect them to do the same tomorrow.”Kirtley singled out Hughes for particular praise, not simply for his competition-leading haul of 595 runs at 42.50, but also for his calmness off the field and the manner in which he has helped to nurture other key performers such as Harrison Ward, his opening partner. And similarly, with Mills and Robinson providing the wise heads in the bowling attack, the team’s belief comes with some justifiably solid foundations.”You want to come to Finals Day, and the younger players will want to have a bit more of this,” he said. “Some of them have only just turned 20. This is what it’s about. These experiences of big days out can only bode well for Sussex in the future.”

There will be a total of 74 matches played in IPL 2025, the same as the last three seasons. That number, though, is ten less than the 84 matches listed by IPL in 2022 when the media rights for the 2023-27 cycle were sold.In the tender document for the new rights cycle, the IPL had listed a varying number of matches per season: ranging from 74 games each in 2023 and 2024, 84 matches each in 2025 and 2026, and a maximum of 94 matches for the final year of the deal in 2027. ESPNcricinfo has learned that one significant reason the IPL has decided not to have 84 matches in 2025 is to help the Indian international players manage their workload. India are currently favourites to make their third successive World Test Championship final, scheduled from June 11 at Lord’s, and the BCCI wants to ensure players get enough rest as part of their preparation if they qualify.Currently, the IPL dates for the 2025 season aren’t finalised yet but the window is likely to stretch between mid-March and last week of May. “We have not taken a call on organising 84 matches in IPL 2025 since we also have to factor the load on the players due to the increase in matches,” Jay Shah, the outgoing BCCI secretary, told the recently. “While it’s (84 matches) part of the contract, it’s up to the BCCI to decide whether to organise 74 or 84 matches.”Related

• The IPL was supposed to have been much longer by now. Why isn't it?

• IPL begins March 21 weekend; WPL to start from February 7

• IPL 2025 to begin on March 14; dates for next three seasons revealed

• Ponting appointed Punjab Kings head coach

• Rathour joins Rajasthan Royals as batting coach

In 2022, the IPL became one of the richest sporting leagues in the world (in terms of per match value) when the media rights were sold for INR 48,390.5 crore (USD 6.2 billion approx.). The rights had been sold across four packages: A (TV rights in the Indian subcontinent), B (digital rights in the subcontinent), C (digital rights in India to a special package of high-profile games – including the playoffs and the final – ranging between 18 and 22 per season) and D (global media rights across five separate regions).The total number of matches in a season, the IPL said, would also determine the number of matches in package C, also known as the special package. This package includes the tournament opener, weekend evening matches, and the four playoffs, including the final. While the opening match and the playoffs will be mandatory, the IPL will determine the number and which evening matches from the double-headers will be included in this package, based on the total number of games in a season.A season total of 74 matches (as was the case in 2023 and 2024) means the special package had 18 matches. If there are more than 74 matches in a season, then the special package matches will rise by two for every ten additional matches. So if there are 84 matches in a season, the special package matches will rise to 20 and if the tournament has 94 games, the special package will have 22 matches.

While Pakistan look to stave off a first series defeat against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, much of the PCB’s focus has been 300 km south in Lahore. Having announced five mentors for the Champions Cup, an upcoming series of domestic tournaments which begin with a one-day competition from September 12, the PCB lined them up for press conferences to outline their vision, and, to some extent, clarify their roles.On Friday, it was the turn of former Pakistan captain and coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who will mentor the Wolves. “My thinking is you need to try and maximise a player’s potential. If a player is well-equipped and technically good, he can play all formats. We have to look at how he manages his fitness and potential, and not have any pre-conceived notions about any player. Then we can look at which player specifically fits into our team. That doesn’t mean we limit a player’s ceiling. As mentor and coach, we need to explore their potential to the full.”The vision is to reduce the gap between domestic and international cricket. I feel it and players feel it too. When I came to the international side, it took three to four years to believe that I belonged to international cricket. The vision of the mentors is to prepare the players to raise them to that level, so they adjust with it. This requires a lot of hard work, and it will only happen if we do it.”Misbah is one of five mentors, alongside Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Malik. Only one – Sarfaraz – is set to participate in the upcoming one-day cup, while Malik, who conducted a press conference on Thursday, said he planned to play “select” games in the T20 iteration of the tournament, for which the window has not yet been finalised.”As a mentor, my role goes beyond just providing guidance from the dugout,” Malik, affiliated with the Stallions, said in a statement released by the PCB. “I will also take to the field in select matches to impart my first-hand knowledge and experience. This will enable our upcoming cricketers to refine their skills and elevate their game, ultimately supporting the Pakistan Cricket Board’s efforts to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket.”In addition to his role as mentor, Shoaib Malik will also play the T20 version of the Champions Cup•PSL

