With a new format in place, it is now possible for the team finishing bottom of the league stage to go on and win the tournament

Daniel Brettig21-Jun-2018

Finish last and you can still win the cup? Not since Fitzroy did so in a truncated 1916 VFL season has Australian sport been confronted by the sort of “everybody’s in it” scenario thrown up by Cricket Australia’s newly unveiled domestic limited-overs tournament.At a time when the flatlining performance of the ODI team is under major scrutiny, CA’s head of cricket operations Peter Roach has revealed that a reluctance to reduce the number of games played by competing teams in a World Cup year was behind the decision to allow all six states to take part in the knockout matches of the tournament in September and October, irrespective of where they finished after the qualifying matches.Sheffield Shield dispenses with pink ball

There will be no day/night Sheffield Shield matches in 2018-19 for the first time in some years after the BCCI’s refusal to allow for the scheduling of a pink ball Test between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval in December.
As a result of this decision, all rounds of the Shield will be played in daylight, though the second half of the season, following the Big Bash League, will again use Dukes balls by way of affording players the chance to use a similar ball to the one used in England, with an Ashes tour of England looming in 2019. The Shield final has been retained despite a tighter schedule due to extra BBL matches.
“We commend CA for retaining the Sheffield Shield final,” said the ACA’s operations manager Brendan Drew. “For the players, the Sheffield Shield final is a key element of the Australian cricket summer, given it provides a high-pressure environment that compares to Test matches. Coming into a World Cup and Ashes year, a competitive schedule with finals is vital to prepare players for the tough international fixtures we will face.”
Drew was more critical of the fact that the women’s domestic league remains a brief, carnival-style event, put very much in the shade of the WBBL. “Female players have indicated strongly in recent years they would like to play more domestic cricket,” he said. “Moving forward, our schedule must provide further opportunities to play 50-over and longer-form cricket, which is seen as the pinnacle in the women’s game.”

