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Plays of the day from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam

Shashank Kishore08-May-2016Warner-Harbhajan mind games: Act I
David Warner made his intentions clear by welcoming Harbhajan Singh into the attack with a six over long-on. The over went for only 11, though. When he came back for a second over, his plan of firing the ball in and not allowing Warner to get underneath the flight was noticeable. The first ball of his second over – the eighth of the innings – was fired short and wide; Warner found point. The next one had width; Warner played the slap-chop to cover. He was forced to reach out for the third one, the fastest of the lot in excess of 100 clicks; he tried to play but then let it go. Then came another short ball which he hit to short third man for a single, to relieve the pressure. A good over until that point was somewhat shaded by a poor fielding effort by Krunal Pandya, though, whose uncertainty in trying to stop the ball with his feet or hands resulted in a boundary last up.Warner-Harbhajan mind games: Act II
Warner was ready for a barrage of short and wide deliveries by the time Harbhajan was in for his third over. Off the second ball, Warner walked across to fetch the pull and swatted the short ball into the deep-midwicket boundary. The next ball was once again fired outside off, and Warner missed. In trying to outfox Warner, who was eyeing the cow-corner fence, Harbhajan then bowled it full and flat, only to be forced to take evasive action as Warner drilled one straight down the ground to bisect long-on and long-off. Then he tossed one up outside off, the slowest of the lot, which Warner hit straight into the big hands of Kieron Pollard at long-off. Mumbai’s search for a breakthrough was finally over.Bumrah’s Dhawan reprieve
Mumbai were on the upswing, having prised out Warner and Kane Williamson quickly. There was a chance to dismiss a well-set Shikhar Dhawan in the 13th over, but it went abegging when Jasprit Bumrah’s throw at the bowler’s end missed the stumps by a mile. Bumrah bowled an excellent yorker, which Yuvraj Singh somehow kept out. Bumrah sprinted diagonally to his left to collect the ball from short midwicket before aiming at the stumps. Perhaps taking a second to aim would have helped as Dhawan had given up halfway down. He was on 41 then. It cost Mumbai 41 more.Yuvraj disturbs his own stumps
Mitchell McClenaghan kept pushing Yuvraj back. Once he couldn’t quite time the pulls, he tried to use the depth of the crease to paddle and carve the ball behind square. One such delivery resulted in a wicket when Yuvraj, who went back into the crease to angle the ball towards the off side, clattered the stumps with his bat while trying to swing through the line. He was so deep inside the crease that it first seemed like he had withdrawn from the stroke, until everyone saw the zing bails flash.

Picket fencing. Old wooden benches. Grass banks. It could easily be the Basin Reserve in Wellington… but it’s not

Abhishek Purohit20-Feb-2015Picket fencing. A gravel walking path around the picket fencing. Old wooden benches. Grass banks. A busy road skirting the edge of the ground. Could easily be the Basin Reserve in Wellington. It is the Junction Oval, or the St Kilda Cricket Ground, in Melbourne. Known more as the ground where Shane Warne played club cricket, and also made his first-class debut, the Junction Oval resembles the Basin Reserve in another aspect. In its heritage grandstands.The building and taking down of stands at grounds tells a story in itself. The old grandstand at the Basin Reserve was built in 1925. Spectators are no longer allowed inside it due to it being considered a potential hazard in the earthquake-prone region. The Vance Stand, which came up in the 1980s, is used instead. A few years later, the disused luncheon area in the old grandstand was turned into the New Zealand Cricket Musuem, which welcomes visitors to this day.Junction Oval used to have as many as four stands, says Stephen Wain, who has been around at the ground for years and serves as administration manager for St Kilda Cricket Club. Two of them still stand, and a third, smaller, newer pavilion has come up at the straight boundary.The Blackie-Ironmonger stand reminds you right away of the Basin grandstand. Named after the “most durable and talented spin bowling combination” in Victoria cricket, both of who represented Australia, the stand came up in 1945. High, pillared, corrugated iron roof. Long benches. Red-brick sides. It transports you back in time, and unlike the one at the Basin, is still used. It may not have a national museum, but it does house a collection of the club’s memorabilia, as well as the team changing rooms. It also contains a small enclosure for media personnel, though the view is from deep square leg.The benches will disappear soon to be replaced by seats, says Wain, for as historic as they are, they are not comfortable to sit on. Some leather cushions were helpfully placed on a few for the moment.The Kevin Murray grandstand, named after the great Australian rules footballer, was shut down after being deemed a fire hazard. The vintage staircases, two pairs of which still take you up Blackie-Ironmonger, were removed from the Kevin Murray stand. It still has the wooden floorboards intact, says Wain.Two stands were pulled down years ago. One was wooden, and used to be quite popular with fans. But there were a series of fires in the region in the late 1980s, and the authorities were not willing to take any chances. You can never be too careful with smokers in a wooden structure. One cigarette is all it takes, says Wain. “Poof”, and the entire thing could have come down.The fourth stand had something called concrete cancer, explains Wain, saying that chunks of material were falling off. One of them landed on the top of the club president’s car. That sealed the stand’s fate. A mound full of grass takes its place now.There is also a giant scoreboard next to the new pavilion. “When it is 35 degrees outside, it feels like 55 degrees inside,” says Wain. And when it is cold outside, it is freezing inside. Happens when you are sitting inside a hollow steel structure. The scoreboard was brought to the ground from a racecourse.The ground’s facilities failed to meet first-class standards in recent years, and there was a plea from Warne to the state government to help in upgrading the venue. A newly elected administration promised funds, and Wain says part of the proposed facelift includes a three-storey multi-purpose building in place of the smallest, youngest pavilion. That will be another story then. Blackie-Ironmonger will stay on though. Reminding visitors of the Basin.