Though the teams don’t have geographic affiliation, Malik’s pairing with Stallions is symbolic, given his success as captain of the Sialkot Stallions in the mid-2000s. Malik created one of the first successful T20 dynasties, leading his side to five successive domestic titles in the days before the PSL. To a lesser degree, so is Misbah’s with Wolves, the former Pakistan captain a key player in the successful Faisalabad Wolves sides of the early 2000s.The mentor roles have come under scrutiny not least for the salaries involved. Each of the five is believed to be on three-year contracts, earning in the range of PKR 5 million (approx. USD 18,000) per month. Those salaries have raised eyebrows because they are higher than what is paid to all but the most elite Pakistani cricketers – the category A players, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan, in the central contracts pool. The Champions Cup has yet to announce a tangible commercial inflow. A broadcaster has not been announced either. The PCB has advertised for team partners/sponsors to come in but has not yet said whether any have come on board.For perspective, just the mentor salaries will total about half the PCB’s entire broadcast deal for bilateral international cricket at home over the next 30 months. From August 2024 to December 2026, the PCB’s broadcast deal is worth between USD 6 to 6.5 million. Salaries for the five mentors in that time will amount to approximately USD 2.7 million.The roles are separate from coaching – each side will have a separate yet-to-be-announced coaching set-up – and do not require coaching qualifications. Three of the five mentors have served as Pakistan’s head coach in the recent past and the PCB has not made public what metrics the mentors will be evaluated by, or why they believe the outlay will offer a return on investment. In a statement to ESPNcricinfo, the PCB said that it “as a responsible organisation, never discusses in public salaries of its staffers and consultants, which remain a matter between the employer and the employee”.The Lahore and Karachi stadiums are currently undergoing significant renovation, with minor upgrades scheduled for Rawalpindi as well, the cost for which is understood to run into billions of Pakistan rupees. This lines up with a generally heavy spend rate since Mohsin Naqvi assumed the PCB chair, which has coincided with annual revenues from the ICC that have doubled in this international rights cycle, thanks to the global body’s new deal with Disney-Star. However, there will invariably be concern around whether the spend rate is sustainable, especially because the PCB does not receive any public money for its operations.Naqvi made clear early on his goal was to spend the PCB’s money on improving Pakistan cricket, rather than save it.”I have told the PCB our job is not to save money or keep it hoarded away, but to spend it on cricket, from grassroots right through to the national team,” Naqvi said in March, addressing the Pakistan players. “The money will be spent on your fitness, training and coaches rather than keeping it locked away.”

At the age of 35, Chris Woakes is all of a sudden the senior statesman in England’s bowling attack.In consecutive home Tests, at The Oval in 2023 and Lord’s this week, he’s watched Stuart Broad and now James Anderson take their final bow, and so heads to Trent Bridge for next week’s second Test against West Indies knowing he is now the wise old head for a new generation of England seamers seeking to step into their sizeable shoes.”It makes me feel incredibly old,” Woakes said at Lord’s, as Anderson’s farewell was kicking into action. “But it’s a lovely occasion. This week, it’s just been really nice to be a part of Jimmy’s last game. I’ve been very lucky to have played for a long period of time with him, and the lessons and little nuggets that I’ve learned from him across the years have certainly made me a better player. I feel very fortunate to have bowled with England’s best ever.”He’s always been there at mid-off, giving little words of advice,” Woakes added. “He assesses conditions and pitches better than anyone I’ve seen. The way he talks about what deliveries are working on the surface so early on is just incredible, really. It’s very easy to think that that’s just a given and you just pick it up, but actually he is the best at doing that. I didn’t bowl a wobble-ball until Jimmy started talking to me about it. So that’s been huge.”Perhaps the most tangible perk of seniority will come when he gets to mark out his run-up at Trent Bridge, for what – fittingly enough – will be his 50th Test. For arguably the first time in his career, certainly on home soil, Woakes can look forward to having first-choice of ends, not that it especially mattered to him in the Lord’s Test just gone.”I’ve not even thought about that!” he joked. “Maybe … that’d be nice. But it worked out all right this game because Jimmy prefers this [Pavilion] end and I actually do prefer the other end [Nursery]!”Woakes has spent his entire Test career learning from Anderson•Getty Images