The governing body heeded requests from state associations to remove the developmental CA XI from the tournament after three seasons, but in an effort to ensure all teams played at least as many games (six) as in previous editions, the knockouts were opened up to a system of third playing sixth and fourth versus fifth for the right to meet teams one and two in the semi-finals. It is a judgment that has caused plenty of furrowed brows around the cricket community over the past 24 hours.Roach told ESPNcricinfo that once the call had been made to dispense with the CA XI because the states argued that they were now providing better opportunities for younger players, there was a conundrum around how to ensure teams were not playing fewer matches as a result. Given the parlous state of Australia’s ODI team currently touring England, a significant reduction in the number of domestic 50-over games was not a welcome prospect.”We get back to every game being really strong and experienced state teams, much like the mantra around the world to create a great first-class competition is that you want fewer teams, and we fortunately have got six and the states wanted to get back to every game being a real quality contest,” Roach said. “The trade-off with that of course is that then to keep the same number of games; you either have an uneven spread of opposition or you double it – if you keep it the same you drop a game [for every team]. So that was where we were at and the discussion came that we don’t necessarily do that in a World Cup year, so how can we rectify that.”Equally there’s the importance of playing knockout games when you get to the big tournaments like a World Cup. You do have knockout games and plenty of them towards the end of a tournament where Australia has been very successful historically at winning those, we believe that playing knockout games of some number is worthwhile to get to the right outcome. We looked at the model we ended up coming up with, and while it is true that you can still win it from sixth, I think it’s fair to say that won’t be the priority for teams to try to finish sixth knowing they can win it.”If you finish one and two you get straight through to the semi-finals, you’d like to think that three versus six there’s a team that’s been pretty successful in those five games and finished third and a team that’s been unsuccessful finished sixth. So we still think there’s an advantage to finishing top two, and the gap between third and sixth will be a good advantage to try to finish third as well. Having five knockout games at the end of the tournament was seen as a real positive.”Responding to questions about the format raised by numerous significant figures – players and coaches contacted by ESPNcricinfo termed the concept “strange” and said it would make the tournament “irrelevant”, among kinder assessments – Roach said that CA, the state associations and the Australian Cricketers’ Association understood there would be opposition when they made the call. Unfavourable comparisons have been made with junior competitions, where participation is emphasised over performance.”I don’t think any of us were naive enough to think there wasn’t going to be discussion about it, we see and hear it every year in other competitions around the country that half or more than half of the teams get in the finals,” Roach said. “What we have here is a very short competition in comparison to the Sheffield Shield as a much longer competition.”What we do want to do is give our players the best opportunity to perform and put their name forward for higher honours, but equally we want to see the best team triumph in that tournament and have six really strong teams going hell for leather every game. On balance, the view is that not having the CA XI in there creates a more vigorous home-and-away competition and then the knockout games going through to the final makes those games all count. The trade-off is that the sixth team has a chance to win, they do take the long road, but potentially if they’re good enough they’ll win it.”Fourteen of the games are set to be broadcast by Fox Sports, CA’s new television rights partner, with the remainder streamed on the governing body’s website. Roach said that after five years of holding the domestic limited-overs tournament as a standalone event at the start of the season, there remained strong opposition to splitting games up between Sheffield Shield games on the basis that switching formats at that stage of the season is seen as highly likely to result in injuries for fast bowlers.”The commentary on mixing one-dayers throughout the four-day season is always there and at times like this people revert back to asking ‘why can’t we do it’,” Roach said. “The body of evidence is very strong that putting fast bowlers through changing formats of the game is not in their best interests and the feedback from state coaches is that having windows for competitions is a real priority in terms of best coaching players to improve, which is very similar to how we set up our international season in blocks of games.”We don’t play the first Test match then an ODI and back to a Test match. We are trying to replicate wherever possible what they get at the next stage and that’s proven beneficial in keeping our best players on the park and playing more often. We are committed to keeping it in a window, the best time of year to do that at the moment is at the front of the season, but continually we’re assessing the best place to play this tournament and the best mechanics to develop players from it.”More broadly, Roach acknowledged that the health of the Test team was a higher strategic priority than performances in ODI series outside of World Cups, as demonstrated by the way the 50-over tournament is played at the outer fringe of the season on smaller grounds, with as many Sheffield Shield matches as possible staged closer to summer at major venues. This contrasts with the way England have pushed the county competition to the edges of the season, with 50-overs cricket in a more central place.”It is a real balancing act to balance up the needs of all parts of the business,” Roach said. “Test cricket being a priority, we’ve prioritised the Shield landscape and we’ve maintained having a strong six-team Shield competition of 10 rounds and a final is the best way to produce good quality players for Australia. We still aim to win the World Cup, that’s a high priority for us and having this competition where it is, we believe is the best way for this year.”Does everyone believe that around the country? Clearly not and we wouldn’t expect them to, but all of our discussions and strategies are in place to lead towards this being the best outcome for us. That includes international cricket, Big Bash League, Australia A tours, they all form part of the picture of best preparing players for Australia, and best promoting our sport to the people of Australia.”A constant battle with any sport around the country is getting access to your best and biggest venues with competing priorities now and we need to balance where best to play our games when those venues are available. We see a bigger gap in terms of playing Shield cricket on our major venues where the Test matches are played and you take those to some of our minor venues around the country and you see a big difference in the pitches and facilities at those venues. We see less of a difference in terms of one-day cricket – I’m not saying there’s not a difference – but less of a difference. We also acknowledge playing in different conditions for one-day cricket is not a great detriment to the rounding of a player.”

Georgina Rodriguez paid a strange tribute to her partner, Cristiano Ronaldo, as she wore a 'Ronaldo 7' dress on the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week.

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• Georgina wears Ronaldo 7 dress
• Ronaldo signs shirt for Vetements
• Al-Nassr face Al-Ain

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The model walked down the catwalk at the Vetements show wearing the bizarre red dress that was seemingly styled on a Manchester United home kit, adorned with the Ronaldo's name and iconic shirt number. The dress was also signed by Ronaldo to Vetements, as though the Portuguese superstar was doing the brand a favour.

