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Leadership has long been a part of the allrounder’s story and he gets the chance to continue the team’s World Cup legacy

Alex Malcolm30-May-2024Mitchell Marsh captaining Australia at a World Cup is equal-parts inevitable and improbable, when you consider his career arc.The inevitability comes from his lineage. He is the son of a former Australian ODI captain and World Cup winning coach, Geoff Marsh. He grew up in the 1990s Australian dressing room around legendary captains Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh. He is one of the most gifted all-round talents of his generation. He captained Australia to an Under-19 World Cup win in 2010 – a squad including current team-mates Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa – and there were many astute judges within Australian cricket early in Marsh’s career who felt his ascension to the senior job would only be a matter of time. He is a natural leader.Related

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“He just genuinely cares about everyone,” Ashton Agar told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s not about trying to be everyone’s mate. It’s about actually caring about who they are, caring about their families, and that makes you feel good. You might not always remember what he says but whenever you speak to Mitch you walk away feeling like you’ve been understood, you’ve been cared for, you’ve been listened to and that he’s going to remember what you’ve said to him. And he doesn’t discriminate. He talks to everyone. He talks to his best mates like he talks to a random human on the street. And I think that’s such a great quality to have.”Such is his popularity amongst his peers, he was installed as Test vice-captain in 2018 when new coach Justin Langer held an internal player vote to find out who should be part of the revamped leadership group following the nadir of Cape Town.The improbable part is that it’s Mitch Marsh. This is a man who once said, “most of Australia hates me”. A man who was booed by an MCG crowd during a home Test match when he came onto bowl. A man who broke his hand punching a changeroom wall after being dismissed when captaining Western Australia and missed six weeks of cricket. A man who has been dropped as the Test vice-captain and rarely if ever felt a sense of surety about his place in the Australian team in any format over the last 13 years. He was even left out during Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup triumph, a tournament where he was player of the final. He gave up the Perth Scorchers captaincy just days out from the 2020-21 BBL season because he did not think he could commit fully to what the role required while also trying to fight his way back into the Australian team.Captain Mitch: Marsh had long been viewed as a leader, but his journey to the top wasn’t easy•Cricket AustraliaHe is the same Mitch Marsh who seeks fun and frivolity in every situation rather than carry a serious and steely disposition that is supposed to be the hallmark of an Australian captain.As seen in the first season of documentary, in the deeply solemn sanctuary of the Australian dressing room during an intense Ashes series in 2019, there was Marsh trying to make his team-mates laugh by pretending to be a music DJ spinning tracks. He would stop whenever Langer entered the room, carrying the look of a guilty schoolboy trying to hide his actions from his teacher. There is also widely viewed footage elsewhere of Marsh turning a routine Australian gym session into a dance rave with Marcus Stoinis and Zampa just to make himself and his mates giggle. In the latest edition of the documentary, charting last year’s tour of England where Marsh made his remarkable comeback century at Headingley, he is again a central figure with a good dose of humour among some candour.Captaining Australia at a World Cup is supposed to be serious business. Border, Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Aaron Finch were serious, hard-nosed, ruthless competitors at their core. Marsh is not built like them, despite his lineage. He is as competitive as those men, but he gets the best out of himself in a different way. There is a sensitive and social soul underneath what has now become, by his own admission during his iconic Allan Border medal speech, a softer exterior.

Even when he played good cricket, he’d just be copping it. So he had to weather that and show extreme resilience, but in order not to crumble he had to understand his emotions, and how to manage them effectivelyAshton Agar on Mitchell Marsh

“I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer,” Marsh said.It was in that same emotional speech that Marsh paid tribute to his current Test and ODI World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins, and his current coach Andrew McDonald, for believing in him and allowing him to be himself.The relationship of Cummins and Marsh as Australia’s two modern leaders is at the heart how the current Australian team functions.The pair have a friendship that dates back to their ODI debut together as teenagers in 2011. They spent time together during Cummins’ brief spell at Perth Scorchers as he was working his way through his back injuries. They rode the bench together in the 2015 World Cup.Those within the Australian team will tell you that they share the same values towards cricket and life despite being slightly different characters. They play cricket for fun. It is their profession, and a handsomely paid one at that. They are both incredibly good at it, but it doesn’t define them.Cummins has long lived by that mantra and it has held him great stead. Marsh has taken a long time to reach the same conclusion, but he’s finally reaping the rewards.Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh flex have a strong bond•ICC/Getty ImagesTravis Head is another who has found the same sweet spot in the modern environment. They tried the hard-nosed, ruthless, our-way-or-the-highway professionalism that Australian cricket was once built on, and it did not help them play their best cricket. The calm, free-range farm that Cummins and McDonald have cultivated has helped Marsh and Head thrive.”I think those guys have been really comfortable in their own skin, comfortable with the way they go about it on the field and knowing that they have the full backing of their team-mates and coaches to go out and play their own way,” Cummins told ESPNcricinfo. “I think you’ve seen those guys go to a different level, maybe that’s part of what’s been different.”

