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England spinner stifles chase as visitors fall short of victory required to stay in hunt

ECB Reporters Network01-Jul-2022James Fuller’s quickfire 45 and impeccable bowling from Liam Dawson and Nathan Ellis fired Hampshire into the Vitality Blast quarter-finals at the expense of Gloucestershire.Allrounder Fuller needed only 24 balls to smack his haul at the death to drag Hampshire to an above-par 140. Gloucestershire, who needed to win to keep their knockout hopes alive, lost wickets with regularity with Dawson returning 2 for 16 and Australian Ellis 1 for 14 in his four overs – as Hampshire won by 15 runs.Hampshire chose to bat first on a sluggish used pitch and battled their way to above par thanks to some late-innings hitting. Before then it had been a struggle as Gloucestershire bowled incredibly tightly on a pitch similar to a typical Seat Unique Stadium wicket.Only 24 runs came in the powerplay with Ben McDermott and James Vince both falling, the former to Mohammad Amir who only bowled three balls before walking off clutching his side.Benny Howell had Tom Prest top-edging a slog sweep with the pressure building before his slower ball found Ross Whiteley chopping on via his pad, on the way to 2 for 29.Joe Weatherley kept things ticking, but his dismissal sent Hampshire sliding. Weatherley and Dawson handed Tom Smith figures of 2 for 18, before Fuller teed off. Forty-six runs came from the final three overs, and 36 from the final two, as Fuller swung Ryan Higgins for back-to-back sixes over the long square boundary before plopping David Payne over the straight boundary twice.The visitors moved Iain Cockbain up to open for the first time this season but he only lasted until the second over when Prest brilliantly ran him out with only a single stump to aim at. It was an atonement for Prest, who had dropped a tough chance off Chris Dent. And he would complete his penance when his offspin forced Dent to sky to deep extra cover – 40 for 2 at the end of the fourth over.Miles Hammond skied to McDermott but Dawson’s introduction swung the momentum. The left-armer’s first over only went for three runs, his second just two runs, the wicket of Glenn Phillips and four play and misses from Higgins, before he bowled Higgins with a jaffa in his third over – at which point he had 2 for 9. Mason Crane joined in to get Jack Taylor caught behind.Gloucestershire had the rate well in hand throughout but the regularity with which they lost wickets came back to bite them, with Howell swiping to deep square leg to become the seventh man to depart to leave 38 needed from the last five overs.Only 15 runs came in the following three overs and the burden was too much for James Bracey – who had scored 38 off 30 – when he was caught splicing to third. Tom Smith was run out off the first ball of the last over, with 17 required, before Ellis bowled Payne to a rapturous response from a packed Ageas Bowl.

The entire series, of two Tests and three ODIs, will be played in Karachi now

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2022The second and final Test between Pakistan and New Zealand, scheduled for a January 3 start in Multan, has been moved to Karachi – and to January 2 – because of poor weather conditions in Multan.As reported by ESPNcricinfo on Friday, talks were on between the two boards to rejig the schedule as severe fog and even smog is expected in Punjab – Multan and Lahore are both in the area – in early January. The PCB noted in a statement on Saturday that the weather in Multan had “already disrupted flight operations and may also potentially result in the loss of playing hours”.The change means that the entire series – two World Test Championship matches and three World Cup Super League ODIs – will now be played in Karachi. The first Test will be played from December 26 to 30, and, with the Test starting a day earlier than expected, the ODIs will now be played on January 9, 11 and 13.Multan hosted the second Test between Pakistan and England in early December, and while there were no visibility-related interruptions then, air quality was notably worse than it was in Rawalpindi, where the first Test was played. At the time, the flight to Multan was, in fact, delayed by almost four hours because of fog, and visibility early in the morning was significantly lower than normal.However, the sun did burn away most of the fog by the time play started, at 10am local time, and there were no delays on that front.Since then, though, Multan has been overcast and that is expected to continue. On several occasions over the past week, the motorway from Lahore to Multan has been closed to traffic for several hours due to foggy conditions.Revised itinerary
December 26 to 30: 1st Test
January 2 to 6: 2nd Test
January 9: 1st ODI
January 11: 2nd ODI
January 13: 3rd ODI

“The discussion from us as a group was just what it’s going to do for the game, not so much what it’s going to do for an individual”

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-20231:07

Ashleigh Gardner: ‘Actually dreamt about the WPL auctions the other night’

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) has been tipped to be “a gamechanger” for women’s cricket, and the player auction was all the talk a couple of days ago, but that isn’t the focus of Australia’s current T20 World Cup squad.They were training in Gqeberha as the bidding began on Monday, Ellyse Perry, who found out after the practice session that she had been picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 1.7 crore (AUS$ 207,000.), said. Another 13 Australians – 11 of those also in South Africa with Perry – were sold in the auction, which she admitted was a “weird” concept in itself.Ashleigh Gardner was the joint-highest earning overseas player alongside England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt, going for an eye-watering INR 3.2 crore (US$ 390,000 approx.) to Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians respectively. But prices aside, Perry acknowledged that the growth of the women’s game in India was a big deal.Related