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  It's not yet clear whose idea it was for Georgina to take to the catwalk wearing a tribute to her partner Ronaldo, although it is likely it was a publicity stunt by luxury Swiss fashion house Vetements. It is sure to cause a mixed reaction in fashion circles.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO?

  Perhaps with one eye on the fashion world as a post-career venture, Ronaldo will switch his focus back to football as Al-Nassr face Al Ain in the AFC Champions League on Monday. The Portuguese forward returns to the pitch after serving a one match ban for an obscene gesture in his side's victory over Al-Shabab.

Some will nod their heads in satisfaction; few will wax lyrical about Newcastle United's performance on their return to Champions League football.

Having travelled to the San Siro for a much-anticipated tie to kickstart the Magpies' European campaign, Eddie Howe's side dug in deep to rebuff an AC Milan onslaught, thanks to a Nick Pope masterclass between the sticks – hailed as the "great wall of San Siro" by the Chronicle's Lee Ryder – and finishing with a goalless draw.

While a point away from home is not a bad way to start a Champions League group phase consisting of Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund alongside I Rossoneri, it's "still not clicking on the whole", as journalist Craig Hope would put it.

Indeed, Newcastle started the Premier League season with aplomb after finishing fourth last term, dismantling Aston Villa 5-1 at St. James' Park, but then swallowed three successive defeats against Manchester City, Liverpool, Brighton & Hove Albion, before securing a slender victory over Brentford last time out.

Against Milan, the Magpies can take solace in their resilience and workrate against a Serie A side who threatened throughout but failed to dominate in their historic home stadium, despite taking 25 shots to Newcastle's six.

The contest marked the return to his Italian homeland for playmaking midfielder Sandro Tonali, who joined Newcastle in a £55m transfer from, as fate would have it, AC Milan in July.

How did Tonali play against AC Milan?

The midfielder hasn't quite hit the ground running despite bagging on his debut against the Villans, and against his former outfit, he was culpable of a meek display, completing just seven of his ten passes and winning only one of his six duels.

Withdrawn after 72 minutes, Hope also noted that the 23-year-old was "struggling to impact" upon his return to his old stomping ground, having also failed to make a key pass and squandered possession nine times, despite having just 20 touches of the football.

While Tonali did struggle, it was striker Alexander Isak who cut the bleakest figure on a miserable night for the Swedish striker, having failed to make an impact or even affect the game with any shred of positivity.

How did Alexander Isak perform vs AC Milan?

Isak, also aged 23, did not enjoy his most fruitful fortunes for Howe's side up front, with presenter Kev Lawson remarking that the ace looked "knackered" and needed "hooking" during the game. Such a statement is a worry considering he didn't even play last weekend.

Isak did enjoy more of the ball than his Italian teammate, taking 34 touches and actually completing 18 of his 20 passes at a completion rate of 90%.

He failed to do much with it though, succeeding with just one of his five dribble attempts and failing to unleash a single shot on Mike Maignan's goal, ineffective and seeing his threat negated – in isolation, adrift from his peers.

Ryder was particularly scathing in his post-match player ratings, branding Isak with a lowly 6/10 and writing: 'A spectator at times and lost the ball cheaply. Didn't manage a shot.'

Capping off his post-match thoughts, Howe mused that "it could be a vital point, who knows?", having avoided defeat on their return to the big time.

Perhaps. And there were certainly encouraging signs for the Tyneside club, but their star signings in Isak and Tonali will need to click into gear with a bit more inspiration if they are to advance from the 'group of death' of this year's edition of Europe's pre-eminent club competition.