Hughes has one thing in common with his coach – unorthodoxy. But Lehmann’s presence should be useful in helping the left-hander deal with spin

Daniel Brettig in Taunton30-Jun-2013Phillip Hughes was not yet in school when Darren Lehmann had already learned to deal with the sorts of criticism so often attached to that most fascinating, entertaining and occasionally infuriating of batsman: the unorthodox left-hander. Now as Australia’s new coach, Lehmann is ideally placed to help Hughes deal with troubles against spin bowling that have become the latest of a series of mountains for the younger man to climb.Much like Hughes, Lehmann’s technique and choices of mentors were questioned. His chances of making it as an international cricketer were dismissed out of hand for reasons like “he plays half his matches in Adelaide”, “looks jumpy against pace” and even the odd allegation of “scores too quickly”. Unlike Hughes, those critiques helped stop Lehmann from playing international cricket until his first-class career was a decade old.Both share a ravenous appetite for run-scoring and a knack for making hundreds. Hughes in fact outstrips Lehmann in his early aptitude for doing so – by the age of 24, Lehmann had 17 first-class hundreds to Hughes’ 21, none of them in Tests. But one major point of difference is their relative comfort when facing spin. Lehmann was near peerless at his best; Hughes is near shot-less at his worst.”Obviously he’s only just come in recently but I’ll be talking to him day in and day out about especially spin,” Hughes said. “Because he really dominated spin bowling through his whole career so it’s something we can all keep working on and he’ll be fantastic for that.”I studied him when I was younger, I loved watching him play, and I think the aggressive way he went about it is something I try and do as well and a number of the boys in the team model our games around. So it’s good to have him around and he’s really putting us into that positive frame of mind.”Positivity is important to Hughes more than most. An improved capability against spin, and the denial of negative or survival-oriented thoughts will be critical if Hughes is to bat down that order, as he was commissioned to do in the first innings at Taunton.”I really enjoyed batting at No.5 and then obviously 3 [in the second innings], but it’s only a number next to your name and I’ve always said that I don’t really mind where I bat,” Hughes said. “It’s just about opportunity really and about performing. I think it’s a good thing giving everyone a go in different positions just to see. I’ve been lucky enough to go from opener all the way down to 5 now so it’s a good thing. It’s only something you can continue to work on.”One point of progress during Hughes’ innings of 76* and 50 against Somerset was his ability to rotate the strike against the spin of George Dockrell. There were well-struck sixes too, but the singles were more instructive as to Hughes’ best chance of thriving against Graeme Swann, not allowing England’s No. 1 spinner to work him over.”Yeah it’s nice to get off strike, doesn’t matter who you’re really facing especially at the start of your innings to work into it,” Hughes said. “They kept changing the field and you want to try and manipulate that as much as possible. I thought he bowled quite well, there was a fair bit of rough outside off stump, so it was nice to get to the other end today against a spinner and on a dry pitch.”Hughes and the rest of the tourists have now settled in Worcestershire, which in 2012 proved a critical juncture for him after a horrid summer in Australia that began with “caught Guptill, bowled Martin” and ended with his departure from New South Wales. Much as Lehmann’s international prospects only gathered momentum after he ventured to Yorkshire and proved his ability to play on a greater variety of surfaces, Hughes’ horizons were broadened at Worcester, not least by their coach Steve Rhodes.”It was nice to get away from a lot of things and go out there and enjoy my cricket and the four or five months I was there, it was times I’ll never forget,” Hughes said. “I speak to Rhodesy a fair bit and I can’t wait to catch up with him again, and have a few chats along the way. But they’ve been real good and he really gave me that freedom to go out there and express myself.”It’s a bit like my second home. They really looked after me there for the four or five months I spent there, it was really good for my confidence 12 months back, and I’ll be meeting with all the guys over the next few days and catch up for dinner. They made me feel welcome when I was there and it’s going to be good to see some mates.”No doubt Lehmann can relate to that, too.

