The Australia keeper-batter says domestic players struggle to combine cricket and a second career

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2020Alyssa Healy is concerned at the prospect of a reduction in Women’s Big Bash and National Cricket League matches, saying it could widen the divide between international and domestic players.Amid Cricket Australia’s financial battles due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all domestic cricket is set to come under pressure and it has been reported that cuts could be made to both female competitions as well as the Sheffield Shield.This comes on the back of an historic season for the women’s game in Australia which included the first standalone WBBL and finished with the T20 World Cup final in front of 86,000 people at the MCG – just days before global sport was shut down by the pandemic.ALSO READ: Megan Schutt braced for women’s game to feel impact of Covid-19In a column for the , Healy wrote the chance to build on that success cannot be wasted. She warned that for domestic cricketers the increasing demands of professionalism are not yet matched by earnings but such are the expectations to train almost year-round that many struggle to earn a second income.”Now is the time to seize the moment and improve the WBBL and Women’s National Cricket League even further,” Healy, who is also on the board of the Australia Cricketers’ Association, wrote. “Recent reports that consideration is being given to reducing the number of WBBL games is concerning. Such a move would be contrary to cricket’s aim to be a sport for everyone.”Not only would it defy the growth of the women’s game, but would amplify the divide between international female cricket and the domestic version.”Domestic female players are experiencing increased pressure to train ‘over and above’ their contractual obligations; many training for nine months of the year for a handful of WNCL and WBBL games.”With such expectation and increased demands from state associations and WBBL clubs, there is limited opportunity for many of our female domestic cricketers to build a second career outside of cricket. An increase in demand has not been matched with appropriate remuneration. As a result, many players are finding it very difficult to have a balanced life, which is resulting in an increased level of wellbeing concerns with the stress of finding a second income to cover daily living expenses.”Any reduction in domestic cricket would have to be approved by the ACA and they are set to be firmly opposed.”Reducing WBBL games has… been strongly represented to us recently; that’s not something they want to do,” Alistair Nicholson, the ACA chief executive, told SEN radio. “Domestic cricket is the strength of the game.”

There is a strict travel restriction in the country which has placed doubt on the players making their way to the UAE

Shashank Kishore01-Aug-2020The non-participation of most South African players in the CPL has brought into focus the possibility of them also missing parts, if not all, of the IPL season due to travel restrictions in the country because of the Covid-19 situation. With no clarity yet – the IPL governing council meeting is on Sunday- on player replacements, the franchises are searching for answers, with some reaching out to their recruits and others waiting to broach the topic.As such, of the South African players in the IPL, Imran Tahir might be available for Chennai Super Kings. He had stayed on in Pakistan after the PSL, and is expected to join the squad soon after his CPL commitments with Guyana Amazon Warriors. The tournament is slated to finish on September 10.Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have AB de Villiers, Chris Morris and Dale Steyn in their ranks, could be the worst hit, while Super Kings also have two key players in Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi, apart from Tahir. Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock are contracted with Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians respectively.Royal Challengers could potentially have a situation where Sri Lanka’s Isuru Udana could well be occupied till September 20, and thus miss their training camp, if he finds a team in the Lanka Premier League, which is being planned for an August 28 to September 20 run.But the fact that South Africa’s borders are closed might not be the biggest concern – a player agent ESPNcricinfo spoke to said the BCCI’s guidelines, and a formal statement of procedure (SOP) to chart the next course of action, remain more crucial.The CSK management too has touched base with du Plessis and Ngidi, and remain confident of their players participating. ESPNcricinfo understands that a decision on potential replacements would only be taken after the BCCI’s meeting with the franchises, which is likely to take place next week.South Africa continues to remain in lockdown, with all provincial and international borders closed. While repatriation flights continue to leave the country, there has been a blanket ban on commercial flight operations. Restrictions are likely to be lifted only after the pandemic peak passes, most likely towards the end of September.While no franchise has been willing to come on record, there are murmurs over the possibility of teams hiring a charter flight to ferry the South African players to the UAE.From South Africa’s point of view, the absence of any significant window between the end of CPL and the start of the IPL has already led to the home season being pushed back further.”West Indies tour of South Africa has been postponed indefinitely. We are struggling to find a time with the IPL being fitted in,” Graeme Smith, the CSA director of cricket, said on Friday. “It looks like our players are going to be needed from the beginning of September, government-permitting, and travel permitting.”Sri Lanka also [postponed]. I expect that once things get up and running, our team, on the men’s side, I would say from November onwards, if all goes well, it will be a really busy period for South African cricket, probably playing in times that we haven’t played before and trying to cram in a lot of the missed tours.”As such, CSA has already said that it will issue no-objection certificates to the contracted players. However, the onus then falls on the players to obtain travel permits and fulfil quarantine regulations if any.

