Women currently have little representation in the ICC’s various committees that don’t understand the distinctive history of the women’s game

Raf Nicholson22-Jun-2022There is a lot of women’s cricket happening in England over the next three months – the Commonwealth Games; the second iteration of the Hundred; an ODI against India at Lord’s in September – but ask any England player which match they really, really want to play in, and they will all say the same thing: the Test match against South Africa at Taunton next week.If you listened to the recent remarks from ICC chairman Greg Barclay, you might be surprised at that response, given that he has, effectively, proclaimed the death of women’s Test cricket. “I can’t really see women’s Test or long-form cricket evolving at any speed at all,” he told the BBC’s recently. “That’s not to say [members] can’t choose to play Test cricket, but I don’t really see that as part of the landscape moving forward to any real extent.” White-ball cricket, according to Barclay, is “driving the money”.Men’s Test cricket is also a loss-maker in most instances, but Barclay doesn’t mind that because, according to him, “men’s Test cricket represents the history and legacy of the game – it is what makes the game unique”. The fact that women have been playing Test cricket since 1934 – far longer than men in Pakistan (first Test, 1952) and Sri Lanka (first Test, 1982), and almost as long as men in India (first Test, 1932), appears to have escaped his attention.Related

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Barclay was simply reiterating an existing ICC policy. Since the ICC took over women’s cricket in 2005, only 20 women’s Tests have been played. The majority of those (11) have been between England and Australia; South Africa have played two, India seven, and New Zealand and West Indies none at all. Compare that with the first 71 years of international women’s cricket, where multi-Test series between all these countries were the norm, and you realise that the ICC has done a very effective job, under its watch, of undermining the very existence of women’s Test cricket.The ICC’s follow-up statement, issued to ABC after criticism of Barclay’s remarks, suggests they are surprised that anyone is bothered about their lack of encouragement for women’s Tests. “To focus on the lack of growth in Test cricket is to ignore a huge section of the sport,” it says. “The growth of women’s cricket is one of the strategic priorities of the ICC strategy and the game has grown significantly in the 17 years since its integration with the ICC… Test cricket can be played by Members, but the ICC has chosen to focus its investment on the white ball game to accelerate the growth and engage broadcasters and commercial partners so we can achieve a long-term sustainable future for the game.” Pointing to success stories including joint T20 World Cups with the men, more broadcasting of women’s cricket, and a packed-out MCG for the standalone 2020 World Cup final, the statement concludes: “This investment has been fantastic for the women’s game.” The undertone to these remarks is pretty clear: women’s cricket should be grateful for what it has got from the ICC.ICC chair Greg Barclay sees little scope for women’s cricket in the future, choosing instead to throw his weight behind white-ball formats•Kai Schwoerer/ICC/Getty ImagesThe players don’t agree. For the England squad, thrilled at the prospect of their first Test against South Africa since 2003, as well as for players across the world, the idea that a bunch of men sitting on the ICC board can dictate to them that they shouldn’t be playing cricket’s premier format is infuriating.Could there be a different way?Sometimes I dream of an alternative universe, where the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC) didn’t vote to dissolve itself in 2005, handing over charge of women’s cricket to the ICC. This isn’t completely far-fetched. When discussions about working more closely with the men were first mooted, the IWCC, which had run women’s cricket single-handedly since 1958, hoped it could remain in existence as a section of the ICC. Their 1999 governance report concluded that they could “move to becoming a sub group of the ICC board responsible for the development of women’s cricket… A separate development officer and administrator for women’s cricket would exist but would report directly to the [ICC] CEO.”Had that happened, it’s likely women’s Test cricket would have continued to be played across the world – albeit still with a reduced number of matches, given the subsequent rise of T20. An IWCC survey conducted in 2000, five years before the merger, showed that “all countries indicated support for a combination of Test and one-day cricket”; the Women’s Cricket Association of India felt that “without Tests, women’s cricket would be seen as having no Test players and the game would suffer” – a remark that has proved prescient.In this alternative history, women’s voices would have been heard much more loudly across the ICC. The IWCC Committee, which ran the women’s game, was a women-only affair; men were not permitted to represent the IWCC or to act as delegates at council meetings. Those who were involved knew women’s cricket intimately, having served at the coalface: the last president of the IWCC, Christine Brierley, had been president of the New South Wales Women’s Association, had served on the Australian Women’s Cricket Council for eight years, and had managed the Australian women’s team. Compare that with the ICC’s board of directors (18 directors, of whom one is a woman) and chief executives’ committee (19 CEOs and ex officio members, of whom one is a woman) and the difference is pretty stark.Does this matter? Well, given the critiques of the ICC outlined in the Woolf Report of 2012, and the widely recognised importance of diversity to good governance, the involvement of more women would almost certainly have helped grow the sport more quickly and more effectively.The women’s game can now fill up the MCG for the World Cup on its own. Isn’t it time for it to get an independent committee?