We are all there if he needs us, he can lean on us any time when he needs help but it’s his show so we’ll let him run it however he sees fit and he’ll do a great jobPat Cummins

There would have been a temptation to just rinse and repeat the success of Cummins’ captaincy at the ODI World Cup at the 2024 T20 version. But Cummins’ workload as a three-format quick and permanent Test captain made him a campaign-by-campaign proposition in the ODI format and an unrealistic option in T20I cricket given he is often rested from bilateral series.Australia needed to fill the leadership vacuum left by Finch in the T20I side. Marsh is seen as the perfect leader for this group at this time, although there is a feeling he can be a successful long-term captain as the white-ball team transitions beyond the upcoming World Cup.He no longer holds the title of Test vice-captain, an honour that sits on the shoulders of Steven Smith and Head, but Marsh is regarded as a key counsel for Cummins even in the long form. He was Cummins’ vice-captain for the ODI World Cup and deputized for him in the lead-in.In the build-up to 2024 campaign, which started in South Africa last year, Marsh was the obvious and popular choice provided he was comfortable to take it on.Mitchell Marsh has become a powerhouse at the top of the order•Getty Images”It’s been quite a journey for him to get to this point of leading a World Cup team and being an Allan Border medalist,” Agar said. “I think the hallmark of true leaders or really good leaders is that they have a great sense of self awareness. And Mitch has that now.”That’s what he’s tried to develop as much as anything else. He’s trying to understand who he is so he can be really comfortable with that. And I think that’s because he went through a really tough time. People were just on his back for no good reason at all. He just copped it and I know he’s spoken about that before. Even when he played good cricket, he’d just be copping it. So he had to weather that and show extreme resilience, but in order not to crumble he had to understand his emotions, and how to manage them effectively. So now he’s doing that so effectively, that his performance is so consistent.”There is a sense Marsh won’t reinvent the wheel at the World Cup. He himself has said he hopes to create a calm and fun environment where players can play their way and express themselves just as he has under Cummins. He has already won the three T20I series he has led over the past 12 months, including dropping just one match in eight, with the players enjoying the leadership vibes he exudes. There also isn’t concern over the tactical challenges he may face in a high-pressure World Cup given the experience he will have around him.”Mitch will be brilliant,” Cummins said. “He’s a really experienced captain. He’s captained WA, Scorchers and the Aussie team. He’ll be super well supported. Everyone in that team loves playing underneath him so he’ll do a great job. We are all there if he needs us, he can lean on us any time when he needs help but it’s his show so we’ll let him run it however he sees fit and he’ll do a great job.”

Ten years on from Hughes’ tragic death, Simon Katich fondly remembers his batting partner and the twin centuries that announced his talent to the world

Andrew McGlashan26-Nov-2024″The way he went about it was breathtaking.”Simon Katich had among the best seats in the house when Phillip Hughes, then 20 years old, took apart one of South Africa’s greatest ever attacks in just his second Test in Durban in 2009 for a maiden Test century, followed by 160 in the second innings, becoming the youngest player to make twin hundreds in a Test.He would make another 20 first-class centuries after his hundreds at Kingsmead, but that was the game where he announced himself to the world.”Dale Steyn was at the peak of his powers, as was Morne Morkel,” Katich recalled. “Makhaya Ntini was still a handful, and they had the best allrounder ever in Jacques Kallis. They just had no idea where to bowl at him.”November 27 marks ten years since Hughes’ tragic death, two days after he was struck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game at the SCG in 2014.Hughes’ Test career had started at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, a week before Durban, after he had been selected as Matthew Hayden’s successor following a prolific start to his first-class career only 14 months before. He did not make it through the first over, top-edging Dale Steyn for a duck, but made a hard-working 75 in the second innings to help set up Australia’s victory when the South Africa quicks went after him with the short ball.Related

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“I was always a huge fan of his and when he did make his Test debut, even though he missed out in that first innings, it never flustered him,” Katich said. “After the first Test, the way he got out in the first innings in Johannesburg, there were some questions raised. But he never let it affect how he was around the group. He was one of those happy-go-lucky young guys.”In Durban he showed the full range of his talent, which had fetched him a first-class debut as a 19-year-old in late 2007. Early in the first session, he took four boundaries off an over from Morkel. Hughes’ power behind square on the off side had already become a trademark, but here he unfurled shots all around the wicket, including some princely straight-driving.”I remember looking at the wicket and we weren’t all sure what to do,” Katich said. “I know Punter [Ricky Ponting] wasn’t quite sure at the toss because it didn’t look like a great wicket, but it actually played pretty well. Hughesy just completely dismantled them in the first couple of hours.”Katich on his front-row seats to the Hughes show: “It was watching a youngster play with the freedom of youth and not a care in the world”•Getty ImagesHughes left his senior partner in his wake. At lunch he was on 74 with 14 boundaries and Katich had 32. “It was a bloody good partnership,” Katich joked.”The thing that stood out to me was that in between overs it didn’t feel like we were playing a Test match because he was so relaxed and chilled,” he added. “I think at one stage we were talking about his bulls back in Macksville. We all knew he was special, but to do that in your second Test, against that quality of attack, in those conditions, was outstanding.”You only had to be marginally wide of probably middle and off stump because he just had this amazing ability to take the ball from the top of the stumps, which is a good ball to most, who would play it defensively or leave it, and he would be carving it behind point or in front of point.”Ten overs after the interval, Hughes had moved to 89 and was facing left-arm spinner Paul Harris. Six balls later he had become Australia’s youngest Test century-maker in 43 years. He went to 99 with a straight six over long-on, then next delivery dragged another slightly wider over deep midwicket. He eventually fell to Kallis for 115, brilliantly caught by Neil McKenzie in the gully, ending a stand of 184 in 44 overs with Katich.”They’d crowd the off side with a 7-2 field and he still kept picking the gaps. Then, as soon as Harris came on, he decided to launch him onto the hill,” Katich said. “He was going to back himself, and I encouraged that. We were always talking about building the partnership in sets of ten runs; the beauty about that was he was knocking off ten runs in a couple of balls!”What he did in Durban was superb to watch, and to be at the other end witnessing it firsthand was inspiring. It was watching a youngster play with the freedom of youth and not a care in the world. He was a remarkable player.”

