One of the biggest concerns about the Dodgers heading into the 2025 MLB postseason was the inconsistency and general lack of strength of their bullpen. So far in the NLCS against the Brewers, they've made any worries about their bullpen a moot point almost entirely.

Los Angeles jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the series, thanks to back-to-back superb performances from star pitchers Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The pair combined to pitch 17 innings over the last two games and surrendered just one run between the two.

GO DEEPER: How Yoshinobu Yamamoto Delivered the Best Pitched Playoff Game in Years

Snell pitched 8.0 innings on Monday night, and Yamamoto followed that up by going for a complete game in a 5–1 win on Tuesday.

The Dodgers' duo of starters joined some elite company in MLB history as a result of their stellar outings. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Snell and Yamamoto are the first teammates to pitch back-to-back starts of eight-plus innings in the same postseason series since Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner did it for the Giants in 2010. Lincecum and Bumgarner achieved the feat in Games 4 and 5 of the '10 World Series against the Rangers.

With two wins already under their belt, the Dodgers will turn the ball to Tyler Glasnow on Thursday for Game 3, and they'll have plenty of fresh arms available behind him, as the bullpen has pitched just one inning so far in the series. Shohei Ohtani is expected to be on the mound for Game 4.

A lookback at the mistakes Afghanistan made to exit from the quarter-final stage

Sreshth Shah in Benoni01-Feb-2020Afghanistan’s quarter-final against Pakistan was always going to be a game of emotion and skill. And perhaps, the occasion got the better of them.Electing to bat, Afghanistan started well but stuttered. Their captain Farhan Zakhil received two early reprieves, after which he batted defensively to top score with 40, but the others didn’t tread the same degree of caution.The first was Ibrahim Zadran, already a Test player. Afghanistan were rattling along at over six an over, but he couldn’t resist going after the bowling. In the seventh over, he was out caught at third man while trying to drive on the up.Rahmanullah, their No. 4, was reprieved at deep midwicket in the 20th but couldn’t resist going for another cross-batted slog. He was out lbw in the 23rd over.Asif Musazai had been kept quiet by leg spinner Fahad Munir, but the urge to hit out cost him as he was out edging to gully. That’s three top batsmen gone because they weren’t patient enough, and there were more.Abid Mohammadi could’ve wrested control for Afghanistan, but did something uncharacteristic after playing himself in. With the dot-ball pressure building, he tried to steal a single that wasn’t on and was run out.These are just a few examples that left Afghanistan coach Raees Ahmadzai disappointed. The total of 189 wasn’t going to be enough, especially after Mohammadi dropped Mohammad Huraira at third man in the third over of the chase.Huraira responded by thumping 64, and with the pace he was scoring in, could’ve got a hundred on his Youth ODI debut, had it not been for his run-out in contentious circumstances.”I think the main problem was that the batsmen did not take any responsibility, especially the middle order,” Ahmadzai said. “We were short by 30-35 runs. The wicket was very good for batting but the main problem was no one took any responsibility. Three batsmen gave their wickets away like a gift.”The way we started, the opposition bowlers weren’t causing any problem for us. But the way we gave the wickets away, momentum went to the Pakistan side. I will say six batsmen gave their wickets freely to Pakistan.”Could things have been different for Afghanistan? Their bowlers didn’t look to attack and were happy to restrict, banking heavily on their spinners. That didn’t pay off. They went for wickets, erred in line and were punished in the Powerplay.By the time Afghanistan’s legspinner Shafiqullah Ghafari was introduced into the attack, Pakistan’s openers had knocked off more than 25% of the target. Noor Ahmad, their wicket-taking option, came into the attack when Pakistan were already at 60 for no loss.While Afghanistan may have thought correctly in playing an extra batsman, could they have tried out Sediqullah Atal in place of the out-of-form Musazai? Atal was striking the ball superbly at the nets, but could only watch from the sidelines.Coming into the tournament, Afghanistan had won their last four U-19 games against Pakistan. They entered the game undefeated and were favourites. But their indecision cost them.As such, the Under-19 World Cup isn’t just about who wins, but about who leaves the biggest footprint. To that effect, they can draw some solace from the fact that they found a number of players who could go on to serve the national team well.Ghafari’s six-wicket haul, on the opening day of the World Cup, against hosts South Africa, lit the tournament up.  Noor, only 15, has made other countries jealous of Afghanistan’s plethora of spin-bowling options. As Afghanistan continue to find leaders for the future, in Zakhil they found a man with a clear thought process.But they’ll have to address one issue soon, and that is consistent batting performances. They need to perhaps learn aggression isn’t just about hitting out. And that 50-over cricket can’t be played with T20 tempo.

With eight runs to win, Jack Leach is finally on strike for a full over. Whom do you bowl?

