This is a roundup of the best cricket stories from the past week. To receive future daily editions to your email directly, Join Today.
1
The ECB’s banana peel
The Guardian’s Jonathan Liew makes the hilarious insinuation that The Hundred is a dud, and that owners are going to find as much value in it as the infamous art installation that just stuck a banana to a wall.
“Take a renowned British institution. Round up all the tech magnates and gaudy new money you can find. Create a bit of theatre and buzz in advance. Draw a VIP circle, and then a VVIP circle inside the VIP circle. Hire yourself a reassuringly plummy-voiced auctioneer in a pinstripe suit. And that is it. You can start the bidding. As for the thing you are actually selling, it does not matter.”
- ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller thinks the ECB have gotten away with their administrative screw-ups; “Ends justify the means for ECB as Hundred's millions prepare to roll in”
Follow this newsletter via: WhatsApp | Substack | Twitter | Instagram
2
King Kohli’s 15 balls of fame
ESPNcricinfo’s Rahul Bhattacharya writes about Virat Kohli’s short-lived return to the crease in the Ranji Trophy, and what it meant to the fans in the stadium.
“Kohli stood up from the plastic chair at the boundary rope, gripping his bat with his customary bottom hand. As he commenced his walk to the pitch, as if choreographed, the four thousand-odd in the adjoining Bishan Singh Bedi stand each raised an arm, phone cameras trained upon their subject.”
- ESPNcricinfo’s Firdose Moonda talked to Joe Root about his own (more successful) comeback to a format that he has ignored for years; “Joe Root: 'T20 is about problem-solving, just on a much quicker scale than I've mostly been doing”
Follow this newsletter via: WhatsApp | Substack | Twitter | Instagram
3
The prodigal son returns
ESPNcricinfo’s Firdose Moonda talks to Devon Conway about returning to South Africa, eight years after he left the country to reboot his career in New Zealand.
“Even though he was 26 at the time and knew he would be 29 by the time he was eligible to represent his adopted country, New Zealand, he took the chance. It paid off and he has since gone on to become the fastest batter to 1,000 Test runs for New Zealand and is an established member of their white-ball squads, but has not played a game in South Africa.”
Follow this newsletter via: WhatsApp | Substack | Twitter | Instagram
4
The best of the rest
- ESPNcricinfo’s Sampath Bandarupalli looks at the numbers underpinning Rashid Khan’s record T20 wicket haul; “Stats - Rashid Khan, T20 king in every phase and every league”
- The Times’ Elgan Alderman has fascinating diary of his travels across India covering the England series so far; “Selfies, Sachin, and ￡20k street cricketer: my 12,000 steps across Mumbai”
- The Times’ Simon Wilde talks to the US tech consortium that bought into the London Spirit at a mammoth ￡295 million valuation (the ECB were hoping to raise ￡350 million across all 8 franchises!); “Nikesh Arora: Turn down the chance to partner Lord’s? No”
- ESPNcricinfo’s Ekanth has a look at what the Ireland, Zimbabwe & Afghanistan are supposed to do as Test cricket gets divided again to support the Big Three; “What does Test cricket mean to the Test teams outside the World Test Championship?”
Follow this newsletter via: WhatsApp | Substack | Twitter | Instagram
5
The best videos and podcasts
- IWM’s Cyrus Broacha talks to former Kolkata Knight Riders’ Team Director Joy Bhattacharjya about the intricacies of the IPL auction, and funny stories from auctions past. [YouTube]
- Good Areas’ Jarrod Kimber compares the mentalities of Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli to see just how similar the two greats are. [YouTube]
- 81 All Out’s Siddhartha Vaidyanathan & Prashant DP have a fascinating conversation about how bowlers can exploit a batter’s anatomy and movements to pick up wickets - from the obvious starting point of the Bodyline series through to Mitchell Johnson in 2013. [Apple Podcasts/Spotify]
- Caribbean Cricket Podcast’s Machel St Patrick Hewitt & Santokie Nagulendran talk to CWI Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe about the new scouting system set up in West Indies. [YouTube]