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The first time Katich, the New South Wales captain at the time, saw Hughes play was in a grade game at Pratten Park in Sydney. Katich had been aware of other notable names coming through the system: he played alongside Usman Khawaja as a 17-year-old and had seen the volume of runs being churned out by Steven Smith.”I hadn’t probably heard as much about Hughesy but the New South Wales selectors had been talking to me about him,” Katich said. “Once I saw him play, that was when I realised this guy has some serious hand-eye because I watched his footwork and thought, this is different to most. It looked a bit unorthodox, but he hits the ball sweetly and he’s got a bloody good eye.New South Wales celebrate their 2008 Pura Cup win. Hughes made 559 runs at 62.11 that season•John Buckle/PA Photos/Getty Images”That’s the beauty of the game, everyone’s got a different style and you play according to what suits. We picked him not long after that club game – he only made 30 from memory – but we thought this kid had something about him ,and he kept making runs. We gave him a chance and he grabbed it with both hands.”Hughes made 51 on his first-class debut, opening the batting, with five more half-centuries in his next five matches, which built towards the 2007-08 Sheffield Shield final (or Pura Cup, as it was known then). Having fallen to Peter Siddle for six in the first innings against Victoria, he became the youngest player to score a century in a Shield final, putting New South Wales in an unbeatable position. They would eventually win by 258 runs.”When he debuted for New South Wales, it was phenomenal to watch,” Katich said. “That first few months, it felt like he was my little shadow. Wherever I was, he would be right beside me and if we were both out, he’d be sitting beside me in the viewing area.”He had a cheeky grin and talked his way into third slip. We spent quite a bit of time at the crease together. Great memories of him.”Out of all the guys I’ve played with in my career, don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say a bad word about Phil Hughes.”At the end of that season Hughes was straight into the Australia A side for a trip to India, then in his second game of the 2008-09 summer, he struck 198 against South Australia. Three more centuries followed in consecutive matches, which booked his ticket to South Africa.

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Back in Durban, Hughes was far from finished. After Australia skittled South Africa for 138, Ponting declined to enforce the follow-on. This time the stand with Katich was cut off at 55, but Hughes ploughed on. After the largely fluent display on the opening day, this was an innings of different stages: his first fifty took 78 balls, his second 169, and his third 66.Fittingly, his hundred arrived with an upper cut through backward point. At 20 years 98 days, Hughes had broken George Headley’s record as the youngest player to make two hundreds in a Test.Katich on Hughes’ likeability: “Of all the guys I’ve played with, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say a bad word about him”•Getty Images”It’s a great snapshot into not only his hunger but his skill and mental application to start again,” Katich said. “A lot of senior players find it hard to score twin hundreds. It doesn’t happen that often. To be able to go out there as a young player in your second Test and do it against that quality of opposition, particularly when conditions can change, it started to go a bit up and down, to be able to go out there, back-up, have the hunger to start again, mentally and physically, it was remarkable.”A few months later Katich saw Hughes go through the first setback of his career. Before the 2009 Ashes, Hughes was averaging 69.36 in first-class cricket with ten centuries from 24 matches. But he was dropped two games into the series after Andrew Flintoff worked him over from around the wicket.”I was as shocked as anyone and hurt for him,” Katich said. “It was a brutal call and that lived with him for a bit, he was in and out of the team, and it’s always tough when you get back in and you’re trying to make the most of it. That had played on his mind a bit.”It heralded a period where he couldn’t nail down a regular place in the Test side, although he scored a third hundred against Sri Lanka in 2011 during a longer run back in the XI. A return to South Africa in 2011 brought 88 in Johannesburg, in the Test Pat Cummins made his debut in. In 2013 there was a century on ODI debut against Sri Lanka, with then chair of selectors John Inverarity saying they had Hughes in mind for the 2015 World Cup.In what would prove to be his penultimate Test, against England at Trent Bridge, he made an unbeaten 81 alongside Ashton Agar’s record-breaking 98 at No. 11. In August 2014, he scored a career-best 243 not out against South Africa A, which came two weeks after a one-day double-hundred against the same side.”When the accident happened, there was a real sense that he wasn’t far away from being back in the team and would stay there,” Katich said. “He was an all-format player. He was still young and we’d seen plenty of examples of players who have been dropped and come back stronger for it. Most, if not all of us, agreed that Hughesy would have been in the same category. He had so much more to come.”

