All posts by h716a5.icu

Lower-order runs are useful and can change Test matches, but are they worth it if they come at the cost of bowling potency?

Sidharth Monga01-Jul-20252:28

Gill: A second spinner won’t be a bad option if pitch is similar to last Test

India are worried about their long tail. They keep saying 20 wickets are their priority and that they are willing to play four tailenders if that means getting 20 wickets as cheaply as possible, but believe it once you see it with your own two eyes.It is clear by now that Shardul Thakur played the first Test at Headingley primarily because of his batting ability. India have repeatedly called him a “bowling allrounder”, but used him for just 16 overs out of 182.4. Two days out from the second Test, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate was asked why, when the tail hasn’t been contributing anyway, India don’t just go after 20 wickets by playing four proper bowlers plus Ravindra Jadeja. His response politely suggested that it’s great optics to say India can play four tailenders but those advocating it don’t have skin in the game.Related

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“You know when you’re 430 for 3, it’s absolutely fine,” ten Doeschate said, “but when you’re 200 for 5, it’s a very different ball game.”It’s not about optics, though. It is about establishing and living with a philosophy to try to win Test matches. Thakur worked as a fourth fast bowler on spicy pitches in 2021; if India had similar confidence in his bowling on the flatter tracks of 2025, they would have used him more.Since the start of the 2024-25 Australia tour, with the exception of the Perth Test on a spicy pitch, India have struggled to take 20 wickets while staying competitive in a Test match. Thakur, who wasn’t in the squad in Australia, has not really proved to be the solution either.Head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have decisions to make•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesIf their nets sessions and public utterances between Headingley and Edgbaston are anything to go by, India seem likely to replace Thakur with Washington Sundar. Captain Shubman Gill said he felt a second spinner could help control the flow of runs when the ball goes soft and India are waiting for the second new ball. Their opponents have the luxury of Ben Stokes, who swung the ball more than anyone else in the first Test, as their fourth quick.India expect the surface – dry underneath patchy grass, according to them – to assist spin, but if they do go ahead with Washington, they basically give up on the wicket-taking threat of wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav, who, albeit in different conditions, was the Player of the Match in their last Test against England before this tour.All things being equal, you absolutely want bowlers who can contribute runs, but Kuldeep and Washington, for all the extra runs the latter can bring, are not exactly equal with the ball. Or you want a seam-bowling allrounder who brings wicket-taking threat. India have neither. This is where their commitment to taking 20 wickets as cheaply as possible gets tested. This is where you see if they put their money where their mouth is.Before you counter any of the team management’s arguments, of course, you must look at it from their point of view in good faith. They probably feel that good lower-order batting doesn’t just bring runs but also deflates the opposition bowling, and gives India the chance of coming back into the game with the bat in many situations. They may also feel that the bowlers might struggle to create pressure without runs on the board. They may even feel that in the likely absence of Jasprit Bumrah, they don’t have the class and the experience in the bowling to take 20 wickets anyway.For all the runs Washington Sundar could bring, does he present the wicket-taking threat of Kuldeep Yadav?•Getty ImagesAll of it seems counterproductive, though. Any reduction to the bowling firepower from Headingley only takes India closer to playing for a draw and taking the win as a bonus if the opportunity presents itself.India need to eliminate all else and condense this debate to runs that extra batting could get them versus runs that extra bowling could prevent by taking wickets quicker. Look at it this way: if you have a wicket-taking attack, a match-winning first-innings total could be 450 rather than 550. Targets could be smaller too. Better bowling attacks don’t increase the batters’ load but reduce it.All the arguments of psychology and pressure can be flipped on their head too. Extra runs on the board can only increase the chance of a draw; runs saved by bowling oppositions out can win you games. One extra threatening bowler gives all the bowlers longer breaks between spells. England’s four fast bowlers bowled 21%, 21%, 18% and 17% of their overs. India’s quicks bowled 24%, 23%, 19% and 9% of their overs. A more equitable workload keeps the bowlers effective for longer.While the team management may have their reasons to prioritise batting depth, and while it might seem like a drastic change to put 20 wickets first, this might just be the time to take that leap of faith. And India haven’t yet ruled it out.

The Minnesota Twins fired manager Rocco Baldelli one day after the MLB 2025 season ended. The Twins' season came to an end on Sunday after going 70-92.

Minnesota's president of baseball operations Derek Falvey released a statement on the organization's decision to part ways with Baldelli after seven seasons.

"This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set," Falvey said. “After discussions with ownership, we determined that this is the right moment for a change in voice and direction. This decision is not a reflection of Rocco's effort or leadership. It reflects where we are as an organization and the belief that a different voice is needed to help us move forward."

The past two seasons in particular finished with the Twins placing fourth in the AL Central. It's definitely not the outcome a team would want back-to-back.

Baldelli finishes his Twins tenure with a 527-505 overall record. Although Minnesota missed the postseason this year, he did take the team to three playoff appearances, posting a 3-8 record overall.

At age 44, Baldelli's first and only managerial role in MLB was with the Twins, so his future will now be up in the air. We'll see if another MLB team picks him up for a manager position or if he transitions to a new role on a team.

There's less than two weeks remaining in the 2025 MLB season, but the playoff race remains wide open as teams compete for one of each league's three wild-card spots.

Entering play Wednesday, the wild card winners would include the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox from the American League, and the Cubs, Padres and Mets in the National League.

But just because a team is currently in position to sneak into the postseason doesn't mean the job is done. There are a handful of teams still sitting within striking distance, and a strong end of the season could enable them to surpass one of the teams currently tracking to earn a wild-card berth.

Let's take a look at which teams are still in the mix yet currently on the outside looking in at the playoff race. We'll break down what each team must do to sneak into the postseason both in terms of their remaining schedule and a struggling star who needs to step up.

American LeagueCleveland Guardians (80–71), 2.5 GB of final wild-card spot

Remaining schedule: @ DET (1), @ MIN (4), vs. DET (3), vs. TEX (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 16.8%

The Guardians have caught fire at the right time. Now just 2.5 games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race, Cleveland has won 10 of its last 11 games, including six in a row. The Guardians have eight games against division rivals remaining, including four against the AL Central-leading Tigers, whom they trail by 4.5 games, and end the season with a pivotal matchup against the Rangers, who sit behind them in the AL playoff hunt.