BCCI were at risk of a $547 million drop in revenue if the entire season had been cancelled

Reuters01-Sep-2020The eight IPL franchises are counting the Covid-19 cost on their finances, but having gotten past the possibility of the tournament being scrapped this year, they are taking a glass-half-full view of the situation.The IPL’s original March start was scuppered by the first wave of the virus, and the BCCI had to pull out all the stops to rescue the tournament, which has an estimated $6.8 billion brand value. The tournament has been shifted to the UAE and will start on September 19 – nearly six months later than scheduled.After Vivo paused its title sponsorship for this year’s edition, fantasy gaming company Dream11 took it up for INR 222 crore ($29.7 million approx.), roughly half of what Vivo paid annually.”The discount provided to Dream11 would be a major (financial) hit for the BCCI, along with making arrangements for bio-secure bubble which will be an additional cost burden on the board,” Santosh N, an external advisor at financial consultancy firm Duff & Phelps, explained to Reuters.The league shares 50% of the title sponsorship money with the eight franchises, who will also miss out on gate receipts and in-stadia revenue this year, while existing sponsors demand discounts in the absence of fan initiatives.The switch has seen Delhi Capitals lose shirt sponsor Daikin, with the air-conditioning equipment maker saying the new dates did not work for them. “The reason being the business scenario and the timing, which earlier, being the summer, would call for advertising efforts to create awareness and recall for the AC category,” a Daikin spokesman told Reuters.Capitals Chairman Parth Jindal has said the BCCI should look at compensating the franchises. “If the BCCI doesn’t compensate, there will be a significant loss to each franchise, about a 30% drop in revenues,” Jindal told earlier this month.But with the BCCI at risk of a $547 million drop in revenue had the entire season been cancelled, treasurer Arun Dhumal preferred to look on the bright side. “When you encounter such challenging times and so many impediments, you are bound to lose on certain revenues,” Dhumal told . “Looking at the overall picture, everybody should be happy that at least we’ve been able to organise it.”At such short notice, we’ve been able to get a new title sponsor. It speaks volumes of IPL as a brand, and how it has grown over the years.”

For the second time in two games, powered by Pollard, Mumbai ransacked runs aplenty from their last five overs

Deivarayan Muthu01-Oct-20202:36

What ails Glenn Maxwell at the IPL?

