All posts by h716a5.icu

After being considered "hour-to-hour" by coach John Schneider on Tuesday (via MLB reporter Keegan Matheson), the Blue Jays revealed outfielder George Springer's status for Game 4 just under two hours before the first pitch vs. the Dodgers.

Springer was not included in Toronto's initial lineup vs. Los Angeles. The Blue Jays star left Monday night's marathon 18-inning game in the seventh inning, hours before the game actually ended.

It was determined Springer left with right side discomfort, per MLB, and that he would be undergoing an MRI to learn the severity of the injury. Springer left the field after fouling off a pitch from Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski in the top of the seventh inning and did not return.

Springer normally leads off for the Blue Jays, so in his absence, Nathan Lukes will take the leadoff spot for Toronto in an important Game 4. The Dodgers now hold a 2–1 lead over the Blue Jays after the 6–5 win on Monday night. The Blue Jays will need to win on Tuesday night to even out the series and avoid being on the brink of losing.

Through the postseason thus far, Springer has registered 14 hits, 13 runs and four home runs, including a three-run homer that helped the Blue Jays win the ALCS over the Mariners in Game 7. He's averaged .246/.323/.561 through 14 postseason games.

There are fewer than two months left in the 2025 MLB regular season, and the playoff races in the American and National Leagues are really starting to heat up. 

In the American League, five teams are within five games of the final wild card spot, while the No. 4 team – the Texas Rangers – is just a half-game out of the third spot. A lot could change in the next few months, especially with teams like the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays selling at the deadline, but there likely will be a team – or two – that misses the playoffs that was expected to make it in.

In the National League, the top wild card teams (New York, Chicago and San Diego) seem pretty set in stone, but the Cincinnati Reds (three games back) are still within striking distance with plenty of games to go.

Here’s a look at the playoff odds for every team in the hunt, and a few storylines to watch when considering bets for these playoff markets. 

American League Playoff OddsDivision LeadersToronto Blue Jays: -2500Detroit Tigers: -5000Houston Astros: -1000

Toronto (19 games over .500), Detroit (17 games over .500), and Houston (14 games over .500) all appear to be locks to make the playoffs in the 2025 season.

Detroit has a seven-game cushion in the AL Central – the largest of these three division winners – which is why oddsmakers have it priced at -5000 to reach the playoffs for the second straight season.

It would be relatively surprising to see any of these teams fall out of the race, especially since they’d slot in pretty high in the wild card standings if a team were to overtake them in the division. 

Wild Card RaceBoston Red Sox: -450Seattle Mariners: -360New York Yankees: -330Texas Rangers: +115Cleveland Guardians: +320Kansas City Royals: +650Tampa Bay Rays: +950Minnesota Twins: +1800Los Angeles Angels: +2500Baltimore Orioles: +5000

The AL wild card race is going to be extremely fun to watch down the stretch of the season.

Entering Wednesday’s action, the Texas Rangers could overtake the New York Yankees, who are just a half-game ahead of them in the standings. New York has played under .500 ball over the last few months, and despite some trade deadline moves, it is fading fast in this market.

Oddsmakers project the Yankees to be the team that is currently holding a spot to be the closest one to drop out (-330 to make the postseason). 

While Cleveland, Minnesota, and others are long shots to make the playoffs, Texas is a team to watch since it has been elite at home (36-20) and still has 25 games at Globe Life Field left in the 2025 season. 

National League Playoff OddsDivision LeadersPhiladelphia Phillies: -3000Los Angeles Dodgers: -20000Milwaukee Brewers: -10000

All three of these division leaders appear to be locked into a playoff spot, as the implied probability for Philadelphia (the team with the worst odds) to make the playoffs is 96.77 percent.

There’s a chance that all three of these teams could lose their spot atop the division (Milwaukee has the largest lead at four games), but they’d all just fall into a wild card spot, barring a crazy run from the Reds or another fringe wild card team. 

