Innehållsförteckning för Issue 71 från Wisden Cricket Monthly

WISDEN CRICKET MONTHLY Poignancy is always in good supply at The Oval, cricket’s home for weepy farewells. No amount of showy pomp and lavish plonk can remove the slightly elegiac air that permeates the place, scene of so many departures. Stuart Broad understood this, staging his own Last Night of the Poms, to become the 286th cricketer – 67 Australians, by the way – to play their last Test there. The dust had barely settled when we reconvened for the next bit: an ODI against New Zealand in mid-September, a game ripe with subplots amid murmurs of last-gasp squad changes ahead of the big show. There’s always something going on. And as England’s vast entourage ambled through nets the day before the game, those of us scattered round the edges…

1. Prithvi Shaw Northamptonshire The Indian strokemaker was only available for four One-Day Cup matches but he left quite the impression, not least on the shell-shocked bowling attacks of Somerset and Durham. After simmering with scores of 34 and 26 in his first two knocks, Prithvi made the second-highest score in English List-A history, belting 11 sixes on his way to 244 from 153 balls against a secondstring Somerset attack. Four days later he smashed an unbeaten 125 from 76 at Chester-le-Street before succumbing to a knee injury but the good news for Northants fans is he has agreed to return next summer for “an extended stay”. 2. Chamari Athapaththu Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s skipper makes our XI for the second time in three months after scripting her country’s shock…

"Ponting’s ability to unpick the technical side of the game in a way that is both illuminating and concise is a rare skill PHIL WALKER WCM editor-in-chief Feels like it’s a good time for commentary in the UK. On Sky there’s a wider range of voices and textures than in the past. Our Butch has of course slid in seamlessly, while Stuart Broad’s unforgivably good already. Simon Doull’s become a fixture, always listenable, rarely pulls his punches, too-tight trousers notwithstanding. Big fan of his work. (Oh, and lads, please, lose the pundit shoes.) Over on the BBC, Tymal Mills and Steve Finn are busy demonstrating the emptiness of the cliché that quick bowlers aren’t the smartest. In an otherwise slightly self-conscious Hundred production they’re a cut above. (Also on the…

Ben Gardner, Wisden.com managing editor WINNER: Pakistan RUNNER-UP: India PLAYER OF TOURNAMENT: Shaheen Shah Afridi – imagine him blowing away Rohit and Kohli at the Narendra Modi Stadium in front of 130,000… TOP RUNSCORER: Babar Azam – an average hovering around 60, with a team he can count on, in conditions that will suit him. This feels nailed on. ROOKIE STAR: Fazalhaq Farooqi. Left-arm new-ball excellence to make you purr. Afghanistan will cause a stir even if they don’t threaten the final four. BIGGEST LET-DOWN: England. Maybe it’s just the Harry Brook thing, but it’s been so good for so long, and the cracks are there if you look hard enough. WHAT WON’T HAPPEN: Unprecedentedly torrential rain leads to the first two weeks being washed out, and the ICC…

AUSTRALIA CAPTAIN: Pat Cummins COACH: Andrew McDonald ICC ODI RANKING: 1st WCM PREDICTION: Semi-finalists GROUP FIXTURES October 8 India, Chennai, 9.30am (UK time), October 12 South Africa, Lucknow, 9.30am, October 16 Sri Lanka, Lucknow, 9.30am, October 20 Pakistan, Bengaluru, 9.30am, October 25 Netherlands, Delhi, 9.30am, October 28 New Zealand, Dharamsala, 6.00am, November 4 England, Ahmedabad, 5.00am, November 7 Afghanistan, Mumbai, 8.30am, November 11 Bangladesh, Pune, 5.00am SQUAD* 1. Pat Cummins (c) 2. Sean Abbott 3. Ashton Agar 4. Alex Carey (wk) 5. Cameron Green 6. Josh Hazlewood 7. Travis Head 8. Josh Inglis (wk) 9. Mitchell Marsh 10. Glenn Maxwell 11. Steve Smith 12. Mitchell Starc 13. Marcus Stoinis 14. David Warner 15. Adam Zampa *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 A few…