After Rohit Sharma made his second half-century in his last three innings in IPL 2020, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya went on a boundary-hitting spree to launch the Mumbai Indians to 191 for 4, which proved to be more than enough in the end. For the second game in a row, Pollard helped Mumbai ransack 89 off the last five overs, his unbeaten 47 off 20 balls exposing a Kings XI Punjab attack that lacked a death bowler. They had seemingly managed their bowlers so poorly that offspinner K Gowtham, picked ahead of legspinner M Ashwin, bowled the final over in the first innings, leaking four sixes to Pollard and Pandya.In pursuit of 192, the Kings XI lost Mayank Agarwal in the powerplay and captain KL Rahul laboured to 17 off 19 balls before legspinner Rahul Chahar knocked him over. Nicholas Pooran briefly matched his West Indies captain and mentor Pollard’s ball-striking with 44 off 27 balls, but it wasn’t enough to prick the ballooning asking rate. Chahar kept dangling legbreaks away from Glenn Maxwell’s reach, and ultimately had him holing out for a painfully slow 11 off 18 balls. Jasprit Bumrah and James Pattinson then closed out a 48-run victory, putting Mumbai on top of the points table.Cottrell’s comeback
After giving up as many as 30 runs to Rahul Tewatia in a frenzied finish on Sunday, Sheldon Cottrell started with a wicket-maiden on Thursday and conceded 20 in his next three. The left-arm seamer angled a length ball into Quinton de Kock and then got it to curve away to castle the batsman for a duck in the first over. Soon after, Suryakumar Yadav was run out for 10 off seven balls.Ishan Kishan, who had cracked 99 forcing a Super Over against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, struggled against Cottrell, Mohammed Shami and legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, who kept sliding the ball across the left-hander with his googlies. Cottrell finished his quota of four overs by the 13th over; Mumbai were 83 for 2.The storm after the calm
Looking to hit his way out of trouble, Kishan ventured a slog-sweep against Gowtham, but couldn’t clear the longer leg-side boundary, falling for 28 off 32 balls. Pollard, though, shook up things by planting his front leg and smoking Bishnoi over his head for six. Sharma, quiet until then, slammed 4, 4, 6, 6 against Jimmy Neesham. The New Zealand allrounder ditched his into-the-pitch legcutters for attempted yorkers, but kept erring with his lengths. The first four, a ramp that was precisely placed to the right of long leg, brought up his fifty off 40 balls. The pick of that boundary sequence was the final six that was clattered over extra-cover just after the man from that boundary had been whisked off to long-off.It needed a relay catch at the boundary from Maxwell and Neesham to remove Rohit for 70 off 45 balls. He was on 43 off 37 balls at one point, but accelerated before Pollard and Hardik took over.Hardik, playing as a specialist batsman as Mumbai have opted against rushing him back into bowling after his back surgery last year, also laid into Neesham, taking 17 off five balls from him. Kings XI, seemingly having miscalculated, asked Gowtham to bowl the last over and Pollard duly finished the innings with a hat-trick of mighty sixes.Kings XI fade away
Agarwal gave Kings XI a jump-start in the chase, attacking the short balls from Trent Boult and James Pattinson, moving to 25 off 15 balls. After Jasprit Bumrah darted in two more short balls, he seamed a full ball in and burst through the defences of Agarwal. In the next over, Karun Nair, who came in at No.3, dragged Krunal Pandya back onto the stumps. Rahul, who could neither find the boundary nor the gaps, was dismissed by Chahar in the ninth over as the required rate shot past 11.Pooran was particularly strong off the back foot, pulling Chahar and Bumrah for six and four. Twenty-one of his 44 runs came in front of square on the leg side. His bright innings, though, was cut short when Pattinson pushed a full ball away from his reach and had him edging behind.Chahar, meanwhile, took a leaf out of Yuzvendra Chahal’s playbook, lobbing slow legbreaks wide of off stump to frustrate Maxwell. Maxwell eventually played a desperate slog-sweep and picked out deep midwicket. Gowtham struck two fours and a six, but the boundaries he had given up earlier in the evening had a greater impact on the result.

Nathi Mthethwa has given CSA until October 27 to make a case to keep him out of their affairs