Wild Card RaceChicago Cubs: -1400New York Mets: -650San Diego Padres: -575Cincinnati Reds: +250San Francisco Giants: +600St. Louis Cardinals: +1100Arizona Diamondbacks: +2500Miami Marlins: +3000Atlanta Braves: +5000

There is a lot less intrigue in the National League, as the Reds – who made some big moves at the deadline to acquire Ke’Bryan Hayes, Zack Littell, and others – are the only team that seems to have a chance to supplant New York, Chicago, or San Diego.

However, there is a lot of time left for a team like the Giants or Cardinals (both hovering around .500) to get hot and make some inroads in this race.

For now, Cincinnati is the only team at plus money that I’d consider in the NL playoff market. 

MLB's offseason has already provided some major moves, from Pete Alonso landing with the Orioles to Edwin Diaz agreeing to join the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers. The trade market has also heated up, with the likes of three-time All-Star starter Sonny Gray dealt to the Red Sox and three-time All-Star infielder Marcus Semien traded to the Mets.

But the rumor mill has been swirling around several other big names, leading to the possibility of a few more needle-moving trades being made this offseason. So, let's have a little fun and predict which big-name players will be the next to be dealt.

Ketel Marte, 2B, DiamondbacksMost likely suitors: Mariners, Blue Jays, Red Sox

Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen opened up the possibility of a Marte trade at the GM Meetings in November, when he told the that teams were checking in on the 2023 National League Championship Series MVP. And while Hazen made it clear at the time that such a deal was “unlikely,” MLB Network's Jon Heyman reports that Marte's market is heating up at the winter meetings in Orlando, Fla. Trading Marte now is a possibility because he will reach 10 years of service time—five of those years in Arizona—two weeks into the 2026 season. Under the league's current CBA, teams cannot trade such players without the player's consent. Acquiring Marte, a versatile fielder with good bat-to-ball skills, power and experience in big playoff moments, could be a boon to several contenders.

MacKenzie Gore, SP, Nationals Most likely suitors: Orioles, Yankees

New president of baseball operations Paul Toboni inherited a 66-win team that hasn't had a winning season since capturing a World Seres title in 2019. Washington's farm system, ranked just 23rd in baseball after the July 31 trade deadline, possesses some top-100 talent but could use an infusion of prospects. It's not surprising, then, that there is some trade buzz surrounding two pieces of the Nationals' young core at the big-league level, shortstop CJ Abrams and starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, each of whom authored their best seasons yet. In a pitching market that has already garnered some traction in terms of trades, Gore, an All-Star for the first time in his career while posting a career-high 185 strikeouts in 2025, would figure to net a hefty package of prospects in return.

Jarren Duran, OF, Red SoxMost likely suitors: Royals, Giants, Mets, Pirates

Boston has a good problem. They have four good outfielders in Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu. It's a problem that led to Duran, an All-Star during the 2024 season, popping up in some trade rumors at the July 31 deadline; after which the Red Sox were glad they held onto him, for Anthony missed the last month of the season due to an oblique strain. Having depth in the form of an All-Star caliber player is enough to make Boston think twice about trading Duran. But the possibility of the Red Sox, in the market for starting pitching, acquiring a No. 2 or 3 starter behind ace Garrett Crochet in return for Duran is enticing. Duran could also be a good alternative to outfield-needy teams who miss out on the likes of Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger.

The Pakistan batsman says a more team-oriented approach has lifted his batting to new heights

Umar Farooq20-Apr-2020Babar Azam has slowly but steadily become one of the best batsmen in the world, an automatic pick in all three formats for Pakistan, and says that his improvement has been down to working on his mindset, not being complacent, and having a clear idea about his game.His maiden Test century came only in November 2018, against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi, and he has averaged 64.35 in Tests since then, and in the last 12 months he averages 102.50 from five outings, with four centuries. At the same time, his average and strike rate in ODIs have gone up from 51.92 and 84.38 respectively to 58.57 and 92.20, and while the T20I average has dipped from 56.56 to 46.58, his strike rate has improved from 125 to 134.”Mostly I worked on my mindset, the way I go about my game and also when I am not playing,” Azam told ESPNcricinfo. “I used to become complacent easily if I performed well. I used to have a negative thought process and that’s the area I realised I had to cover. Apart from playing and training, there are elements outside the game as well that needs to be addressed, you need to control them to have a better grip on the game. The more I am in control, the better I can drive my innings. Now, a good performance doesn’t make me happy, instead I push myself to go further and try to expand my game.”That has helped Azam get into the top five in all three formats in the ICC rankings for batsmen: No. 5 in Tests, No. 3 in ODIs and No. 1 in T20Is.