England opener shows way ahead of must-win games against Afghanistan and South Africa

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Feb-20251:26

Knight: The way Duckett rotated strike put Australia under pressure

It was as fine a consolation hundred as they come. An innings which rubber-stamped Ben Duckett as one of England’s best multi-format batters, further vindicating his move to open the batting in ODIs. It also highlighted the shortcomings of his team-mates.Duckett’s 165, the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history, made up 47% of England’s 351. A total which Australia chased down with 15 balls and five wickets to spare in Lahore thanks to Josh Inglis’ own collector’s item century.The way Duckett approached Adam Zampa was particularly fresh, scoring 50 from the 36 balls faced. The rest of the line-up managed just 14 off 24 balls from the legspinner, who dismissed Joe Root (the only other batter to make a score of note) and Harry Brook.”We’ve been wanting that from our batters,” a downbeat Jos Buttler told Sky Sports immediately after the match, referencing Duckett’s journey to three figures. In 15 ODIs since the 2023 World Cup, England have only produced four centuries, and Duckett has been responsible for half of them.Related

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There is a lot to be said for England’s woeful run of 50-over form since the botched defense of their 2019 title. Much of it is summed up by the fact this, their 11th defeat in 15, already has them in “must win” territory for the final Group B games against Afghanistan and South Africa. And the fact Duckett was able to play an innings of such substance will be of some comfort.That comfort is solely down to Duckett’s reliability rather than a blueprint to adopt. The left-hander’s methods are very much his, from the way he chokes the neck of the bat with his bottom hand, to his ability impart a “slap” into every shot in front of the wicket. Both short balls from Spencer Johnson despatched down the ground for successive fours to take him to his hundred from 95 deliveries were fine examples of this.Duckett’s consistency has been something to behold, underlining his maturity and leadership capacity, which is why he finds himself at the forefront of Brendon McCullum’s white ball refresh. Since his return to the Test side in 2022, Duckett has been England’s third-highest runscorer in whites, averaging 43.20 as an opener. Last year, he was also third across all formats, despite not playing a single T20I. And since moving to the top of the order in ODIs, his nine appearances – six against Australia, three against India – have produced 601 runs, with five 50-plus scores and a strike rate of 113.82. By way of comparison, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, one of the greatest 50-over opening partnerships, went at 105.98 and 105.53, respectively.This knock was as much about persistence. At three hours and 35 minutes, with 143 balls faced, taking him from the start of the innings through to the 48th over, this was comfortably the lengthiest of Duckett’s 86 List A innings. In fact, of his 60 Test innings to date, only two have been longer in terms of balls faced.Ben Duckett brought up his second ODI hundred against Australia•Associated PressIt also showcased Duckett’s evolution, underpinned by a sense of responsibility. “I was certainly not fluent at the top – it was probably my slowest powerplay,” Duckett told Sky Sports, having been 17 off 24 before striking the last ball of the 10th over for four. “But I knew in my head that they were gonna bowl a lot of spin through those middle overs, and it was spin that I could target.”The way he played Zampa was smart, but the way he used his array of sweeps (or didn’t, in this case) was smarter.”I think the beauty now is people are cutting off the sweeps for me, which allows me to hit straight. On that pitch, it felt like really early, actually, I’m not gonna sweep too much with the bounce being a little bit invariable. But, I’m gonna commit and run down and and make sure I can hit the ball straight and I think that’s probably the biggest part of my game that I’ve tried to change.”Duckett’s first swept boundary came once he reached three figures, a reverse for four at the end of the 33rd over against Zampa. His three sixes went down the ground – one off Zampa and two off Glenn Maxwell, having clocked the latter’s traits during their recent Big Bash League stint together for Melbourne Stars.As ever with Duckett, there was a bit of light relief when assessing how this particular approach could fair going forward. “I might get caught mid-off next time, who knows… but it’s something that I back myself to do now and you know, I’ve only got to clear the ring.”That, however, was as meme-able as Duckett got. Amid the high of another fine performance was an admission of feeling “flat” at how the match itself transpired.England return to the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday to face Afghanistan, needing to match Duckett’s verve. He himself will be required to match his own – even if this majestic century, comfortably one of England’s best at a major event, was not enough.It was not even the best century of the day.

By giving bowlers a little leeway down the leg side, cricket will bring new skills and forgotten strokes into play

Abhinav Mukund13-Aug-2025After the thrilling finish in the Oval Test earlier this month, Shubman Gill said that nothing should be changed in terms of the Test cricket playing conditions. Rightly so, with all the games in the England-India series going the full distance.But what about the other formats? The ICC has made a few changes in their playing conditions for white- ball cricket. One change in particular, which is to be trialled from October, has piqued my interest. This relates to the wide-ball rule.This change, which aims to provide a certain amount of wriggle room for a bowler when faced with a batter moving around in their crease before or during a delivery, says that the position of the batter’s legs at the point of delivery will be used as the reference point for a wide. Further:Related

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[…] A ball that passes the popping crease between the leg stump and the protected area marker [will not be] called a Wide. To help with this, the protected area marker line will be extended to the popping crease and act as a guide for the umpires.

Any leg side delivery that passes behind the batter’s legs and outside of the line at the time the ball reaches the popping crease may still be called a Wide. Previously, a wide had been called for a delivery that would not have been called wide if the batter had retained their normal batting position.