Firdose Moonda14-Oct-2020The ICC has been given notice that South Africa’s minister of sport, Nathi Mthethwa, intends to intervene in Cricket South Africa (CSA) after failing to see progress in the organisation’s attempts to stabilise its governance.Mthethwa can act according to the country’s National Sport and Recreation Act, which gives him the power to intervene “in any dispute, alleged mismanagement or other related matter that is likely to bring a sport into disrepute.” Besides, if the federation does not comply with the ministerial directive, he has the power to take away funding and to no longer recognise them as a national federation. The minister has given CSA until October 27 to make a case to keep him out of their affairs.Mthethwa’s action comes after CSA ignored the instruction by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), the umbrella-body under which all the country’s sports federations operate, for their board and executive to step aside while an investigation into CSA’s financial and governance affairs took place. CSA also did not allow SASCOC unrestricted access to their forensic report, which was used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe, and wanted SASCOC board members to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which they refused to do.CSA has made the full report available to the minister and the parliamentary portfolio committee, who questioned CSA over the report on Tuesday. The session yielded “negative outcomes”, according to a statement by Mthethwa, who has seen no alternative but to take matters into his own hands.”Having evaluated the discussions as well as the subsequent reporting on this matter, I have now reached a point where I see no value in any further engagement with CSA,” Mthethwa said, in a statement issued on Wednesday morning.ALSO READ: South Africa opens borders but international sport remains locked downHowever, Mthethwa’s statement stressed that he would prefer not to get involved and wants to provide CSA with the chance to sort their problems out themselves. “Minister Mthethwa strongly believes that there is great merit in creating an environment where sports problems are handled within the sports movement and accordingly wishes to offer them every possible opportunity to demonstrate their stated commitment to cooperate on a way forward for cricket,” the statement read.That is important, especially when dealing with the ICC, which forbids government interference in its members. Last month, SASCOC wrote to the ICC explaining that their action did not constitute government interference because they are an independent – albeit legislatively-created body – and were not acting under ministerial directive even though they had passed a resolution indicating that they were.The National Sports and Recreation Act requires that SASCOC is the first port of call in a dispute or alleged mismanagement in any sports federation and the minister may only step-in if SASCOC fails to resolve the issue. Two weeks back, SASCOC indicated they were not making progress and asked the minister to step-in.”When the SASCOC initiative yielded no positive results, the Minister personally held several meetings with the CSA Board and also met with the Members Council,” the statement read. The most recent meeting between the minister and CSA took place on Monday. CSA were hopeful they would obtain permission from the minister to host England for a “critically important” white-ball series in November-December but appear to only have angered Mthethwa while the tour remains uncertain.The United Kingdom is on South Africa’s list of high-risk countries and travellers from there need to apply for permission to enter South Africa, whose borders opened in limited capacity only on October 1.

New South Wales were able to declare in mid-afternoon after a dominant batting display

Andrew McGlashan20-Oct-2020Sean Abbott added his name to the list of allrounders to make a mark early in the Sheffield Shield as he scored an unbeaten half-century then claimed two wickets, but a positive innings from opener Sam Whiteman kept Western Australia in touch.Abbott and New South Wales captain Peter Nevill added an unbroken 118 for the sixth wicket to set up the declaration, building on the mammoth partnership of 244 between Moises Henriques and Daniel Solway.Following a solid start, Western Australia were wobbling a touch at 2 for 71 when Abbott struck in consecutive overs but Whiteman responded with a flurry of attractive shots and alongside Cameron Green their third-wicket stand was worth 81 at stumps.New South Wales resumed on 3 for 262 and after ensuring against an early losses Henriques looked keen to try and increase the tempo although for a little while it did not go entirely to planHenriques took his magnificent innings beyond 150 before his partnership with Solway eventually ended after 87 overs when the latter was bowled sweeping at Ashton Agar having faced 273 balls for his 86Henriques soon followed when he failed to clear mid-on against Matthew Kelly then in the next over Jason Sangha clubbed to the same position when trying to go down the ground off Agar.However, any hope Western Australia had of bringing the innings to a swift conclusion was stymied by Nevill and Abbott as the pair played with increasing freedom towards a mid-afternoon declaration.Whiteman and Cameron Bancroft started confidently in reply and had a half-century stand by the time they strode off for tea, but after the break Abbott produced a terrific spell. Firstly he had Bancroft caught behind with a delivery that just nipped away outside off then Shaun Marsh, who scored a century last week, flashed a drive which was well held at third slip by Kurtis Patterson. Abbott’s second spell finished at 5-1-12-2.But Whiteman held firm, and flourished, in another compact and confident innings which included four boundaries in an over off Harry Conway. Green was more circumspect but also very solid as Nathan Lyon settled into what could be a heavy workload on a surface still very much in favour of the batsmen.

