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His elevation as Test captain is inadvertent, but a successful run could raise Tamim Iqbal’s chances of landing the job permanently

Mohammad Isam in Christchurch19-Jan-2017Over the last eight years, Bangladesh have seen Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim gradually lead the team through a transition period and towards some success. Now for at least one Test, it is time to see what Tamim Iqbal, another pillar of this era, offers as captain.Though his elevation is inadvertent and, in a way, unplanned, it isn’t a bad time to have a first proper look at his captaincy, especially in the context of Bangladesh’s leadership future.There have been constant talks over the last two years about the burden of Mushfiqur’s triple role in the Test side: as captain, wicketkeeper and middle-order mainstay. During the last BCB board meeting in 2016, there were discussions about picking a new Test captain, talks in which Tamim’s name featured prominently.Tamim steps up in Christchurch only because of Mushfiqur’s thumb injury. Mushfiqur’s 159 in the first innings in Wellington and the subsequent 80-minute bouncer barrage he underwent in the second enhanced his reputation as a batsman, but question marks remain over his captaincy.For two years after he took over from Shakib in mid-2011, Mushfiqur enjoyed a fruitful reign, except for the resignation midway through the 2013 tour of Zimbabwe. But much of Bangladesh’s decline in 2014 was attributed to his reactionary leadership, which led to the BCB splitting the captaincy for the first time in September that year.Mushfiqur continued to be the Test captain, though concerns remained, particularly after the Dhaka Test loss against Pakistan in 2015. Rained-out draws against India and South Africa kept him going but when they next played Tests, against England at home in October 2016, doubts returned.When England raced to 100 for no loss at tea, chasing 273 in Dhaka, coach Chandika Hathurusingha apparently asked the senior players during the break to step up. In the final session, during which Bangladesh clinched the game by taking all ten England wickets for just 64, it was Tamim who took a more active role in directing field placements for Shakib and Mehedi Hasan.Hathurusingha, Mushfiqur and Tamim have played that down in subsequent interviews, but as a window into the potential thinking of the team management, the development was hard to miss.Tamim Iqbal has been a key member of Bangladesh’s think tank over the years•BCBTamim was appointed Test deputy during the leadership shake-up in September 2014, in which Shakib was made Mashrafe’s deputy in the limited-overs formats. Currently, Tamim is Bangladesh’s highest run-getter in each of the three formats, and is one of only two batsmen from the country to have a 40-plus average after 45 Tests – the other being Shakib.There will be preferences among fans, but Tamim’s impact and numbers give him a strong claim to being the team’s best batsman. How he will fare as captain is difficult to predict. On Thursday he said that his captaincy will draw from the same well of positivity as his batsmanship.”I am the sort of individual who likes to take challenges,” Tamim said. “My type of captaincy will look fantastic when my plans are working but it can also go the other way. It is very new for me in international cricket, which makes it a learning curve for me. I am an attacking batsman so I will try to be as positive a captain as I can.”When you take over as captain in the middle of a game, you can’t put in your own plans or organise things. When you know that you will captain the next match, it does become easier. I will need support from everyone in the team, and walk in the same path. It will make everyone’s job easier in that way.”With Mushfiqur’s thumb injury likely to keep him out of the one-off Test in India as well, Tamim’s audition for the captaincy will stretch a little longer. A successful run, even in this short period, could improve his chances of landing the job permanently. He has the experience and credentials as a player. Since the 2015 World Cup, he has become more mature on and off the field, coming out of a number of difficult situations with lessons well learned.Now, in Christchurch he has his first chance to express himself as a captain and leader.

He may thrill and frustrate in equal measure, but the coach’s backing and an understanding of his game that stems from a decade-long experience have helped him evolve

Mohammad Isam at P Sara Oval19-Mar-20171:01

From the Pakistan upset in 1999 to the SL upset in 2017

The ball pitched around off stump but Tamim Iqbal got into position quickly. By the time the ball had disappeared past the in-field, you forgot what the bowler was trying to do. The batsman, curiously under the radar for the last five months, looked like his switch was flicked on.Out came the reverse sweep, the hits over mid-on, cover and midwicket. His six landed high into the second floor, thudding into the glass panes next to the press box. Bangladesh’s 191-run target in the fourth innings suddenly looked small. It was like how, exactly ten years ago, India’s 191, albeit in a 50-over game at the World Cup, felt when the rookie Tamim was lining up Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel for sixes over long-on at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.Tamim has transformed since, but the essence of his batting is about being positive and playing with freedom. His tactic is a bit of (bullying) on the opposition bowling, quite unlike his off-field persona – Tamim is mild-mannered and has a ready wit.His 82, one he rates better than the century he made against England in Mirpur last year, on a fifth-day P Sara pitch, against a home spin attack that is good enough to take down any batting line-up in the world, was a Tamim special. Once he decided to attack the three spinners, he was sorted. There were no second thoughts. He said he knew that all-out attack wouldn’t alone do the job so there had to mix aggression and caution very carefully.For the first 40 balls, he was happy moving the ball around, and taking singles. He needed to judge how comfortable his partner, Sabbir Rahman, in this case was. On the day, he looked a part. That meant Tamim could enjoy the little bit of freedom he enjoys at the crease.”It was a tricky total on the fifth day,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo after the four-wicket win. “We had it in mind that we can get an exceptional ball. When we lost two wickets, I told Sabbir to be positive and look for runs. It is the only way we can win this game. If we were too defensive they would have got us out. The plan was to pick the right ball and get a boundary. We did it very nicely, I think.”Four of Tamim’s eight Test tons have come in a winning cause•AFPBangladesh were in a chaos of sorts after the 259-run loss in Galle. Mahmudullah was dropped, Liton Das was ruled out of the game, and Mushfiqur Rahim, asked to play as a specialist batsman had to take the gloves. All of this warranted four changes to a shaky line-up. Tamim’s focus didn’t waver amidst all this. He spent time honing his skills at the nets every day, leading into the Test, under the eyes of coach Chandika Hathurusingha.But they do have the odd disagreement, like when Sabbir and Tamim didn’t take a single on offer after a misfield. “I was upset because there was a run before that, but he didn’t take it. If he had taken the run, he would not be facing the next ball,” he said. “I was upset with both of them for not running the single.”The run not being taken made an immediate impact as Tamim holed out to mid-on off the next ball. He admitted to have erred in judgment of the run, and jovially said he may have not charged the bowler and looked to hit out had he seen Hathurusingha’s angry reaction for not taking the run.”I wanted to take it but the non-striker didn’t run,” he laughed. “If I had seen his reaction, I wouldn’t have got out. This is part of the game; I would have been happy to get a hundred but we won the game. Everything is fine now.”Hathurusingha is the sort of coach who has a lot of time for a player’s individual development, and is quite possessive about them too. Although he was angry at his dismissal, he has pointed out how people would blame Tamim for getting out in the 80s even though his hitting got him to that score.”He batted well in this situation. He took the game away after lunch,” Hathurusingha said. “We needed to put the pressure back on to them, and score runs. We needed to be positive and back our strengths. Everyone clapped when he hit the six off [Lakshan] Sandakan and it hit that glass. But when he tried again and got out, everyone was scolding him. It is not right. I am all for players to play with freedom. They can make intelligent decision, which I need to back.”Hathurusingha knows Tamim isn’t the one to give him too many sleepless nights, even though some grief may be had from time-to-time because of an an untimely dismissal. On his part, Tamim too fully understands the need of the hour in the Bangladesh team. It is a rapidly developing side that is going to face new challenges. With a batting like Tamim on his side, Hathurusingha knows that those challenges can be faced head-on.