Effectively, a ball that passes just a little behind the batter’s legs will not be ruled a wide. But before we get into the details, I want to talk about the existing playing conditions. (The Laws of Cricket and the ICC’s playing conditions are interconnected, with the latter supplementing and sometimes modifying the former for specific competitions.)The wide law as it stands currently states that if the ball passes wide of where the striker is standing, or has stood at any point after the ball came into play for that delivery (and if it would also have passed wide of the striker standing in a normal batting position), it should be given a wide. And while a wide is called as soon after the ball passes the batter’s wicket as possible, it is considered to have been a wide from the time the bowler entered their delivery stride.So, according to the Laws, the movements of the batter during the delivery are taken into account for adjudging a wide – which gives the batter leeway to move about their crease to possibly attempt to manipulate a wide call in their favour. In contrast, the ICC’s new proposed playing conditions state that the ball needs to pass within the protected area marker on the leg side when it goes past the crease. This is a fixed reference point. If the ball passes close to the pad near the batter’s legs and moves away afterward, outside the protected area line between that point and the bowling crease, it will be called a wide.Ashwin KumarIn the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Premier League, a similar wide law was trialled, but using the framework of the Laws of cricket. A three-point system was used to judge wide calls:Where was the batter standing at the point of the release of the ball?
How close to the batter was the ball when it passed them?
How close to the stumps was the ball when it went past them? This ensures that, even if the batter was moving all over the place before the ball was bowled, the wide call was based on the position of the batter at the point of the bowler’s release.How did the new rule play out in the TNPL?In the 2023 tournament, 319 wides were bowled; in 2024, 311; and in 2025, 275. So there was a significant drop in the number of wides called this year, under the new rule. But surprisingly, that did not impact the scores at all; rather, the scores were higher.In 2023, 9570 runs were scored. In 2024, this grew a little, to 9659. And in 2025, it went up more substantially, to 10,048. In a power-hitting, flat-batting world, it was wonderful to see the batters adapt and play the leg glance or flick against the ball going down leg. You don’t often see those shots in a T20 game.Did the new rule give an advantage to the bowler?T Natarajan, who has played multiple years of IPL and won the TNPL title with the IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans this year said, “There is a definite advantage in terms of bowlers who have control – especially in the death, when the go-to delivery is a wide yorker. The stump yorker comes into play with this [new] rule, as it gives you the margin of error to miss your line by a few inches.” This puts doubt in the batter’s mind, he said. “It adds an element of variety in your bowling.”Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy thinks the rule presents fast bowlers with more of an advantage than it does spinners. “While the pacers can add a lot more variety with a yorker or bouncer, the only advantage I had was if I got the googly slightly off target and it beat the batter on the leg side – it wouldn’t be called a wide. Otherwise, spinners who have the ability to bowl the yorker can use it to their advantage in a T20 game.”Batters win you sponsorships, bowlers win you championships. The T20 game, in particular, is built on batting exploits and the long sixes that batters hit. As fans, we generally tend to want to see more sixes being hit and not lower scores.Did the new bowler-favouring rule mean we saw fewer sixes this year in the TNPL? Surprisingly not: 418 were scored in 2024, 463 were scored this year. Batters found a way to adapt. The battle between bat and ball was heightened thanks to this rule.The ICC has announced the revised rule will come into effect from October on a trial basis for six months in ODIs and T20Is. In ODIs, with two new balls for the first 34 overs (another new rule) we might see bowlers attempt to swing the ball without fear of being called wide for going fractionally down the leg side. We might see reverse swing attempted a lot more at the death. Tactically, having a leg-side-dominant field in the middle overs could be an option for captains, as you are allowed only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle in that period.Batters will need to work on their leg-side game – not many have the leg glance or flick in their repertoire because of the strong hold that flat-batting has on the game. There will be a definite need for batters to alter their technique ever so slightly if they want to succeed against a bowler who has good control.Personally, I would like the ICC playing conditions to mirror the Laws of cricket, and account for the batter stepping out or moving around in the crease before the ball is bowled, without just making it a standard rule of judging whether the ball passed inside the protected area markers or not.This could, however, make it a nightmare for the umpires, who will have to note when the bowler starts his delivery stride, and also keep in mind where the batter was in his stance when making their decisions. In the TNPL and IPL you are allowed to call for the DRS for wides; in an international game you are not. I am pretty certain this will change soon, though the pace of play may be affected. Certainly the modified rule in the ICC playing conditions will have an impact in deciding the results of games.As a batter myself, I am overall in favour of the new rule. It provides an exciting element, especially in the closing stages of a T20 game, bringing an element of unpredictability to what a bowler can do, without the fear of being penalised. It gives bowler and batter another layer of skill to display. I won’t be surprised if we have games decided on one or two legal deliveries that previously might have been called wide.