That matchup against Texas could directly determine whether Cleveland's season will extend into October. Of course, beating the Rangers will be vital, and sweeping them would effectively eliminate Texas from playoff contention, but even that might not be enough for the Guardians if they don't take care of business against Detroit and Minnesota.

The Guardians will be looking to Steven Kwan to heat back up offensively. The usually reliable outfielder struggled throughout the summer, but appears to be rediscovering his usual form. After logging a .514 OPS in the month of August, he’s batting .308 with a .753 OPS in 16 games in September. As his play has improved, so has that of his team, and the fan base will certainly be hoping he can stay hot through the end of the year.

Texas Rangers (79–74), 4.5 GB

Remaining schedule: vs. MIA (3), vs. MIN (3), @ CLE (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 3.7%

The Rangers sit two games behind the Guardians in the wild-card race, but they've lost four straight and were just swept by the rival Astros. As mentioned above, the season-ending series between Texas and Cleveland could serve as an elimination round—though at this point even the winner isn’t guaranteed to qualify for the postseason.

The Rangers need to make sure they're still in position to potentially get into the playoffs by the time that series arrives on Sept. 26. Prior to that, they take on the Marlins and Twins, and not getting the most out of those series against teams in the bottom half of the standings would be a major failure on the part of the Rangers.

As a team, the Rangers rank 24th with a .664 OPS over the last 15 days. Adolis Garcia will need to do his part following his return from injury. Since re-entering the lineup Sunday, Garcia has just one hit in nine at-bats. He's had a disappointing year overall, logging a .677 OPS, but his team will need him to play up to his usual standards if they want to end the year on a high note.

National LeagueArizona Diamondbacks (77–76), 1.5 GB

Remaining schedule: vs. PHI (3), vs. LAD (3), @ SD (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 7.1%

Arizona is within striking distance of the Mets, who are clinging onto the final wild-card spot in the National League. The Diamondbacks had won four in a row before losing in extra innings to the fellow playoff-chasing Giants on Wednesday—wasting nine innings of one-hit ball by Brandon Pfaadt—dropping them to just one game above .500.

The D-Backs have an off day to recover before confronting a tall task this weekend against the Phillies, who have already clinched the NL East but are still trying to overtake the Brewers for home-field advantage in the NL playoffs. And the difficult schedule doesn't subside there, with the D-Backs slated to close out the year against the Dodgers and Padres, two teams fighting to improve their playoff seeding and win the NL West. If they can get some good results against teams they're plenty familiar with, they could find themselves playing in October. It will be anything but easy, though.

One player the Diamondbacks could use a bit more from of late is Ketel Marte. The standout second baseman has a 72 WRC+ over the last month and has a .185 batting average across 13 games in September. He's one of the best hitters in baseball when he's locked in at the plate, and fans in Arizona will be hoping he can return to form down the stretch with a playoff spot still up for grabs.

Cincinnati Reds (76–76), 2 GB

Remaining schedule: vs. CHC (4), vs. PIT (3), @ MIL (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 6.2%

If the Reds end up missing out on a playoff spot by a game or two, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves after being swept by the A’s last weekend. Cincinnati did recover to take two of three from the Cardinals this week, but the club must lock in entering the home stretch.

Luckily for the Reds, they end their season against the Cubs, Pirates and Brewers—three division rivals without as much to play for. Chicago just punched its ticket to the playoffs Wednesday and may take its foot off the gas pedal a bit, as Milwaukee might in the season’s final series since it should have the NL Central wrapped up by then. The Pirates have long stopped playing meaningful baseball.

But if the Reds are going to play in the postseason for the first time since 2020, they'll need more from their star players. Elly De La Cruz has slumped of late, and it'll be crucial for him to get back on track. The shortstop is slashing just .175/.266/.246 this month, with three extra-base hits in 57 at-bats. He hasn’t homered since July 31 and has just one home run since the All-Star break, compared to 18 in the first half.

If De La Cruz can't get right at the plate, the Reds will have a difficult time finding the run support they need to take down some of their tough opponents to close out the year, even if their division rivals aren’t faced with the same do-or-die situation.

San Francisco Giants (76–76), 2 GB

Remaining schedule: @ LAD (4), vs. STL (3), vs. COL (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 4%

After winning their first four games in September, the Giants have faltered a bit, and are now losers of five of their last seven games. They're a half-game behind the Diamondbacks after losing a midweek series to Arizona and now find themselves on level ground with the Reds. They end the season with matchups against the Dodgers, Cardinals and Rockies, all teams they've already played against this month.

When trading for Rafael Devers earlier this year, the expectation was that the team could contend for the playoffs. Despite that, the Giants struggled after the acquisition and ended up being sellers at the trade deadline. If they're to get over this final hurdle and make it to the postseason, they'll need Devers to step up and play like the superstar they acquired him to be.

The lefty slugger has a .661 OPS this month with a .190/.299/.362 slash line. He has just five hits in his last 40 at-bats, and is without a home run during that span. The Giants need Devers to find himself at the plate over the next two weeks, or else their chances of playing in October will quickly fade.

The 2025 World Series is set, as the defending champion Dodgers will face off with the Blue Jays in the Fall Classic.

Toronto finished the season as the top seed in the American League, but was taken to the brink of elimination in the ALCS by the Mariners. Down 3–2 in the series, the Blue Jays used home-field advantage to take the final two games and earn a trip to their first World Series since 1993.

On paper, the Dodgers are an overwhelming favorite. They are the defending champions and have four former MVPs, four legitimate aces and a $350 million payroll. But they don’t play the game on paper. Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the two teams in the series. It’s worth noting the Blue Jays have rotated their lineups based on matchups and we’re not yet sure of how Bo Bichette will fit in, so this is our projection of how manager John Schneider will fill out the lineup card.