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2020In this series, , we present our writers with a tricky cricketing scenario and ask them to captain their way out of it.Scenario
You are captaining Australia in the 2019 Headingley Test. Ben Stokes is doing the improbable. With England on 351, eight runs from the target, you finally have Jack Leach on strike for the first ball of an over. So far, Leach has survived nine balls from James Pattinson, three from Pat Cummins, and one each from Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. You can now select any current bowler (England and Australia bowlers included) to bowl to Leach. Who bowls, and what field do you set?Karthik Krishnaswamy:
He’s brilliant against left-hand batsmen, and, also, it’s hard to think of another bowler who’s taken the final wicket in as many Test wins as he has. Ashwin has been involved in 42 India wins, and he’s taken the match-sealing wicket in 17 of them. .To Leach, Ashwin will bowl from around the wicket with this 6-3 field: two slips, short extra-cover, backward point, cover point, long-off two-thirds of the way back (with only eight required, I don’t want to give Leach the get-out-of-jail shot over mid-off and I don’t mind him trying to push for a single to the deep fielder because that would bring his outside edge into play); short leg, mid-on, backward square leg, and a big gap at midwicket to entice the flick that turns into the leading-edge caught-and-bowled that ends Leach’s dogged resistance.Osman Samiuddin:
What I’d do is what I’m not allowed: I would change the umpires, or not waste a review and keep it instead for when Nathan Lyon does get Stokes out leg-before. A different umpire gives it, or a review confirms it. Seeing as that’s not allowed, though, I’d be really tempted by Kagiso Rabada or Jasprit Bumrah: pace and good yorkers are always a great combo. But, ultimately, I want a guy who will bring an element of some surprise. Kuldeep Yadav could be a choice just because Leach is unlikely to have faced that genre of bowling too often, but I want control too. So Rashid Khan, lethal against the tail, very good against lefties, and capable of enough surprise for Leach to not know how to go about it. A quick fizzing slider perhaps would do the trick. As my field, I’d have a slip, a gully, and at least four in front of the bat right in Leach’s face.Getty ImagesAndrew Miller:
The one thing that’s clear from Leach’s demeanour is that he’s not afraid to get his body into line. His limitations as a batsman, in these extraordinary circumstances, are actually turning out to be assets, because he’s not going to be bullied by sheer pace, or worn down by attrition, or flash at a wide one and give it away. He’s going to have to be dynamited from the crease. So, tempted as I might be to whistle for Yasir Shah, crowd the bat with close catchers, and toss up a big-ripping googly for the “why did he do that?” moment, I don’t believe he’s going to be suckered that way. We need a purveyor of magic balls. We need the prime Aussie seamer who wasn’t picked for this game. Step forward Mitchell Starc, with full licence to unleash that left-arm inswinging yorker. As he proved with that World Cup worldie at Lord’s, even Stokes won’t have an answer if he gets it utterly pinpoint.Sharda Ugra:
The memory of Warnie may lead to a summoning of Ravichandran Ashwin or Moeen Ali or the ghost of Ranganna Herath. But no, this is not Asia, and here there’s only one way to take out a tailender. No mercies, no politeness, blast them out. Bowl at the stumps with a thick slip cordon, one man at short mid-off for the nervy prod and another in the short-leg pocket for the awkward fend.The bowler? Kagiso Rabada, who has dismissed 38 tailenders (Nos. 9-11) in his career, at a strike-rate of 17.32. Rabada will be fast, he will be furious, and he will be at the stumps, making Leach play. Given that there is another similar bowler available in Mitchell Starc, you may well ask, why not one of your own? Recalling Starc will make us look weak. It goes against Commandment No.1 of the Australian Way: Never take a backward step.Alan Gardner:
With immortality beckoning, the only way to do this is to get between Leach’s ears. We need accuracy; we need someone who’s not going to waste one of his potential six balls; and we need an experienced operator who can cloud those famous specs with the fog of war. Step forward the bowler who denied Leach on the brink of his (other) finest batting hour, against Ireland in 2019. Murtagh can be relied on to do what Australia failed to at Headingley: make Leach doubt where his off stump is. Stack the slips, add a couple of gullies, short extra cover to stop the tip-and-run, nag away on a length, and let natural selection do the rest. Headingley on day four would surely still offer Murtagh the vital nip, and Leach would remain most famous for his nightwatchman 92 at Lord’s.

The allrounder faces another period on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury in his first IPL outing