He may be far from Pakistan’s poster boy, but his consistency with both bat and ball is helping them play the kind of cricket they want to

Danyal Rasool13-Sep-20258:26

Wahab: Haris Rauf has to come back against India

This story begins, as any story about Mohammad Nawaz, in an MCG dressing room, head in hands as he tries to hold back tears. Babar Azam isn’t prone to giving rousing speeches, but he sees the sensitivity of the moment, and rises to it. He modulates the emotional temperature of the room perfectly, aware that, in front of rolling in-house PCB cameras, any attempts to be excessively rousing may come off as a loss of control.”Koi masla nai hai, [It’s not the end of the world],” the Pakistan captain begins, voice steady, pitch level. “We need to work together as a team.” He then turns to Nawaz, who moments earlier just bowled the final over of that pulsating contest against India, failing to defend 16 as a match Pakistan had controlled slipped out of their hands.”And especially you, Nawaz,” Babar says to the man who cannot take his eyes off the floor. He switches to Punjabi, using both men’s mother tongue to further cement their collective solidarity, “you’re my match-winner, and I’ll always have faith in you, come what may. Keep your head up.”Related

India vs Pakistan, minus the fervour

Gill vs Afridi, Haris vs Bumrah and other contests within India-Pakistan contest

It was particularly cruel on Nawaz, who had been forced into a situation that wasn’t his to manage. He was bowling the final over when Pakistan had banked on pace to have finished the job by then. There was a no-ball for height that arguably wasn’t the correct call, and a free hit that knocked back a stump only to then trickle away for three.Just weeks earlier, Nawaz had produced a remarkable all-round performance against India in the Asia Cup in Dubai. He had doubled up as the game’s most economical bowler and the most destructive batter, sealing a classic win that would go on secure Pakistan’s berth in the final. It was that kind of showing that led Babar to declare him a match-winner, and yet, it had been wiped from memory, replaced by that chaotic over in Melbourne. Sunday will be the first time he faces India since that heartbreak.Mohammad Nawaz after the chaotic final over against India at the MCG•Getty ImagesThe one thing Babar couldn’t relate to – at the time, anyway – was being left out of the side. Pakistan have not always viewed Nawaz as a matchwinner in that same vein over his career, ever since he lit up the first game in PSL history, where he took 4-13 and was unbeaten with the bat for Quetta Gladiators. That is evident in when he has played; he has batted every position from 3 to 9. At four, where his numbers are strongest and where he first batted in that Asia Cup win over India, he would be sent in just twice more, and never again. With the ball, Pakistan have used him during the Powerplay, where he has bowled about a third of his T20I deliveries, and boasts a better economy rate than in any other phase of the innings.But more telling is how often Pakistan have not used him at all. In the 162 T20Is they’ve played since his debut up until July this year – when Nawaz returned once more after 18 months in the wilderness – he had taken part in just 60. It seems Nawaz can be deployed, with ball and bat, whenever Pakistan want, or, as about two-thirds of the games during his career attest, not deployed whatsoever.2:08

Samiuddin: Hesson clear with his plans for Pakistan

It is what makes this most recent resurgence hard to view as anything more than transitory, but his impact for Pakistan over the last 12 T20Is has been phenomenal. Called up for the spin-heavy conditions of Bangladesh in July, Nawaz is holding together this fragile strategy Pakistan have adopted under Mike Hesson, where specialist fast-bowling heft is sacrificed at the altar of piecemeal lower-order batting contributions.A hat-trick during a five-for against Afghanistan, and significant runs accrued over the past month in the UAE at a strike rate just under 140 have propelled Nawaz to perhaps the single most important player in this Pakistan set-up. Hesson on Thursday called him “the best T20I bowler in the world right now” and the numbers agree; no Full Member player has more T20I wickets this year (21), and no one that has bowled at least 200 deliveries has bettered his economy rate of 6.47.This is the kind of cricketer Nawaz was meant to become when he offered Pakistan a snapshot in that first PSL game. A decade on, Pakistan, and perhaps Nawaz himself, may finally have begun to work out what kind of cricketer he is. Though similar flashes in the past have proven false dawns, he has perhaps never played cricket as well, or as consistently, as he has in this latest edition of a cricketer whose reinventions are becoming impossible to keep track of.In one sense, Nawaz cannot really be called a match-winner. Not in the conventional sense of the word. He isn’t, and won’t ever be, Pakistan’s best spinner, and isn’t, and won’t ever be, their best batter, or their most explosive. But on any given day, he could fit either of those descriptions, and that, in T20I cricket, wins you matches. Matches of the sort Nawaz has been winning for Pakistan of late, and that Nawaz won when he last played India at the Asia Cup three years ago.

Arsenal had faced newly promoted sides on two occasions already this season and they swept them aside with ease.

Mikel Arteta’s men welcomed Leeds United to the Emirates Stadium in the early knockings of the campaign and sent out a message, dispatching them 5-0.

Last weekend, the Gunners faced Burnley and while they didn’t thrash them, it was another routine win for the league leaders.

So, when they travelled to the final newly promoted side of 2025/26 in the form of Sunderland, Arteta’s side knew they were going to find life a bit tougher.

The Black Cats have been the story of the Premier League season to date and they showcased that on Saturday, battling to an incredibly hard-earned 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Arsenal were not at their best but credit where credit is due; Sunderland are a mighty fine team.

What went wrong for Arsenal against Sunderland

The Gunners came into this clash having not conceded a goal for eight games. Their defensive record was remarkable, but it had to come to an end sometime. That time was now.

Regis Le Bris’ team have been phenomenal in the early stages of the new term and demonstrated why they look very unlikely to suffer relegation. In short, they looked like the best collective team the north Londoners have faced all season.

It was a familiar face in the form of Granit Xhaka who helped down his former colleagues but he wasn’t the only ex-Arsenal player on the field to make an impact.

Indeed, former Hale Ender, Dan Ballard, made the most noteworthy impact. He hadn’t played a single first-team game for the Gunners before joining Sunderland in a £2m deal but he’s more than made his mark in the north east.