•Getty ImagesWhat happened in reality? The suggestion that the IWCC might continue as a sub-group was firmly rejected by the ICC, who insisted on a full takeover. The problem with an IWCC sub-group within the ICC was that it would have too much independence. A joint ICC-IWCC report on women’s cricket published in 2002 concluded with a stark warning to the IWCC, saying that as a separate entity women’s cricket would struggle to be recognised. “The history and tradition of the IWCC are important, but if the IWCC resists change in order to maintain those, it is setting itself up to become an irrelevant body,” the report said.Those running the IWCC were therefore convinced there was no choice but to dissolve the body – which, as we know, took place on 31 May 2005.In the end, what happened that year was a trade-off. As the ICC’s recent statement makes clear, there have been significant advantages to its takeover of the women’s game: not least professionalisation, and the kind of media exposure of which the IWCC could only have dreamt. But in exchange, women’s cricket sacrificed its autonomy, and had to hand over ultimate control to people who – as Barclay’s comments make clear – do not understand the distinctive history of the women’s game.The ICC’s women’s committee, set up in 2005, does contain prominent former players, and has been chaired by a woman, Clare Connor, since 2012. But far from reporting directly to the chief executive, as the IWCC had hoped, all its recommendations have to be approved by the men on the main ICC Board. How much influence does the women’s committee have in reality?Connor is a well-known advocate of women’s Test cricket who a few years ago described the format as “sacred for the players”. Those views have influenced the shape of the game within England, where Tests have continued to be on the agenda. But the men of the ICC have, it seems, paid little attention. It’s pretty obvious where the real power lies.It might be argued that all this is moot: there is no way of going back and redoing the 2005 takeover. But maybe it’s not too late to give some power back to people who know and care about women’s cricket? Maybe, with the recent resurgence of interest in women’s Test cricket, and a women’s game that can now fill the MCG for a World Cup final, it’s time to break away again?Since 2005, only England, Australia and India have played more than five Tests apiece; New Zealand and West Indies have played none•Getty ImagesWhat might this look like in practice? I’m currently researching the history of sporting mergers, and I’ve been pondering this for a while. One plausible first step is devolution. In the same way that certain political territories are given legislation-making powers by national governments, the current women’s cricket committee within the ICC could become the sub-group the IWCC originally asked for. Alongside it would be an equivalent men’s sub-group. Both groups would have their own budgetary autonomy; both would have 50% representation on the ICC board. The women’s group would discuss all issues relating to women’s cricket, and the men’s group would do the same for the men’s game.Should there be an issue which impacts both games, it could be discussed by both groups, who would submit their views to the overarching board for a final decision. But more usually, the new Women’s ICC would have the ability to make decisions independently of those being taken in the men’s game. The revenue from the newly unbundled media rights to women’s cricket would be handed to this new Women’s ICC, who would have the budgetary autonomy to distribute it to members as they see fit. Crucially, members would then be able to use some of this revenue to subsidise the playing of women’s Tests, in the same way that some members currently use ICC funds (plus their own broadcast and commercial earnings) to, effectively, subsidise men’s Test cricket.In the short term, this new structure might create some complexity – individual member boards would have to liaise with a new Women’s ICC and Men’s ICC, rather than one organisation. But they managed this just fine in the pre-2005 days, so I’m sure they could cope. Besides, over the longer term, if all worked well, individual countries might well decide to adopt a similar model at national level. And given that there is resistance by some of the current national boards towards women’s Test cricket – New Zealand Cricket, for example, is thought to be opposed to the format – a mandate from the new Women’s ICC to play more multi-day cricket could have an important trickle-down effect on attitudes at national level.Perhaps we should be looking at the ICC’s reign as a 17-year experiment: does it work when men rule the cricket world? There have been some successes, yes. But wouldn’t it be great to once again have people in charge of women’s cricket whose priority is the women’s game, whose vision for our sport is fully informed by its history, and who are 100% dedicated to its future?