The groundwork which enabled England to reach No. 1 in the Test rankings was put in place before the new millennium

Andrew McGlashan15-Aug-2011Not for the last time as England captain, Nasser Hussain was emotional after the team sank to bottom against New Zealand•Getty Imagesv New Zealand, The Oval, 1999: Bottom of the pileWhen Alan Mullally skied Chris Cairns to mid-off, England had been beaten by 83 runs in the fourth and deciding Test and were, according to the Wisden rankings that predated the official ICC ladder, the worst team in the world. Nasser Hussain was booed as he made his way onto The Oval balcony for the presentation. The only way was up.November 1999: From now on, this is how it worksDuncan Fletcher, at the time a fairly unknown name outside of his achievements for Zimbabwe, had been confirmed as England’s new coach earlier in the year. However, he had a watching brief as the team hit rock-bottom against New Zealand and it wasn’t until the tour of South Africa that he could start to change English cricket. On his first day in charge, England slumped to 2 for 4 against South Africa at Johannesburg, yet slowly, but surely, a strong relationship with Hussain began to formMay 2000: England firstA hugely significant moment in the bigger picture of English cricket’s future came with the first batch of ECB central contracts. Some, such as Chris Schofield and Mark Ramprakash, faded away, but the principle of the leading players being managed by the England coach brought a new professionalism to the set up.v West Indies, 2000: Regain the Wisden TrophyWest Indies weren’t the force of old, but with Ambrose, Walsh and Lara they still had plenty of matchwinners. When they secured the first Test at Edgbaston it looked like normal service, but after producing a wonderful fight-back at Lord’s to win by two wickets the momentum was with England. On a heady day at The Oval they bowled out West Indies to take the series 3-1. Hussain, who’d barely scored a run, sank to his knees. England were on the climb.December-March 2000-01: Subcontinent successThis is a winter that doesn’t get the acclaim it deserves. Firstly the team won in the dark at Karachi to secure a series victory in Pakistan after 39 years then, even more impressively, came from 1-0 down to beat Sri Lanka on their home soil. A core of experienced players, led by Darren Gough and Graham Thorpe, was forming alongside younger stars such as Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan. This was Hussain’s finest hour.July-September 2001: Ashes hammeringHowever, any thought that England were ready to make a challenge for the top was brought into stark focus by another Ashes hammering. The first three Tests were over within 11 days and only Mark Butcher’s career-defining 173 saved face. Australia were still light years ahead.July-August, 2002: Missed opportunitySri Lanka had been dispatched 2-0 in helpful conditions and when India were beaten by 170 runs at Lord’s, confidence was high. However, inconsistency still dogged the team and at Headingley they were thrashed by an innings and 46 runs. A 1-1 draw was unfulfilling and, more crucially with an Ashes on the horizon, Andrew Flintoff had been stretched to breaking point with a double hernia.By 2003 Andrew Flintoff was becoming a world-class allrounder and would be central to England’s success•Getty Imagesv Australia, Brisbane, 2002: “We’ll bowl.”It’s a moment Hussain has never lived down, putting Australia into bat at the Gabba and watching them amass 364 for 2 on the first day. Worst still, Simon Jones suffered a career-threatening knee injury sliding on the sandy outfield. The Ashes finished 4-1 and, despite the consolation victory at Sydney, the team was still treading water.v South Africa, Edgbaston, 2003: Hussain loses the teamHussain had packed in the one-day captaincy following another poor World Cup campaign and Michael Vaughan made a promising start in the job with two early trophies. Hussain returned for the start of the Test series against South Africa and watched his team struggle to make an impression although the opening match was saved by a mixture of Vaughan and rain. Immediately after the game a tearful Hussain stepped down saying the side had moved on. But he had played a huge role dragging England off the bottom.v South Africa, The Oval, 2003: A tone-setting victoryVaughan’s reign started with a crushing innings defeat at Lord’s and England verged from the very good (winning at Trent Bridge) to the very bad (another defeat at Headingley) to leave the series 2-1 heading into the final match at The Oval. That’s when the first signs emerged of the cricket the side could be capable of playing, having fought back from South Africa being 345 for 2. Trescothick hit a double hundred, Thorpe a comeback century, Flintoff bashed 95 and Steve Harmison rattled South Africa with pace. The series was levelled. It was the start.May-September 2004: Magnificent sevenA summer of complete domination as England wiped the floor 7-0 against New Zealand and West Indies. Harmison became the No.1-ranked bowler in the world, Flintoff became the leading allrounder and the batting line-up was formidable. Momentum was building for the greater challenges ahead.England conquered the Ashes summit in 2005•Getty Imagesv South Africa, Johannesburg, 2005: One of their bestThe series was level following three Tests and after the two first innings at the Wanderers it was still even. Then Trescothick produced a scintillating 180 and Hoggard stunned South Africa on the final day with 7 for 61 to take his match haul to 12 wickets. The totality of their final-day performance proved they were ready to challenge Australia.January-February 2005: Enter Kevin PietersenIt’s easy to forget that Kevin Pietersen wasn’t in the Test side at the start of the 2005 season. Thorpe played against Bangladesh, but was pensioned off when Fletcher and Vaughan decided England needed an X-factor player. That player was Pietersen, whose scintillating arrival in the one-day side against South Africa had proven both his talent and big-match temperament. Three centuries in the series, in a sometimes poisonously hostile atmosphere, meant his Test call-up was a given.July-September 2005: The Greatest SeriesThe summer became the ultimate contest between the two best sides in the world. They exchanged blows throughout the series with the famous two-run win at Edgbaston producing wonderful sporting emotion. Australia hung on nine-down in scenes of rare drama at Old Trafford then England went ahead with another nail-biter at Trent Bridge. It all came down to the final day at The Oval and England stuttered. Would old failings emerge at the crucial hour? Pietersen ensured they didn’t with his spine-tingling 158. Australia’s years of consistent success meant they remained top of the rankings, but the belief was England were genuine contenders for the years ahead. It didn’t turn out that way …