Few batsmen get past 500 runs in an IPL season, which makes Virat Kohli’s 2016 aggregate all the more incredible

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-201710. Shaun Marsh, 616 runs in 11 matches for Kings XI Punjab at 68.44, IPL 2008The IPL 2008 witnessed a phenomenal run-glut for the elder Marsh brother, after an Australian domestic first-class season in which he averaged 60.27. In just 11 games, he announced himself on the big stage with consistent displays of clean hitting at the top of the Kings XI order. He wasn’t one for cheeky scoops or ramp shots, as he put together five fifties and a hundred during his side’s run to the semi-final. A national call up to the ODI squad followed, and he has been a regular fixture since.9. Sachin Tendulkar, 618 runs in 15 matches at 47.53 for Mumbai Indians, IPL 2010In what was his most productive IPL season, Sachin Tendulkar extended his purple patch from his exploits in international cricket, after having become the first man to score a double hundred in an ODI. Some of his innings were a throwback to the ’90s, as he went about plundering bowling attacks consistently at a strike rate of over 150. Among the most memorable innings was an unbeaten 89 against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, where he went after Shane Warne, smashing him for three boundaries in an over.8. Virat Kohli, 634 runs in 16 matches at 45.28 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013For all his success in international cricket, Virat Kohli was yet to have an outstanding run through an IPL season. While he had shown glimpses of consistency in his side’s run to the final in 2011, it was 2013 when he truly set the stage alight. In his first season as captain of the side, Kohli often rescued Royal Challengers when Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers had lean patches early in the season. When either of them succeeded, Kohli played second fiddle to perfection.7. Robin Uthappa, 660 runs in 16 matches at 44.00 for Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2014After a disastrous start in the league phase, Knight Riders won eight consecutive games, including the final, to clinch their second IPL title. Through this period, Uthappa went about setting an IPL record, with ten consecutive 40-plus scores at the top of the order. His outstanding season earned him a call up to India’s ODI tour to Bangladesh that year.AB de Villiers was in sublime form throughout IPL 2016•BCCI6. AB de Villiers, 687 runs in 16 matches at 52.84 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016De Villiers’ otherworldly season with the bat, despite ticking almost every T20 batting box there is, was still second only to his captain Virat Kohli’s. Both batsmen set new standards in batting consistency in the shortest format. De Villiers struck one hundred and six fifties, as he and Kohli became the first ever T20 pair to hold two different 200-plus run partnerships. It is another matter that none of this was enough to hand them their first IPL title.5. Chris Gayle, 708 runs in 16 matches at 59.00 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013Gayle’s standard in the IPL continued to improve with every season, and 2013 was another case in point. He scored 708 runs in the season, 175 of which came in game against Pune Warriors, and his 108 boundaries remain his personal best in nine seasons.4. Michael Hussey, 733 runs in 17 matches at 52.35 for Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2013By this point, Michael Hussey was a proven match-winner for Chennai Super Kings – a reliable presence who showed there is a place for the composed, steady run accumulator in this format. His longest and most productive season came in 2013, as he put on game-changing partnerships with M Vijay and Suresh Raina. All this, while playing perfectly proper shots.3. Chris Gayle, 733 runs in 15 matches at 61.08 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2012The Gayle of 2013 was no match for the Gayle of 2012, and his season strike rate of 160.74 after facing 456 balls explains why. The usual Gayle traits were there – monstrous sixes, punishing fours that felt like they deserved more for the effort, and the blistering starts at the top of the order. The only other thing worth mentioning, as a testament to his consistency, is the fact that neither of his two highest run-getting seasons were enough to win him the Man-of-the-Tournament award. The Gayle of 2011 was the winner on that front.David Warner was the most important contributor in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s march to their first IPL title•BCCI2. David Warner, 848 runs in 17 matches at 60.57 for Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016It is fair to say that Sunrisers may not have won their first IPL title, if not for Warner’s single-handed match-winning performances. One of those came in the second qualifier, where his 93 not out was the difference in a tight chase against Gujarat Lions. Unlike his previous efforts, Warner hung around till deep in the innings, ready at hand to guide his side home.1. Virat Kohli, 973 runs in 16 matches at 81.08 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016None of 2016’s batting stars came close to replicating one of the best batting seasons by an individual player in T20 history. In the process of breaking many records, Kohli also went past Suresh Raina’s run aggregate, making him the highest ever run-getter in IPL history. It was just another milestone in an incredible year for the India captain, having already been named the Player of the Tournament at the World T20 earlier in 2016.