Sam and Tom Curran are closing in on a special feat after both were named in England’s T20 squad for the series against Australia and India

George Dobell19-Jun-2018Sam and Tom Curran are set to become the first brothers to play together for England this century having been named in the England
squad for the Vitality T20I series against Australia and India.The Surrey pair, who have both played international cricket but never in the same side, are set to become the first brothers to represent
England at the same time since Ben and Adam Hollioake – also of Surrey – played an ODI against Sri Lanka in Sydney in 1999.With both Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes missing the series due to injury – Stokes will be with the squad throughout the series as he continues his rehabilitation from his torn left hamstring – both Currans have every chance of appearing in an England side that has won only one of their last five and three of their last 10 IT20 matches.There is no place in the squad for Sam Billings, Dawid Malan, Liam Dawson or James Vince – all of whom were in the squad for the
tri-series tournament also involving Australia and New Zealand earlier this year – while Mark Wood, who has struggled to maintain his top
pace in the ODI series against Australia, is rested.Mooen Ali, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, who were rested from the previous IT20 tri-series, return while Jake Ball is recalled.Stokes could be added to the squad if he is deemed to have returned to full fitness.England IT20 squad
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jake Ball (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire)Fixtures:
June 27: England v Australia, Edgbaston (6.30pm BST); July 3: England v India, Emirates Old Trafford (5.30pm BST); July 6: England v India, Cardiff (5.30pm BST); July 8: England v India, Sunday July 8, Bristol (2pm BST)

The batsman broke a dressing-room window – accidentally, he says – after being timed out in a Lancashire League match

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2018Fawad Alam has made a million runs in domestic cricket, approximately, and all those runs have taken him to England. Not to be in Pakistan’s Test squad, of course, but to play as a professional in the Lancashire League. Life cannot be great when you’re so near and yet so far from your national team, and life has only got worse for Fawad, who has now inflicted harm upon an unsuspecting pane of glass after being dismissed in the most unusual manner.Playing for Clitheroe Cricket Club, Fawad broke a dressing-room window after being adjudged timed out in a T20 match against Colne Cricket Club on Friday, while walking in at No. 3 at the fall of opener Thomas Lord’s wicket.Speaking to Geo TV, Fawad said he had broken the window accidentally, while attempting to fling his bat into his kitbag. He did not, however, deny his disappointment at the manner of his dismissal, since he felt he had reached the crease in time.”According to the law the incoming batsman must take the wicket within two minutes but the umpire gave me timed out before the allocated time and asked me to leave,” Fawad said. “I eventually had to leave. I was infuriated, which is quite obvious when something like this happens to you. So when I went back to the dressing room I threw my bat towards my bag which I had kept some distance away, near the window, only to hit the window by mistake. It was unintentional and unfortunately it was unnecessarily blown out of proportion.”Never in my whole career has a finger been pointed at me for indiscipline, so this Lancashire League incident was unfortunate and painful for me.”According to Law 40.1, the incoming batsman actually has three minutes, and not two, to be in his crease after the fall of the previous wicket: “After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batsman, the incoming batsman must, unless Time has been called, be in position to take guard or for the other batsman to be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be out, Timed out.”Timed out was added to the MCC’s Laws of Cricket only in 1980, and is an exceedingly rare dismissal. It has only occurred a handful of times at first-class level, most notably in 2002 when the West Indies fast bowler Vasbert Drakes found himself stuck in an airplane – on his way from the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka to play a domestic game in South Africa – when his turn to bat arrived.As for breaking windows, Matt Prior was involved in a similar incident after being run out during the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka in 2011 – a rebounding bat blamed for showering glass on MCC members below the England dressing room.