Andrew McGlashan24-Sep-2020Mitchell Marsh has been forced out of the IPL with an ankle injury to continue a rollercoaster few years for the allrounder and it leaves him in doubt for the start of the Australian home summer.March 2017: India tour cut shortHaving returned to the Test side after been dropped the previous Australia summer, Marsh was forced out of the tour after the second Test by a long-standing shoulder injury that impacted his bowling too much. “He had the injury through the summer, he was fine when he got here but it just got worse,” coach Darren Lehmann said.December 2017: Prolific Ashes comebackMarsh returned to the side later the same year for the third Test of the Ashes and produced a career-best 181 on his home ground at the WACA as Australia regained the urn. He followed that with another century at the SCG, brought up with emotional scenes alongside his brother Shaun, and when he started the following tour of South Africa with 96 in Durban the signs were that the promise was being fulfilled although the trip would soon go rapidly downhill for Marsh and Australia.2018: Sidelined by injury then a difficult returnFollowing the South Africa tour that ended in the ball-tampering scandal, Marsh underwent surgery on an ankle problem that had been troubling him for some time. It ruled him out of a county stint with Surrey, plus the limited-overs tours of England and Zimbabwe, but he returned later in the year for the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, by which time he had also been named joint vice-captain amid Australia’s leadership reshuffle. He struggled in the two matches and was then left out at the start of the home series against India before brief recall for the Boxing Day Test where two failures saw him ditched again.Mitch Marsh celebrates his fifth wicket•Getty ImagesJanuary 2019: Illness scuppers one-day returnJust when it looked like Marsh would have the chance to regain his ODI berth and push for a place at the 2019 World Cup he suffered a nasty illness on the eve of the series against India which briefly put him in hospital. When Australia wanted all-round cover in the Test squad to face Sri Lanka, they called up Marcus Stoinis. Marsh’s return to Sheffield Shield cricket was then interrupted when he was struck in the box at training which required surgery. Though he eventually finished the season strongly he missed the World Cup squad and lost his CA contract.September 2019: Ashes haulWhen Stoinis was injured during the World Cup Marsh was put on standby but was not required in the end. He earned a recall for the Ashes series that followed and had to wait until the final Test at The Oval for his chance, but with the ball he grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings. Though his batting was more modest he had given him a good chance of being involved at the start of the home summerMitchell Marsh’s IPL 2020 ended after just one aborted outing•BCCIOctober 2019: Taking on the wallHowever, any hopes of keeping his Test place were ended when he took out his frustration at a dismissal in the Sheffield Shield by thumping the dressing room wall at the WACA which led to a broken hand. When asked what coach Justin Langer said to him, Marsh replied: “He just told me I’m an idiot basically. He was disappointed for me.” The injury kept him out of action for half the summer although towards the end of the season he earned a recall to the limited-overs set-up shortly before Covid-19 shut down sport.September 2020: Another injury setbackMarsh produced back-to-back impressive innings on the tour of England as Australia resumed action after a six-month hiatus, the first securing a consolation T20I victory and the second setting up a win in the opening ODI. He jetted to the UAE to take up his IPL deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad but rolled his ankle during his first over of the tournament. He hobbled out to bat late in the chase to try and help the Sunrisers across the line but fell for a duck and two days later was ruled out of the tournament.

The 25-year-old reached the milestone in his 44th Test after dismissing Hasan Ali.

ESPNcricinfo stats team28-Jan-2021 44 Matches Rabada took to take 200 Test wickets. Dale Steyn and Allan Donald are the two players from South Africa to reach the milestone faster than Rabada. Steyn reached this feat in 39 Tests, while Donald got there in 42. Only six pace bowlers have done it in quicker time. Yasir Shah is the fastest to 200 Test wickets, reaching this feat in just 33 Tests.ESPNcricinfo Ltd 8154 Balls taken by Rabada to get 200 Test Wickets, the third fastest in the history of Test cricket. Waqar Younis ( 7730) and Dale Steyn ( 7848) are the only two bowlers who got there quicker. Rabada made his debut in 2015 against India in Mohali and it has taken him just over five years to reach this feat. 9378 Rabada’s age in days (at the start of the Test) when he got to 200 Test wickets. Only three bowlers have reached the milestone at a younger age. Younis did it in 8788 days while Kapil Dev and Harbhajan Singh got there in 8830 and 9203 days respectively. 0 Bowlers to have a better strike rate than Rabada in the history of Test cricket with a 200-wicket cut off. Rabada’s strike rate of 40.8 is the best. His compatriot Steyn is second on the list with a strike rate of 42.3. Among active players, Mitchell Starc and Neil Wagner are the ones among the top five with strike rates of 49.3 and 51.9 respectively. Rabada is almost 10 balls ahead of the next best. Even if the cut off is reduced to 150 Test wickets, Rabada still tops the charts. Rabada’s average of 22.96 is the fourth best for South Africa. Only Vernon Philander, Steyn and Allan Donald have better averages.ESPNcricinfo Ltd 9 Five-wicket hauls for Rabada in 44 Tests. He has four 10-wicket hauls as well. Although Rabada has not taken five wickets in an innings since March 2018, he has a good strike rate taking wickets on a regular basis. At the 200-wicket mark, Steyn had 13 five-wicket hauls while Younis had 19 five-wicket hauls.