Catcher: Will Smith (Dodgers) vs. Alejandro Kirk (Blue Jays)

This one will surprise people, but the game isn’t just played with the bat. Kirk is a phenomenal defensive catcher, and that ultimately gives him the advantage here. The veteran backstop had nine defensive runs saved in 2025, while his 22 fielding run value (FRV) ranked second in baseball. Smith’s FRV was -6. Smith is better on offense, but Kirk is no slouch in that regard.

2025 Stats

Slash Line

Home Runs

RBIs

wRC+

fWAR

Kirk

.282/.348/.421

15

61

116

4.7

Smith

.296/.404/.497

17

76

153

4.1

In the playoffs, Kirk has produced a .752 OPS and blasted three home runs, while Smith is at .661 with no dingers. This is close and could easily be a push, but Kirk’s superior defense and current form give him the edge.

Advantage: Blue Jays

First base: Freddie Freeman (Dodgers) vs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays)

The pulls, the flicks, the pulls, the cuts, the… did we mention pulls?

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Jun-2020What We’re WatchingDon’t bowl short
If all you knew were averages, you might look at Aravinda de Silva’s numbers – 42.97 in Tests and 34.90 in ODIs – and wonder what the fuss is about. So forget the averages. Watch this collection of de Silva’s hooks and pulls instead. This is no textbook technique. The way he holds his bat, face open to the bowler, the backlift almost perpendicular to the body (like an over-large table-tennis racquet), it’s almost as if he built his whole personality around playing the short ball – something he would have often had to do as a five-foot-two-inch batsman. There’s a homespun imprecision to the set-up and foot movement. But then a genius and a swagger to the execution – that front leg swinging around like a gate caught in a gust. Like all great players of the hook and pull, he could just as easily thump you straight of midwicket as flick you fine of fine leg. All this without a grille on his helmet.The stereotype about South Asian batsmen is that they are typically not good players of the short ball, but Sri Lanka have actually had quite a few exemplary pullers: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews, to name just three who have been active in the last decade. No one, though, was capable of playing devastating pull shots to a range of deliveries quite how de Silva managed. He would fetch them from way outside off stump and blast them into the stands, or pick them up from just about knee height and whip them flat over square leg. There were times in his career where he would repeatedly be out playing far too aggressively early in his innings. But on good days, no one was more imperious.Those World Cup innings
You knew these were coming, right? No appreciation of the man is complete without what is arguably the greatest performance in knockouts across all World Cups. In the semi-final against India in 1996, de Silva played the kind of innings only he could really even conceive, let alone execute. Coming in with the score 1 for 2 in the first over, both vaunted openers back in the dressing room and 100,000 India fans in full voice, de Silva unleashed a counterattack of rare venom and majesty. He had switched to a heavy bat midway through the tournament, and just watch the square drives and flicks off his pads here, and how the ball basically explodes off the bat. He made 66 off 47 balls, and set Sri Lanka on track to what proved a comfortably winning total.The 107 in the final was a masterclass in driving. De Silva could drive anywhere from backward point to straight midwicket, and he showcased almost that entire spectrum of strokes during this innings. Additionally, there were his three wickets and two catches to help restrict Australia to 241 (The ripping offbreak to bowl Ricky Ponting was a particular highlight). There’s a genuine argument to be had over whether his performance in the field was even more consequential to Sri Lanka’s win than his century.The mind-bending shots
Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya are Sri Lanka’s patron saints of outrageous six-hitting, but de Silva wasn’t far behind. Just check out these hits off Brett Lee at the 2003 World Cup – right at the end of de Silva’s career. Or this advancing inside-out strike against Geoff Lawson.Thankfully there is a compilation of de Silva sixes on YouTube. Unfortunately it’s a potato-quality clip.What We’re Watching

What’s going wrong for Jadeja, how did Delhi Capitals stop Dhoni and four other questions from the game

Dustin Silgardo25-Sep-20202:29

What is ailing Ravindra Jadeja?

Can CSK do anything to fix their batting?
Chennai Super Kings were always going to struggle to fill the hole left by Suresh Raina’s departure, but with Ambati Rayudu injured, this is a quick rundown of their batting resources after the match against Delhi Capitals. Shane Watson: Played just 16 games since the last IPL and has just one 15+ score this season M Vijay: A fringe player in the IPL since 2016; has struggled this season; of 44 balls faced, has been beaten 13 times and has defended or looked for a single 20 times Faf du Plessis: The only top-order player in form; scored 173 across first three games Ruturaj Gaikwad: Playing first IPL season; control percentage of just 54.54% in 11 balls faced so far Kedar Jadhav: Strike-rate of just 95.85 last season and 129.72 in IPL 2020 MS Dhoni: Self-admittedly needs time to get back in form after 437 days without cricket Sam Curran: Showed promise with 18 off 6 against Mumbai Indians and 17 off 6 against Rajasthan Royals Ravindra Jadeja: Has underwhelmed with scores of 10, 1*, and 12Luckily for CSK, Rayudu is expected for their next match, which means either Vijay or Gaikwad will be left out. If Vijay is dropped, Gaikwad could play in his preferred role of opener, with Rayudu at No. 3 and du Plessis at No. 4. Or Rayudu could open with Gaikwad coming in later. Dhoni pushing himself up is an option. There is also the option of sending in Curran or Jadeja as a pinch-hitter. Whichever way you slice it, Super Kings have serious problems with their batting.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhy did Delhi bowl out Axar in the first 10?
Shreyas Iyer brought on Axar Patel in the second over specifically to bowl to Watson. In eight previous innings, he had dismissed Watson five times and gone at just 6.63 runs an over. Also, left-arm spin tends to stifle Watson. The plan worked as Axar dismissed Watson in his second over.Iyer also knew that Super Kings’ only two left-hand batsmen were likely to come in later, so it made sense to bowl the left-arm spinner before that. Axar – who had gone for 14 off four overs in the game against Kings XI Punjab – varied his pace, lines and lengths, often bowling into the right-handers’ pads and slowing it down while pulling the length back, giving the batsmen no pace to hit square. His four overs for 18 meant that when the inexperienced Avesh Khan came on for his second over, the asking-rate was already above 13, and Capitals still had five overs of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje for the last six.ESPNcricinfo LtdWhat’s going wrong for Jadeja?
Jadeja became the first spinner to go for 40+ runs in three consecutive IPL games after he went for 44 runs off his four overs. His statistics so far are in stark contrast to previous seasons, when he was one of the more economical spinners in the league. One reason is that the pitches have not suited him as much as the Chepauk pitch does. He has bowled similar lines and lengths to previous seasons, but balls that usually work for him have not. For example, he has bowled eight full balls this season for 23 runs, where pitching it right up is often his strength. His short-of-length balls have also not worked – they’ve gone at a strike-rate of 166.67. Jadeja has always struggled against left-hand batsmen, but this season he is going at 9.79 per over against right-handers too.Jadeja has not been able to vary his pace as much as Axar has, and he has not cramped the batsmen for room as much. But another possible reason for his poor numbers is that since Super Kings do not have a fifth bowler, batsmen are targetting him. Dhoni does not like using Jadhav as a part-timer, which means Jadeja is being forced to complete his quota. Super Kings may look to play another bowler to ease some of the pressure on Jadeja, and there is also the option of playing Imran Tahir or Mitchell Santner over him, though that will mean having to drop one of the other overseas players. Jadeja tends to thrive when bowlers around him are taking wickets, so Tahir for Piyush Chawla is another possible switch.Could Capitals have gone for it more with the bat?