In terms of his on-field demeanour, however, Woakes insisted he would not seek to change the way he goes about his game, but acknowledged there might be some subtle shifts in how he operates.”Naturally, you’re going to see a lot more new players being given opportunities to move [England] forward,” he said. “But I’ll try and give 100%, and try and do my role as well as I can for the team.”Obviously, it’ll be slightly different if I was given the new ball,” he added. “The majority of my career I’ve come on first-change so that’s something that I’ll maybe need to get my head around moving forward. Other than that, you try and deliver your skills and, whenever there is a new guy coming into the team, you still try and pass on a little bit of knowledge.”I’ve been around for long enough to be able to hopefully do that. Maybe I need to do that a little bit more now that Stu and Jim have finished – particularly on the field more so than off it. That’s probably the only big thing.”Off the field, of course, there won’t be quite so much change around the dressing-room. Anderson is staying on in a bowling mentor role for the rest of the West Indies series, with a view to it becoming a more permanent position should he feel it is a suitable fit for the next step of his career.”I’m looking forward to not getting a spray when I dive over one,” Woakes joked. “Obviously, it’ll be different, but I think it will also be very, very good. He obviously won’t have that emotion that he has when he’s out there playing and being a primary bowler for the team. So I think he’ll be very good in that role as well, for not just the summer but hopefully moving forwards.”Woakes was at the ILT20 during England’s tour of India•ILT20

Whether Woakes himself is part of the team’s long-term plans remains to be seen. His prowess in home conditions is undeniable, not least in last summer’s Ashes, in which he claimed the Compton-Miller Medal after helping to turn the series on its head after 19 wickets in the final three Tests.However, he was not considered for this year’s tour of India having embraced the fact that his overseas bowling record (36 wickets at 51.88) is distinctly less impactful than his home figures (114 at 22.04). Ben Stokes is explicitly targeting the 2025-26 Ashes as his team’s next goal, and Woakes is phlegmatic about where he stands in the pecking order, with a career record of 16 wickets at 51.68 in Australia.”I just don’t rule anything out,” he said. “Throughout my England career, I’ve just looked at the very next game, the very next series, and tried to be in the best shape possible. As soon as you start looking too far ahead, you get you get caught off-guard, and all of a sudden, that’s a million miles away and you forget what you need to do in that in that present moment in time.”It’d be hard for me to stand here and say I’ll be the opening bowler in that Ashes,” he conceded. “Obviously my away record probably isn’t as good as my home. But at the same time, I’ve looked at Stu and Jimmy evolve as they’ve got older, and I still hope that I can potentially do the same. But for now, I’m looking at Trent Bridge, and it’s as far as I can look really.”Related

• Root hails Atkinson as Ashes weapon

• England add Wood to squad for Trent Bridge

• Chappell: England might never see another Anderson

• Ehantharajah: Big numbers and an unquantifiable outpouring

• Stokes: England must build a team that can win in Australia

Woakes’ return to the England set-up has come after a tough few months. He flew home early from the IPL following the death of his father in May, then took a short break from Warwickshire duties in the aftermath having been left out of England’s T20 World Cup squad.”It was one of those things in life that you probably never really think’s going to happen until it does,” he said. “Trying to get back into cricket, it has been quite hard to focus on the day job but once you get back out there and particularly putting on the England whites, it reminds you how lucky we are to do what we do.”Seeing Jimmy this week, you know it doesn’t last forever and you have to try and enjoy every moment that you’re a part of this team. My approach at the minute is to put things in perspective, and just be happy to be here and try and give 110%.”

New Zealand signed off a disappointing T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a dominant win over Papua New Guinea, chasing down a paltry target of 79 with seven wickets and 46 balls to spare at the Brian Lara Stadium, in Tarouba.The scale of the mismatch was characterised by Lockie Ferguson’s figures of 3 for 0 from his four overs. The New Zealand speedster became only the second bowler to bowl four maidens in a T20I fixture after Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar achieved the feat in 2021 when he returned 2 for 0 against Panama.Related

• The Boult legacy: how will NZ cope without Southee's other half?

• Kane Williamson coy on T20I future after New Zealand's World Cup exit

• Ferguson does the (almost) unimaginable, returns 4-4-0-3 vs PNG

• Spotlight on NZ transition after Boult confirms this will be his last T20 World Cup

While Ferguson was sharp and accurate, the moisture in the pitch and what remained in the air from the morning showers that delayed the toss by an hour made it a tough ask for PNG’s batters. The weather was a primary reason Kane Williamson inserted the opposition upon winning the toss, who in turn were 16 for 2 after the powerplay.Charles Amini’s 17, the highest score of the innings, came in the most productive stand – 27 for the third wicket with Sese Bau – before he was pinned lbw for Ferguson’s second of the innings.Trent Boult, playing in his last T20 World Cup match, went on to pocket two wickets when he returned to bowl his final two overs at the death. Ish Sodhi, replacing Jimmy Neesham in the XI for his first match of the competition, also picked up a brace, taking the final PNG wickets in the 20th over as they were bowled out with two balls left in their innings.But PNG were not about to bow out without a fight. Kabua Morea, returning to the XI after playing the opener against West Indies, removed Finn Allen, caught behind, off the second delivery of New Zealand’s innings. He then pocketed Rachin Ravindra when the left-hander tried and failed to lift beyond deep midwicket at the start of the fifth over.Further excitement on the field came when Semo Kamea trapped Devon Conway on the crease. His 35 – which included two fours and three sixes – had, however, taken the sting out of the chase. Conway and Williamson added 34 runs for the third wicket – New Zealand’s highest partnership of the tournament.Williamson and Daryl Mitchell then completed the formalities, scoring the remaining 25 runs from 18 balls to earn New Zealand their second win, consigning PNG to a fourth defeat.Player of the Match Lockie Ferguson had a record outing•ICC/Getty Images