Middlesex have not played a Vitality Blast for nearly a fortnight and Corey Anderson ensured things went no better after they picked up their season

ECB Reporters Network19-Jul-2018

ScorecardPowerful New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson bludgeoned Somerset to a convincing four-wicket win over Middlesex at Lord’s. Anderson’s 39 off 24 balls proved decisive, Middlesex left to rue dropping him when he was on two.The drop was one of two caught and bowled chances missed by Middlesex as for the third game running their bowling and fielding wasn’t able to defend the score they had put on the board. Out of action for not far short of a fortnight, they remain marooned near the foot of the table with one win in four games.The result was harsh on youngster Max Holden, whose 84 was the backbone of their 175 for 5. Dwayne Bravo also featured strongly for Middlesex with a sparkling cameo and two wickets in as many balls.Dan Vettori, Middlesex’s coach, said: “”I don’t think we misread the wicket – we probably misread what we thought was a good total. We obviously struggled through those middle stages, but coming off the field we thought 175 was a pretty good score at Lord’s. But Somerset really came at us so aggressively, they took the game to us and won it comfortably in the end.”With Dawid Malan away, Max had an opportunity to bat and to show a style of play we’re really happy with. Middlesex have high hopes for him in all formats and the nature of his innings today in front of a big crowd is a real positive.”In the scheme of things, you need seven or eight wins to make the quarter-final. That affords you six or seven losses but you don’t want to put them away so early. The key is to remain positive because if you don’t those losses will keep mounting up. Hampshire tomorrow’s probably the most important game of the season for us and it can see us back on track.”Talking T20 Podcast

Dan Norcross and David Hopps desperately try to recall the latest news from 18 counties
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Eoin Morgan opted to bat on winning the toss and openers Paul Stirling and Holden produced a bright start with 27 in three overs. But Stirling perished at the hands of Roelof van der Merwe when his paddle to the final ball of the fourth over failed to clear short backward square.Former England U19s captain Holden continued to attack, hitting successive fours off Craig Overton as Middlesex reached 52 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay.The boundaries though dried up and Stevie Eskinazi holed out in the deep off Max Waller in search of much-needed acceleration.Holden completed 50 from 36 balls and eventually found the fence hoisting Waller (2-23) over deep mid-on. However, the spinner gained ample compensation in the same over when castling Morgan.Holden (84) responded by hitting Craig Overton for the first six of the game and another followed before one swing too many saw him bowled by the excellent Van der Merwe (2-26).But overseas aces Bravo and debutant Ashton Agar supplied late impetus, the former hitting three sixes in succession as he raced to 32 off just 12 balls.Agar struck early in the visitors’ reply having Steven Davies superbly caught by Stirling, but South African Johann Myburgh took heavy toll of a fit again Steven Finn, hitting him for a six and successive fours.Agar too was smashed over long on for a maximum, Myburgh drilling the next ball back to the Australian who shelled the difficult chance of a return catch – a huge moment in the game.Peter Trego, so often the scourge of Middlesex, rubbed salt in the wounds by plundering another maximum from the last delivery of the spinner’s over.Tom Helm brought no respite as he too was pulled into the Allen stand as 50 came up inside five overs.Bravo’s introduction into the attack brought a new twist to the drama as he first uprooted Myburgh’s middle stump to end a belligerent innings of 46 from 27 balls, before trapping James Hildreth lbw with his next delivery, leaving Somerset 59 for 3.Despite the double blow Somerset refused to be becalmed, Trego (32) again sending Agar beyond the ropes, but they were pegged back once more when he missed a short one from Nathan Sowter to be leg before.The biggest moment came when Sowter dropped a ball driven straight back at him by Anderson, the Kiwi celebrating the second chance by hitting Bravo back over his head for six in the next over and following it with three more off Sowter.He eventually holed out in the deep off Helm (2-29) who then bowled Tom Abell, but the damage was done and Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory hit the winning boundary with 12 balls to spare.