Lapses in the field a reason why India couldn’t capitalise on any kind of momentum, Virat Kohli says

Sidharth Monga27-Nov-20201:37

Pandya: ‘We lost wickets when we were getting the rhythm’

Hardik Pandya’s lower-back injury, which has taken away his bowling, for the time being, has affected India’s team balance in a big way, but there was good news for India’s fans after the first of the three ODIs in Australia. Not only did Pandya give a good account of himself as a batsman, top-scoring with 90 off 76 from 101 for 4, he also dropped a hint he might be ready to bowl come the World Cups. There are three of those in the next three years: for T20Is in 2021 and 2022, and the ODI variety in 2023. He said he was bowling already but still not confident physically or skills-wise he could do it in games.”It is a process,” Pandya said when asked where he was with respect to a return to the bowling crease. “I am looking at a long-term goal where I want to be 100% of my bowling capacity for the most important games. The World Cups are coming. More crucial series are coming. Whenever it is required.”I am thinking as a long-term plan, not short term where I exhaust myself and maybe have something else [injury] which is not there. So it is going to be a process, which I am following. I can’t tell you exactly when I am going to bowl but the process is on. In the nets, I am bowling. It is just that I am not game-ready but I am bowling. It is all about confidence and the skill has to be at an international level.”ALSO READ: Monga – India’s one-dimensional batsmen hurting their five-bowler strategyThe absence of Pandya the bowler hurts India all the more because they have no part-timer to hold the fort for the time being. Ravindra Jadeja is the only two-dimensional player in the ODI squad in Australia, but he plays as the fifth bowler, leaving no allowance for any of the bowlers to have an off day. At least three of them had it in the series opener, which resulted in a humongous target of 375.Pandya said India needed to groom someone promising even if there was no natural allrounder coming through. “That has been the question always, right?” Pandya said of the missing link in the side. “We have to find and maybe make… I have always believed that… even when I came into the circuit, I was not always the allrounder which I wanted to be. But with time I groomed myself and became that bowling option. I worked on my bowling.Hardik Pandya launches one down the ground•Getty Images

“Yeah, it is always going to be difficult when you go with five bowlers. When someone is having an off day you don’t have someone to fulfil the quota. More than injury, the sixth bowler’s role is when someone among the five bowlers is having a bad day. I think it is going to be… maybe we will have to make, maybe we will have to find someone who has already played India, and groom them and find a way to make them play.”Pandya went on to make a cheeky suggestion: “Maybe we should look in the Pandya family only. There is one sitting at home.”Brother Krunal has been tried in T20Is by India, but not in the ODIs. It is probably because they already have one fingerspinner in Jadeja, and they need either a seam-bowling allrounder or a batsman who can turn his arm over.India’s captain Virat Kohli admitted they didn’t have such an option in the touring party in Australia. Asked if he would have a bowl himself, Kohli joked he might bowl if Aaron Finch were batting. He called for his specialist bowlers to pick up wickets to make up for the absence of that cushion of a sixth bowler and asked for a better body language.”The key to winning games is picking up wickets,” Kohli pointed out. “That is something we were not able to do. Also, lapses in the field were also a reason why we couldn’t capitalise on any kind of momentum, the pressure that we created in the early part of the innings.”Everyone needs to show the intent for the entire 50 overs. Probably we played 50 overs after a long time. That could have an effect, but having said that we have played so much ODI cricket that it is not something we don’t know how to do. I think the body language in the field wasn’t great after around 25 overs. It was a disappointing part. If you don’t take your chances against a top-quality opposition they’ll hurt you and that is what happened today.”

“Kane is a freak, isn’t he? He’s amazing and will go down easily as New Zealand’s greatest.”