I have got a chance to reflect on what I have done so far. I am analysing myself and I am watching videos of my batting and trying to see what I did when I played well, and how I could have done better – breaking down my failures and understanding what went wrong and how to get it right

“I have stopped thinking that my work is done if I perform, even if the team loses the game,” he said. “I don’t want to prove anything to anyone, what I am doing, how I am playing and how big is my role. It’s easy to perform, go back, and be happy. But now I have told myself that whatever I do is for the team, and that is more relevant and important. My work isn’t done if I score runs. If you perform in a win, it actually makes you happier inside. It took time, but I sat and spoke to positive people, started asking questions, and answers that have helped my conscience.”With cricket having come to a standstill because of the Covid-19 pandemic, players have had to get used to the new normal of being at home, not playing, and waiting for things to change. The PCB has given its cricketers detailed fitness guidelines, customised to account for lack of gym equipment, so they can stay in shape. Azam, however, has converted a spare room in his house into a small gym because, as he said, if the break gets extended, he would start feeling rusty.His last competitive game was on March 15 in the PSL for Karachi Kings, and he has been using the time off to analyse his game.”I have got a chance to reflect on what I have done so far. I am analysing myself and I am watching videos of my batting and trying to see what I did when I played well, and how I could have done better – breaking down my failures and understanding what went wrong and how to get it right,” he said. “So, while playing you might not be able to do in-depth analysis of your game, so the footage is helping me.”That said, he hasn’t discovered any major flaws in his game. “But sometimes, you make mistakes that can be avoided,” he said. “I grew up learning from my elders that you are your own best coach. It’s not about the flaws, but how not to make mistakes in crucial moments. It could be a small thing in your process: footwork, my bat angle, timing… these are the things in your mind, and just a minor delay in any of them can go against you. So you just reflect and come back and practice to achieve perfection.”While Azam anticipates the rhythm of every player to be affected by the lack of cricket, he expects everyone to come back hungrier. For his part, Azam has been playing tennis-ball cricket with his brothers in the car park at home, not thinking about the Covid-19 situation, which isn’t really in his control.”It’s really difficult to live without playing cricket for me,” he said. “I had a set routine and I was all into it with daily practice, hitting the gym, fielding, training and fitness, and now there’s so much uncertainty. Everything is shut down, you are missing your routines, but you can’t do anything about it. As a batsman, you don’t have that satisfaction until you have a bat in your hand and you are middling the ball. So I am just staying positive, getting the pleasure of batting with tennis-ball cricket with my brothers in the garage.”Gym training is helping me stay fit, that’s something I can do from home. But if the break goes on, it can make me rusty, but I can’t forget your basics. You must believe in yourself, the hard work I had put in to become a good batsman. You have to have confidence in yourself. It might take some time to regain the rhythm, but the base is there, and I will be the same Babar Azam you saw a few weeks ago.”

Stuart Broad has joined their ranks. Who are the others in the bracket?