ENGLAND CAPTAIN: Jos Buttler COACH: Matthew Mott ICC ODI RANKING: 5th WCM PREDICTION: Semi-finalists GROUP FIXTURES October 5 New Zealand, Ahmedabad, 9.30am (UK time), October 10 Bangladesh, Dharamsala, 6.00am, October 15 Afghanistan, Delhi, 9.30am, October 21 South Africa, Mumbai, 9.30am, October 26 Sri Lanka, Bengaluru, 9.30am, October 29 India, Lucknow, 8.30am, November4 Australia, Ahmedabad, 5.00am, November 8 Netherlands, Pune, 8.30am, November 11 Pakistan, Kolkata, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Jos Buttler (c & wk) 2. Moeen Ali 3. Gus Atkinson 4. Jonny Bairstow (wk) 5. Sam Curran 6. Liam Livingstone 7. Dawid Malan 8. Adil Rashid 9. Joe Root 10. Jason Roy 11. Ben Stokes 12. Reece Topley 13. David Willey 14. Chris Woakes 15. Mark Wood *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 We’re at…

NETHERLANDS CAPTAIN: Scott Edwards COACH: Ryan Cook ICC ODI RANKING: 14 WCM PREDICTION: 10th GROUP FIXTURES October 6 Pakistan, Hyderabad, 9.30am, October 9 New Zealand, Hyderabad, 9.30am, October 17 South Africa, Dharamsala, 9.30am, October 21 Sri Lanka, Lucknow, 6.00am, October 25 Australia, Delhi, 9.30am, October 28 Bangladesh, Kolkata, 9.30am, November 3 Afghanistan, Lucknow, 8.30am, November 8 England, Pune, 8.30am, November 12 India, Bangalore, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Scott Edwards (c) 2. Max O’Dowd 3. Bas de Leede 4. Vikram Singh 5. Teja Nidamanuru 6. Paul van Meekeren 7. Colin Ackermann 8. Roelof van der Merwe 9. Logan van Beek 10. Aryan Dutt 11. Ryan Klein 12. Wesley Barresi 13. Saqib Zulfiqar 14. Shariz Ahmad 15. Sybrand Engelbrecht *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 4…

SOUTH AFRICA CAPTAIN: Temba Bavuma COACH: Rob Walter ICC ODI RANKING: 6th WCM PREDICTION: 6th GROUP FIXTURES October 7 Sri Lanka, Delhi, 9.30am (UK time), October 12 Australia, Lucknow, 9.30am, October 17 Netherlands, Dharamsala, 9.30am October 21 England, Mumbai, 9.30am, October 24 Bangladesh, Mumbai, 9.30am, October 27 Pakistan, Chennai, 9.30am, November 1 New Zealand, Pune, 8.30am, November 5 India, Kolkata, 8.30am, November 10 Afghanistan, Ahmedabad, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Temba Bavuma 2. Gerald Coetzee 3. Quinton de Kock 4. Reeza Hendricks 5. Marco Jansen 6. Heinrich Klaasen 7. Sisanda Magala 8. Keshav Maharaj 9. Aiden Markram 10. David Miller 11. Lungi Ngidi 12. Anrich Nortje 13. Kagiso Rabada 14. Tabraiz Shamsi 15. Rassie van der Dussen *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 No one…

"I was working full-time in a pharmacy in Abergavenny and I sat down with my friend’s mum and we wrote a CV and a letter. I sent it out to a few counties In the thick of it I was six when my family moved to Australia from Papua New Guinea. We lived in a town called Toowoomba, about two hours from Brisbane. I played all sorts of sports. My dad’s from North Wales and he loved his football and that’s what I remember playing a lot of. I used to love being in goal so the progression from that to being behind the stumps was a natural one. I loved being in the thick of it and the athletic aspect of it – the ability to dive around and…

Asia Cup, Super Four match, Colombo September 10-11 India 356-2 (Kohli 122*, Rahul 111*) v Pakistan 128 (Zaman 27; Yadav 5-25) India won by 228 runs India warmed up for the 2023 World Cup on home soil by sweeping aside arch-rivals Pakistan in their Asia Cup clash in Colombo thanks to centuries from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul. It was a rousing performance from India as they prepare to launch their bid for a first global ICC title in a decade. The margin of victory was their biggest against Pakistan in ODIs and the match signalled the return of Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah to 50-over action after injury. In a rain-affected match that spilled into a reserve day, Kohli was imperious, notching his 47th ODI…