Not a single six in the last 10 overs for #DelhiCapitals . If you lose only 3 wickets in 20 overs, you expect the total a lot closer to 200. Runs on the board but this total is not beyond #CSK reach. #CSKvDC #IPL2020

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 25, 2020

Though 175 proved more than enough in the end, at the innings break it felt like Capitals could have got 10-15 more runs considering they were 88 for 0 after the first 10. The key phase was the initial stages of Iyer and Rishabh Pant’s partnership. They came together at 12.3 overs and between then and the 17th over, they scored 43 runs, at 9.21, not slow, but not as quick as you might hope given they still had Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis to come. So did Iyer and Pant miss a trick by not going hard earlier? When you actually look at the shots attempted, the pair did try 11 aggressive strokes in that period – one every 2.5 balls – but they mistimed a lot of them, thanks to the pace variations from Deepak Chahar and Curran, who together bowled 18 of the 28 balls in that phase. Then, right at the death, Josh Hazlewood mixed the pace, and Curran bowled an outstanding 19th over – he nailed two yorkers, bowled two cutters and went wide and full for the other two balls. So Super Kings’ bowlers deserve a lot of praise for restricting Capitals.How did Capitals stifle Dhoni at the death?
Simple: Get their 140kph+ bowlers to dig it in short. Since 2018, Dhoni had struck at just 124.00 against short and short-of-length balls from right-arm quicks in the IPL. Half of the 12 balls Capitals bowled to him were short, and he got just five runs off them, eventually edging a slower bouncer from Rabada.Iyer was impressive with his tactics through the second innings. He bowled Axar early, then brought on Amit Mishra to the inexperienced Gaikwad, shielded Avesh from the tough overs, and held Rabada and Nortje back to finish the job.Is it time to stop winning the toss and choosing to field?
Every captain who has won the toss this season has chosen to field, but in seven games, the team batting first has won five times and tied once. This is a complete change from the past two seasons, in which captains who fielded first ended up on the winning side 57% of the time. It’s still early to judge what exactly is causing this shift and whether it will continue, but one factor is that the first-innings scores have been high – the past four games have all had 170+ first-innings scores – which causes scoreboard pressure for the chasing team. It’s not clear yet how much of an effect dew has in the second innings and whether the pitches slow down.It should be noted that of the five games lost by the chasing side, three have featured Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, both teams who haven’t figure out their best batting line-up, so we may have to wait till strong batting teams such as Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab chase a few times before drawing conclusions.

Seamer once on the fast-track for England reveals his mental health battles

Valkerie Baynes11-May-2021When Stuart Meaker went through a divorce two years ago, he started speaking to a therapist. Realising there’s no quick fix when mental health issues arise, he has continued those sessions every couple of weeks, well beyond the initial three months or so that seems standard when someone seeks help through a difficult life event.In that time, Meaker, the Sussex seamer who was once on the fast-track to England honours, has learnt a lot about quick fixes.”What a lot of people do when they end up going through difficult life circumstances or relationship break-ups is they throw themselves wholeheartedly into their job and their career, their cricket, whatever it is, because it’s a great means of distraction,” Meaker tells ESPNcricinfo.”Unfortunately mine wasn’t. I was emotionally all over the place. I ended up going out too much, not training as hard as I could or should have done. I was chasing after girls, because I thought, ‘well at least it will give me a self-esteem boost’. It’s a quick fix of an evening, but it’s not wholly fulfilling in who you are.”That’s where, he says, speaking to a mental health professional helped.Related

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“I guess what it all boils down to is actually learning to just be okay and comfortable with myself and my own company,” Meaker says. “I think a therapist’s role is to get someone to a place where they’re just okay and comfortable with themselves.”That experience confirmed something that Meaker knew existed, even if he hadn’t put a name to it.Self-doubt, insecurity and fear of failure, fuelled by the delicate balance between in-form and out-of-favour which is such a prominent part of an elite cricketer’s life, manifested itself in anxiety. For Meaker, his ability to sleep was affected, not ideal for anyone let alone a fast bowler trying to push their body – and mind – to some imposing limits.”I can get terribly anxious, usually specifically revolving around cricket,” Meaker says. “Because you want to do well and you’re desperate to prove yourself even after you’ve been playing the game for 14 years.”When you’ve gone through good times and bad times and you’re changing clubs and all that stuff you still want to do well and the problem is that turns on your brain and it just won’t shut off.”You’re being bombarded by, ‘What if I don’t do well?’ or ‘I want to do well.’ You keep thinking about the game, you overthink everything. You don’t stay in the moment, you’re thinking about tomorrow and the next day.”Meaker played two ODIs and two T20Is for England at the start of the 2010s•Getty ImagesMeaker says he has carried that type of worry through his career. Now he is working on ways to combat it.”I’ve played countless games of cricket, nothing’s going to be unexpected rocking up the next day and playing,” he says. “So why is it that I’m constantly overthinking it and worrying about how it’s going to go?”You’re constantly questioning whether you should still be playing and whether you deserve to be there. Whether you can keep pushing yourself through.”Meaker was at one time regarded as the fastest bowler in England, clocked at 95mph during ECB trials at Loughborough.After playing two ODIs in India in 2011 he travelled back there as an uncapped member of England’s victorious Test squad the following year. Two T20I matches against India immediately after that Test series remain his last international appearances.Meaker toured New Zealand with England in 2013, but injury problems were beginning to mount and he underwent knee and shoulder surgery.He played for England Lions during the winter of 2016-17 but then injuries and competition for places at Surrey – the club he had joined as a 13-year-old and represented at senior level from 2008 – meant he featured in just one Championship match across 2018 and 2019.