He’s lost three Ranji finals, his body aches and he is a sitting minister – but Tiwary has not stopped dreaming of that elusive title yet

Shashank Kishore04-Jun-2022For the past year, Manoj Tiwary, a sitting minister for youth affairs and sports in West Bengal, has visited his constituency in Shibpur, near Howrah, four days a week. The only exceptions have been for a short while in February-March, for the league phase of the Ranji Trophy, and now, for three weeks, ahead of the quarterfinals.Bengal have made the knockouts for the second straight season. In March 2020, they came heartbreakingly close to winning their first title since the 1989-1990 season, when they had beaten a star-studded Delhi. That 1990 season is remembered for Sourav Ganguly’s grand entry in the final, at the expense of his older brother Snehasish, and current coach Arun Lal’s rich run of form.Two years since the Saurashtra heartbreak, Bengal are trying go one step further and make up for what they couldn’t in Rajkot two years ago. It’s this itch of trying to get his hands on silverware that has kept Tiwary going, despite a wonky back, aching knees, and broken cartilages.Playing the politician – Manoj Tiwary on his campaign run•Manoj TiwaryThe 45-minute drive from Tiwary’s residence in upscale DC Dey Road in EM Bypass to his office at the Secretariat building takes him past Eden Gardens. The glass facade outside the iconic venue has a small photo of the Bengal Ranji champions in a small corner. He wants to put the current team’s photo there.Related

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“This desire to win the Ranji Trophy is still burning bright, it’s that strong sense of achievement and purpose that has kept me going” Tiwary tells ESPNcricinfo. “Growing up, I dreamt of leading Bengal to the title. That couldn’t happen. I then wanted to simply be part of a winning team. We came so close in 2020, but there’s still some unfinished business. I hope we can do it this time. That is my biggest motivation at this stage of my career.”Tiwary has been part of three finals now. In the first in 2005-06, he saw Bengal losing because of a 14-run first-innings deficit to Uttar Pradesh. In 2006-07, they suffered stage fright against Mumbai’s might; Tiwary’s two substantial contributions were the only positives for Bengal in a 132-run defeat.In 2019-20, Tiwary battled with an injured finger after copping a blow trying to evade a short ball. Until the eve of the final, he was withering in pain and had to take painkillers to take the field. Pulling out wasn’t an option, and so he took the field against Saurashtra with pain.”I wanted to play, come what may,” he says. “I have had so many injuries in my career over the years that pain had become second nature by then. I knew if I keep thinking of pain even now, I’m not going to do myself or the team any justice. I did whatever it took to be ready. And similarly, over the last two years, I haven’t let injuries and niggles come in the way of my training.”Even for someone as determined as Tiwary, his body gave him signs to slow down. Late in 2020, a knee injury while in the middle of a weight-training session flared up when his cartilage broke into two fragments. “It was a two-inch piece that broke and was floating inside,” he says. “I took injections to manage the pain and play, but it was really painful. While batting, it hampered my feet movement. I just couldn’t move.”Tiwary gave up playing 50-overs cricket that season to keep himself ready for the Ranji Trophy. Once it became evident the first-class season was going to be a non-starter, he started thinking of other avenues. One of them was IPL commentary in Bengali. While he enjoyed the preparation and the “fun of it”, it “wasn’t the same as playing in it.”Tiwary during his regional IPL commentary gig for Star Sports in Bengali•Manoj TiwaryThis was around the time he got a call from Mamata Banerjee, the current chief minister of West Bengal, to contest in the elections. Over the next four months, he poured in hours and hours of campaigning, often starting at 6am and going on well past midnight, only to repeat the same routine for 45 days at a stretch. It all came to fruition when he was elected as a Member of Parliament from Shibpur, the place he grew up near Howrah.Playing active role in politics while also being a cricketer is unheard of. There have been numerous examples of Indian cricketers entering politics post their playing days – Navjot Sidhu, Kirti Azad and Mohammad Azharuddin come to mind immediately. Tiwary felt he could manage his time well, and the pandemic only helped him set routines that have helped.”I still go through all the files, keep track of work that has been initiated in the constituency, and keep monitoring progress through my team of assistants,” he says. “I’m never switched off that way, even if I’m far away, like now in Bengaluru. I’ve set a routine and my team ensures most things are up to speed. They don’t come to me for every little thing. That allows me to also stay focused on cricket.”Amid his training sessions and constituency work, Tiwary ensures the evenings are free to spend time with his young family. While on tour, it’s his chance to catch up with his mates, many of whom look up to him as an elder brother, for advice. Tiwary, on his part, keeps things light.”You don’t want to keep things too process oriented all the time,” he says. “We enjoy a bit of downtime on tour. We enjoy doing things we like, we bond well. The team spirit and atmosphere within the camp is really good. The previous campaign got us all so close together. We’re a young team and as a senior player, it’s my duty to help them and guide them along the way. I know we’re on the right track. Yes, we didn’t win the trophy two years ago, but if we keep doing what we’ve done so far, it’s just a matter of time.”