Ian Chappell02-Aug-2020Broadly speaking Freddie Trueman was right when, on claiming the record for most Test wickets, he volunteered, “Any booger who passes that mark will be bluddy tired.”West Indies offspinner Lance Gibbs eventually broke Trueman’s record of 307 Test wickets. It took him about 27,000 deliveries and his reward was a huge carbuncle on his spinning finger, so presumably he was sore as well as tired.Since then the record has been stretched to 800 wickets, which would have been thought of as unattainable in Trueman’s day, by Sri Lankan offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Murali deserved to be tired – it took him a mammoth 44,000-plus deliveries.An indication of how unlikely that record might sound is provided by the story of the former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg, who wrote when Shane Warne was only just beginning his first-class career that Warne would claim 500 Test wickets. He was writing for the , a Melbourne newspaper, and the editor sacked him for such a reckless prediction. “That’s ridiculous,” he claimed, “no one will take 500 Test wickets.” Warne finished his career with 708 victims.ALSO READ: Stuart Broad, England’s spring-heeled superstarWith Stuart Broad’s recent ascent there are now seven members of the 500-wicket club: three spinners followed by four faster bowlers. To achieve that landmark Broad has delivered in excess of 28,000 balls, but in defiance of Trueman’s prediction, he seems to be going from strength to strength.In an era of stringent media training Broad was refreshingly honest in an interview following his omission from England’s side for the first Test against West Indies. He didn’t lambast the selectors he just expressed his disappointment and then proceeded in the next two Tests to display why they were wrong. Any selector worth the title should be delighted at such a positive player reaction to an omission.Capturing his 500th Test wicket was a particularly satisfying part of Broad proving his point. Incredibly, the victim was Kraigg Brathwaite, the same player that Broad’s partner in bowling excellence, Jimmy Anderson, dismissed to reach his milestone. In contrast to Anderson’s fulfilling achievement – a bowled dismissal at Lord’s in front of an appreciative crowd – Broad reached his milestone in muted circumstances, in a ground devoid of fans, with only his grateful team-mates at hand to applaud his laudable achievement.However, there was one mitigating factor. Thanks to the vagaries of cricket in the Covid-19 era, his father, former Test batsman Chris, was the match referee and he was able to enjoy the moment with his son. Isn’t that the game of cricket? Isn’t that sport in general? It takes on the one hand and gives on the other.The seven members of the 500-Test-wicket club are an eclectic group of bowlers; two leggies, an offspinner, a swing bowler and three seamers. The one missing ingredient is an out-and-out speed merchant, which is probably an indication of how tough on the body that is as an occupation.ALSO READ: Stuart Broad: ‘I want to be the person who changes the game’Of the group, Broad has the best average for his best performance in Test cricket: a minuscule 1.88 for his 8 for 15 against Australia. However Indian legspinner Anil Kumble has the honour of a record that won’t be broken: he was the first member of the group – and currently the only one – to have taken all ten wickets in an innings.Muralitharan has two records that will likely never be beaten. He has an incredible 67 five-wicket hauls and an almost equally amazing 22 ten-wicket matches. Warne is next on the list with a far distant 37 and 10 respectively.The four seamers in the club have all only taken three ten-wicket match hauls, which is probably an indication of the extreme physical exertion required for a fast bowler to achieve such a feat. Even Trueman, never one to hide his light under a bushel, only achieved three ten-wicket hauls.It’d be interesting to hear the response if “Fiery” Fred Trueman was around today.”Eh Fred, young Broad equalled one of your records.””Oh aye, but it took him 13,000 more deliveries to bluddy do it,” might well be the expurgated version.

The Covid-enforced break gave Raut the chance to work on her batting and the results are there for everyone to see