“There’s days where you feel like, ‘I could play this game forever,’ and then there’s days you’re like, ‘I just don’t know if I can face going in today'”Stuart Meaker

At the beginning of last year, about to turn 31, Meaker sought and was granted a release from Surrey with a year remaining on his contract and joined Sussex in a bid to revive his career.That remains a work in progress after three appearances in the Bob Willis Trophy, yielding two wickets, and five wickets so far this Championship season.”Cricket is a game of failure and it aids that worry,” Meaker says. “You might be in the best form of your life, you could get an unplayable ball the next day and that’s that.”It’s a really difficult one for people who do battle with it when they’re not going so well because they’re worrying about controlling things that ultimately cannot be controlled.”So how is he doing now? Meaker doesn’t pretend, admitting that he still has “ups and downs”, which is what makes focusing on his mental health an ongoing proposition rather than something that can be fixed in a hurry.”There’s days where you feel like, ‘I could play this game forever,’ and then there’s days you’re like, ‘I just don’t know if I can face going in today,’ he says. “You’ve got to find coping strategies for that.”For me, that is the hardest bit, the constant up and down. When people are blowing hot in cricket, it’s the greatest thing to be because you don’t have to worry.”It’s when you’re not blowing so hot, and those in-between times when you’ve busted your gut during the winter, trained harder than you’ve ever trained, and you’re just not quite getting the results that you’re probably wanting.”I could end up playing one more game and suddenly I take 10-for and everything’s hunky dory, ‘I’m going to play this game for the next five to 10 years.’ That’s the battle you’re constantly going through.”Meaker believes a trigger for the anxiety some cricketers – and no doubt other elite athletes – feel about their performance is that their success on the sporting field is inextricably linked to their identity. Having played and excelled from a very young age, they feel they have always been known as “Stuart the cricketer”, as he puts it.”Even though it’s just something that you do, it’s not who you are, your identity and how you go about speaking to people and interacting with people, that becomes who you are, because it’s how everyone knows you,” he says.”When you’re worried about how your game’s going and how it’s not going so well, that can have a huge impact on it and your self-esteem and how you potentially transition outside of the game. What happens when you’re no longer Stuart the cricketer?”Meaker joined Sussex from Surrey in 2020•Getty ImagesCricket has made inroads to normalise discussion about mental health and treat it as an area to be developed just as physical skills are nurtured. The ECB is in the process of recruiting someone to look after players’ mental wellbeing amid concerns over the effects of spending extended periods in biosecure bubbles, while some teams already have dedicated structures in place to ensure mental health is a focus.The Professional Cricketers’ Association, working with the Professional Cricketers’ Trust, provides mental health support, education programmes and advice for players to prepare for life beyond cricket.But in elite sport, there remains a perception – often among those suffering from mental health problems as much as their team-mates or competitors – that talking about it is admitting a “weakness”. The fact that players are now recognising “bubble fatigue” and acting, either by resting from or leaving those environments, suggests the barriers are coming down.”The thing with mental health and working on things is that it’s a habit, it’s a practice,” Meaker says. “You can try and do it for a week or a month here and there but that’s not really going to solve your problems, or make changes, or create good habits.”That’s the hard part. Like going on a diet or a New Year’s resolution, you start doing it for two weeks, a month and then it just fades, falls from there. The successful ones, the ones that really get to grips with being good at healing themselves from issues, they create the daily habits that they need to and they live their life accordingly.”I wouldn’t say I’m there yet, no, certainly not,” he adds, laughing.A cricketer’s lifestyle doesn’t lend itself to forming and sticking to good habits. Travelling between matches which require intense focus for up to four or five days at a time means other aspects of life are pushed to the perimeter.Lockdown didn’t help, and Meaker is acutely aware that people around the country from all walks of life have struggled during the past year and are still struggling, whether it be with financial problems, feelings of isolation or health concerns and the effects those issues have on mental health.”Not only do you have all these worries going on, you’re disconnected, far more than you’ve ever been,” he says. “Because you can’t meet up socially with people, you don’t get that little boost of interaction, that dopamine kick, you would normally get when you have a good conversation or hug a mate, or get to talk through some of your worries.”In January, Sussex launched the Sussex Cricket Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub to help the community deal with issues exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the resources and videos of people sharing their experiences of mental health issues is Sarah Taylor, the former England wicketkeeper who is now wicketkeeping coach with the Sussex men’s team, speaking about her battle with anxiety. Meaker is there too, talking about his career and encouraging sporting bodies to educate entire teams about what they can do to be mindful of people experiencing mental health issues in their midst.Meaker says he is still learning about mental health himself, but he is much further ahead than he was before.”Whether I’m able to implement it right away, maybe not, but at least I understand it a little bit more,” he says. “The next bit is how seriously I want to take it and what habits I want to create that are actually really going to help me get better with my mental health.”