Stumps Shane Dowrich leaps to celebrate his second Test hundred•AFP

For 325 balls, Shane Dowrich resisted. It wasn’t pretty work. Most of it was defence, seeing out the swinging new ball in the morning, then deadbatting the turning deliveries from the spinners in the afternooon. But for West Indies, Dowrich’s fight, and the 70-plus partnerships he forged with Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach were invaluable. From 145 for 5, the hosts dragged themselves to 414 for 8 – a score Jason Holder felt comfortable enough to declare on. Then their quicks brought the fire. In the 10 overs they had at Sri Lanka before stumps, they had the batsmen jiving and jerking – Shannon Gabriel consistently breaching the 140kph mark. They were rewarded with three wickets, and consequently, a firm grip on this match.Sri Lanka, remember, are playing with only six specialist batsmen. Dinesh Chandimal survived the 31 balls he faced before stumps. He had Roshen Silva for company at the end of the day. If Sri Lanka are to get close to West Indies’ score in this innings, these two batsmen, along with Niroshan Dickwella who is to come next, will have to produce substantial scores.But it was to Dowrich that the day belonged. Having resumed on 46 in a rain-curtailed first session, he reached his half-century with a boundary off the third ball of the day, but then continued batting with caution, as he had late on day one. Largely, he waited for the shorter balls to venture his more aggressive strokes, the majority of his runs coming on the legside. Meanwhile, at the other end, Bishoo scored a few early runs off the outside edge, and eventually settled into a rhythm himself.Theirs was not hair-raising batting, but it ground Sri Lanka down. Suranga Lakmal was the best of the visitor’s bowlers, consistently beating the bat in the early overs, before later preventing runs and building pressure. The others, though, could not maintain the standard. The spinners were comfortably negotiated, partly because this pitch had not begun to take turn yet. Lahiru Kumara bowled a threatening delivery occasionally, but Lahiru Gamage was at times a little wayward, even on the occasions when he found some movement off the pitch.Dowrich had been in no hurry to reach triple figures, spending 42 balls in the nineties. But after he crossed over to triple figures on the stroke of tea, West Indies’ scoring rate began to improve. Roach hit the spinners down the ground, and found plenty of singles into the outfield, as he progressed to 39 before drilling Kumara aerially to mid off. By the time they declared, with just under an hour left to play, West Indies’ sixth, seventh and eighth wicket parnterships had yielded 90, 102 and 75 respectively – Bishoo the best among the lower order batsmen, seeing out 160 deliveries while hitting 40 runs. Sri Lanka had once been hopeful of knocking the hosts over for less than 200 at one stage. They would instead have to reply to a formidable score.And they could not have begun worse. Spotting a wide ball from Roach, Kusal Perera threw his bat first ball, and because he had not accounted for the away movement, managed to only toe-end that delivery to backward point. Kusal Mendis, the other opener would not last much longer, edging Gabriel to Holder at third slip in the fourth over. Angelo Mathews should have been dismissed next ball, but Holder spilled a much simpler chance than the one he had just snaffled. No matter. Gabriel peppered Mathews with bouncers, once hitting him on the back of the helmet as he nce attempted to duck. Clearly rattled by this barrage, Mathews failed to last until stumps, eventually edging holder himself to the slips. There was a little contention over that dismissal, as to whether Holder had overstepped, but the replays did not discern definitively either way.

The English Football League (EFL) announced its new blockbuster, oversees broadcasting rights deal on Tuesday, worth £148 million ($188m).

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• EFL expand broadcasting globally
• New deal worth £148m
• Championship and Wrexham key factors

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The EFL confirmed in a statement that the move to expand their viewership had been accepted by clubs, meaning a lucrative new deal could be pushed through. The competition is set to receive £148m over the next four seasons to show games outside the United Kingdom – with a mission to plant roots in America.

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  The deal sees two agencies, Pitch International and Relevant Sports, represent the EFL globally. Pitch International provide EFL rights in Europe, MENA and other regions, whereas Relevant Sports will target distribution throughout North, Central and South America. The aim will be to develop the profile of clubs from the Championship to League Two – including Carabao Cup, EFL trophy and promotion play-offs – in said regions through targeted marketing campaigns.