MARK RAMPRAKASH Former England batter and current Middlesex batting coach @MarkRamprakash I’m writing this from Chelmsford in the first week of September and we’re embarking on the climax to the County Championship season. Essex are well on their way to beating Middlesex – eventually sealing victory late on the final day – to keep alive their hopes of chasing down Surrey and winning a fourth red-ball title in seven seasons. Besides the addition of the floodlights, the ground hasn’t really changed a great deal since I first played here in 1987. The atmosphere is familiar, too. There’s a nice buzz, the turnout is very good – as it usually is here – and there’s a knowledgeable crowd that appreciates good play by the opposition as well as their own team.…

ISSUE 71 Finally, after more than four, long years, the big show is finally here… that’s right, it’s the ODI Asia Cup! Yes, it’s everyone’s favourite nominally cross-continent competition that is really just an excuse for India and Pakistan to play each other on three consecutive weekends. As luck would have it, the arch-rivals were drawn together in the first round again, just as they had been in the previous two editions of the competition, and as they seem to be at every ICC event ever played. Televised draws aren’t really cricket’s thing. Still, if you tempt fate for too long, eventually fate bites back, and the first-round clash between the two heavyweights is, at the time of writing, the only game in the competition to be washed out. The…

Wotcha. You up for the World Cup then? Should be a belter, eh? If you say so. When does that get going then? October 5th. A repeat of the 2019 final, England v New Zealand at the 130,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmeda… See that winds me up. I know it’s a lot of people and you have a low tolerance for your fellow man. But you can watch it from your sofa. Alone. As per. No, it’s the name. Honestly, don’t get me started. You’re going to self-immolate on the grassy knoll of stadium nomenclature are you? More specifically you using the name as if it’s a completely normal thing. You’re a Modi cheerleader now are you? Well no, but that’s what it’s called. But you don’t have to…

WCM’S MVP ADAM ZAMPA Australia’s prolific pace triumvirate tend to grab the attention but Zampa has quietly compiled a formidable ODI record. Since the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup, the leggie has claimed 66 wickets in 31 matches at 20.69 with an economy of under five – a record unmatched by any spinner featuring in this tournament. A match-winning haul of 4-45 at Chennai in March to seal an ODI series win over their hosts demonstrated just how important Zampa will be to his team’s chances in India. When it comes to examining cultural gulfs between British and Australians, much airtime goes to singing in stadiums. One group does it, one does not; perhaps it tells us a little about the Australian male reticence to try things for fear…

INDIA CAPTAIN: Rohit Sharma COACH: Rahul Dravid ICC ODI RANKING: 3rd WCM PREDICTION: Champions GROUP FIXTURES October 8 Australia, Chennai, 9.30am (UK time), October 11 Afghanistan, Delhi, 9.30am, October 14 Pakistan, Ahmedabad, 9.30am, October 19 Bangladesh, Pune, 9.30am, October 22 New Zealand, Dharamsala, 9.30am, October 29 England, Lucknow, 8.30am November 2 Sri Lanka, Mumbai, 8.30am, November 5 South Africa, Kolkata, 8.30am, November 12 Netherlands, Bengaluru, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Rohit Sharma (c) 2. Jasprit Bumrah 3. Shubman Gill 4. Shreyas Iyer 5. Ravindra Jadeja 6. Ishan Kishan (wk) 7. Virat Kohli 8. Hardik Pandya 9. Axar Patel 10. KL Rahul (wk) 11. Mohammed Shami 12. Mohammed Siraj 13. Shardul Thakur 14. Kuldeep Yadav 15. Suryakumar Yadav *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 10 Number…

NEW ZEALAND CAPTAIN: Kane Williamson COACH: Gary Stead ICC ODI RANKING: 4th WCM PREDICTION: 5th GROUP FIXTURES October 5 England, Ahmedabad, 9.30am (UK time), October 9 Netherlands, Hyderabad, 9.30am, October 13 Bangladesh, Chennai, 9.30am, October 18 Afghanistan, Chennai, 9.30am, October 22 India, Dharamsala, 9.30am, October 28 Australia, Dharamsala, 6.00am, November 1 South Africa, Pune, 8.30am, November4 Pakistan, Bangalore, 5.00am, November 9 Sri Lanka, Bangalore, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Kane Williamson (c) 2. Trent Boult 3. Mark Chapman 4. Devon Conway (wk) 5. Lockie Ferguson 6. Matt Henry 7. Tom Latham (wk) 8. Daryl Mitchell 9. Jimmy Neesham 10. Glenn Phillips (wk) 11. Rachin Ravindra 12. Mitchell Santner 13. Ish Sodhi 14. Tim Southee 15. Will Young *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 6 Dating…