One back-up opener outperformed the other, meanwhile, and Hardik Pandya continued his encouraging return to being a full allrounder

Hemant Brar20-Jun-20223:32

Jaffer: Pant in T20s will find it hard to get into a full-strength India XI

In a series where they bounced back from 2-0 down to draw level at 2-2 before rain won the final T20I, India were probably not primarily concerned about the results. With the T20 World Cup in Australia roughly four months away, the main goal was to firm up their plans for the global event. Keeping that in mind, here are their takeaways from the South Africa series.Karthik replicates his success at international level
After a scintillating IPL season, Dinesh Karthik was picked for India in a niche role, one that head coach Rahul Dravid described as an “enforcer” in the last five overs. The question was if he could repeat at the international stage what he did in the IPL. India tried him strictly in the role he was selected for. In the second T20I in Cuttack, they even sent Axar Patel ahead of Karthik at No. 6 in the 13th over to ensure just that. Karthik didn’t disappoint and struck an unbeaten 30 off 21 despite a slow start on a difficult pitch.His best came in the fourth T20I in Rajkot, where he scored 55 off 27 balls to haul India to a winning total. His overall strike rate was 158.62, second only to David Miller’s 165.51 among all batters in the series. There is still some time left for the World Cup, but Karthik doing well has meant Rishabh Pant is now slightly less assured of his spot in the XI, though he has Dravid’s backing.Related

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Back-up opener: Kishan ahead of Gaikwad
With KL Rahul ruled out on the eve of the first T20I and Rohit Sharma rested, both Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad opened throughout the series. The directive was to play an attacking brand of cricket, so both tried to take on the bowlers. Kishan was brutal against spin, scoring 91 runs off 39 balls, but against pace, he could manage only 115 off 98. In all, he scored 206 runs – easily the most in the series – at a strike rate of 150.36.Gaikwad is supposed to be better against fast bowling, and it reflected in his series strike rates too – 133.33 against pace compared to 120.00 against spin. But when the ball moved around, he didn’t always look convincing, and was late on his shots a few times as well. His overall tally of 96 runs – of which 57 came in one innings – ensures Kishan should be well clear of him in the race for the back-up opener’s role.3:20

Were India justified to not make line-up changes?