Annesha Ghosh14-Mar-20214:11

Punam Raut: Not strike rate, batting deep is the key

Punam Raut has been around for a long time. Long enough to have played three ODI World Cups and four T20 World Cups. Long enough to have opened 54 times for India and batted first-drop on 15 occasions in 71 ODIs. And long enough to have been outperformed by the younger, quick-hitting frontline India batters and acquiring the status of being too slow for T20Is and, not until the second match of the ongoing ODI series against South Africa, perhaps for the ODI format, too.In an international career now spanning nearly 12 years, Raut, 31, has often found herself needing to prove her style of play is in sync with the evolving nature of the women’s game.Heading into the series against South Africa, Raut’s career strike rate was 56.96. Her 29-ball 10 in the series opener, which India lost by eight wickets, didn’t do her reputation of a slow accumulator any good. In the second ODI, too, her scoring was found wanting for pace: Raut crawled to just seven runs in the first 31 balls of her innings, without any boundaries. By then, her batting partner, opener Smriti Mandhana, had waltzed to 32 off 33, with three sixes and two fours.The scratchy start notwithstanding, Raut turned a corner in that game. Finishing on an unbeaten 89-ball 62, her unbroken second-wicket 138-run stand with Mandhana paved the way for India’s series-levelling nine-wicket victory. Her strike rate, 69.66 in the second ODI, improved to 71.30 and 84.55 in the next two matches as she compiled three straight 50-plus scores, the third of those, on Sunday, an unbeaten 104 off 123. In doing so, Raut became the first Indian batter to make an ODI hundred at home since 2014.

“Under my coach in Mumbai, I worked on my back-foot shots and strike rotation. It was about getting used to things by batting a lot. I worked on the technical flaws in my game. The runs are coming now and it’s due to the hard work I put in during the lockdown”– Punam Raut

Raut’s century in the fourth ODI in Lucknow proved far from adequate for the hosts to save the five-match series – South Africa mowed down the 267 target, pulling off their highest chase. Her new-found consistency at the top, though, is likely to bode well for India as their think-tank draws up combinations potent enough to challenge the best leading up to the 2022 World Cup.”I don’t think too much about strike rate. I focus on my contribution to the team,” Raut said after the fourth ODI when asked if she heeds any talk around her strike rate. “As for making comebacks [as I have in the past], it is important to stay mentally strong. There are people who tell me that my strike rate is low, but I don’t let it worry me. I keep working on my game.”Returns on the field, and off it, since the 2017 World Cup have been a mixed bag for Raut. On the back of her impressive run in that global tournament, where India finished runners-up, she inked a three-year bat sponsorship deal with a leading automobile brand that currently has Mandhana and R Ashwin on their roster among India cricketers. She made it to the new central contracts’ list in 2018, getting a Grade-C retainer. Accolades from her domestic team, Railways, and private organisations, too, followed, with a cricket-coaching centre – the Punam Raut Cricket Academy – at the Poinsur Gymkhana in Mumbai’s Kandivali West also taking on her name.Fortunes on the field, though, were hardly as favourable. In her 14 innings since the 2017 World Cup and before the start of the ongoing series against South Africa, Raut made 40 or more only three times. Owing to a 47-ball 19 and 37-ball 20 in the first two ODIs in South Africa in February 2018, in what was India’s first assignment since the World Cup, she lost her place to Mona Meshram. When India turned out for their next assignment, a home series against Australia in Vadodara, Raut was dropped from the XI after the first two matches, her 50-ball 37 and 61-ball 27 as an opener not proving good enough.Punam Raut: “This is a special hundred as it has come after a long time”•BCCI/UPCAThat same year, Raut was overlooked for a place in the ODI squad for the home series against England as India began trying out a teenaged Jemimah Rodrigues as an opener, with a view to up India’s scoring rate at the top. In the next set of opportunities that came Raut’s way to make a top-order spot in the ODI side her own, during the 2018 tour of Sri Lanka, a 41-ball 24 and a 15-ball 3 is all she could collect. Rodrigues replaced her again and, by dint of her fearless style of play, emerged the favoured opening partner to Mandhana during the 2019 tour of New Zealand under new coach WV Raman.Over the next ten months, India played another three bilateral ODI series, including two at home. The first of those, against England, saw Raut return to the XI in the second ODI. Raut made 32 from No. 3 in that game, stitching together a vital fifty stand with captain Mithali Raj in a small chase. A first fifty, 56 off 97 balls, since the 2017 World Cup final followed in the third ODI. India lost the game, but Raut’s half-century won her some breathing room.Since then, India have used her at one-down, with Raj largely slotting herself in at No. 4. Leading up to the ongoing South Africa series, Raut’s noteworthy contributions since the home assignment against England had been a 92-ball 65 and a 128-ball 77 against South Africa at home and West Indies away respectively. So the two straight fifties against South Africa ahead of Sunday had already been a marked improvement for Raut.”The Covid-19-enforced lockdown helped me a lot to work on my game,” she said after Sunday’s game. “Under my [personal] coach in Mumbai, I worked on my back-foot shots and strike rotation. It was about getting used to things by batting a lot. I worked on the technical flaws in my game. The runs are coming now and it’s due to the hard work I put in during the lockdown.”The hundred on Sunday and the celebratory kiss of the Ekana turf that followed may not have been much about having to prove a point to the world. For Raut, who doesn’t have a bat sponsor at the moment, it might have just been relief that she is making the most of the precious, elusive form she has found in this series.”The hundred was very valuable,” she said, having steered India to their highest total at home since the 2013 World Cup. “A century is special for every batter. I wanted to convert my good form into three figures. I like this ground and this pitch. This is a special hundred as it has come after a long time.”And if her newly acquired consistency is anything to go by, the sight of a sponsor-less bat might also be a thing of the past soon.