Umar Farooq05-Jan-2021Daryl Mitchell has described getting his maiden Test century as “surreal”, after he stroked 102 at his adopted hometown in Christchurch. New Zealand were 599 for 6 at tea and had a lead of 302, but the captain Kane Williamson allowed the team to keep batting, something Mitchell was grateful for.Mitchell, who was unbeaten on 69 at the time, made the most of the extra time, as he and Kyle Jamieson smacked 60 in 4.5 overs to increase New Zealand’s total to 659.Related

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“It probably hasn’t sunk in yet, to be fair, it’s pretty surreal at the moment,” Mitchell said. “I was given two overs to start after tea, so I thought after two overs we were off but obviously very grateful for Kane and the coaching staff to allow me to get that milestone. I was swinging pretty hard there at points to try and get there and very grateful for that to happen. I was just happy to go out there and try and be busy and contribute to trying to put a total on for us to try and get 10 wickets.”With two days still left in the Test, New Zealand hold all the cards, having already dismissed Pakistan’s opener Shan Masood for a duck in the second innings, ensuring they lead by 354 runs. Mitchell credited Williamson’s sublime double-century for putting the hosts in such a commanding position.

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“Obviously Kane’s 238 .. that’s pretty amazing and he has set us up for a chance to win this Test match,” Mitchell said. “He is a freak, isn’t he? He’s amazing. He makes the game look so easy at the moment and the way he’s going about things, it’s cool to see him doing so well. For me I’ve played against Kane when I was about 14 years old and now to be playing test cricket with him as well. He’s a very special player and probably will easily go down as New Zealand’s greatest.”Pakistan were dismissed for 297 on the opening day, and they did not help themselves with their poor fielding either, as New Zealand capitalised on several dropped catches. Williamson and Henry Nicholls went on to stitch a partnership of 369 runs for the fourth wicket, the best ever at the Hagley Oval. Among the bowlers, Naseem Shah (0-141) and debutant Zafar Gohar (0-159), had particularly forgettable outings, bowling a combined 58 overs without a single wicket.”As a fast bowler there isn’t any excuse,” Shah said on a day when he also bowled nine no-balls. “The wicket was good as it had bounce and I was getting the seam out of it but then there were mistakes which I shouldn’t have done. I was pushing hard to bowl fast hence over stepping. As a fast bowler with no balls, it really shatters your confidence and I am trying to get back on track. During games you can’t really help it out but can learn from your mistake. Test cricket isn’t easy, you have to bowl in one area consistently for a lot more time and you can’t afford to change the line. These are world class players and you can’t give them enough room.”A lot of damage has been done with no balls and those dropped catches. It makes you disappointed, but then you can’t do much about it because it’s part of the game. You can’t stop bowling if anyone dropped your catch but you come in hard and create more chances. It happens in cricket and that is what the learning curve is for us. We have to regroup and come hard with the ball next time.”

Fast bowler realises that both he and his team needs to take more responsibility with the bat

Mohammad Isam21-Jan-2021West Indies can no longer think about their lack of experience if they are to beat Bangladesh at home. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, one of the few members of this squad to have ODI caps prior to this tour, said that they now have enough information about the opposition and conditions to mount a comeback in the second game on Friday.West Indies went down by six wickets after being bowled out for 122. Joseph gave them a steady start, before left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein showed that their bowling has the bite that their batting lacked.Joseph, who went wicketless in his eight overs but was highly economical, said that the West Indies camp is very motivated to bounce back in the second game, knowing full well that another defeat would be the end of the series for them.”It probably might have boiled down to not having the experience playing against a team that is well experienced,” Joseph said. “Probably a bit of (lack of) application as well. But, that being said, we have already seen what is there to come at us, so we have no excuses in the second ODI. We have seen their bowling attack and somewhat of their batting. So we should be well prepared to give a better showing in the second ODI.”Everyone is aware of what’s at stake. Everyone is pumped up to give a better showing in the second ODI. It is really important for us to come in. This game is even more important than the last one. If we lose this game, it’s the series. Everyone knows exactly what they need to do. We have to play harder, dig deeper and push the Bangladeshis all the way. From ball one to ball 300.”Joseph admitted that had there been a hundred more runs on the board in the first game, they could have made a good fist of it. He said that the pace bowlers have to show patience in order to get the best of out pitches that are generally spin-friendly.”Maybe 220 would have been a more challenging total based on what the bowlers put up yesterday. A few more early wickets, and you don’t know what could have happened.”It wasn’t the best (pitch) to bat on, if I was to be honest. As a fast bowling group, we have to more consistent, hit good areas. Also play the patient game. I know its 50 overs, not necessarily the longest format. But being patient in the good areas is what is needed for the fast bowlers to be successful in this wicket,” he said.West Indies could have made a bigger score on Wednesday, particularly after Kyle Mayers and Rovman Powell added 59 runs for the sixth wicket. But from 115 for 5, they slipped to 122 all out.Joseph said that the lower order must take a bit more responsibility, and he himself has ambitions to become an allrounder, although his first priority being bowling.”We all have our roles to play, weight to pull. If the top half got skittled out earlier, the bottom half has to pull that weight. It is a team. We all need to look within ourselves and realise that this is international cricket, and we have to do better.”Personally I am aiming to become an allrounder myself. But as of now, I am just taking everything step by step. I am looking to, firstly, do my main attribute which is contribute what I can with the ball, and then I will give my best in batting.Joseph however ruled out the notion that bowling first is the best way to go with their fragile batting and somewhat better bowling attack. “A toss could go either way. We all have to be prepared for what we have to do first, or second. I think it all boils down to cricket.”We shouldn’t focus on the toss. We have to be better than Bangladesh in all three aspects if we want to win games,” he said.