Ollie Robinson controversy shows past prevalence of racism, but the game can prove it has changed

George Dobell08-Jun-2021It’s not a case that would especially tax Sherlock Holmes, is it? Despite the ECB’s suggestion that Ollie Robinson has been suspended “pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation” the verdict really isn’t an issue. We know he’s guilty of sending the tweets, irrespective of the circumstances. It’s the sentencing that is the tricky bit.The ECB were thrown into an almost impossible position when these tweets emerged on the first day of the Test at Lord’s. Fail to act and they faced accusations about being soft on discrimination – a claim that has been made often in recent times around the issue of race, in particular – but punish Robinson too hard and they face accusations of scapegoating a young man who, at the time of the offences, was a poorly educated teenager. The tectonic plates of a changing society are grinding against one another and the ECB are trying to retain their balance as the ground moves beneath their feet. They face criticism whatever they do.Their current method – a suspension while deciding on next steps – appears pretty reasonable. It’s standard procedure in such cases, too. It gives them the time to talk to Robinson and look into the context of the tweets without the distraction of a Test in which he is involved. It also allows some time for reflection and planning both Robinson’s punishment – for want of a better word – and road to rehabilitation.  It’s the opposite of a kneejerk reaction.So it seems slightly odd that the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Secretary of State for Sport (among other things), Oliver Dowden have already criticised them for going “over the top” in their reaction. Really, given Johnson’s own record of comments about ethnic minorities, it is somewhat surprising he feels in a position to offer advice. It was a point that Mark Ramprakash, England’s former batting coach, made neatly on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday.But it is worth reflecting on whether ‘punishment’ is necessarily the most constructive solution here. As Nasser Hussain put it eloquently on Sky on Sunday afternoon, if we accept society can (and needs to) change, don’t we need to accept that the individuals who make up that society can also change?  You suspect real change comes from engagement and enlightenment. Punishment may just create more animosity.The emergence of further tweets from further players – some of them made while they were still minors – has only complicated matters further. Should the media even be reporting this stuff? Or would it make them complicit if they looked the other way? Does it really benefit anyone to punish someone for something they did as a child? Eventually, won’t something of regret be found in every person’s background? Just as we are learning to make allowances for mental health and anxiety, don’t we have to make allowances for youth and foolishness?Robinson claimed seven wickets on debut but his performance was over-shadowed by his off-field actions•Getty ImagesThat’s a lot of questions. So, here’s a potential solution: an amnesty. This would see the game accept that it has failed to be as inclusive as it should have been and resolve to be better. It would end the current obsession with historic tweets (for example) and instigate a moratorium on further disciplinary action. But it would also clearly outline the modern-day expectations and penalties. It would, in short, provide a fresh start.This is not a perfect solution. It was suggested as regards the Azeem Rafiq case recently – by me, as it happens – and met with some support. But then it was pointed out that, as a white, middle-class male, I had hardly suffered from the racism (or sexism, or homophobia) that has been experienced by others within the game. As such, I wasn’t best placed to comment on when the time to forgive and forget might be.This is a key point. Whatever the ECB decided to do here, they have to have the buy-in of related parties (such as the African-Caribbean Cricket Association and the National Asian Cricket Council, among others) to ensure they feel justice is done. It is vital the ECB demonstrate that this behaviour is not acceptable. It is vital both as a deterrent and to show those from communities who have felt excluded from cricket in recent years that the sport welcomes them and will not tolerate those who exclude them.  For that reason, giving Robinson a hug and telling him not to be such a buffoon in future will not quite do.But it may be part of the answer. The fact is, Robinson was 18 or 19 and these tweets were sent a long time ago. We know he left school without meaningful qualifications and had a period where he struggled for maturity and equilibrium. We know that cost him his contract at Yorkshire. He has, to some extent, already turned his life around. There aren’t perfect solutions here, but there has to be a path to redemption through the disciplinary process.There will be those who also suggest there is a bit of irony in the identity of Robinson’s possible replacement at Edgbaston. Craig Overton, you may recall, was suspended from a couple of games after an incident towards the end of the 2015 season in which he was alleged to have told Ashar Zaidi (a Pakistan-born all-rounder) to “f*** off back to your own country”.Craig Overton is a possible replacement for Robinson but has also faced disciplinary action in the past•Getty ImagesAnd it’s true, the evidence of that incident is troubling. In particular, the testimony of Michael Yardy, who was playing for the opposition, and Alex Wharf, who was one of the umpires, is damning.But it is worth revisiting the ruling of the disciplinary panel at the time. For while it’s often repeated that Overton was suspended for making racially abusive comments towards Zaidi, it’s not strictly true. Or at least it certainly isn’t the entire story.Overton was actually found guilty of using abusive language; a Level One charge in the ECB’s regulations. He was not found guilty of using abusive, racist language; which is a Level Three offence. But, having incurred two previous penalties in the season, he was suspended on the basis of the totting-up procedure. There was no hearing and he had no right of reply. Zaidi confirmed that he did not hear the alleged comments.It’s more than a semantic difference.Might the ECB have erred? Could they have taken an overly lenient approach as Overton was young (he was a teenager at the time) and talented? It’s possible. Though they did have a top QC, Gerard Elias, leading the disciplinary process. There were several who said Overton was misheard.Related

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But without having been there it’s impossible to know for sure. Overton, while admitting his temper used to get the better of him, continues to deny that he made the comments. And if we abandon the principle of ‘innocent until guilty’ and presume he was racist rather than abusive, well, aren’t we almost as illiberal and unfair as the racists? Surely nobody wants to descend to a -style witch hunt where every alleged slight or moment of clumsiness is stored away for decades with the aim of ensuring there can never be a chance of progress or a moment of peace?All of which brings us back to Robinson.There might be an opportunity in all this. Rather than simply punishing him, the ECB could use him as an example of the change that is possible in all of us – our sport and our society – with experience and education. He can become the former smoker warning of the dangers of lung disease.So he could volunteer with the ACE programme; he could volunteer with Child Bereavement UK; he could volunteer for Women’s Aid; he could volunteer for Islamic Relief and the  National  Suicide Prevention  Alliance. And this does mean volunteer. It means tens of hours with each of them. Not a photo shoot. If he has to pay a fine it should go to those charities.You suspect, at the end of that period, when he’s looked in the eyes of victims and heard the stories of the bereaved, that he won’t find jokes about Gary Speed, Madeleine McCann, racism or sexism very funny.  And if he does? Well, then you throw away the key.  At least the key to the England team.But with a bit of luck, he will be able to use  his new-found profile – and wisdom – to advise young players and act as a role model for the change our game needs to make. Robinson can still be a cricketer and a man of whom the whole of England and Wales can be proud. There’s just some work ahead to achieve that goal.In the grandest scheme of things, we might even see this incident as an inevitable stumble on the road of progress. It reminds us both that what was once accepted within the game is now anything but, and of the need for further education and change. It may not feel like it right now, but maybe the fact we’re having these conversations is encouraging.