SRI LANKA CAPTAIN: Dasun Shanaka COACH: Chris Silverwood ICC ODI RANKING: 8th WCM PREDICTION: 8th GROUP FIXTURES October 7 South Africa, Delhi, 9.30am (UK time), October 10 Pakistan, Hyderabad, 9.30am, October 16 Australia, Lucknow, 9.30am October 21 Netherlands, Lucknow, 6.00am, October 26 England, Bangalore, 9.30am, October 30 Afghanistan, Pune, 8.30am, November 2 India, Mumbai, 8.30am, November 6 Bangladesh, Delhi, 8.30am, November 9 New Zealand, Bangalore, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Dasun Shanaka (c) 2. Kusal Mendis (wk) 3. Dimuth Karunaratne 4. Pathum Nissanka 5. Kusal Perera (wk) 6. Sadeera Samarawickrama 7. Charith Asalanka 8. Dhananjaya de Silva 9. Dushan Hemantha 10. Binura Fernando 11. Matheesha Pathirana 12. Pramod Madushan 13. Kasun Rajitha 14. Maheesh Theekshana 15. Dunith Wellalage *This is Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup squad; they were yet to submit their provisional…

Thirty-five years to the day since her dad, David, won the FA Cup final with West Ham, beating Arsenal by a single goal at Wembley, Kate Cross, then a 23-year-old fresh out of university, created her own piece of history with a game-changing spell of bowling. Turning out for Heywood CC in the Central Lancashire League on May 10, 2015 – a few weeks after becoming the first female to play in the league’s 123-year history – Kate took 8-47 against local rivals Unsworth, bowling unchanged for 15.5 overs and silencing the dissenters who felt that the region’s premier club competition was no place for a woman. “It was one of the most nervous I’ve ever been on a cricket pitch,” says Kate, who by then was already an England…

KATYA WITNEY Wisden staff writer @KatyaWitney This summer, England’s women’s team achieved something which had once felt impossible. Coming in to the 2023 Ashes, Australia had lost three games in three years. England beat them four times in two weeks, winning both white-ball series to square the overall scoreline. And they did it all with dash and daring, in front of packed houses in marquee stadiums. With fans flooding into Trent Bridge, the Ashes Test – played over five days for the first time in a women’s Test since 2015 – set the scene for a landmark series. The players delivered. But for all the brilliance of Tammy Beaumont’s double century and Sophie Ecclestone’s marathon 10-for, England’s loss left them 0-4 down. Their chances of regaining the Ashes, further hampered…

Leather coat over his shoulder, shirt gaping above his fashionable flared trousers, the Indian fan stood firm on the Lord’s square and told Sunil Gavaskar exactly what he thought of his go-slow. Faced with an England total of 334 in the inaugural men’s World Cup game, it was indicative of India’s indifference towards one-day cricket that Gavaskar considered it an unattainable target and had settled for plodding to 36 not out in 60 overs. Two weeks of the sunny English summer of 1975 later, people were on the pitch again at cricket’s headquarters. This time it was thousands of delirious West Indies supporters engulfing their heroes after they took the final wicket shortly before 9pm to beat Australia and become world champions. The contrasting scenes offered a crystal-clear picture of…

AFGHANISTAN CAPTAIN: Hashmatullah Shahidi COACH: Jonathan Trott ICC ODI RANKING: 9 WCM PREDICTION: 9th GROUP FIXTURES October 7 Bangladesh, Dharamshala, 6am (UK time), October 11 India, Delhi, 9.30am, October 15 England, Delhi, 9.30am, October 18 New Zealand, Chennai, 9.30am, October 23 Pakistan, Chennai, 9.30am, October 30 Sri Lanka, Pune, 8.30am, November 3 Netherlands, Lucknow, 8.30am, November 7 Australia, Mumbai, 8.30am, November 10 South Africa, Ahmedabad, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) 2. Ibrahim Zadran 3. Ikram Alikhil (wk) 4. Najibullah Zadran 5. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) 6. Riaz Hassan 7. Azmatullah Omarzai 8. Mohammad Nabi 9. Rahmat Shah 10. Rashid Khan 11. Abdul Rahman 12. Fazalhaq Farooqi 13. Mujeeb Ur Rahman 14. Naveen-ul-Haq 15. Noor Ahmad *Teams are permitted to make changes to their initial squad until September 27 As they…