The seam bowler is part of Australia’s T20I squad in New Zealand having fully recovered from a minor injury

Andrew McGlashan17-Feb-2021Kane Richardson believes the Power Surge fielding restrictions, which were introduced in the BBL this season, could have a place at the T20I level, but from a selfish point of view will be happy if that moment waits until he retires.The Surge regulations modified the traditional six-over powerplay into a two-over block that could be taken by the batting side any time from the 11th over onwards, leaving just four at the beginning of the innings. It was generally viewed as the most successful of the three innovations tried in the BBL and did bring a new dynamic with innings both losing and gaining momentum in the two overs.Richardson was the third-most expensive bowler in the Surge (bowlers who operated during it in at least five innings), going at 12.11 – 109 runs off 54 balls – and picked up just two wickets, and admitted he enjoyed it more as a spectator, but could see the value it brought to the game.Related

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“It’s a good discussion. I enjoyed watching it as a fan,” he said. “There was games I didn’t particularly enjoy bowling in it, but as a fan it made games interesting where you thought the game was decided, especially in the second innings then teams would catch up.”Think Trent [Woodhill] and the BBL did a really good job with that, whether or not it goes to international cricket I’m not sure. It probably has a place to be fair, I think it was successful this year and guys who found a niche in the team in the middle-order, who can play that role really well and vice-versa with the ball, were almost first picks.”It’s interesting, it’s tactical, it’s good to watch, so there’s nothing but positives for that. But as a bowler, if we could probably steer clear of it at international and IPL level until I’m maybe too old to be playing I’ll happily sit back in my old rocking chair and watch.”It has been a while between Australia outings for Kane Richardson•Getty Images

Richardson won’t have to concern himself with the Surge over the next few weeks in New Zealand where he will be one of the more experienced members of an Australia attack without some key names, who were due to be in South Africa for the now-postponed Test series.Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are certain starters in Australia’s first-choice T20I side with Josh Hazlewood also in the mix, while Sean Abbott would be another option and Richardson believes there are others outside of the two squads who would be worthy of selection.”You look at a pool of ten or so bowlers, it does seem like there is a big group of players who could play in that World Cup,” he said. “There’s guys back home who could easily have been picked in this team – Wes Agar had a great Big Bash, Nathan Ellis was impressive again – so there’s almost a group of 20 bowlers to pick from.”It’s great for Australian cricket because in T20 cricket if you have a good bowling attack you are a very good chance of winning. Even yesterday at training, bowling alongside some of these guys, we all do it a bit differently, there’s a separate indemnity to each person so it’s great to be around. If I was an Australian selector I’d be pretty excited about what lies ahead.”Richardson missed the tail-end of the BBL with the Melbourne Renegades because of a quad injury but is now fully recovered. He did not face India in the white-ball matches during the summer having opted to stay at home with his new-born son.