The Cricket Australia chairman spoke to ESPNcricinfo about the dramas of 2020, the new ICC chair and the future of Test cricket, the BBL, succession issues and the rapidly changing media landscape

Daniel Brettig23-Dec-2020When were you most nervous that this Test series against India wasn’t going to happen?I was always confident we’d get the series away, there was never one time I didn’t think we would do it. But there were some sleepless nights. I think when we found out we couldn’t quarantine in Brisbane was a big one, but luckily we were able to reach out to the New South Wales government, who within 72 hours mobilised and allowed us to come in. It was always a challenge about where we were going to play, but in terms of India not turning up I was always confident they would turn up and they were just as keen to come as we were to have them. Never thought they weren’t going to play, but certainly had some moments wondering how we were going to do it.For what the people at CA have done behind the scenes to get the summer away, I can’t thank them enough. The CA staff, working with states and territories, state governments … people don’t see the long hours people have sacrificed to get this summer away and the players themselves. So I couldn’t be prouder of the way Australian cricket’s come together to deliver probably the most difficult summer we’ve ever had.A bit refreshing in a year where you’ve had spot fires all over the place that you didn’t have one with the BCCI?The BCCI have been fantastic to work with. They wanted to come, which was the most important thing. They understand the importance of the series, they also understand the importance to Australia, so they’ve been very good to deal with. I think the investment we’ve made over the last two or three years in that relationship has really carried through and it’s why we do it, they’re such an important part of world cricket, they’re a great partner of ours, so I think the strength of that relationship has come through. It’ll continue to be strengthened as we go through the series.How much of India’s willingness to tour was to do with getting the IPL played in October and also getting the T20 World Cup next year?They’re not connected. As it panned out it was going to be hard to have a World Cup here [this year] so it made sense for them to take that spot for the IPL. We spent long and hard thinking about the T20 World Cup and for a long time we were keen to host it next year, but we were concerned from a local organising committee perspective about whether we would be able to have it here, if you’re looking further out where the world might be in 12 months’ time. We weren’t convinced we’d be allowed to get 16 international teams into Australia, I’m still convinced that would be a challenge. So it made sense for India to hold their position and we’d follow after that. It was difficult decision to make but we weren’t convinced we’d have a full, clear run at it.Related