Deccan, down, out and lost even for good excuses, Delhi’s sense of relief soured by the stone-throwing buffoon. Some days, no one wins

Cricinfo staff15-May-2008

Less than a day after Glasgow Rangers supporters went on the rampage in Manchester, it was the Delhi Daredevils’ turn to reflect on moronic behaviour from so-called fans. The game was tantalisingly poised, with the Deccan Chargers needing 24 from 11 balls and the in-form Venugopal Rao on strike. At that moment, Virender Sehwag ran in from the boundary to speak to Brian Jerling, the umpire. There was a lengthy delay, with no one quite sure what was going on. Only later, at the post-match press conference, did the reason come forth.”It’s a matter of shame that something like this happened in Delhi,” said Sehwag. “And that too a stone thrown at a Delhi player.” When asked about the identity of the player, he said: “Virender Sehwag”. Perhaps the imbecile who threw the projectile was grumpy about zeroes in consecutive matches, including Thursday night, and he clearly didn’t have the powers of recall to remember the thrilling knocks that had inspired Delhi to victory earlier in the competition.The sordid incident wiped the smile off Sehwag’s face, though there was considerable satisfaction at ending a four-match drought. With three more home games to play on a surface that suits their hard-hitting batsmen, Delhi are once again in the semi-final shake-up.As well as the batsmen played today though, it was the bowlers that pulled this one out of the fire. The headlines on Friday may well be about Amit Mishra’s hat-trick, but no self-respecting bowler is likely to boast about the scalps of Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh. Instead, Mishra will take immense pride in the two early interventions that utterly changed the complexion of the game.Despite the loss of Adam Gilchrist, brilliantly caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan off the bowling of his old comrade, Glenn McGrath; Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs appeared intent on showing an increasingly glum crowd just what they were capable of, racing to 50 from just 4.1 overs. Even the redoubtable McGrath got a pasting, and Delhi were punch-drunk and reeling when Sehwag tossed the ball to Mishra.The first delivery revealed the ugly side of Afridi. For all the boom-boom strokeplay, shot selection has never been his strength, and a impetuous hoick was sliced behind point. With Gautam Gambhir off the field, Delhi’s fielding was boosted by the presence of AB de Villiers, and his catch, while running backwards, turned the tide.In Mishra’s next over, Gibbs, who had briefly played like the man of Wanderers-175 fame rather than the IPL imposter, charged forward like the Light Brigade. And despite beautiful cameos from Rohit Sharma and Rao, that was effectively that. Rohit might well think about the wisdom of playing the worst shot in the game, the infamous Misbah scoop, to a die-straight ball from Farveez Maharoof, while Rao once again failed to
take his team over the line after some thrilling four-and-six hitting.Delhi’s batting still resembles Chesty Morgan of 1970s fame, but after a couple of games
of underachievement, the top-order once again did the business. Gambhir is fast becoming a master of this cricket genre, playing to his strengths with genuine aplomb. He strikes the cross-bat shots as well as any Indian, and his footwork to the spinners was also hugely impressive.Sehwag’s blob didn’t hurt them either, with Shikhar Dhawan once again showing off his maturity and tremendous bat speed. Whether it was hustling the ball through the covers or whipping it off the pads to fine leg, he struck it with such a punch that even fielders in the vicinity didn’t bother to chase. The quick thrashes from Maharoof and Dilshan at the end were a nice little bonus.Gilchrist laughingly called this losing run “good for the soul”, but he wasn’t smiling when he spoke about Delhi’s use of substitute fielders. Mohammad Asif, who looked well short of form and fitness, went off and then came back on to bowl, prompting Gilchrist to say: “I think I should express my concern. If a bowler’s fit enough to bowl, he’s fit enough to