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  WHAT THE EFL SAID

  EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “These new agreements represent not only guaranteed levels of revenue but also present the League and our 72 clubs with a fantastic opportunity to establish further the EFL as a premium football brand in markets across the world. In Pitch and Relevent we have two partners with an in-depth understanding of the global TV rights markets and that knowledge, coupled with the enthusiasm of their teams, will hopefully ensure we achieve our objective of delivering value to Clubs alongside taking EFL football to as wide an audience as possible outside the UK.”

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  The popularity of the English Championship and continued rise of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Wrexham are thought to be two deciding factors in this expansion. According to the , the Championship is one of the most-watched leagues in Europe outside of the Premier League, while Wrexham's escapades under their Hollywood owners have generated viewer interest in the plights of lower-league sides.

The camaraderie – and needle – in the lead-up to the women’s exhibition T20 match in Mumbai is at a high; so is the desire to grow the game and share cricketing knowledge

Annesha Ghosh in Mumbai22-May-20182:55

Exhibition T20 a precursor to women’s IPL

Ten months on from that scintillating World Cup semi-final performance, Harmanpreet Kaur has satisfied one of her long-held desires: to bat alongside one of her “favourite players” – Australia captain Meg Lanning.Ten months on from India fluffing their lines in a thrilling World Cup final, Smriti Mandhana’s self-proclaimed “boring” teetotal habits has found her an admirer in England batsman Danielle Wyatt.Ten months on from helping make either match-up possible for India at the World Cup, Veda Krishnamurthy has won over New Zealand allrounders Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine with “awesome chats”.

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Not for the first time has Harmanpreet, Mandhana or Krishnamurthy rubbed shoulders with non-India internationals; at the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia it’s been the norm since 2016. But for them – or any of their 17 India team-mates – to train at the Wankhede Stadium alongside ten top overseas players, to move to Bhangra numbers on team-bus rides, to discuss “life and cricket” during a welcome dinner at the iconic Taj hotel in Mumbai… Their journey these past few days has already become as momentous as their destination: the first ever Women’s T20 Challenge, set up as a double-header with the men’s IPL Qualifier 1.”When I went to Big Bash, all of them used to ask, ‘When is IPL starting?’ and I had no answer for them,” Mandhana, one of the captains in the one-off exhibition match, recalls on the eve of game.Annesha Ghosh

But now, as she prepares to lead Bates and her New Zealand team-mate Lea Tahuhu, Australian duo Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney, and England offspinner Danielle Hazell, Mandhana could possibly venture a tentative answer: not too long from now.

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Ten years ago, Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy had been watching Brendon McCullum “start the IPL with a bang”, live at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Then part of an age-group New South Wales cricket tour, the now best friends will be facing off at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.”Looking at world figures for major sporting tournaments, the IPL’s right up there in terms of crowd numbers along with NFL and Superbowl,” Perry said after training with her team, the IPL Supernovas, at the Brabourne Stadium. “From a female perspective that’s what we want to do: bring in more fans to the game, people who like watching the women’s game, appreciate the skill and nuances of the game, and also get to have their own heroes in different teams.”That, Perry believes, is the “real goal” for women’s cricket, and the match showcasing the best in women’s T20 at the IPL is a “huge landmark” in planning for the same.For Healy, who jokes about having “a bit too much of a personality” for her Trailblazers captain Mandhana to handle, the camaraderie that has blossomed in the two days’ of interaction between players is as important.”Obviously, going to the IPL and seeing all the boys learning off one another is really important for the game of cricket in general, and I don’t think women’s cricket has had that for very long,” Healy says. “There’s the Big Bash and [England’s] Kia Super League, but for us to be able to come over here and mingle with the Indian players especially and learn how to play better in their conditions, it’s only going to improve women’s cricket all around the world.”