Bhuvneshwar shows his new-ball class
With Jasprit Bumrah rested, Bhuvneshwar Kumar led India’s pace attack and put in a Player-of-the-Series-worthy performance. He once again showed his skills with the new ball, moving it both ways to keep the South Africa batters in check. After the first match, in which he went for 43 from his four overs, he conceded less than six an over in each of the other games. He finished with six wickets, the joint second-most in the series, and had an overall economy rate of 6.07, the lowest in the series for anyone who bowled more than five overs.”Bhuvi was special in this whole series,” South Africa coach Mark Boucher said after the final T20I, “and he put us under pressure in the powerplay.” With India looking to shortlist a pool of 18 to 20 players for the T20 World Cup, Bhuvneshwar has strengthened his position as one of the four main fast-bowling options alongside Bumrah, Harshal Patel and Mohammed Shami.Iyer fails to grab his chances
Despite many other batters also vying for that one vacant middle-order spot, Shreyas Iyer was in the XI for all five games. However, he ended up with a return of a mere 94 runs at a strike rate of 123.68.In Cuttack, he found himself stuck on a difficult track and laboured for 35 balls for 40 runs. The South Africa seamers also exploited his weakness against short-of-good-length deliveries to keep him quiet, which doesn’t bode well with the fact that the World Cup will be played in Australia where the pitches are expected to be fast and bouncy. With Suryakumar Yadav returning for the Ireland series and Karthik occupying one batting slot, things are not looking rosy for Iyer.Hardik, the allrounder
Hardik Pandya was the cynosure in Gujarat Titans’ IPL-winning run last month. While he didn’t grab many headlines during the South Africa series, he was solid with the bat. Returning to the finisher’s role after batting exclusively at Nos. 3 and 4 for Titans, Hardik crossed 30 in three out of four innings and struck at 153.94 during the series. With the ball, he had an economy rate of 12.20 but India would be happy that he sent down five overs in three innings without any discomfort.

It’s Yuvraj Singh vs Carlos Brathwaite in the final of our greatest men’s T20 World Cup performance fan poll

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2022 • Updated on 22-Oct-2022Voting for the final match-up has ended. Carlos Brathwaite’s 3-23 & 34* against England in the 2016 final has been voted the greatest men’s T20 World Cup performance by fans.Yuvraj Singh’s 70 vs Carlos Brathwaite’s 3-23 & 34*70 (30) vs AUS | Yuvraj Singh | Durban, 2007
India’s young side had made a slow start in the T20 World Cup semi-final and were 41 for 2 at the end of the eighth over. Yuvraj Singh began with a swivel-pull against Stuart Clark – one of the best bowlers of the tournament – for six off the second ball he faced, and smashed a 119-metre pick-up shot off Brett Lee in the next over. His entire innings was like a highlights reel: the 70 off 30 balls included five sixes and as many fours, and he almost single-handedly took India to a match-winning 188.3-23 & 34*(10) vs ENG | Carlos Brathwaite | Kolkata, 2016
Nineteen to win in the final over. Four balls, four sixes. “Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name”! Those hits at Eden Gardens will forever remain part of cricketing folklore. What gets forgotten is that Brathwaite was effective with the ball too: he picked up the key wickets of Jos Buttler and Joe Root to finish with figures of 4-0-23-3. He then came in at No. 8 with West Indies 107 for 6 in 15.3 chasing 156, and took them to their second title in the company of Marlon Samuels.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Seemingly comfortable win undermined by injury concerns and negative net run rate