All the statistical highlights from the third T20I of the four-match series

Sampath Bandarupalli14-Apr-2021122 – Runs scored by Babar Azam in the third T20I in Centurion. It is now the highest individual score for Pakistan in T20Is, overhauling 111* by Ahmed Shehzad against Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 World Cup. Azam’s 122 is also the highest T20I score against South Africa, beating 117 by Chris Gayle in 2007.1 – Individual scores higher than Azam’s 122 while chasing in T20Is. Evin Lewis scored an unbeaten 125 while chasing against India in 2017. Azam also holds the record for the highest score in a T20I chase by a captain.197 – Partnership runs between Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for the opening stand. It is now the highest partnership for any wicket in a T20I chase surpassing the unbeaten 171-run opening stand between Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson against Pakistan in 2016. The 197-run partnership is also the highest in T20s while chasing, going past 194 between Aaron Finch and Jason Roy for Surrey against Middlesex in 2018.204 – Target chased by Pakistan in the third T20I against South Africa. This is now the highest target successfully chased by Pakistan in T20Is, surpassing the 189 chase in the first match.ESPNcricinfo Ltd0 – T20I partnerships for Pakistan higher than the 197-run stand between Azam and Rizwan. It is, in fact, the first ever 150-plus partnership for Pakistan in T20Is, also the fourth-highest for any wicket in this format. The 197-run stand is also the highest against South Africa in T20Is, surpassing 167* between Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan for the second wicket last year.3 – Fifties for Aiden Markram in the T20I series against Pakistan. He is now only the second player with a hat-trick of 50-plus scores for South Africa in men’s T20Is. Hashim Amla was the first player with this feat, in 2016. Markram was involved in a 108-run partnership with Janneman Malan, the first century opening stand for South Africa in T20Is since February 2016.2 – 200-plus totals conceded by Pakistan in T20Is including the 203 for 5 by South Africa on Wednesday. The highest T20I total for any team versus Pakistan is 211 for 3 by Sri Lanka in 2013.

Jurgensen reveals Southee’s unusual inswinger was developed at a camp in Lincoln just before the England tour

Karthik Krishnaswamy28-Jun-20211:41

Southee: ‘Not having express pace, I look to skin the cat differently’

There’s a lot more to it, of course, but at its deadliest, Tim Southee’s method is all about that old three-card trick: outswing, outswing, and the one that goes the other way.Except it isn’t just the “one” that goes the other way, but three different ways of delivering a ball that moves into the right-hander.Take the second-innings wickets of India’s openers in the World Test Championship final in Southampton. Both were lbw, playing for non-existent outswing, but the balls that dismissed them were entirely different.Shubman Gill, first to go, was out to Southee’s well-known three-quarter-seam ball, which is delivered with the seam scrambled, and moves into the right-hander off the pitch. Rohit Sharma, however, was bamboozled by something that hasn’t been seen all too often.Every now and again on this tour of England, Southee had delivered the traditional inswinger, with the seam canted towards fine leg, but most had come out of the hand noticeably slower than Southee’s stock ball. The ball to Rohit wasn’t the traditional inswinger; the seam was canted towards slip, like it is for an outswinger, but the ball was flipped around so its rough side – this was the 27th over of India’s innings – was facing the leg side. And unlike Southee’s attempts at bowling the genuine inswinger, this one came out at normal speed.It’s entirely possible that Rohit saw the seam position, judged the ball to be leaving him, and decided to shoulder arms. Instead, it veered in towards the stumps and struck Rohit’s front pad.3:21