With a decade’s worth of miles logged charging in for England, Stuart Broad’s body has its share of wear and tear but he has no intention of trading in his uniform for a pipe and slippers anytime soon

George Dobell at Lord's 04-Jul-2017It may be stretching a point but, as Stuart Broad describes “managing” his aches and pains and the hard work James Anderson has had to endure to recover from his latest injury, the final scene of floats to mind.In that scene, Anderson and Broad – OK, it was Paul Newman and Robert Redford – are holed up in a stable and desperately patch themselves up with improvised splints and bandages in order to fight their way out. At the risk of spoiling the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen it, it doesn’t go especially well for them.It’s an exaggeration, of course. Broad and Anderson haven’t been so badly injured – though the window between Anderson’s injuries seems to be closing – and South Africa aren’t the Bolivian army, though Hashim Amla averages 56.21 against England in Test cricket and remains plenty good enough to kill off another career or two before he is done.It’s more that Broad’s conversation – his talk of the special boots, of strapping the fat pads on his feet and managing the condition for the rest of his career – provides a reminder of how many miles there are in these legs, of how long England have relied upon them and that, one day in the not too distant future, they’re going to have to find another pair of bowlers to rely upon.Anderson and Broad have been leading England’s attack since March 2008; the best part of a decade. Anderson has bowled 5,000 more deliveries than any other England Test bowler. They’ve taken 835 Test wickets between them – Broad needs only 16 more to go past Ian Botham into second place on the list of England’s Test wicket-takers – and played their part in England reaching No. 1 in the Test rankings, and memorable victories in India, Australia and South Africa. Their reputations are assured.Which makes it all the more remarkable that they keep coming back for more. And all the more remarkable that Broad, now aged 31, retains the hunger and humility to continue to find ways in which he can improve.Despite not appearing in ODIs for England since 2016, Broad still maintains hope for a white-ball recall ahead of the 2019 World Cup•Getty ImagesIn particular, of late, Broad has been trying to improve his form against right-handed batsmen. Having worked hard on bowling round the wicket to left-handers – his Test average against left-handers since June 2015 is 18.40 – he feels he had let his technique against right-handers slip a little and, as a consequence, lost a little of the shape and pace that has rendered him such a successful bowler. His average against right-handers in the same period is 25.69.”I bowled a lot around the wicket to left-handers against Australia in 2015,” Broad recalls now. “Then we went over to South Africa, who had two left-handers opening the batting, and I grooved a lot to left-handers.”I saw some numbers came up that I maybe averaged 40 against left-handers and I had to get that down. Since I’ve gone round the wicket, I think it’s at 15 or 16. But with bowling a lot round the wicket and trying to open my body up to get that shape on it, I hadn’t drilled enough over the wicket for that not to happen a little bit.”So I’ve been doing a bit of work on having the ability to be around the wicket, and then over the wicket. I’m never a massive away-swinger, that’s not what I do, but I want to be able to stand the seam up straight and run it down the slope.”The issue was first spotted by fast bowling guru Steffan Jones while the pair were at Hobart Hurricanes. Jones, the former county seamer who has moved into coaching, noticed Broad was falling away in delivery when bowling over the wicket and recommended a quicker run-up which would result in Broad getting through his delivery stride faster and allowing him less opportunity to fall away. Broad responded by bowling with increased pace in the BBL and also started to regain just a little of the away movement that makes him so dangerous.”The thing I took from Stef was the run up speed,” Broad says. “I’ve worked with Andy Pick – the Nottinghamshire bowling coach – and Ottis Gibson – the England bowling coach – too. A lot of it is to do with this front arm keeping tight [close to the body] because if it drifts out too much then you’ve got to balance the left side. So if I keep that right arm in tight, then it comes over straighter and I can move it away. Look, you’re not going to see me trying to do that like Jimmy. But I’ll try to hit off stump and get a little bit of nibble either way.”It’s great. I’ve just turned 31 and I’m still finding things in my action to improve to make myself a better bowler, which is exciting. You don’t ever want to fall into that trap of not having anything to work on.”If ever Broad thought that, it was a stance dispelled by the decision to drop him from England’s white ball teams. While he retains aspirations of winning a return to England’s ODI side for the 2019 World Cup, he knows he might be reliant on a series of injuries. Equally he knows that, with the likes of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes pressing, he needs to work hard to delay the day when he – like Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison before him – is replaced in the Test side by younger men.Broad may be growing older but still maintains a youthful zest for action•Getty ImagesHaving not represented England for 198 days – his longest spell without international cricket since April 2007, when he was recalled after 223 days without a match – he says this return “feels like a debut.””I’m going to keep pushing and training and trying to get myself better in white-ball cricket up until 2019 because anything can happen leading into a World Cup,” Broad says. “The World Cup dream is still there. If someone goes down on the eve of the tournament you want to be in the best possible shape for someone to call on you. I’ll just keep working and trying. We saw this summer there were a few niggles flying around.”I’ve gone from being a prospect who gets an extra game because I might be good in the future, to a situation where I have to perform every game, which is good. I’m the sort of person who seems to thrive on that added pressure and I tend to raise my game a bit when there’s a bit more on the game.”I think some pressure from younger bowlers will do me the world of good. I’ve been in a period in the last three or four years to need to perform to stay in the team and warrant staying in the team but I’ve been bowling probably the best of my career over the last four years and with some tweaks I’ve made in county cricket hopefully I can really push on.”And the pace? Can he still crank it up above 85mph? It’s been a feature of many of his best spells – the match-winning efforts in Durham and The Oval and Joburg and Trent Bridge – that he had been able to find that extra pace that gets the ball moving later and bouncing higher.”I’m sort of past the stage of trying to look at the speedometer,” he says. “I know that I have an optimum speed that’s about 84-85mph where I get my extra bounce and if I really have to ramp it up I can go higher than that, for a spell of bouncers or something. But I know that about 83-85mph with movement is where I need to be.”I want to keep going for a while. I don’t think I’ve had a gap like this playing for England and it reminds you how special it is and how lucky you are to be a part of it. When you’re not part of the one-day team, like I’m not at the moment, you do miss it so when you get the opportunity to play it feels like a debut if that makes sense. I’m lucky enough to have played over a hundred Tests but this feels like a debut.”

Steve Smith continued the form of his life, as David Warner produced his best innings of the summer. It was a daunting combination for England

Daniel Brettig at Melbourne26-Dec-20171:54

How do England stop Smith going big again?