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And India have a regional solution if they can’t have it there next year, maybe UAE, maybe Sri Lanka?They’re confident they’ll get it done in India and I hope they do, because it’d be a fantastic event. A bit depends on what happens with vaccines, but they’ve got some options there. We thought at the time we may not have it in Australia.You had an interminable process for ICC chair, a relief that Greg Barclay finally got the role, meaning you can get back to the cricket conversations you need to have?The process was drawn out, but Greg’s going to be a very good chair. Now we need to draw a line in the sand and focus on what’s important, how we help cricket globally through the pandemic and further how we grow the game strategically.<b<What did you make of his comments about the World Test Championship not necessarily being "fit for purpose" and the conversations about the schedule?First of all, the primacy of Test cricket is important to all of us. What the World Test Championship does is gives Test cricket extra context. It’s in an embryonic phase, we haven’t even got through the first cycle, but sadly the pandemic hit and it’s thrown our plans into a bit of chaos which we’re working through. So it’s got context, I still think it’s very important, but now it’s up to the countries of the ICC to see how we make it most effective and give that primacy to Test cricket.When you say the primacy of Test cricket, an obvious issue is how few matches are profitable. This series is one of the most profitable, but how do you handle the rest – will we see the return of a Test cricket fund or the pooling of rights?We want to see a lot of competitive sides playing Test cricket. The last thing we want to see is only three or four countries playing, because that would be the death knell of Test cricket. ICC and member countries have got to find a way of supporting those countries that are either emerging or have been strong in the past and may not be so strong now. We’ve got to find ways to help in development, we need to help them find a pathway through that. We need 10-20 strong Test playing nations, not just three or four.’First of all, the primacy of Test cricket is important to all of us’•Getty ImagesLinked to that is the fact Shashank Manohar commissioned you to work through a governance review of ICC. How far down that path are you and when ideally are you going to report back?Given all the changes that happened recently with the chairman’s role, we’re looking at how we might redefine some of those committees. We’re looking at bringing in strategic planning function into committees as well, because you can’t do strategy without governance and vice versa. So get your strategy right first and then build your governance around the direction you want to go to support that. We’ve got a working committee going through that, we hope to be able to report back to the ICC annual meeting next year.Is one of the things you’re looking at to do with broadening the pool of ICC directors so you don’t have to be the chair or president of a member board?Certainly – we’ve come a long way in the governance of the ICC, but we’ve still got a long way to go to get to a more contemporary approach. I think opening up the pool to getting the best possible people running your sport is critical. We’ve got a very narrow pool of people we can choose from, not saying they’re good or bad, but we think if cricket’s the best sport in the world, we want to get the possible people running it. So by changing the governance it allows that, but also moves the decision-making towards doing what’s in the best interests of cricket, not necessarily the best interests of one or two members.Indra Nooyi came onto the board as a result of the changes that Manohar pushed through, has she been a good example of what you can bring to the board if you open it up?Very much so. Indra is a very, very clear thinker, very strategic, very courageous in asking the hard questions, and she’s been a wonderful addition to the board.How conscious are you of Greg being a chair for the whole ICC, as opposed to the perception that he got through with the votes of India, England and Australia?He got a two thirds majority so a lot of countries supported Greg. The “big three” was there and I think it wasn’t in the best interests of world cricket, but the people who dismantled the “big three” were England, Australia and Shashank. So we’re the ones who saw that wasn’t in the best interests of cricket, and the theory that we are the nations still running the show is not true. Greg has been there across the whole journey of that so he’ll lead in the best interests of world cricket.Do you acknowledge though that the whole idea of the big three came to the fore when the FTP and ICC events were being decided on, India wanted more event revenue and England and Australia wanted to protect their seasons, and all those factors are back into view now for the next cycle?That’s why getting the governance structure right is important. Secondly all the countries I speak to realise the big countries have got a responsibility, both morally and fiduciary, to help the other countries. Australia and India don’t want to be playing each other every year. I still believe ICC events and bilateral cricket are symbiotic – you can’t have one without the other because you devalue it. My question is, how do you find the right balance? Some want to see more ICC content, but my view is all you’re doing is devaluing it. So we need to reframe the question, how do we change the governance and financial models to assist those countries that are struggling to be the best they can be, rather than just throwing more and more content into an ICC cycle.Earl Eddings believes it would only be an expanding IPL that would provide scheduling challenges•BCCISomething that is going to happen in terms of that crush of content is an expanding IPL with extra teams and probably an extra couple of weeks of tournament length. How carefully does the rest of the world need to keep a close watch on the size of the IPL?I don’t think it’s just the IPL, it’s a range of domestic T20 competitions. We want countries to have their own events, but that to me is another crush, because it takes so many windows out of the calendar where you can play ICC events and bilateral cricket that, to me, should be far more important. That’s another layer of complexity in the program, and you can’t keep asking players to play more and more cricket. We’ve seen issues around the aspects of mental health, particularly with hubs at the moment, that are critical. So we need to remember they’re athletes and humans, and you can’t keep layering more and more content.On the domestic front, the BBL is right at the centre of your dispute with Channel Seven. Given that dispute, how do you find a way to have constructive conversations with them about what you do with the BBL?We’ve wanted to have constructive discussions all the way about how we improve it. I think it’s been a remarkable tournament, but you’ve always got to keep it evolving and changing. We’ve made some tinkering this year to look at how we can improve it in the current circumstances. The TV ratings have been good, they can always be better, but it’s still a good product. Longer term we always want our partners to do well, so I would have thought that we’ll talk about adding value to the BBL. One of our contentions with Seven is that we want to add value to the tournament, because the more money we make, the more we can invest back into the game. We’ve maintained all along we’ll provide the best summer of cricket we possibly can.If you’ve got someone of the experience of Aaron Finch saying the BBL expanded too quickly, is that an opinion you listen to closely and acknowledge there’s a significant number of people who think it needs to be fewer games than it is?You always listen to the players, because you want the best players playing, and we work very closely with the ACA as well. So we take that all on board and we’re trying to find ways to maximise the window that we have in the summer to play the BBL and get as many of the best players here as we can. This year with the ACA we’ve got three overseas players, I think the quality has been pretty good so far. Particularly with the Australian Open tennis not being played this year [until after the