BBC anchor keen to “get the balance right” between satisfying traditionalists and bringing in new audience

Matt Roller20-Jul-2021Few sporting events have split opinion in the way the Hundred has since its soft-launch in April 2018 but its loudest critics and most brazen proponents agree on one thing, at least: its dominance of the English cricketing calendar over the next month is a seminal moment for the game in this country. Between the fifth Ashes Test in 2005 and the 2019 World Cup final, live cricket was hidden behind a paywall and unavailable on free-to-air TV in England; a handful of games have been broadcast live by the BBC or Channel 4 in the last two years, but the Hundred will be freely available on television in a way not seen in this country for the past 16 years.Wednesday night’s opening match between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals sees domestic cricket broadcast live on a main BBC channel for the first time in the 21st century; the most recent is believed to be Lancashire’s nine-wicket win against Derbyshire in the NatWest Trophy final in 1998, when one-day cricket was played over 60 overs with teams wearing whites and using a red ball. The level of coverage across platforms is vast: every match in the competition – men’s and women’s – will be broadcast live by Sky, every women’s match and a “significant number” of men’s matches will be streamed on Sky’s YouTube channel, and the BBC is broadcasting 10 men’s and eight women’s fixtures.”It’s a real privilege to be involved and part of an amazing broadcast team,” Isa Guha, who will front the BBC’s coverage, tells ESPNcricinfo. “What the BBC brings is that fact that it can play out to the masses, and that is what is really exciting about our TV and radio coverage. People might be tuning in for the Olympics but then stumble across the Hundred, and I think cricket fans will tune in anyway because there will be intrigue around the new format and how it works. I think it will cut through.”There are challenges to navigate. The BBC’s coverage of recent England men’s T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan was pitched mainly at existing cricket fans but with some interludes designed to make the game more simple, and there is an obvious tension between getting stuck into the game’s intricacies or the tactical nuances of the new format and trying to appeal to the new audience that the ECB is so desperate to attract. That was made particularly evident in April when the revealed a plan to replace the word “wickets” with “outs”, which sparked a backlash strong enough for the term to be dropped a week later.Related

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“It’s about getting the balance right,” Guha says. “You don’t want to offend cricket traditionalists but at the same time, you’re trying to bring a new audience in. We’ll still have the same vibe in terms of the fun we want to bring to it – the energy and banter between commentators – but we want to bring out the personalities of the domestic players who might not necessarily get much exposure on television, too.”We’ll be navigating through the new tactics with everyone else. What I found with the Big Bash in Australia last winter with the new rules that were applied was that we were working it out on commentary at the same time as the players and coaches on the ground, which is exciting and interesting for existing fans. But for the new audience, it’s a great entry-level format; it’s about educating people on things like fielding positions and cricketing lingo but not being too hard to understand.”There is a tension too between the ECB’s public commitment to present the men’s and women’s competitions as equal and the fact that only three of the eight games the BBC is broadcasting live will be available on a linear TV channel, with the other five online-only. “There are a lot of online users anyway,” Guha responds. “I think we will still get a good audience as long as people know where to find it. The biggest thing is being able to direct people towards it, but then again, there are a lot of online users that would be watching BBC Two on digital platforms anyway.”A BBC publicist jumps in at this stage, saying: “Those games will be on iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and online – and the same people who can access BBC Two can also access any of those with the touch of a button.” But realistically, the women’s competition will rely on viewers knowing where to find it; if a child with no interest in cricket stumbles across the Hundred while channel-surfing, it is highly likely that they will come across a men’s game.On the flip side, the BBC is hoping to promote the tournament through as many platforms as they can: James Anderson’s podcast with Greg James and Felix White, which has grown and nurtured a cult following in recent years, will be a key component of the broadcast coverage, and players are expected to pop up for radio and TV interviews during chat shows. A number of players involved in the tournament including Heather Knight, Tymal Mills, Alex Hartley and Carlos Brathwaite have also signed as commentators, and the live music that will be played at grounds in an attempt to create a family-friendly matchday experience has been sorted through a partnership with BBC Music Introducing.”When you’re at the ground, that partnership will help create that buzz and atmosphere that people have been starved of in the past couple of years,” Guha says. “We saw in the Euros how much excitement and energy people get from being at a stadium and to have that music around it is going to make it feel like a full day out, a full entertainment package. It should boost the coverage.”As with the tournament as a whole, it is difficult to know what will count as a success for BBC’s coverage of the Hundred: audience figures and demographics will be monitored closely but the real test will be the ability to retain new viewers in years to come, using the Hundred as a gateway to other formats. Perhaps the enthusiasm of a free-to-air broadcaster to show a significant chunk of games in primetime slots constitutes success in itself, but the English game as a whole can hardly afford the next month to go wrong.The Hundred will be on BBC Two, radio and online from Wednesday, July 21

Defending champions Sydney Thunder have got themselves going with back-to-back wins