For most of this Ashes series Steven Smith has, to crib from Bobby Jones on Jack Nicklaus, played a game with which we are not familiar. Australian Test cricket’s biggest day – and the tension release of a dead rubber – coaxed David Warner to reach a similarly rarified level of batting, as he made light work of an MCG surface on which others struggled notably.Yet by the end of the day Smith had once again provided a reminder of his greatness, this time by showcasing a level of orthodoxy thrust upon him by a sore and uncooperative right hand. Where Warner was unable to exert his will on these Ashes until their destiny had been decided, Smith has been a master of adaptability throughout, and this time was able to reshape his game to account for a personal, physical disadvantage as effectively as he has evaded all England’s attempts to corral him.An MCG crowd that ultimately swelled to 88,172 were still settling into their seats, or bar-side perches, when Warner and Cameron Bancroft walked to the middle after Smith had won his first toss of the series. As if to underline his aggressive intent, Warner waited only until his second ball to throw his hands at a James Anderson delivery angled across him, sending an airy forcing shot into the ground’s cavernous outfield for three runs.Where Warner spent most of the first three Tests trying not to be tempted into error by England’s attempts to bowl “dry” with defensive fields, this time he was intent upon domination, hustling quick singles early on before punching Stuart Broad down the ground with the sort of checked swing that David Boon once delighted in. Next over he repeated the dose with a little more flourish against Anderson, drawing the coos of spectators who, a year ago, had seen him soar to 144 against Pakistan.In this mood Warner gives bowlers the bare minimum of safe space in which to put the ball, sometimes reducing it to no space at all. Certainly Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali were made to feel this way as precise footwork and those powerful arms turned serviceable deliveries with only minute errors in length into boundary balls. So much at ease did Warner feel that, in the final over of the morning session, he sallied forth to deposit Moeen beyond the rope at long on – at that point he needed 17 runs for a century and briefly caused observers to wonder whether he might tuck similarly into the final three balls to go to his hundred.Steven Smith cuts on his way to a half-century•Getty ImagesThough they did not distinguish themselves in terms of either bowling discipline or field placings in the morning, England gave Warner further pause after the resumption, as Joe Root’s bowlers reverted to a line wider of the off stump with a softer ball. It was attritional, boring even, and after play Anderson admitted this was not the sort of cricket that nearly 90,000 spectators had come to see. But for Warner it was a test of his patience, and it so very nearly ended his innings short of three figures.As the debutant Tom Curran sought to frustrate, Warner resorted to the half-pull swivel shot that has brought him plenty of runs but also numerous damaging dismissals, notably in England in 2015 when he was unable to turn a series of starts into even a single hundred. Having tried it once in the over for no run, Warner went again and skied it to mid on, only for replays to reveal Curran had overstepped disastrously.”I was disappointed with the way that I played that shot,” Warner said. “I’ve played it many times over my career. Uzzy [Khawaja] spoke just before that over about being cautious of the horizontal cut shots and pull shots and making sure we were committed if we were going to play it. To play two in the same over, and one potentially dismissing me, I was quite annoyed, yeah. Then getting recalled was fantastic, but it was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions.”Live by the sword, die by the sword. I score all my runs there, I’m not going to change it. In England it’s a tad slower wickets and [it was] a bit the same today, but today was more about a half-hearted effort to pull that. I should’ve committed to the shot but I didn’t, and those dismissals in England were pretty much trying to tuck the ball in how I got the single to get my hundred. That’s the way I have to play that, I can probably play it a lot more than what I can on slower wickets, that’s for sure.”The subsequent single, celebration and exchanges with Curran and other members of the England team were all classic Warner theatre, complete with the Toyota-approved “oh what a feeling” leap and plenty of niggle towards the opposition. But the way his innings unfolded, attacking early before calming down, followed the plans he had set for himself pre-match, it was a measure of his talent that he was able to follow it so effectively as others like Cameron Bancroft and Khawaja struggled to impose themselves.”We spoke a lot to a couple of guys who’ve played Shield cricket down here this year and they said the wicket’s been quite flat and hadn’t deteriorated as such and hadn’t really turned,” Warner said. “So we had a few conversations around what we could do with the new ball if we batted first. I felt the way I can play was to come out and have a bit more intent to score with the new ball. I thought he ball started shifting around after 20 overs when Jimmy came on for his second spell.”There was then that second period where they set straight fields and bowled one side of the wicket and it was hard to score. We talked about having that intent in the first 20-25 overs with the new ball to make the most of that, and then we knew it was going to be tough and challenging. In the game of cricket, it’s always hard to keep bowling those consistent areas, but that middle period they bowled very well.”When Warner did finally succumb, edging Broad to end the sort of drought less familiar to the Englishman than it had once been to Queensland farmers in the 1990s, Smith walked to the crease accompanied by expectant applause. But those crowd members who had availed themselves of Australian training sessions in the lead-up to Boxing Day would have realised that this was not the same Smith who outlasted England in Brisbane or dominated them in Perth. An already sore right hand had been inflamed by a freak blow from a Bancroft ricochet, something that Smith had admitted he would have to adapt to deal with.David Warner brought up his fifty in the morning session at Melbourne•Getty ImagesThe powerful influence of Smith’s right hand on his technique, which has drawn numerous keenly-observed parallels to the widely known but seldom imitated method of Sir Donald Bradman, is clear from how expertly he can work the leg side field, yet with wrists limber enough to hit powerfully through cover – his two most consistent scoring zones. However side-on cameras captured Smith consciously loosening his bottom hand grip as the bowler moved into delivery stride, meaning he had to rely more heavily on the more traditional guide provided by the top, left hand.A clear deficit in power was shown when Smith knocked several balls through cover where previously he would have crunched them, but he was both versatile enough to play new shots with sureness and patient enough to avoid lapsing into momentarily productive strokes that would have hurt his right hand further. In gliding to an undefeated 65 at just about a run a ball, Smith set the platform for yet another major innings, doing so with the sort of annoying impediment that Steve Waugh once had to deal with while crafting a second hundred in the same Manchester Test match in 1997. Warner, for one, was awed by it all.”He’s just a freak,” he said of Smith. “I don’t know how he does what he does, he’s very mentally strong, we always talk about the way that he prepares, he likes batting time in the nets and then out in the game he just seems to be hitting every ball out of the middle. England said they came up with a game plan to get him out and it obviously hasn’t worked so far this game.”He’s a freak talent, he’s got a unique technique that you wouldn’t teach any other kid – I hope there’s some kids trying to mimic his technique because it’d be quite interesting to have a team full of those, there’d be a lot of fidgets. But he’s a world-class player, he’s the No. 1 ranked Test batter in the world. He seriously is a freakish talent.”Much as the hand injury had suggested Smith might be brought back to the field, so too did Anderson think the new ball would cause discomfort. But after beating Smith with one perfectly-pitched seamer, Anderson found himself running into what is now the all-too-familiar brick wall of Smith’s broad bat. “Every now and again you come up against a player who is in the form of his life,” he said. “I beat the bat and thought ‘here we go’ then the next 11 balls I bowled at him he played fairly easily. You’ve just got to hope for a mistake or hope you bowl a ball good enough to get rid of him.”After Jones’ comment about Nicklaus, at Augusta in 1965, the “Golden Bear” won another four Masters titles over 21 years. Right now, Smith’s hegemony looks like going on for almost as long.