BBL], we have the whole window of January devoted to cricket. We think that’s going to add a lot of value for our broadcasters and our sponsors.But you’re not willing to say that it’s too many games?I don’t think so. We look at how we can structure the season, bearing in mind it changes every year in terms of what players are available given the crowded international schedule, which is probably the biggest challenge we have. But like anything we’ll keep evolving the competition. Having the BBL in that January holiday period is really important to us.You had a few conflicts this year around Covid, with the ACA, then with the states…Let me challenge that hypothesis. Our relationship with the ACA’s never been better, they’ve been great through all this, the fact we’ve been able to deliver a women’s international series, domestic series, WBBL, and we’ll get a domestic season in, that can only happen working closely with the ACA. So apart from some discussions at the start, I think we’ve worked very well together and I want to congratulate them on that. The easiest thing for us to say would’ve been ‘we’re not going to play a Shield season, we’re not going to play women’s cricket’, but cricket’s our thing and we’ve got to put on as many games as we possibly can in line with our players’ welfare. So I think that speaks to a good relationship in terms of what we’ve been able to deliver so far.In terms of the states, seven of the eight states and territories have agreed to taking a reduction in grants, they saw where cricket was and they’ve all worked together. I don’t want to overstate the discussions with the states and territories, most have been very positive apart from one or two and we’ve worked through that.Nick Hockley has been the interim CEO since Kevin Roberts left•Getty ImagesGiven all of that, what sort of a CEO do you need? You had James Sutherland for a long time and Kevin Roberts for a short time.At the moment Nick Hockley is doing a fantastic job, he’s delivered a summer of cricket when at times we were thinking ‘how are we going to do this’, but he’s done that in very difficult circumstances, so he’s doing a great job and so are the rest of the team. We’ll start a process early in the new year and we’re thinking through what we think the needs are for the next five years for a CEO. Stakeholder management is critical, the depth and breadth of stakeholders in Australian cricket and international cricket is paramount, someone who is a strategic thinker, and given the challenges we’re seeing in media rights around the world, where are our next revenue streams coming from, they may look very different in five years’ time. Also managing the ICC. So there’s a range of different requirements and it’s a tough gig. Finding the right person, he or she with the right skill set will be challenging but Nick is doing a fantastic job at the moment.And in terms of the board and your own role as chair. When the board moved to an independent model, one of the concepts was to create more chance of continuity of leadership. That didn’t work out for David Peever, you’re coming up to re-election next year. How important do you think continuity is, but also how do you work through figuring out whether you have support to continue as chair?I’m there at the behest of the board and the members, so it’s up to them to make that call. Succession is really critical and we’re always talking about succession. My comment around longevity is you don’t want to stay around too long, however with the dynamic of the ICC, it takes a long time to build relationships and if we didn’t spend time building a relationship with India this summer could have been in jeopardy. but the fact we had spent that time allowed us to have some open discussions that allowed the tour to go ahead. So it takes time to build those relationships. You don’t want to be just getting there and then having to start again. You need to balance out the needs of your standing at the ICC to allow Australia’s needs to be met.It’s still very much the role of the board to make final calls on the captaincy of Australia. How much discussion have you had in recent times about Steven Smith and his role and what you do next?First of all we’ve got three great captains in Meg [Lanning], Aaron [Finch] and Tim [Paine]. We’ve got some great young leaders coming through. So it’s not just about should Steve take over, it’s about what’s best overall. Steve’s a great young man and he was a good captain when he was there. Like any succession there’s planning in place. Have we sat down as a board specifically to discuss the next captain, no we haven’t, but I think over a period of time we’ve given a range of people options to be vice-captain, Matthew Wade was already vice-captain, so we’re seeing that and it gives us an opportunity to look at the future leaders of Australian cricket. We’ll be guided by the recommendations of the selection panel, they always come back to our board at the right time with their recommendation, and we’ll go through it in detail when they do that.There is a bit of speculation around the South Africa tour in February and March. What can you do between now and then in terms of getting the series played but also concern about player welfare? How do you balance all that with the Covid situation in South Africa?We’re watching very closely and we want to be playing South Africa in South Africa, we want to be going back to Pakistan and all these countries. First because we want to play them and secondly because it’s great for the growth of the game. But the safety and welfare of our players and staff is paramount, and we’ll work out what the scenarios are. South African cricket is also in a bit of flux at the moment, so trying to work out who the best people are to be talking to. While we want to play there as much as we can, I’m not going to be compromising the safety of our players and staff. Our intention is to tour.Trying to find the best person is difficult, and we’ve got to be respectful because they’re going through a difficult time and their own challenges. As things start settling down again and we get closer to the tour we’ll have some more formal discussions. We’ll see how that plays out over the next few weeks.The other thing that is critical is what ultimately happens with the broadcasters. It’s clearly important to CA to have a fair amount of cricket on free-to-air, but you’ve also got a very fluid environment where you need to find ways to keep raising value. Will you revisit having men’s white-ball games behind a pay wall next time around?When we did that last broadcast deal it was very deliberate and we had a price [to put some content behind a pay wall]. We had I think 18% of cricket behind a paywall. But there’s more free-to-air cricket now on TV than there’s ever been, albeit without men’s white-ball cricket. So what that allowed us to do is put a WBBL on, it allowed us to have a standalone women’s World Cup final, it allowed us to invest tens of millions into infrastructure in community cricket. It allowed us to put more money into junior formats. That’s why I’m happy with the decision we made, otherwise you wouldn’t have had the great March 8 scene at the MCG with 86,000 people. We made a deliberate choice to put a small amount of content behind a paywall for those strategic reasons. Would we do it again? I don’t know, but the investment allowed us to grow the game.In terms of how the media landscape is changing, is the principal challenge figuring out where you can go to get that level of money to maintain that level of investment?All sports around the world are grappling with that now with the fracturing of the traditional media market. We’re fortunate in Australia that most of our sport is on free-to-air TV and that to me is critical because it gives you reach. Our penetration rates behind a paywall are very small in Australia, 23%, compared to other countries, so you’re never going to get the reach to grow your sport by putting everything behind a paywall and we never would. However, the markets have been challenged so reimagining what the market looks like in five years’ time is really difficult. That’s why you need to have a strong skillset around your board and then the new CEO, whoever that may be, will need to consider that. I haven’t got the answer, no-one’s got the answer, but that’s certainly the environment we’re working in.