field.” He cited the catches taken by de Villiers and Shoaib Malik [who came on for Asif], but his insinuations about Delhi bending the rules evoked a sharp response from Sehwag.”It was an external injury [split webbing on his hand] that Asif had,” said Sehwag. “You can check the rules. When blood is being spilled, the umpires allow you to go off and then come back on. If they have no problem, neither should Gilchrist.”That pretty much summed up the mood of the evening. Deccan, down, out and lost even for good excuses, Delhi’s sense of relief soured by the stone-throwing buffoon. Some days, no one wins.

Middlesex 175 (Simpson 57*, Henry 5-45) and 81 for 1 trail Somerset 404 (Bartlett 121, Abell 77) by 148 runsMatt Henry took centre stage with bat and especially ball as Somerset forced hosts Middlesex to follow-on on day two of their LV = Insurance County Championship clash at Lord’s.The New Zealand paceman, who took 4 for 93 against England in a Test at Lord’s eight years ago, again excelled at the home of cricket, returning 5 for 45 as Middlesex were bundled out for 175 in their first innings.Henry’s heroics with the ball came hot on the heels of a swashbuckling 40 in the day’s first hour which propelled the Cidermen beyond 400.For the Seaxes it was sadly a case of rinse and repeat where their batters were concerned, only a combative half-century from this season’s beneficiary, wicketkeeper John Simpson and a pugnacious 39 from Toby Roland-Jones saving them from greater ignominy. It’s now one batting point in 30 for Richard Johnson’s men this season.Following on, Middlesex lost Sam Robson in reaching 81 for 1, Mark Stoneman having survived an edge to third slip unbeaten on 45. They still trail by 148 and face an uphill battle to avoid a fourth defeat in six games.Somerset soon lost Craig Overton to Murtagh in only the third over the day, but that merely served to bring Henry to the crease and, no slouch bat in hand, he signalled his intent with a brutal drive back past the bowler to get off the mark with a boundary.Thereafter, he struck the ball really cleanly to send six more deliveries to the ropes, though he was helped by some friendly offerings from the home attack.In the blink of an eye Henry had reached 40 in only 22 balls and it needed the introduction of Higgins to end the revelry, the quick hooking a short one into the hands of Ethan Bamber behind square.England spinner Jack Leach came out swinging, before losing his off-stump to Bamber, but Lewis Gregory ensured a fourth batting point.It soon became apparent Henry’s whirlwind innings had merely been an hors d’oeuvre for heroics with ball in hand.He and Overton subjected Middlesex openers Stoneman and Robson to a searching examination with the new ball, Henry in particular beating the bat with monotonous regularity.It seemed as if the hosts had passed the test when with lunch looming Henry produced a Jaffa to get one between Stoneman’s bad and pad flattening the leg-stump. And Henry made that lunch all but indigestible for Middlesex by producing an outswinger first up to Stephen Eskinazi which he nicked through to wicketkeeper Steve Davies.The hat-trick ball was delayed by the interval before Henry came close to the feat with a delivery, left by Robson, which missed his off-stump by the proverbial coat of varnish.If the first two wickets could be put down to Henry’s brilliance the same wasn’t true of those that followed. Max Holden started well enough, twice driving Henry to the cover fence, only to then play no shot to one which came back up the slope and trapped him in front.Robbie White’s first knock of the summer lasted two balls before skipper Lewis Gregory pinned him on the crease and when Robson became the latest Middlesex player this season to be strangled down the leg-side, half their side were gone with just 70 on the board.To his credit Simpson was at his gritty best, driving fluently and briefly threatening a counter-offensive in company with Higgins.However, the latter missed a full toss from Leach (2 for 22) to be leg-before and with the rot set in Luke Hollman inexplicably reverse swept another from the England spinner into the hands of slip.Simpson became becalmed and entrenched, before a seventh four took him to a 92-ball 50, while home skipper Roland-Jones came out firing, hitting cleanly through the mid-on mid-off arc to smite six boundaries in a rapid 39, the pair adding 54 for the eighth wicket.But nemesis Henry returned to remove both Roland-Jones and Bamber to complete a five-for to condemn Middlesex to the follow-on.