Holt, who learnt the basics of wicketkeeping from Alyssa Healy, hopes to inspire the next generation as he pursues his dream of wearing the Baggy Green one day

Shashank Kishore in Queenstown22-Jan-2018It is common to see an upcoming wicketkeeper being an understudy or a protege of an established stumper. However, for that protégé to be male and the mentor to be a female cricketer is perhaps unprecedented. This makes the story of Baxter Holt, Australia’s Under-19 wicketkeeper, even more interesting.As a 14-year old, Holt learnt the basics of wicketkeeping from Alyssa Healy, Australia women’s first-choice keeper. What started as a one-off session facilitated by Holt’s family friend four years ago turned out to be the start of a fruitful association that he values as he reflects on his journey from Sydney to the Under-19 World Cup to New Zealand.”One of my family friends had her contact and we organised a single session through that one day,” Holt tells ESPNcricinfo. “That sort of grew into two sessions, three sessions, and so on. It was me going through simple basics that you need at 13 or 14. It was a bit on technique. She is one person who won’t tell you to change something if you’re doing it right. If I was wrong, she would step in and say this is what I should be doing.”She has done a great job for the Southern Stars, been there done it and is still doing it. Her high quality is testament to her. The way she was able to get the points across and inform me, a 13-14-year-old kid, was very big, and it’s a testament to her.”This period also coincided with Holt dealing with not being picked for his junior school team and subsequently the age-group sides in Sydney. “Through all the age-group championships for my state back home and then the national championships, I thought I did enough, only to be told I hadn’t made the cut,” he says. “Going back home, I thought if it was still worth it or if there was something I could do to get better. So, to end up where I am today is amazing.”Apart from Healy, Holt also benefited from the mentorship of Rod Hokin, his school coach, whom he became associated with purely by accident because he was obligated to play for the school, and not for the club he had registered with, in local tournaments in Sydney.”I was originally at Northern Districts Cricket Club, playing green shield (the Under-16 competition) and age-group cricket. Because I went to a private school – Kings School – I had to play for them. In hindsight, that was the best thing to happen to me because I met Rob Hokins. Kings having the best facilities for cricket also helped me in those initial years.” Today, Holt plays for the Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club.”I trained a lot smarter [with him], as you hear a lot of people say. I worked on game situations. I no longer went to the nets to just hit balls. I went in with specific focus to every net session and if I did not achieve it, I felt it was a waste of time. So every session I went to, I wanted it to be better than the previous one. That mindset each time allowed me to get better and better.”Like any other teenager, Holt has had to make some sacrifices early in life, like giving up a social life with friends. He doesn’t attend too many parties, and prefers to spend time working on his game. When time management became an issue in school, he chose to study something he was passionate about.”There were a lot of sacrifices I had to make. School was really good to allow me to use their facilities for training. From 7.30am to 3.30pm in the afternoon, I was at school. Then from 3.30 to 7.30 at night, I was invariably at the nets. It’s all worth it when you’re sitting here and playing for the country.”Holt is pursuing a bachelors degree in sports science from the University of Technology and Science in Sydney. “Since I was passionate about sport, I thought I may as well end up getting into Sports Science,” he says. “I got good marks luckily in my Year 12 to make the grade to university. It’s a part-time degree that gives me the flexibility to finish it over a bigger span, at the same time allow me to give time to my cricket.”As he speaks, Holts’ priorities and clarity of thought stand out. He wants to be a reliable keeper, focusing on his technique and work ethic behind the stumps without losing sight of the need to also work on his batting.”I think keeping is a sort of a thing that if you do enough, you can progressively become better over the years,” he says. “Batting is such a complex and complicated skill. I put in more hours on my batting than my keeping, but I put enough in my keeping so that I keep getting better and better. The likes of Kumar Sangakkara, MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist have reshaped our roles. But my aim is to keep to the best of my abilities and then later hold an end up or score runs if needed to.”Holt is a key member of Australia’s current Under-19 side, but admits to have taken a while to get comfortable being around two high-profile coaches, Ryan Harris and Chris Rogers. “For the first few days, it was uncomfortable,” he laughs. “You always looked up to them. It felt like ‘wow, am I really in the same room as them?’ As we spent time together, it felt like they’re just another person who have come around this way just like we are now. They’ve shared their cricket journey, their experiences, and how they came up through the ranks. That is absolutely motivating.”Holt also hopes to inspire the next generation, even as he continues to pursue his dream of wearing the Baggy Green one day. “Gilchrist was my idol growing up. I wanted to play top-level cricket like him and inspire a generation like he did, not just to influence young male cricketers but female cricketers as well,” he says. “Then as his career ended, the likes of Brad Haddin too had a big influence. The way he carried himself, particularly towards the end of his career when his daughter was ill, is testament to his character.”