The prospects of losing his batting because of the captaincy is too frightening to consider

Osman Samiuddin20-Nov-2020In October last year he became Pakistan’s T20I captain. Since then he averages 55, striking at nearly 143 and has six fifties in 11 games. In May this year, he was appointed Pakistan’s ODI captain. Since then he averages 110.50 (ok, it’s only three ODIs and all against Zimbabwe). This month, Babar Azam became Pakistan’s Test captain. Now?Now, he is readying to fly out in a few days’ time as Pakistan’s all-format, all-powerful captain to New Zealand which, great country and all, has become an unforgiving cricket host since the turn of the century. Only Australia and South Africa have favourable Test win-loss ratios there in that time, and although Pakistan are the only other side New Zealand haven’t won more Tests against, more recent history is pretty one-sided.In fact, very much unlike the ’90s, New Zealand have become a pretty unforgiving opponent for Pakistan anywhere. Pakistan have won only two – a pair of T20I series – out of their last 12 bilateral series across formats and venues against New Zealand. Most recently was a fairly traumatic Test series defeat in the UAE, where they lost one Test by four runs (a target of 176) and one after gaining a 74-run first innings lead.So the platitudinous tone of Azam’s assessment on Friday sat slightly out of kilter with that record. “We’re quite excited about going to New Zealand,” he said. “Quite confident as a group. We’ve been playing back-to-back cricket. We’ve got decent stats against them and we’ve played pretty good cricket against them too, in New Zealand and outside. We hope to go there and start well and play with the confidence that we have right now.”It’s quite possible he was talking from a personal standpoint. should be quite excited and confident because his record against them is no short of outstanding. He has healthy averages in all formats and some key, landmark innings: the majestic, unbeaten 90 in Hamilton in 2016, the first signs of his prowess in red-ball cricket; his first Test hundred in a dominant win in Dubai; and possibly his finest innings to date, the World Cup hundred at Edgbaston.It is the fear of losing precisely these performances that accompany his ascension to this moment, more even than the more intrinsic question of whether he has the aptitude for captaincy.So far at least, the batting has not been hit.”The pressure has always been there, right from the start when I came into the Pakistan side,” he said. “Challenges keep coming every day and now I have a new challenge, a new responsibility. It’s not added pressure. I enjoy it and the things I’ve learnt in white-ball cricket over the last year, there’s been a bit of improvement. I want to try and enjoy it. I was vice-captain to Azhar [Ali], I learnt a lot under Saifi [Sarfraz Ahmed], so I want to apply that.”As for the batting, this is just another step forward, another challenge that I want to set myself. The team relies on me and I accept that responsibility. I enjoy taking on that pressure, playing with that pressure.”A perfectly timed pull shot from Babar Azam•Getty ImagesHackneyed again, perhaps, but no captain is picked because of his oratory. He will come from a position of some empathy for younger players, a few of whom Pakistan will be relying on. The promise of something special was evident during periods of the summer tour to England if not quite the actual performance.But Azam himself was the beneficiary of patience and persistence, citing former coach Mickey Arthur’s support early in his own Test career. “You have to support them, you have to back them. I struggled early on but I had support from my team. Especially I’ll say of Mickey. He always said, ‘the more you back them, the more you play them, the better they’ll get’.”Patience is one of the aspects missing from the PCB’s appointment of captains since the departure of Misbah-ul-Haq – although not the only one. Azam is the third man in three years to lead the Test side, Pakistan having used one in the nearly-seven years prior to that.For now, Azam thinks he has the support. “The PCB has given me the confidence to go out there and play,” he pointed out. “They’ve said I don’t need to worry about it, that I am in their long-term plans. There’s certainly no pressure from the PCB that you lose this series and what will happen then, nothing like that. They’ve given me the freedom, that we are thinking of you long term.”All of Pakistan will be hoping likewise, for the prospects of losing his batting because of the captaincy – or its fallout – is too frightening to consider.

With IPL auction just around the corner, national selectors and talent scouts could keenly watch out for players they could shortlist