Danyal Rasool31-Oct-2022Anyone who watched Monday night’s game at the Gabba in bits and pieces, and then allowed the scorecard to fill them in on the rest, would wonder why there was any cause for negativity. Australia beat Ireland by 42 runs. Aaron Finch – whose notoriously scratchy innings against Sri Lanka has dogged him for the past week – was the Player of the Match, smashing eight boundaries, including three sixes, in a 44-ball 63. Mitchell Starc, despite operating as a second-change bowler, found prodigious swing and frightening accuracy in the fourth over, a wicket maiden that saw both the stumps of both Curtis Campher and George Dockrell knocked back, gutting the Irish chase before it could even begin.And yet as the players shook hands, this felt anything like an unequivocally positive day for the hosts and defending champions. Finch, in truth, had struggled for the best part of that innings, which was characterised by lack of timing and some questionable shot selection, particularly in the powerplay. By the end of the 14th over, Finch had managed just 40 off 36 deliveries; his team-mates had scored 68 off 48 in that time. It was only when Mark Adair sent down a horror 11-ball 15th over that Finch finally broke free; the question around whether that had more to do with ordinary bowling than a batter who has truly returned to form seems pertinent.In addition, he was off the field for much of the Ireland innings, nursing a hamstring injury that a scan will reveal more of. It was the other overriding concern that coloured Australia’s view of the win, with Tim David and Marcus Stoinis also going off the field at various points of the second innings, each with hamstring issues.And Starc, who had begun so brightly, ended up conceding 43 off his next three overs, the fourth most expensive figures in his T20I career. The lower-order recovery from Ireland, spearheaded by Lorcan Tucker, who blitzed his way to a 48-ball 71, also extinguished any hopes Australia had of getting close to England – their likely rivals for second place in this group – on net run rate, at least for now. From 25 for 5, Ireland fought their way to 137, meaning even a win against Afghanistan in their final group game might not be enough for Australia to qualify.Starc, speaking afterwards, was keen to draw on the positives for Australia, even as he acknowledged the back end of the Ireland innings didn’t go according to plan for the hosts. “It was obviously different,” he said. “I mean, better to experience it now than in the finals.Related

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“It was still I guess a little bit frantic while they were still striking the ball quite nicely. Probably changed a bit with having Aaron off the field and probably what he was planning to do [might have been different], and I’m not part of the messages or the conversations coming on and off the field. I couldn’t tell you how that affected the guys who ran the show there. We’ll regroup and see where we place when we get to Adelaide.”In effect, Australia’s imperfect victory only shines a further spotlight on the game to follow in Brisbane, with England aware any sort of win against New Zealand puts them in pole position to qualify for the semi-finals. New Zealand’s thumping win over Australia, and the subsequent washout against England, meant Finch’s side could ill-afford to lose any opening to take matters into their own hands. Yet, presented with a golden opportunity after getting rid of the Ireland top order for a pittance, Australia watched as control, if not the two points, slipped out of their grasp.”I guess you could look at that [the net run rate situation],” Starc said. “First and foremost, we need to win these games, so we tick that box. I think we bowled quite well, and generally here at the Gabba in night games when it gets dry, it’s generally a good chasing wicket. Our powerplay was excellent, and we certainly put them on the back foot. I think they tried to stay aggressive and batted quite well throughout the innings.”We won the game, and we move on to Adelaide now. We’ll wait and see what the result is tomorrow and then we could be not having to worry about talking about net run rate.”It was a night on which Australia won, and won fairly comfortably. But how good that victory looks will only become apparent in the next 24 hours, after New Zealand’s game against England on this ground. And for Australia, it’s the loss of that chance to control their own destiny, rather than the win itself, which might end up being the defining characteristic of Monday night’s game at the Gabba.

Life has taken a turn for the better for the 18-year-old fast bowler from Bangladesh in the last two months

Firdose Moonda14-Feb-2023When Marufa Akter was ploughing a field on the farm her father works on during the Covid-19 pandemic, she would not have dreamed that two-and-a-half years later she’d be playing at two World Cups, 10,000 kilometres away.The last month has been surreal for the 18-year-old, who finished as Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker at the Under-19 World Cup, including taking 2 for 29 in their statement win over Australia, and then started the senior tournament with 3 for 23 to announce herself against Sri Lanka. Marufa had been capped five times in white-ball cricket before Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup opener but this was a second introduction, and a bigger one.Related