He has had his worst IPL season so far in terms of runs scored and time spent in the middle, and his team will hope a must-win situation brings out the best in their captain

Vishal Dikshit19-May-2018When Virat Kohli was asked on the series if Rohit Sharma made it seem like he had an extra second to play shots compared to other batsmen, Kohli quickly corrected the interviewer. “One-and-a-half seconds.”Rohit’s timing definitely makes it seem like that, but his timing and form this IPL season have been patchy. In 13 innings so far, Rohit has scored less than 300 runs and has won his team only one match on his own, when he scored 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore more than a month ago. Take that innings out, and he’s made only 179 runs this season at an average of 17.90 and a strike rate of 117.76.Of course, Rohit cannot be blamed solely for Mumbai’s travails this season – they lost five of their first six matches – but there is a clear correlation between his batting form and his team’s performance.In the six matches Mumbai have won so far, Rohit has scored 227 runs at an impressive average of 56.75 and a strike rate of 149.34. In Mumbai’s seven losses, he has scored a mere 46 runs, at a horrific average of 6.57 and a strike rate of 88.46. Overall, too, 2018 has been Rohit’s worst season in terms of time spent at the crease and runs scored, although he still has at least one match left to play.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe has faced 204 balls in this IPL, and will only go past his second-lowest tally (2017) if he faces at least 70 balls on Sunday night. His form last season was even worse than in this one so far – Mumbai also played two playoff matches and the final – but it didn’t quite have the same impact on his team’s fortunes, since they had a solidly performing middle order to rescue them if their openers Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel failed.This time, they settled on a new opening combination after two losses and even though Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis have scored consistently, the middle order has bene inconsistent, with Kieron Pollard struggling until his last innings and the Pandya brothers taking time to get going. In such times, they needed a solid and calm hand to keep the runs flowing and instill confidence in the rest of the batting order.Rohit fits the definition of calm and solid more than anyone else in his line-up, and is an inspiring leader too, but the runs have not come. He must be frustrated to know that he has made more ducks (three) in this season than in any other. If he looks around to see how other captains have done, he will see that Kane Williamson, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik and Virat Kohli have outscored him, as has Ajinkya Rahane, who scores at a much slower pace and isn’t as much of a match-winner in T20s.Added to this is Rohit’s fluctuating spot in the batting order. There’s no reason to break up the Suryakumar-Lewis pairing at the top at this stage, but there’s no reason to believe Rohit would not have excelled there either had he continued to open after the first two matches.It is well known that Rohit starts slow irrespective of his position and accelerates at an alarming rate once he has faced 30-odd balls. It would suit his style of play much more to open, or even bat at No. 3, and not at No. 4. He did bat at No. 3 recently but could not go beyond 31 deliveries against Kolkata Knight Riders and fell for a duck to Jofra Archer’s short ball against Rajasthan Royals.When he came out at No. 4 against Kings XI Punjab in Mumbai’s next match, he only managed 6 off 10 balls. Even if one assumes Rohit will fall for another low score on Sunday, Mumbai would prefer a short and slow knock at the start of their innings rather than in the middle or end overs, where they have often lost wickets in clusters this season.Overall, his run in the IPL has been an extension of his on-off form in other competitions. He started with low ODI scores in South Africa but ended with a century in Port Elizabeth. He fared poorly in the T20Is after that and didn’t start well in the Nidahas Trophy either, but played a hand in India winning the tri-series with two straight half-centuries.With a must-win match on Sunday night, the defending champions will desperately hope Rohit fires and ensure they don’t bow out because of another substandard start to the season. If Rohit wants to use those extra one-and-a-half seconds Kohli talked about, it is now.

It was a record year for English participation in the IPL, but were the returns equally high? We break down their contributions, player by player

Alan Gardner21-May-20185:57

English players underperforming in the IPL?

Sam Billings, Chennai Super Kings

Billings was not in the XI for CSK’s opener, but Mark Wood’s omission after one game opened up another overseas spot. Billings was Man of the Match in their next match, smashing 56 off 23 balls as they chased down a target of 203 – but that innings accounts for almost half of his runs as he has flitted around the middle order. Excellent fielding adds a string to his bow and he could yet have an impact in the knockout stages.Jos Buttler, Rajasthan Royals

Unarguably the star man of the England contingent, and one of the players of the tournament overall. Buttler began with a series of 20-something scores batting in the middle order, before a move up to opener unleashed the T20 beast within. He promptly produced innings of 67 (off 26), 51 (39), 82 (58), 95* (60) and 94* (53), equalling the IPL record for consecutive fifties and helping set up a run to the playoffs – although a surprise England Test recall has deprived Royals of his services.Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler celebrate the victory•BCCITom Curran, Kolkata Knight Riders

In a Kolkata team that features three default overseas picks – Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn and Andre Russell – Curran was vying with Mitchell Johnson and Javon Searles for the fourth spot. He claimed more wickets than the other two put together (in the group stage), but was rarely given a full quota of overs and an economy of nearly two runs a ball led to him losing his place. Has only featured once since April 21.Alex Hales, Sunrisers Hyderabad

Hales finally made his IPL debut, halfway through Sunrisers’ 2018 campaign and three years after being called up as an injury replacement by Mumbai Indians. He hit consecutive 45s at the start of a six-game run in the team but, as with KKR, there is really only one overseas spot open at Sunrisers (Kane Williamson, Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan occupy the other three) and Hales was dropped for the last group game.Chris Jordan, Sunrisers Hyderabad

After taking 11 wickets in nine games for RCB in 2016, Jordan has been kept warming the bench at Sunrisers, where he has made one token appearance in each of the last two seasons. He subbed in for the injured Billy Stanlake early in the tournament, delivering a creditable four overs for 31 as Kings XI racked up 193 for 3, but has not had another chance since.Moeen Ali, Royal Challengers Bangalore

Moeen was left kicking his heels as RCB rotated through their star-studded stable, only coming into the team for the last five games. He bowled tidily and produced once significant innings – smearing six sixes in 65 off 34 (outpacing AB de Villiers) against table-topping Sunrisers – as RCB won three in a row to keep alive hopes of reaching the playoffs. Got a positive namecheck from Virat Kohli at the end of the tournament, so there’s hope for the future.Moeen Ali brought up his maiden IPL half-century•BCCILiam Plunkett, Delhi Daredevils

An injury replacement for Kagiso Rabada, Plunkett was in and out of a struggling Daredevils XI. Like many of the England players involved, he produced one notable performance – taking 3 for 17 in his first match, although Daredevils still could not convert victory – among some much more forgettable stuff. Only managed to pick up one more wicket in six appearances and saw his economy rate balloon.Jason Roy, Delhi Daredevils

Roy’s IPL jaunt in 2017, which saw him play three innings for Gujarat Lions, presaged a drop in form that cost him his England ODI spot. He only featured five times for Daredevils this time around, but did at least grab the limelight with a dominating 91 not out to set up the team’s first victory. He was soon out of the side again, as Daredevils chopped and changed, and a weakness against spin limited his impact.Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals

Last year’s MVP, bought for a whopping GBP1.37m by Royals, Stokes’ 2018 IPL was a bit… meh. The only Englishman apart from Buttler who was an automatic pick, he just could not get going with the bat despite consistent starts – nine of his 13 innings reached double-figures but his best score was 45. Weathering questions about his bowling fitness, Stokes was Royals’ most economical seamer and only Jaydev Unadkat sent down more overs. They squeezed into the last four but Stokes had already headed home for England duty.David Willey loads up•BCCIDavid Willey, Chennai Super Kings

Willey’s late call-up, filling a spot left vacant by the injured Mitchell Santner, caused much grumbling in Yorkshire – and there has not been too much for the combative left-armer to cheer about. Had to bide his time before getting a chance, producing figures of 4-0-24-1 in a comfortable CSK win, but then saw six overs across two games disappear for 71. Lungi Ngidi’s rise may have put paid to any further opportunities.Chris Woakes, Royal Challengers Bangalore

Although Woakes continued the wicket-taking form that he showed in his maiden IPL season with KKR last year, a series of leaky performances at the death saw him fall out of favour at RCB. He had the best strike rate (13.7) of any RCB bowler but an economy above 10 after five games was deemed too expensive. Uncertainty over their best XI led to much shuffling among overseas players but Woakes did not return.Mark Wood, Chennai Super Kings

A cheap pick late in the auction, Wood found himself making his IPL debut on the opening night in front of a packed Wankhede. Some thought his pace and skiddy angle of attack would be suited to conditions – but an opening over that conceded only two runs was as good as things got. He ended the night with 0 for 49 and was cast aside, eventually deciding to come home early and get red-ball practice ahead of England’s Test summer.*Could still be involved in knockout stage

After nearly giving up playing cricket in 2017, Paine will be at the forefront of Australia’s rebuild operation, of performance and public trust, among other things

Daniel Brettig in Dubai06-Oct-2018When Tim Paine last led Australia onto the field for a Test, in Johannesburg, they weren’t so much a team as a crater where one had once stood.Shocked and then divided by the Newlands ball tampering scandal, they were mortified to find out a tearful Darren Lehmann was resigning as coach amid the mess. Some players, like Matt Renshaw, were running on Red Bull fumes, having been flown in at the last moment. They were exhausted, mentally and physically after an Ashes winning summer had unravelled in South Africa, against an opponent showing greater expertise not only in how to bat against a reverse swinging ball but also how to bowl it.Prior to that Test, Paine’s first official fixture as full-time captain, the Wanderers had reverberated with a playlist of songs at high volume – Australian staples like by Paul Kelly, by Nick Cave, by Australian Crawl, by Crowded House and by The Triffids. If the songs were familiar, the experience of them at training was foreign, and what transpired over the next few days demonstrated that classic tunes were of minimal help to a team swimming in confusion, grief and anger.”That was a unique set of circumstances, that was something that no-one was prepared for or ready for,” Paine said when asked how far removed Johannesburg felt from Dubai. “So it’s exciting we’re back concentrating on just cricket.”Ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, the only sounds at Australia’s training were very familiar: the cracks of bat on ball, the plop of catches into soft hands and the hum of expectant conversation amongst a team that features three debutants: Aaron Finch, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head. They have a new coach in Justin Langer, and a new approach forged out of the Newlands fallout, the requirements of Asian conditions and leadership blueprints provided as much out of the AFL as anything in cricket.This is true of Langer’s restless and ever-searching approach, picking and choosing ideas from the minds of many, as if a bower bird rather than the Kookaburra that once emblazoned his bats. It is also true of the leadership model signed off by the Cricket Australia Board, with Paine supported by dual vice-captains in Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood (absent) on the premise that neither will seek to tunnel under their leader to make their own claim to the captaincy.Getty ImagesAnd it is true of Paine’s primary influences as a football-loving Tasmanian, who views the captain less as the all-powerful figure than as the man tasked with building unity behind a shared plan. It is notable, too, that on a recent study tour of the United States, Paine and Langer visited several sporting organisations, including the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Cubs, where there is no single on-field captain. All players are expected to lead when needed.”My leadership style is, I suppose I’m more inclusive than other cricket captains have been in the past,” Paine said. “I’ve come from a footy background, so I’m a big believer in the power of the team and certainly take the value and opinions of my teammates really seriously. We’re all involved to some point in the decisions that are made and I think that’s really important when you’re trying to get buy-in and trying to get guys to play for you, I think they’ve got to be part of that process. That’s the way I go about it.”Particularly going back over a longer period of time, the cricket team was seen as the captain’s team. I’m not a huge believer in that, I think the team is everyone’s team and I’m the fortunate one who gets to lead it from the front. Yes, a lot of the decisions, most of the decisions fall back on me, which is fine, and I’m happy to do that, but I also believe when you want people to follow you, you’ve got to get their input and make them feel a part of the decision-making.”As an eloquent spokesman for the team in crisis, Paine has in many ways met his moment after nearly eight years on the fringe, beset by multiple finger fractures and then the crisis of batting confidence that followed it.His life experience at the very edge of a playing career – so much so he nearly quit the game in 2017 to take another job – has helped to inform the approach he took to the crisis of South Africa. He’ll now carry the start of a rebuild operation, of performance and public trust, that will take in this series, home assignments against India and Sri Lanka and then, beyond next year’s 50-over World Cup, an Ashes tour of England.”There’s no doubt this Test series is about winning. We’re playing international sport, so it’s the highest level and I think players will be judged on how many games we’ve won,” Paine said. “That’s certainly really important, but on the flipside of that, the image of Australian cricket is also really important to me and Justin and the rest of our team, so we’re going to be going about things in a really professional, really respectful manner and we’ll continue to do that for the foreseeable future.”There’s been a lot of talk over the last four or five months and it’s great now that we’re on a new tour, we’ve got a new group, so it hasn’t been something that’s come up a hell of a lot, the guys are really excited by the challenge that’s been presented over here. Australian teams haven’t had a heap of success over here, so it’s a really exciting challenge for this group, it’s a group that a lot of people haven’t given a huge chance to and that’s something that’s driving us and something that excites us.”There was a reassuring quality to a lot of Paine’s match eve questions. Sample this: Why did Peter Siddle get the nod ahead of Michael Neser? “We just think Sidds has been playing quite a bit of cricket, he’s in good form, and we knew he was bowling really well in the lead up.”
Did Matt Renshaw miss out for Labuschagne because he had not played enough cricket due to a recent hamstring strain then last week’s concussion? “He hasn’t had enough cricket, so the decision was made there to go with Marnus. He’s had a bit of an unlucky run, Renners, with injury, he missed a game in India and then got hit on the head, couldn’t bat in the last game.”We’re certainly picking a team that we think can win over here in these conditions and there was obviously a lot of discussion about it. But we think Marnus brings a lot to the group, he’s a really good player of spin and we think as well his leg spin will be something we can throw at the Pakistanis, they might not expect him, and they’ve really improved in the last 12 months.”Can opening bring the best out of Usman Khawaja? “Ussy has opened a little bit through his career, he opened last week for us in the tour game and right at the moment he’s in a really good spot, he’s batting really well so I don’t think it would matter to Usman where he’s batting at the moment, he’s in really good touch and I think he’ll have a great tour.”As for the difference made by Langer’s arrival, Paine spoke in terms of a partnership that would unsettle some traditionalists, but that is now vital to Australia returning to a higher standing in the game as well as the ICC’s Test match rankings.”JL and I have known each other and had a good relationship for a long time, so a lot of our thoughts are very similar,” Paine said. “We’re certainly not exactly the same, no two people are, but we’re happy to challenge each other when we need to and we have a really open and honest relationship, so it’s been fantastic to be working with him so far and we’ve gelled together really well and so has this whole squad.”One part of the effort to rehabilitate has the Australian team being documented by filmmakers on the journey from Langer’s appointment, through the home summer and into the World Cup and the Ashes next year. Those songs that rang in Paine’s ears at the Wanderers, in the midst of unprecedented chaos for the national team, would play best on the soundtrack to the Test team’s redemption tale. Dubai and Pakistan, all hot days and dry decks, is where that begins.And for all the improvement in the team’s mindset relative to the Wanderers, a fundamental question remains – how good can Paine’s side really be?