Shashank Kishore25-Jan-2021Karnataka vs PunjabKarnataka are the defending champions. Punjab are looking to shed bridesmaid status. When these two teams met in the league phase, Siddarth Kaul picked up a hat-trick and Prabhsimran Singh made a bruising unbeaten 89 to make light work of Karnataka’s target of 126.Punjab finished the league phase with an all-win record, while Karnataka just managed to sneak through on net run rate despite winning four out of five matches. Going into the final day of the league phase, they needed three results to go their way, and luckily for them, the stars aligned.Manish Pandey is unavailable due to a tennis elbow. Karun Nair’s prolonged bad patch is now into its third year, Devdutt Padikkal is yet to hit top gear and Shreyas Gopal has been in and out of the side. The bowling has blown hot and cold, and with K Gowtham unavailable due to net-bowler duties with the Indian team for the upcoming England series, Karnataka will need a collective effort.For Punjab, Prabhsimran and Abhishek Sharma have swatted bowling attacks to the extent that the middle order has hardly had a look-in, but there’s experience to bank on in the form of Mandeep Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, and Gurkeerat Mann.Himachal vs Tamil NaduThe Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu not only dominated the group stages, but also had an air of intimidation to their performances. Four of their five wins came in chases after those games were set up by the spin trio of R Sai Kishore, M Ashwin and B Aparajith; the fifth was set up by the batsmen, led by N Jagadeesan. Sandeep Warrier has given their attack some pace and control upfront with the new ball.Himachal, meanwhile, have come through the tough way, staving off competition from Gujarat to finish as the team with the second-best net run rate from the Elite pool. Their defense of 141 against Gujarat proved to be crucial to their qualification, and the win was carved out by Rishi Dhawan courtesy an unbeaten 43 and two wickets. Once touted a serious India prospect, he has slipped under the radar and performances like those should help him at least come back into the IPL radar.Haryana vs BarodaJayant Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohit Sharma, and Rahul Tewatia give Haryana the kind of experience they have been yearning for. That they have got here having convincingly beaten Delhi, consisting Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Nitish Rana among others, tells you how well they’ve gelled as a unit. Along the way, they also had to stave off a serious fight from Kerala, who fizzled out after starting the tournament with a bang.Up against them is a side that has punched above its weight to get here. The build-up to their tournament wasn’t the best, with senior allrounder Deepak Hooda leaving the camp after a tiff with Krunal Pandya. Then, Krunal, the captain, had to leave the camp due to the death of his father, leaving Kedar Devdhar with a relatively inexperienced side. Lukman Meriwala, the fast bowler, has been key to them bowling out two accomplished sides in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh for sub-100 totals. Devdhar himself has taken up the batting responsibility and tops their run charts currently with 226 runs in five innings, including a best of 99 not out against Maharashtra.Rajasthan have developed a good core group of players, like the Chahars who are also key to their respective IPL teams•BCCIBihar vs RajasthanThis may seem as a bit of a mismatch. Bihar didn’t even know the side they’d put out for their first game a week before departure. Two different factions, claiming to run cricket in the state, picked squads amid administrative squabbles. But having got the distraction out of the way, Bihar did well to keep up their side of the bargain by winning four out of five.However, they must also consider themselves massively lucky for a washout between Chandigarh and Nagaland, the other two sides with four wins, pushed them into the knockouts. A result either way in that game could have certainly meant curtains for Bihar. They’ve hardly been troubled, though. The highest of their four chases was a mere 111. Ironically, their serious challenge came from seventh-placed Arunachal, who bowled them out for 122 and then lost by 18 runs.Rajasthan aren’t strangers to administrative issues but seem to be developing a good core group of players, like the Chahars – Deepak and Rahul – who are both capped India players and key to their respective IPL teams, young legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, fast bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Tanveer Ul-Haq and batsman Mahipal Lomror. Deepak Chahar, though, will miss the knockouts due to injury, but Bihar’s inexperience may just help Rajasthan sail through their first knockouts hurdle.

From bubble breaches to game postponements to the tournament being indefinitely suspended, here’s what happened between February 19 and March 4

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2021February 19A day before the start of the sixth season, a player from Lahore Qalandars tests positive for Covid-19 and is displaying symptoms. He is put into isolation for ten days.February 19One night before the opening match, Peshawar Zalmi coach Daren Sammy and captain Wahab Riaz breach the bio-secure bubble in place for all teams in Karachi hotel by meeting with their franchise owner Javed Afridi, who was not part of the bubble. The pair are told to go into a three-day quarantine and must return two negative tests before they can return to the team.February 21After Zalmi file an appeal with the PSL’s event committee for a concession, Sammy and Wahab are allowed to reintegrate with the squad, despite not having served the three-day quarantine period. The pair have returned two negative tests within 48 hours. The results of the second test arrive in the morning, delaying Peshawar’s departure for the stadium. Riaz later leads his side to a loss against Qalandars, with Sammy in the dugout.Related

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PSL 2021 postponed after more players test positive for Covid-19

March 1The game between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators is first delayed and then postponed to the following day after Fawad Ahmed returns a positive test. A statement from United says that Ahmed, who had begun showing symptoms, was put into isolation two days ago. That suggests it was on February 27, which means he would have gone into isolation soon after taking part in his first game of the season – against Zalmi. Rapid-fire tests are carried out on all other members of United and Gladiators, all returning negative tests.March 2All players and officials undergo PCR tests. The rescheduled game goes ahead and the PCB says it will not conduct testing every fourth day, instead of weekly as previously planned.Tom Banton took to Twitter to share news of his Covid-19 test•AFP via Getty ImagesMarch 2Two more players – including Tom Banton – and one support-staff member return positive tests. The PCB holds a meeting with franchises to reassure them and reiterates its message that players must stick to the protocols. The board says it is happy that their bubble protocols are secure, although it does acknowledge “life in a bubble is very difficult and managing it is also very tough. This is happening in other different sports in the world – NFL, NHL, Formula 1 or Australian Open – breaches do happen but that doesn’t mean the bubble is weak or there are loopholes.”March 3Franchise owners and the league’s management hold a meeting to chart a way forward for the league after the positive tests. One option discussed is to forego the Lahore leg and play out the entire season in Karachi. At least two franchises raise strong objections to that idea. The PCB also announces that it will offer vaccines to all players and officials.March 4Three more players test positive, and news comes in that Australian Dan Christian is leaving the tournament due to the Covid-19 cases. Soon after, the PCB says it is postponing the league with immediate effect. The board says the new cases were not from any of the teams who played in Wednesday’s double-header matches, which rules out players from Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi, Multan Sultans or Quetta Gladiators.

Agree or disagree? A number of other players had strong claims to be in this side

Andrew McGlashan07-Apr-2021As the Sheffield Shield heads into a final between Queensland and New South Wales, here’s our team of the season. In a bat-dominated competition there are some big run-scorers to miss out but the aim was to pick a balanced side so the extra bowler was selected.