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Suzie Bates is aware of the threats that await her in the future, both near and not so near. “I have played a lot of cricket against Jhulan Goswami, but over the past two days, I’ve had a few battles with [legspinner] Poonam Yadav in the nets. So [India T20I vice-captain] Smriti has already warned me the next time India play New Zealand, I’ll have to deal with a lot of overs from Poonam.’Annesha Ghosh

While chuckling at the prospect, Bates takes a moment to emphasise how alive she is to the immediate challenges at hand, especially from her New Zealand team-mate allrounder Sophie Devine.”They [Trailblazers] have really solid batting line-up. Meg Lanning, the way Danni Wyatt’s been batting, and Mithali Raj is a great ambassador for the game. I do enjoy having Sophie Devine in my team, but having her in the opposition is not going to be too much fun.”

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In the closing moments of the nets session at the Brabourne Stadium, Devine walks up to the India quick-bowling allrounder and her Supernovas team-mate Pooja Vastrakar. A brief, animated chat later, Vastrakar ends her session with a string of lofted strokes over an imaginary infield and a few flamboyant strokes down the ground.Putting aside these obvious benefits of such young India internationals meeting and mixing with the best in the women’s game, there are more advantages to be had by the next tier of players too. One of the four back-up players for India’s forthcoming Asia Cup, young quick bowler Sukanya Parida, isn’t part of either squads for Tuesday’s match. That, however, she refuses to count as a missed opportunity. “Why should it when you can bowl in the nets with someone like Devine?”And pick up tips on swinging the ball both ways, while you’re at it, of course.”That’s the cool thing,” Devine says of her interactions with the Indian players. “You can learn things from people who may not belong to your own team. It’s two-way traffic and I think to be able to share the knowledge this way… that’s what grows the game.”

There were many interested observers of the scenes at The Grange on Sunday and a group of them were in London on a day off before their final preparations for the one-day series against England. Scotland’s victory is being seen by the Australians as a timely boost before their new-look team takes the field at The Oval on Wednesday.England remain considerable favourites for the five-match series against an Australia side missing six first-choice players – David Warner, Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – but the visitors are chipper after two warm-up wins. Even in this new era of toned-down sledging from Australia, it would be a surprise if England’s stumble in Edinburgh wasn’t given the occasional mention when the two sides meet.”It was a really interesting game yesterday, good for us that England lost that game, great for Scotland as a country, and as a cricketing nation it’s really exciting for them,” Ashton Agar said.”It’s about momentum and having had a couple of practice games and got a couple of wins, it’s great for us. For us it’s good that England didn’t win because you always want to start with a win.”Agar said that Australia’s squad had a “nice refreshed” feel to it and was particularly excited at the prospect of tall quick bowler Billy Stanlake taking on the powerful England batting line-up. Stanlake impressed against Middlesex in his one run-out before the series, troubling batsmen with his bounce and pace.”You have a couple of really good players who aren’t in the mix at the moment, having said that, we do have a really versatile squad, an injection of youth which is always helpful, so there’s a lot of energy and a lot of players who are really believing in themselves at the moment.”You could say maybe [the squad is weakened] slightly without that 150kph Mitchell Starc coming in, but you have another 150kph in Billy Stanlake … if you take out 100 one-day wickets or whatever Starcy has, it will change things a little bit, but it’s a great chance for Billy to show his stuff, bowl 150ks and hopefully rip through them.”On a personal level, Agar is set for a key position in the Australia line-up having established himself as the main spinner ahead of Nathan Lyon at the start of the tour and being entrusted with the No. 7 slot in both warm-up matches. Coach Justin Langer has given a strong indication that Australia will go with an extra bowling option which makes Agar’s batting ability crucial”I think the rise of Big Bash cricket has really helped my batting in white-ball cricket,” he said. “I come in at the end a lot in Big Bash games and try and finish the job. I work very hard on my batting and try and build on that, so to start off with a couple of 20s was pleasing.”The Oval will be just Agar’s fifth ODI since he made his debut against England at Old Trafford in 2015 – although English audiences are more likely to remember him for his 98 on Test debut batting at No. 11 in the 2013 Ashes – and he now feels a more rounded cricketer.”I’m really confident, feel like I’m bowling quite nicely especially with the white ball,” he said. “I have better understanding of the game and a better self belief.”