MatériaMais Notícias

Germán Cano teve mais uma atuação memorável pelo Fluminense: quatro gols na vitória por 7 a 0 sobre o Volta Redonda, neste sábado, pela semifinal do Campeonato Carioca. Ao deixar o gramado, o centroavante celebrou a classificação para a decisão e dividiu os méritos com os companheiros.

– Parabenizar todos companheiros. Estamos criando um grande time. A gente mostrou hoje, dentro de campo, o que podemos fazer. Todo mundo unido, junto – afirmou Cano, que assumiu a artilharia do Estadual, com 14 gols, deixando Lelê, do Volta Redonda com 13, para trás, em entrevista à Band.

+ ATUAÇÕES: Artilheiro, Cano faz quatro e leva a maior nota de atuação perfeita do Fluminense

RelacionadasFora de CampoTorcedores do Fluminense exaltam Cano após goleada: ‘Melhor atacante do Brasil’Fora de Campo18/03/2023FluminenseCano anota um pôquer, Fluminense goleia o Volta Redonda por 7 a 0 e vai à final do CariocaFluminense18/03/2023FluminenseATUAÇÕES: Artilheiro, Cano faz quatro e leva a maior nota de atuação perfeita do FluminenseFluminense18/03/2023

Em busca do bicampeonato, o Fluminense aguarda a definição de seu adversário na final do Carioca. Neste domingo, Vasco e Flamengo definem a vaga. Como venceu por 3 a 2 o jogo de ida, o Rubro-Negro tem a vantagem do empate, enquanto o Cruz-Maltino avança com um vitória simples. A bola rola às 18h, no Maracanã. As finais do Estadual serão disputadas nos dias 2 e 9 de abril.

The tournament, to played early in the season, will now feature the eight WBBL sides plus a team from ACT