Dale Steyn explains the concept of the three-quarter seam

The Dukes ball that is used in England moves significantly more – in the air and off the pitch – than the Kookaburra that’s used in New Zealand, and this allowed Southee to try and develop the inswinger on this tour.”I think all players in any sport are always looking to try and get better and looking at ways you can improve your game,” Southee said in a media interaction on Monday. “I obviously don’t have express pace, so you’re looking to skin the cat differently, and that’s using subtle variations and I obviously rely heavily on my outswing, but with the Dukes ball and the ability to move the Dukes ball a little bit more than what you can with the Kookaburra, a lot of work went in, leading into that series, about just trying to get the ball to move both ways.”Shane Jurgensen, New Zealand’s bowling coach, said Southee came up with the new variation during the camp New Zealand held in Lincoln before they left for England.”I actually think that wicket of getting Rohit out was a long time of Tim trying a few things and always trying to improve,” Jurgensen said. “I think that goes for every bowler in our group and I think that’s really stood out more in the last two years. It has always happened, but I really think it really started in our camps in May at Lincoln, when he was playing around with bit of an inswinger and it was good.”It took him a while to sort of get it and all of a sudden he learnt of possibly turning the ball around the other way and bowling it the exactly same way. [It] probably has a little more pace on it compared to the [traditional] inswinger and I think that’s been a credit to Tim.”He’s always looking to improve and he’s been such an outstanding performer for New Zealand for such a long time; 600-plus wickets for New Zealand now and that breakthrough of Sharma was at a really crucial time. In fact both of those wickets were, to give us a chance to get Virat Kohli in early.”

From a fringe Australia player to World Cup star and churning out BBL runs, he won’t want 2021 to end

Tristan Lavalette30-Dec-2021A rather innocuous unbeaten 42 against bottom-placed Melbourne Renegades doesn’t exactly stand out amid Mitchell Marsh’s purple patch but it might best encapsulate his remarkable transformation this year from an unfulfilled talent to arguably T20’s most destructive batter.In a see-saw of a Boxing Day clash, Zahir Khan, the in-form spinner in the BBL, had his tail up against a weary Perth Scorchers having dismissed Josh Inglis with a menacing wrong’un to spark the boisterous Renegades faithful craving an upset.In a matter of minutes, however, Marsh again sapped the energy out of Marvel Stadium – after he smashed 86 against the same beleaguered opponent just four days earlier.In the pivotal eighth over, with the game in the balance, an unwavering Marsh never let Zahir dictate and hammered the second ball of the over – a tossed up delivery in similar fashion to which deceived Inglis – through extra cover for a boundary.Related

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Marsh ton extends Perth Scorchers' undefeated run