He scored that last-gasp goal against Coventry City in the Championship play-off semi-finals and has come in clutch again since Le Bris’ men were promoted.

Ballard’s finest game in a Sunderland shirt was reserved for his former employers. It was the colossal centre-back who powered how the game’s opening goal and it was he who supplied Brian Brobbey’s late equaliser.

Arsenal were not at the races in the first half but they did come back fighting in the second period. It was a noticeably better performance from the league leaders who levelled courtesy of Bukayo Saka.

The winger has struggled for form in the early parts of 2025/26 but this was perhaps his finest league display of the season to date. His goal, specifically as it was on his so-called weaker foot, was simply world-class.

Saka had spurned two golden opportunities to score against Burnley a week ago but this was much more like it from the club’s talisman.

Still, as he has been in recent weeks, Saka was upstaged once more by Belgian Leandro Trossard. It looked for all the world as though the winger would exit the club in the summer as Arsenal targeted reinforcements in attack but due to a plethora of injuries has become a vital player again. His strike to put Arteta’s team in front was one of his best since joining from Brighton.

Yet, in very uncharacteristic fashion, the visitors struggled at the back. For both goals, they struggled to clear their lines and the backline didn’t lose one duel but two duels in the build-up to the last-gasp equaliser. Brobbey beat Gabriel Magalhaes to the ball and goalkeeper David Raya was left stranded.

So, the international may break may well have come at just the right time. It will give Arsenal a chance to reset and potentially get some of their injured players back.

Arsenal star lets Arteta down when it counts

For Sunderland, Ballard was imperious. After all, he did have something to prove.

The Gunners never gave him an opportunity to strut his stuff at the Emirates but at the Stadium of Light, he has found a home for himself.

He was dominant, he was colossal and arguably, the best player on the pitch. Truth be told, he outplayed one of the best players in the whole of Europe this season; Gabriel.

The Brazilian has been the glue that has bound everything together for Arsenal and in the words of Jamie Carragher, he has “been the most influential player” in the division.

Well, on Saturday, it was his worst performance of the campaign to date. Handed a 5/10 match rating by GOAL, they lamented the centre-back’s involvement in the equalising goal.

While Gabriel is usually so mean, so fierce in the duel, he was bullied on this occasion and was left to feel rather sorry for himself having tried to win a foul.

Man of the hour, Mr Brobbey, got across the big and tough Brazilian and rather made him look like a schoolboy. Very few attackers can do that to Gabriel but he was outmuscled and left pleading with the referee to give a foul. It was not a foul, Arsenal’s number 6 had just been outplayed “when it mattered most” in the words of Arsenal writer and content creator Jamie Kent.

Gabriel didn’t do much wrong up to that point, but he was rattled in a way we rarely see from one of Arsenal’s standout players.

While the former Lille central defender did win both of his ground duels on the evening, he only won five of his eight aerial battles, suggesting that this was indeed a tougher day at the office.

Minutes played

90

Touches

75

Accurate passes

53/62 (85%)

Key passes

1

Accurate crosses

0/2

Dribbles

0

Shots

0

Possession lost

11x

Ground duels won

2/2

Aerial duels won

5/8

Tackles won

0

Interceptions

0

Recoveries

0

There is not much that the centre-back needs to improve but this was the third instance, all of which have led to goals this season, that have seen Gabriel lose a duel in the build-up to a goal.

He let Erling Haaland turn him too easily during the 1-1 draw with Manchester City a few months ago when the Norwegian scored and Gabriel was also at fault the last time Arsenal conceded prior to the Sunderland game. Coincidentally, that also came in the north east. In a similar fashion, the Brazil international looked to bait a foul from the centre-forward and it simply wasn’t forthcoming.

On that occasion, the towering Nick Woltemade simply battered him out the way and the same could be said of Brobbey on Saturday.

He’s not usually one to shy away from things but on two occasions now he’s let Arsenal down in big moments. He has also delivered some imperious moments this season, but if he does want to be considered the best defender in the land, incidents like this one must be eradicated from his game.

That being said, it does rather say it all that this was Gabriel’s worst performance of the season. He was still pretty rock solid besides that error.

Winner joins India in Super Four round from Group A; loser exits the Asia Cup

Danyal Rasool16-Sep-20253:21

Mukund: ‘Pakistan go in as clear favourites’

Big pictureThere may not have been handshakes in Pakistan’s most recent game at the Asia Cup, but in the one coming up, there will certainly be a goodbye.One of the two teams – either UAE or two-time champions Pakistan – will be eliminated on Wednesday. Both sides beat Oman comfortably and lost to India heavily, making their fixture in Dubai a knockout game: the winner joins India in the Super Four, while the loser exits.Pakistan are favoured to win, having beaten UAE twice over the past fortnight, during the recent tri-series in Sharjah. However, there were moments in both those games where UAE appeared to have the upper hand, and it was their inability to sustain these sparks that separated the Associate team from the Full Member one.Pakistan have also had consistency issues. Against India on Sunday, they had what their coach Mike Hesson called a bad day. But there is a suspicion that Pakistan might have become flat-track bullies. They have racked up wins against inferior opposition over the past few months, but were outmatched against India from the first ball. Questions have intensified since about whether their positive results against weaker oppositions reflect an uptick in quality, or are just a reflection of their kind schedule.Either way, Pakistan should have enough skill and power to defeat UAE. Their slower bowlers might be what separates the two sides: Pakistan have played two wristspinners, as well as Saim Ayub and Mohammad Nawaz, in each of their previous two fixtures, as well as the final of the recent tri-series. The good news for them is they appear to have settled on an eleven that should see the job through with little fuss.Related