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She was called on in the fourth over, with Sri Lanka 17 without loss chasing 127, and asked to bowl to one of the most aggressive batters in the tournament – Chamari Athapaththu. Asked if she was nervous, a confident Marufa needed only one word to answer: “No.”And she needn’t have been. One look at her says she’s a fast bowler worth showing respect to. She’s all arms and legs when she runs in: swinging forearms, high elbows, straight back and heels kicking up high. If you’re looking at her side-on, you may only see a blur because that’s how quickly she runs in. She has a smooth action and though she will need to develop some pace as she matures, she has already sussed out lines and lengths. Tempting as it may have been to bowl short on a South African strip, she didn’t go there and instead stuck to her disciplines bowling a stump-to-stump line and largely good length.Marufa Akter is elated after cleaning up Anushka Sanjeewani first ball•Getty ImagesHer third delivery was full on the stumps. Athapaththu tried to drive her over mid-on but miscued and the ball carried to Lata Mondal for a simple catch. In her next over, a similar length delivery induced a drive from Sri Lanka’s Under-19 captain Vishmi Gunaratne, who gave Marufa a simple return catch at waist height. And then came the magic ball. Marufa’s next delivery seamed in from fourth stump and snuck below Anushka Sanjeewani’s bat and took out offstump.Marufa shrieked in celebration not least because she put Bangladesh in the perfect position to break a six-match losing streak against Sri Lanka. They didn’t, but Marufa made her mark and the match ended with many questions about where Bangladesh had unearthed such talent from.With captain Nigar Sultana translating, Marufa said her father was initially hesitant about her pursuing a career in cricket. “First of all, my family was not very supportive because my father is a farmer so he actually wanted me to get a normal job. But day by day when I started doing well, my family actually started supporting me very much.”Marufa Akter was Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker at the Under-19 T20 Women’s World Cup•Getty ImagesIn the end, it was her older brother who encouraged her to keep at cricket. Inspired by Hardik Pandya, who she calls her favourite player, Marufa went on to attend the country’s biggest sports institution: Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) where she learnt some of the skills she showed off on the world’s biggest stage. “I worked very hard during those days. I didn’t think I was a good bowler but my coach, Madam Fatima and Mr Pilu taught me. I want to thank them for giving me, coming from a rural area, the opportunity to play for the national side.”In the depths of lockdown, when she had handed over her first earnings from cricket – from the Cox’s Bazaar training camp – of US$ 412, she would never have imagined that a few years later she would be talked about as someone who should be in the auction for one of the most lucrative leagues – the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Marufa did not put her name up and no Bangladesh player was picked up but, as the team takes on the world’s best, Australia, they’ll have first-hand evidence that they can dare to dream.

“She bowls very nicely. She was certainly someone that we’ve spoken about today, and I’m sure the batters will have a bit of a look at and think about their plans for her.”Australia coach Shelley Nitschke on Marufa Akter

In total, 14 Australian players landed deals, including the joint-biggest one for a foreign player. Ashleigh Gardner sold for approximately INR 3.4 crore (US$390,000 approx), alongside Nat Sciver-Brunt. Those amounts may sound other-worldly for someone from Marufa’s background but she has managed to impress other teams.”I saw her bowling. She bowls very nicely,” Australia’s head coach Shelley Nitschke said on Marufa. “She was certainly someone that we’ve spoken about today, and I’m sure the batters will have a bit of a look at and think about their plans for her. She was fantastic last night, so we certainly need to be on the lookout for her when she gets the ball in hand.”If you’d told Marufa who could not even go to the practice because her family could not afford to send her there as the pandemic raged on that she would soon earn the praise of the coach of the top team in the world, she may not have believed you. Now, she’s getting the experience many cricketers can only dream of, at back-to-back World Cups against the best batters in the world. It’s still early days in the T20 World Cup, but if we had to pick the player with the most promise so far, it would be difficult to look past Marufa.

The last round of group matches helped us go from 38 teams to only eight, with the quarter-finalists identified

Shashank Kishore27-Jan-2023The 2022-23 Ranji Trophy is set to enter its business end, with the quarter-finals line-up having been decided on Friday.


Madhya Pradesh, the defending champions, will have a shot at a second straight title while Mumbai, runners-up of the previous season, are out in dramatic circumstances. Bengal, whose Ranji dream was scuppered in the 2020 final, and Karnataka, without first-class silverware since 2014-15, will be making a serious pitch. Punjab will be looking to shed bridesmaid status, while Andhra have gotten this far courtesy a mix of excellent cricket and a massive stroke of luck.Then there are tickets for Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Saurashtra, who will be without three key players. Jaydev Unadkat, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja are all part of India’s Test squad to face Australia and will be part of a preparatory camp in Nagpur from February 2.