Ferguson in the record books

It began with a wicket: extra pace across Assad Vala that enticed a drive. There was even a bit of extra bounce which only served to make Mitchell’s catch at a wide first slip that little bit tougher. From that point on, Ferguson was locked in.Did he know a place in the record books was in the offing? Probably not. But the movement through the air and off the deck, not to mention the high pace that was always going to ask unanswerable questions to a limited PNG batting line-up, meant Ferguson was likely to emerge with extraordinary figures.The 33-year-old was primarily over the wicket to the left-handed Bau, who entered the fray upon Vala’s dismissal. Having switched to over the wicket midway through his second over (the seventh), Ferguson returned for the 12th from that angle and was immediately rewarded with a delivery into Amini’s pads that skidded on with the angle so sharply it was initially given not out on the field.DRS corrected that error before Ferguson took matters into his own hands by hitting Chad Soper’s stumps for his third. Then came two leg byes down to deep third – which did not count against the bowler – and the final three deliveries, which were counted down by those in the commentary box, now fully invested in witnessing history. Kiplin Doriga’s mistimed pull almost broke the streak – though it also could have resulted in a catch at mid-off – before the right-hander charged Ferguson’s final delivery to no avail.Ferguson looked a little sheepish as his team-mates filed over to congratulate him. Nevertheless, a forgettable T20 World Cup now has a memorable sidenote.Chad Soper walks back after being cleaned up•Getty Images

PNG batters leave unfulfilled

As valiant as PNG’s displays have been at their second T20 World Cup, there is good reason to look at their batting and wonder what might have been. Particularly when Allen and Ravindra were snared early.Signing off with a score of 78, following totals of 95 against Afghanistan and 77 versus Uganda, highlights the limitations of their batters. Even the 136 for 8 against West Indies looked light at the halfway stage, having faced 55 dot balls when setting that evening in Guyana.Even discounting the 23 scoreless deliveries off Ferguson, they failed to find a run from the 58 balls delivered by the rest of the New Zealand attack. Conditions were not kind to batters throughout, particularly those taking guard against the new ball duo of Boult and Tim Southee on a new track with variable bounce, but more intent could have been shown.Particularly against Mitchell Santner. The left-arm spinner floated plenty up but conceded just one boundary. Perhaps spooked by Bau lifting Santner into the hands of long on, it took until Santner’s final delivery for someone to land one on him, as Doriga smeared a sweep shot to midwicket for four.Of course, this match does not really qualify as a missed opportunity given New Zealand’s undoubted superiority. But it did serve as a reminder of the shortcomings that cost them victory against Uganda and allowed West Indies off the hook.Kabua Morea struck twice in his first three overs•Getty Images

Kabua Morea’s redemption

It was 15 days between appearances at this T20 World Cup for Morea. The left-arm seamer started against West Indies, arriving into the match with the expectation he would be a crutch for the attack over the coming fortnight. He ended up with figures of 0 for 30 from three overs, the last of which went for 13 as Roston Chase profited off a couple of full tosses to take the hosts over the line with an over to spare.Morea spent the next two matches on the sidelines as PNG opted for a more spin-heavy attack. Conditions dictated as much, but Morea would have every reason to consider himself an unfortunate casualty of this shift having been the side’s leading wicket-taker at the 2021 edition.But here in Tarouba, he seized the opportunity to leave the World Cup on something of a high, returning home with figures of 2 for 4 from 2.2 overs. Allen’s hot-headed hack gave him a wicket with the second ball. And having tied Ravindra down for the rest of that first over, the Kiwi No.3 greeted his reintroduction for the fifth over with a desperate charge and swipe that nestled into the hands of Kamea in the deep.It was at this point that the rain made a return. New Zealand were 20 for 2, level with the five-over par score, which they passed when Williamson punched a single off his first ball. It was the only run off the over, with Morea boasting figures of 2 for 2 from his first two overs. As it turned out the rain did not stop play, either. While not as headline-grabbing as Ferguson’s exploits, Morea’s 11 dots against an engaging and far more equipped New Zealand batting line-up were equally impressive.