BANGLADESH CAPTAIN: Shakib Al Hasan COACH: Chandika Hathurusingha ICC ODI RANKING: 7th WCM PREDICTION: 7th GROUP FIXTURES October 7 Afghanistan, Dharamsala, 6.00am (UK time), October 10 England, Dharamsala, 6.00am, October 13 New Zealand, Chennai, 9.30am, October 19 India, Pune, 9.30am, October 24 South Africa, Mumbai, 9.30am, October 28 Netherlands, Kolkata, 9.30am, October 31 Pakistan, Kolkata, 8.30am, November 6 Sri Lanka, Delhi, 8.30am, November 11 Australia, Pune, 5.00am SQUAD* 1. Shakib Al Hasan (c) 2. Anamul Haque (wk) 3. Litton Das (wk) 4. Mohammad Naim 5. Mushfiqur Rahim (wk) 6. Tanzid Hasan 7. Towhid Hridoy 8. Najmul Hossain Shanto 9. Afif Hossain 10. Mahedi Hasan 11. Mehidy Hasan Miraz 12. Shamim Hossain 13. Hasan Mahmud 14. Mustafizur Rahman 15. Nasum Ahmed 16. Shoriful Islam 17. Tanzim Hasan Sakib 18. Taskin Ahmed…

Since the start of 2022, Mohammed Siraj (46) and Shardul Thakur (37) have the most ODI wickets among pacers who will appear at the World Cup. Mitchell Starc is the only fast bowler with 100-plus ODI wickets at a strike-rate better than Mohammed Shami’s, while Prasidh Krishna lurks on the sidelines with 25 wickets at a strike-rate better than even Shami’s. A formidable unit, undoubtedly. And yet Jasprit Bumrah eclipses them all. His ODI average of 24.30 is the best of his Indian peers, and since his debut, no fast bowler anywhere in the world has sent down 500-plus overs at a lower economy than his 4.63. He is a precious talent with a style and a set of numbers all his own. Historically, to manage his workload, the brains…

PAKISTAN CAPTAIN: Babar Azam COACH: Grant Bradburn ICC ODI RANKING: 2nd WCM PREDICTION: Runners-up GROUP FIXTURES October 6 Netherlands, Hyderabad, 9.30am (UK time), October 10 Sri Lanka, Hyderabad, 9.30am, October 14 India, Ahmedabad, 9.30am, October 20 Australia, Bengaluru, 9.30am, October 23 Afghanistan, Chennai, 9.30am, October 27 South Africa, Chennai, 9.30am, October 31 Bangladesh, Kolkata, 8.30am, November 4 New Zealand, Bangalore, 5.00am, November 11 England, Kolkata, 8.30am SQUAD* 1. BabarAzam (c) 2. Abdullah Shafique 3. Fakhar Zaman 4. IftikharAhmed 5. Imam-ul-Haq 6. Mohammad Haris 7. Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 8. Saud Shakeel 9. Shadab Khan 10. Agha Salman 11. Faheem Ashraf 12. Mohammad Nawaz 13. Mohammad Wasim 14. Haris Rauf 15. Shaheen Shah Afridi 16. Usama Mir 17. Zaman Khan 18. Naseem Shah *This is Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad; they were yet…

It was a disappointing season. Our first and second teams were both relegated, while the third XI narrowly missed out on promotion after availability issues higher up the food chain derailed their title charge. There was an air of inevitability around the dual relegations. As a club, we’d recently risen to the highest level we’d ever reached and after doing so lost a number of excellent cricketers due to, in most cases, a relocation away from south London. We were manfully led by three committed captains but ultimately unable to overcome that drain of talent. On reflection, the eco-system around a thriving club is painfully delicate. It only takes a handful of departures to leave a club short on numbers, quality or both, and the result is a succession of…

If you’re one of the 23,000 subscribers to the YouTube channel of Three Bridges CC, situated in deepest Sussex, you might have caught the highlights of a couple of T20 games the club hosted last month between the national team of Italy, limbering up for a World Cup qualification push, and a CricX XI, thrown together by the titular CricX agency, which places young pros with league sides for the English summer. Included in the CricX team were opening bowler Thando Ntini, son of Makhaya, cult hero of the Three Bridges channel Will O’Donnell, who has both first-class and List-A hundreds for his native Auckland, and Thorn Parkes of Otago, who boasts a first-class batting average of 36. Italy lost both matches. YouTube footage, with its swooping drones, unreliable batteries…