The stars align for Andhra

“Four wins out of seven but we are gutted to miss the knockouts. We’ll come back stronger next year.” That was Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, expressing the genuine disappointment of missing out on the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals soon after beating Assam in Vizianagaram.Andhra had achieved their share of the bargain by winning with a bonus point but needed a miracle to qualify. They needed the Mumbai-Maharashtra game to not only end in a draw, but also with neither side taking a first-innings lead. And it happened. A first-innings tie actually happened.Then, Maharashtra stumbled to 58 for 5 in their second dig, eliciting prospects of a Mumbai win, only for the lower-order pair of Azim Kazi (75) and Saurabh Nawale (47) adding vital runs to propel Maharashtra to 252. This meant Mumbai needed 253 in 28 overs, and they made quite a dash but eventually ran out of time. They were 195 for 6 in 27.3 overs when play ended.ESPNcricinfo LtdBoth sides will have plenty of time to reflect on the what-ifs. But that such an unlikely possibility of a tied first innings came to Andhra’s rescue is quite a story.In 87 previous Ranji Trophy seasons, there had been only nine instances of first-innings scores being tied. And when Mumbai were tottering at 238 for 6 in response to Maharashtra’s 384, Andhra’s hopes were on the mat. A lead would have propelled Maharashtra to 28 points, enough to secure the second quarterfinal berth from Elite Group B, behind Saurashtra. But there was a twist.Prasad Pawar, 27, may have not played had Hardik Tamore not been injured. Mumbai’s reserve wicketkeeper was thrust right into the fight and he had to bat out of his skin to keep the team in the hunt for a first-innings lead that would give them a berth in the knockouts.Pawar’s first two outings were far from memorable. Now here he was, promoted to No. 3 against a competent Maharashtra attack on a challenging Brabourne Stadium surface. He saw the entire middle order crumble. He had to now bat with the lower order to try and make a match of it. And he did a darn good job, stonewalling the bowlers to bring up a maiden first-class century in just his third match.Related

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Pawar found an ally in Tanush Kotian, the allrounder who kept battling even with six stitches in his right hand. An almost rookie and a guy struggling to hold the bat put on 68 to take Mumbai to within 78 runs of Maharashtra’s score. But at 306 for 6, Pawar fell for 145. Kotian kept going with Tushar Deshpande and Mohit Avasthi to take Mumbai within touching distance.When Avasthi fell, Mumbai needed 12 to tie and 13 to take a lead with one wicket standing. A lead would’ve given Mumbai, last season’s runners-up, a doorway into the knockouts. But then with scores level at 384, Kotian went for an expansive sweep against the turn to left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal, only to miss the ball altogether. The stumps were knocked back and Mumbai finished exactly on the same score as Maharashtra. Heartbreak.A few minutes later, Vihari’s tweet of anguish disappeared. Perhaps he knew now that with just four sessions left in the match, Mumbai and Maharashtra may not have the time to force an outright result.

Basant Mohanty signs off in style

Just prior to the start of his final first-class game, Odisha’s workhorse Basant Mohanty wanted to tick off one last box from his wishlist: dismissing Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary before he leaves the first-class stage. Nearly 15 years ago in Siliguri, Mohanty had dismissed Tiwary for his maiden first-class scalp. At Eden, Mohanty did as he wished for, dismissing Tiwary in the second innings. Odisha went on to win by an innings to record their first victory of the season. Mohanty’s overall numbers read a mighty impressive 403 wickets in 105 matches at an average of 20.97. Bengal, however, qualified as Group A toppers.

A tribute tweet 4 a champion bowler who says goodbye 2 cricket in his last game against us here at Eden. 400 first class wicket at an average of 20 is a remarkable achievement. He reminded me yesterday that I was his debut wkt nd he wants 2 finish it with my wkt.
Basant Mohanty pic.twitter.com/aoj8lILGUD

— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) January 25, 2023