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Hesson: We were a bit frenzied against India

The UAE, meanwhile, have seen their stature grow in the past few games. A poor showing against India aside, they ran both Pakistan and Afghanistan close in the tri-series. They defeated Oman, racking up a significantly higher total than Pakistan managed against the same opposition. Their slightly wayward bowling attack will need some quick fine-tuning ahead of their final group fixture, but they would have taken a one-match shootout against a bruised Pakistan at the start of this tournament.UAE’s top-heavy batting order is the key to their success. Captain Muhammad Waseem has settled into a good run of form, scoring a 54-ball 69 against Oman. Since Muhammad Zohaib has been replaced by Alishan Sharafu at the top of the order, Waseem has not needed to play the quick-scoring role alone. Sharafu also scored a half-century in his 88-run opening stand with Waseem against Oman, while Asif Khan’s promotion up to number three of late rounds out their menacing top order.The UAE, too, will need their spinners to be pitch perfect. Haider Ali is the spin pack’s obvious leader and he demonstrated during his spell of 2 for 22 on Monday. Waseem has also talked up right-arm offspinner Dhruv Parashar’s ability.For the UAE, this upcoming encounter is their biggest game of the year so far, and they will feel they have the tools to spring this Asia Cup’s most dramatic surprise.Muhammad Waseem is crucial to UAE’s chances•Ryan Lim/AFP/Getty ImagesForm guidePakistan: LWWWL   UAE: WLLLLIn the spotlightThere are days when Fakhar Zaman is impossible to rein in. Though they are less frequent than they used to be, he had one of those the last time these sides faced each other. Stuck at 80 for 5, Pakistan needed someone to take them through the second half of their innings, and Zaman delivered, smashing an unbeaten 77 off 44.Zaman has had an interesting couple of months with the T20I side. While deemed to have suffered a loss in form, he has found a way to contribute just about every time through high-impact cameos. He has scored 17 or more in eight of his last nine innings, even if seven of those ended between 17 and 28. Though his match-winning potential remains alive, UAE will sense his vulnerability at the top of the order.Asif Khan announced himself to the wider cricketing public when he blew Pakistan’s spinners away at the end of August, smashing six fours and six sixes en route to his 35-ball 77. Since then, however, he has not been able to use his unquestionable power with the bat. His 40 against Afghanistan in a dead rubber was the only other meaningful knock he has played since, with the other four innings producing a combined 12 runs. In a side that lacks power outside the top three, UAE cannot afford to have one out of form for a game of this magnitude.Fakhar Zaman has had starts but not many big scores recently•Associated PressTeam newsHesson made clear the defeat to India was not a personnel issue. Pakistan have played the same XI in each of the past three games, and changes are unlikely.Pakistan (possible): 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub 3 Fakhar Zaman 4 Salman Ali Agha (capt) 5 Hasan Nawaz 6 Mohammad Haris (wk) 7 Mohammad Nawaz 8 Faheem Ashraf 9 Shaheen Afridi 10 Sufiyan Muqeem 11 Abrar AhmedUAE also have a settled XI that produced a clinical win over Oman on Monday. Expect them to give the same combination one more crack at glory.UAE (possible): 1 Alishan Sharafu, 2 Muhammad Waseem (capt), 3 Muhammad Zohaib, 4 Asif Khan, 5 Harshit Kaushik, 6 Rahul Chopra (wk), 7 Dhruv Parashar, 8 Haider Ali, 9 Muhammad Rohid Khan, 10 Muhammad Jawadullah, 11 Junaid SiddiquePitch and conditionsThere are no signs of the hot and humid weather abating in the UAE. The pitch is expected to continue offering plenty of assistance to the slower bowlers.Stats and triviaPakistan have lost six matches across the men’s T20 Asia Cups – the second most defeats for any team in the tournament, with only Hong Kong losing more. Across all formats of the Asia Cup, Pakistan’s 26 defeats are also the second most, surpassed only by Bangladesh’s 44. UAE captain Muhammad Waseem brought up 3000 T20I runs on Monday, more than any current Pakistan player. Fakhar Zaman, who has 2144, is the only Pakistani in the side with more than 1000.

Bumrah could have been the difference, but he wasn’t in the end. Instead, it was in the lengths and the Pujara model that the series was won and lost

Sidharth Monga11-Jan-2025High seam and low bounce proved to be the ideal combination for India in Perth. They could stick to bowling their 6-8-metre good length and still hit the stumps with it. Australia went with their traditional 5-7-metre good-length band, getting driven and then going too short in reaction. Even though Australia bowled India out for 150 on the first morning, they bowled 35 balls fuller than the 5-metre mark, conceding 20% of that total.Either India learned from what they watched or they just stuck to their natural good lengths, which turned out to be the best for these conditions. Australia were at the stumps less frequently than once in two overs; India attacked the wicket once every over. Eight of the 18 wickets India’s fast bowlers took were either bowled or lbw.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();