Bringing the best of her caution and aggression together has helped the Australian allrounder scale astounding heights with the bat in WBBL 4

Geoff Lemon17-Jan-2019Usually, numbers should illustrate a story. Sometimes, the numbers are worth a story in themselves. The number for today is 690.Some other numbers will put it into context. The Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) regular season allows a player 14 innings. The nature of T20 is that even good batters make low scores about half the time. So topping 300 runs reflects a very good WBBL season. A great season might top 400. For the first two seasons, only Meg Lanning managed to top 500.Lanning is the outlier’s outlier, notable for her vast volume of scoring in her still-young career. When she was injured for the third season of WBBL in 2017-18, Ellyse Perry and Elyse Villani stepped up to cross 500. But they both had the advantage of two finals matches, and even with those extra hits, Lanning’s mark of 560 from the first season remained the highest.ESPNcricinfo LtdUntil now, in the ongoing fourth edition of the tournament, when Perry bettered it by about a quarter. Opening the batting for Sydney Sixers, Perry smashed her way to 690 in the regular season alone, with two hundreds and five fifties. She’ll again have the chance of two finals to swell those numbers.Unsurprisingly, her Sixers went top of the table. Where team scores in the first WBBL were most often around 120, the Sixers had nine totals between 150 and their season high was 206. Perry was a big part of this, with a season strike-rate that lifted from the 90s in previous years to 126.6 in this edition. It was a major renovation to her approach.”Twelve months down the track from last season, I’ve worked on things and tried to develop my game,” she tells ESPNcricinfo. “The demands of the game itself have really evolved. You look at all teams across the competition, they’re striking at a higher rate. Scores have gone up. It means that players have had to adapt to that as well. I was aware of that even towards the end of last season, that I wanted to respond to that.”It wasn’t just about hitting harder, though. There were even more aggressive players like Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner batting around Perry, while she provided the solidity through almost every major total. Five times she batted the full 20 overs, and once through a run chase of 171.ALSO READ: Ellyse the incredibleSo how does a player achieve this balance and consistency?”It’s no secret that I’m a fan of hitting a lot of balls,” she says self-deprecatingly: her obsession with the nets has long been a source of humour for team-mates. “It’s about making sure that I’ve got different options against the same delivery, and then making the right choice at the right time about which to play. That can change over the course of the match. And every match is different: you have different opponents, different situations, different conditions. So there’s no one approach that’s going to work all the time.”Relentless self-improvement is her style. In a way, though, her current iteration is perhaps reinventing something dormant rather than inventing something new. When Perry first entered the one-day international game as a bowler batting at nine or ten, she was happy to give the ball an almighty whack. Her late flurry of 25 was decisive in the 2013 World Cup final.ESPNcricinfo LtdBut as her career went on, she morphed into a top-four ODI batter with 25 half-centuries and an average just under 50. In that role, she was happy to play accumulator rather than aggressor, and has been stranded in the 90s on three occasions for her troubles.Now, she seems to meld the best of her caution and aggression. Having found the knack of scoring hundreds in 20 overs, doing it in 50 should be well within her grasp. “The one-day game has changed a lot the last few years as well, teams are getting bigger scores there too,” she says. “So potentially that role will develop too.”WATCH: ‘Fast bowlers are cooler than spinners in every way. Just look at them!’Given the heights her batting has reached, it seems comical to reflect that she was listed at No. 7 for Australia in their recent World T20 victory in the Caribbean. The player of course insists that it didn’t matter as long as her team won, and the situation shows off the other batting riches at Australia’s disposal. But after her dominance for the Sixers, don’t be surprised if Perry goes back up the order in green and gold.There’s just over a year before Australia have to defend their title in the World T20. To make it more of a challenge, the tournament will be on home soil, with the women’s game getting more coverage than ever. There will be plenty of expectation on the players, both to win and to put on a show. But Perry is taking a broader view, bigger than what role she might play or even how her team might fare.”I guess my ambitions are more global. I just want it to be a really successful tournament primarily, there isn’t so much of a personal consideration. There are things we can achieve with visibility of the sport, not just with the final at the MCG but also a semi-final at the SCG, which could be great especially for girls.”Over a career that has continued to redefine what is possible and what one player can be, there’s already plenty of inspiration for those watching on. Just when you think you know what Perry’s career is about, she turns around and does something else. Don’t look away.