Andrew McGlashan01-Nov-2021Points table
Leading run-scorers
Leading wicket-takers
Melbourne Renegades (7 matches, 5 wins, 11 points)Form (most recent first) WWWWNLWSeason so far
A fantastic turnaround to date from last season’s seventh-placed team and they are on a run of four consecutive wins after the Harmanpreet Kaur-inspired chase against Adelaide Strikers. They have lost Georgia Wareham to a season-ending injury but so far have covered it well.What’s worked well
Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues have more than returned the investment in them with a combined tally of 406 runs while Harmanpreet also has taken seven wickets. Sophie Molineux has been parsimonious with the ball going at 5.14.What needs to improve
Molineux is low on runs having slipped back down to the middle order. Holly Ferling has only bowled five overs in six matches as Renegades lean on their spinners but has conceded 9.40 an over.Brisbane Heat (7 matches, 4 wins, 9 points)Form LWWWNWLSeason so far
The batting performance against Melbourne Stars (9 for 95) came as a surprise after they had produced a series of impressive results following a Super Over defeat in their first match. Still they are well placed to be in the finals mix.What’s worked well
Grace Harris is having a superb tournament at the top of the order and is currently the leading run-scorer (251 runs at 50.20, strike-rate 133.51). She has formed a powerful opening pair with Georgia Redmayne – the duo have scored the four half-centuries Heat have managed. Jess Jonassen, back from injury, leads the way with the ball on 12 wickets at just 9.16.What needs to improve
Laura Kimmince has been unable to replicate her middle-order x-factor so far with 24 runs in five innings. The overseas players – Poonam Yadav, Anneke Bosch and Nadine de Klerk – have only managed six wickets between them.Shafali Verma is now batting in the middle order•Getty ImagesSydney Sixers (7 matches, 3 wins, 7 points)Form WLLNLWWSeason so far
They secured a vital and convincing win over Perth Scorchers to snap a period where they had played some uncertain cricket, having started with back-to-back wins, amid further restructuring of the team. It still doesn’t quite feel like they have their gameplans completely sorted.What’s worked well
Alyssa Healy began with a brisk fifty and then made an unbeaten 94 against Scorchers. Alongside Ellyse Perry, who is Sixers’ leading run-scorer, they have dominated the run making although Perry’s strike-rate is 90.59. Lauren Cheatle has bowled nicely in limited appearances while Radha Yadav’s left-arm spin brings a different dynamic.What needs to improve
Shafali Verma has not fired as hoped and now finds herself in an unaccustomed middle-order role with Perry back at the top. Ash Gardner is having a tournament to forget with the bat (60 runs in six innings, strike-rate 77.92). Perry is conceding 8.62 with the ball from just eight overs.Melbourne Stars (8 matches, 3 wins, 7 points)Form WLLWNWLLSeason so far
Inconsistent from last year’s beaten finalists but they are very much in the mix. As with a few teams the batting has been underwhelming but the bowlers were excellent in restricting Brisbane Heat to 95 in the most recent match. They have less than half their matches remaining, though.What’s worked well
Kim Garth, the former Ireland allrounder, has been outstanding with the ball (11 wickets, economy 5.18) headlined by her spell of 3-3-0-3 against Sydney Thunder. Elyse Villani has led the batting while Maia Bouchier, the England batter, has played some handy innings.What needs to improve
Meg Lanning is going through a rare lean patch with 96 runs in seven innings so far and 27 of those came in the comfortable chase against Heat. Her and Annabel Sutherland (although the latter has made a half-century) need to take some of the onus off Villani.Has there ever been a better powerplay batter than Sophie Devine?•Getty ImagesPerth Scorchers (6 matches, 3 wins, 7 points)Form LWWNLWSeason so far
Sophie Devine’s brilliance in Super Overs has secured two of their three wins. On such fine margins can tournaments rest. Their defeats have been by hefty margins – 59 and 44 runs – which hasn’t helped the net run rate.What’s worked well
Devine. Alongside her Super Over skills, she hammered a magnificent century against Sydney Thunder. Beth Mooney is currently their leading run-scorer. The spin-bowling pair of Alana King and Lilly Mills, both off-season signings, has also been influential.What needs to improve
Not for the first time, the dominance of Mooney and Devine has the knock-on effect of sometimes not leaving much time for others to have a hit. Chamari Athapaththu is striking at under 100 but has only faced 60 deliveries. Taneale Peschel, one of the success stories of last season, has conceded 9.23 runs per over having had to remodel her action.Adelaide Strikers (6 matches, 2 wins, 5 points)Form LLLNWWSeason so far
They started well with victories in their first two matches but since then their only point has been from a washout. They lost in a Super Over against Perth Scorchers (or rather, Sophie Devine) and couldn’t defend 160 against Melbourne Renegades. But they have matches in hand.What’s worked well
Tahlia McGrath started with a bang in the opening games but has since tailed off a little. Seven of the nine batters who have been to the crease have struck at better than a run-a-ball. Sarah Coyte leads the wicket-taking with nine while Megan Schutt’s economy on her return (4.62 in two matches) stands out.What needs to improve
The Lilac Hill weekend could have gone the other way so they don’t need to panic. A little more composure in key moments will be crucial in the second half. Both McGrath and Dane van Niekerk have conceded more than seven an over.Can Sydney Thunder still retain their title?•Getty ImagesHobart Hurricanes (8 matches, 2 wins, 5 points)Form (most recent first) LLWLNWLLSeason so far

They have twice toppled Melbourne Stars – the first of the matches centered around Rachel Priest’s 107 off 68 balls – but have been pretty comfortably beaten in five games. They are one of two teams who have played more than half their group matches.What’s worked well
After a slow start, Mignon du Preez has found her touch with the bat. Priest’s hundred was a spectacular display but it has been her only significant contribution so far. Ruth Johnston has impressed with the ball while Tayla Vlaeminck has bowled with pace.What needs to improve
They are going to need more with the bat from the middle order. Richa Ghosh (138 runs at 19.71) and Nicola Carey (142 runs at 17.75) need to take some of the burden off du Preez and Priest. Molly Strano, while being the joint-leading wicket-taker, is conceded a run-an-over more than her career mark.Sydney Thunder (7 matches, 2 wins, 5 points) Form WWLLLNLSeason so far
The defending champions have revived their season with back-to-back victories after the only point in the first five games had come from a washout. It will give them confidence that they can go on a surge in the second half of the competition. They were unable to post more than 110 in their first three outings.What’s worked well
The bowling attack is going nicely with left-arm spinner Samantha Bates enjoying another impressive return with an economy rate of just 5.08. English quick Issy Wong has also found rhythm in recent matches while Deepti Sharma is the leading wicket-taker with eight. For a young captain of a team that was struggling, Hannah Darlington’s composure has also stood out.What needs to improve
The batting still feels a little lightweight in the absence of captain Rachael Haynes. Crucially, Smriti Mandhana appears to have settled into the tournament with two half-centuries in three innings, but her strike-rate may need to lift – her and Deepti are the only two batters striker over 100.