Marsh steals the show as Perth Scorchers make it five in five

Once upon a time Marsh might have unwisely tried to replicate the aggression but, instead, he caressed the next delivery around the corner for two runs then calmly took an easy single to completely change the momentum in three balls.He had in the past been criticised for getting too bogged down against spin early in his innings, but this was clearly a confident batter toying with the best of them. An exasperated Zahir looked bereft of answers and the crowd had been muted like everyone there knew the game was basically over.They were right. Inevitably, Marsh guided Scorchers to an easy chase and further cemented his newfound burgeoning status after a whirlwind few months highlighted by becoming a T20 World Cup hero for Australia. He’s now in the rarefied field of being absolutely compulsive viewing, a genuine T20 drawcard who’s capable of eviscerating the spirit of opponents and their fans – as the Renegades can well attest to.No one, probably not even Marsh himself, could have predicted this exalted status 12 months ago when he returned back from his latest injury woe, a dodgy ankle at the time, which negated his bowling initially and made him relinquish Scorchers’ captaincy.His BBL season followed the usual frustrating template for Marsh – a handful of belligerent knocks dominating the backend of Scorchers’ innings sprinkled around failures. Marsh still did enough, however, to be selected in Australia’s T20 tour of New Zealand in February and March where he sparkled in the opener in Christchurch with 45 batting at No. 4.But he then struggled for the rest of the five-match series mostly batting at No. 7, where he was unable to be the finisher Australia had envisioned. Once again it appeared Marsh would be back on the outer having never secured a permanent spot since his T20I debut a decade ago.Just when it seemed his T20 World Cup prospects were in the doldrums, Marsh received a lifeline and was named in Australia’s depleted squads to tour the Caribbean and Bangladesh. Having been shuffled around for Australia and mostly batted at No. 4 or 5 with Scorchers, Marsh was elevated to No. 3 in an inspired move that finally unlocked his great potential that had made him so maligned over the years.”Coaching staff came up to me in the West Indies and said you’ll bat three. I jumped at the opportunity,” Marsh said during the West Indies tour. “I wanted to have a presence, be in the contest, go out there and play my game.”Mitchell Marsh celebrates after getting to his century•Getty ImagesAustralia coach Justin Langer recognised that Marsh’s brute force could be effectively utilised in the powerplay and believed he had the maturity to handle the added responsibility. As his coach at Western Australia, Langer had been part of several important junctures in Marsh’s career. After he took the reins in late 2012, Langer helped instill a greater work ethic into the youngster who had a reputation of not wanting it enough. Five years later, Langer backed the then 25-year-old as captain of Western Australia.With his long-time mentor igniting a career revival, Marsh was in good spirits heading into the T20 World Cup magnified by time well spent at home where he got engaged to girlfriend Greta Mack.”I know that when I’ve prepared really well I go out there full of confidence and that’s certainly been the case for the last few months,” Marsh said before the T20 World Cup.Almost predictably, considering his rollercoaster of a career, Marsh’s campaign didn’t go seamlessly and he was even dropped for Australia’s group game against England, which was their only loss of the tournament.”I was pretty gutted when I got the news but four days later I was back in the team,” Marsh later told SEN. “The rest is history.”Mitchell Marsh sinks to his knees at the end of the T20 World Cup•ICC via Getty ImagesThe recalled Marsh went from strength to strength culminating in his breathtaking 77 not out from 50 balls against New Zealand to claim player-of-the final and end Australia’s T20 World Cup jinx.It was a satisfying performance after years of anguish for one of cricket’s nice guys who had long been unfairly a punching bag. With mind and body in synergy, Marsh has not looked back and lit up the early stages of BBL11, where he almost routinely plundered a 60-ball century against Hobart Hurricanes in his season debut.He now clearly has an aura about him and a fear factor where opponents hold their breath until he’s dismissed. Earlier in the week, Sydney Thunder looked anxious even though they were defending 200 until Marsh holed out in a rare failure during this hot streak.One almost needs to do a double take when he falls cheaply these days, which speaks to how much Marsh’s standing has changed over the course of an unforgettable year he probably hopes will never end.

All the key numbers from the 2022 Under-19 World Cup in the West Indies

Sampath Bandarupalli06-Feb-2022India extend their dominance
A four-wicket win against England handed India their fifth Under-19 World Cup title. Previously, they had won in 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018. In all, they have made it to finals in eight of the 14 editions of the tournament, including each of the last four occasions. Four of India’s five titles came while staying unbeaten through the tournament – 2000, 2008, 2018 and 2022. Only three other title-winning teams have finished unbeaten – Australia in 2002, South Africa in 2014 and Bangladesh in 2020.