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2024

The new women’s domestic T20 competition in Australia will now be aligned to the eight WBBL clubs, alongside an ACT side, rather than state teams after pressure from Victoria and New South Wales over the proposed structure.The tournament, designed to make up for the reduced WBBL which has been trimmed to a 40-game regular season, was initially going to be state-based but Victoria and New South Wales, who both provide two teams in the WBBL, were unhappy with that model and feared some of their fringe players could potentially lose out on playing opportunities.Under the solution thrashed out by the states and CA, there will now be eight teams under their WBBL banners plus a side from ACT who play in the WNCL one-day tournament. The competition will take place before the WBBL season with each side playing four matches and the top four teams moving to the semi-finals.The timing of the tournament means it will run alongside the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh so the Australia players won’t be involved which naturally opens up spots in teams while overseas stars are not expected to feature prominently.A complicating factor will be around ACT who have a number of players contracted to WBBL clubs including key batter Katie Mack who plays for Adelaide Strikers.With the WBBL being trimmed to match the BBL in an attempt to manage the increasing workloads of the game’s leading players, ensure overseas names still want to join, encouraging growth in crowds and to cut out non-primetime matches, there was a strong push to ensure that there was not an overall reduction in matches for state cricketers.The restructuring of the women’s domestic programme was announced at the launch of CA’s Women’s and Girls Action Plan last month but since then the stance of Victoria and New South Wales has required reworking of the original plans.”Cricket NSW has always been committed to the success of the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder and the tournament announced today will help both of our clubs in their quest for WBBL success and to produce players for Australia,” New South Wales chief executive Lee Germon said.”That enhanced player pathway is in the best interests of Australian Cricket and provides further opportunity for the continued success of our national women’s teams.”The delay in confirming the structure of the competition also meant that state contracts, which would normally have been confirmed by the end of April, were put on hold amid the uncertainty.The new T20 competition will raise the average female domestic player salary for 2024-25 to AU$163,322 while the current WBBL salary cap has been maintained meaning no reduction in player payments.

Alyssa Healy was left delighted with the experience and knowledge her team were able to take away from the tour of Bangladesh with an eye on the T20 World Cup later this year.Australia completed a cleansweep of the visit, their first in bilateral cricket, with a 77-run victory in the final T20I and it was the fourth time their bowling attack kept Bangladesh to under 100. They will return in late September to defend the T20 World Cup title and Healy believed the trip ticked plenty of boxes.Related

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• Tayla Vlaeminck's career-best helps Australia complete 3-0 sweep

“Everyone in the squad is taking something home that they can work on for when we come back here in September, so it’s been hugely worthwhile for us,” Healy said. “The results went our way but from a big picture perspective, and what we’re building towards in September, October, I think we got everything we possibly could out of this series.”The tour was concluded with two players returning from long-term injuries, Tayla Vlaeminck and Sophie Molineux, taking player of the match and series awards respectively. Vlaeminck took a career-best 3 for 12 while Molineux finished the T20I series with six wickets at 8.33 as the pair all-but assured their places at the World Cup.”It’s obviously great to have someone like Tay back, she’s a real point of different within world cricket, with the sheer pace she bowls with, and Soph Molineux’s consistency is outstanding so they’re both real attributes to our side,” Healy said.Tayla Vlaeminck made a mark on her return to Australia duty•Getty Images

“We’ve had different players of the match and different players of the series across the two series, so that’s been really pleasing as well. Everybody’s standing up and when they need to, and grabbing opportunities which is cool.”Although the margins of victory were convincing in all six matches, Healy felt her team had been put under pressure by the home side. In the first ODI they were 48 for 4 and 146 for 7 before the lower order lifted them to a strong total and in the final T20I had to work hard to post 155 from being 98 for 5.”In particular with the ball they [Bangladesh] challenged our batting line-up,” she said. “They will be a real threat come the World Cup. Home conditions are a real advantage and I think the team will fly under the radar a little bit. They’ll be really dangerous for some of the top sides.”The conditions, especially the heat, also pushed the visitors with Healy prepared for more of the same at the World Cup although did not expect the pitches early in the tournament to offer the extreme turn seen at times in this series. Australia will split their matches between Dhaka and Sylhet which was not part of this tour.”We’ve heard it [the heat] will be even worse come September, October so we’ll have to wait and see what it throws at us there,” Healy said. “Naturally being an ICC event, I think the wickets will start out being really good then probably tire throughout the tournament.”1:59

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Kim Garth, who took five wickets in the two ODIs she played, and legspinner Alana King did not feature in the T20I series as Australia used just 12 players in three games. King has not played a T20I since the last World Cup in South Africa although will likely retain her spot as back-up to Georgia Wareham. The experienced Jess Jonassen was the significant omission for this tour while Darcie Brown was ruled out with a stress fracture of her foot.The central contract list will be announced early next week while the players themselves now have time off following a hectic season which included series against West Indies, India and South Africa alongside the WBBL and, for many, the WPL.They will return to action with a T20I series against New Zealand in September as a lead-in to the World Cup, which will be followed straight after by the WBBL. They then host India in December and travel to New Zealand before Christmas ahead of the multiformat Ashes in January.”We’ve got a great break now. Our group is looking forward to going home and having a little bit of time off and a great opportunity to refresh and actually get ourselves right for the back end of the year, which is a huge summer for us,” Healy said.

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