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“From my perspective, I don’t think any of us ever led the conversation in terms of monetary value,” she said. “I think there’s something at play that’s much bigger than that. Of course, remuneration and the chance to earn that kind of money is wonderful, but much larger than that I think is just the general growth of the sport right around the world.”India is kind of, I guess, the spiritual home of cricket in a lot of senses. And I think now that women are starting to have a really strong presence in the Indian market and also in the Indian game, that is so much more important than any kind of dollar value that is placed on any player. So from that perspective, the chat was just around wanting to be involved.”Of course, after the auction, those discussions come in about certain value and how much people are sold for, which in itself is a weird kind of concept to swallow. But yeah, I just think it’s so much bigger than that. The discussion from us as a group was just what it’s going to do for the game, not so much what it’s going to do for an individual.”7:15

‘Alyssa Healy an absolute steal at INR 70 lakh’

The Australians were in a more relaxed position than England, who faced Ireland while the auction was still going on, with some players taking the field already knowing the results and others having to wait until after the match. Perhaps even more timely, on the eve of the auction, Gardner had claimed her first international five-wicket haul as Australia beat New Zealand by 97 runs. And, by the evening after, her team-mates were joking that the treats were on her for the rest of the tour.”Ash is a phenomenal player,” Perry said. “I was fortunate enough to play with Ashleigh in her first WBBL campaign with the [Sydney] Sixers and I don’t think she’s looked back since then. Year on year, she’s just got better and better.”Probably what stands out to me the most now is the contribution that she’s making with her bowling. Added to the obvious power that she possesses as a batter and ability to take games away there, now the consistency in her bowling and what she’s contributing during our fielding innings just makes her such a threat. She has every facet of the game covered off and really is just perfectly built for T20 cricket.”The consistency that she has for that now has probably made her as rich as what she is,” Perry added with a smile.Perry on Wareham: ‘She’s just the most naturally talented and laid-back sort of cricketer that I’ve come across’•AFP/Getty Images

Perry was also impressed by Georgia Wareham, who made her international return after 16 months out with a knee injury against Bangladesh on Tuesday and bagged three wickets. Wareham will play alongside Gardner at Giants after being bought for the equivalent of nearly US$ 91,000 despite her long spell out of the game.”It was so awesome to see Wolfy play again,” Perry said. “Such a long road back from a really devastating injury. I think any athlete who hears the word ACL in terms of an injury, it’s a pretty tough one to swallow.”To have the patience that she’s had to work as hard as she has and the other part of it is she’s hardly played any games of cricket in the last 16 months and she just comes out and does that. And that’s so Wolfy. She’s just the most naturally talented and laid-back sort of cricketer that I’ve come across. Often after long injuries, it takes a long time to perform again but she’s done it straight away.”Australia and Sri Lanka will both be seeking their third straight wins of the tournament when they meet at St George’s Park on Thursday.

Three balls into his fifth over, he felt pain in his left side and immediately headed off the ground

Alex Malcolm06-Feb-2024Australia quick Lance Morris suffered a left side strain during the third ODI against West Indies in Canberra, leaving him in doubt to tour New Zealand with the Test squad later this month.Morris had taken his first two ODI wickets in a fiery spell to leave West Indies in tatters, before they were eventually bowled out for 86. But three balls into the fifth over of his first spell, having claimed 2 for 13 with a maiden, he felt pain in his left side, and immediately grabbed his cap and headed off the ground to get assessed.Cricket Australia confirmed shortly after that Morris had suffered a left side strain, and would head for a scan at some stage to determine the extent of the injury.Related

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“He just said he had a bit of pain in the side and was struggling a bit, so he’ll get a scan in the next 12 to 24 hours and we’ll know more then,” captain Steven Smith said. “He was probably a little bit nervous the other day making his debut, but he was starting to get some nice rhythm.”He’s been great around the group, for over a year now he’s been there or thereabouts and it’s great to see him get a couple of games in.”It leaves Morris in doubt for the two Tests against New Zealand, the first of which starts in Wellington on February 29, although there was a chance Morris would not be required despite travelling with the Test team through the early part of the Australian summer.Morris is yet to make his Test debut but was carefully managed through the early part of the home season to be fit for the Pakistan Test series. However, he was not required to play, as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood played all five Tests against both Pakistan and West Indies without issue.Morris’ injury comes after Australia’s other back-up Test paceman Scott Boland suffered knee soreness during Victoria’s Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne this week, although he was able to bowl in the second innings after getting assessed.Australia are expected to name their Test squad for the New Zealand series later this week.

Mumbai Indians suffered their tenth defeat of the season despite three-wicket hauls from Thushara and Chawla and Rohit Sharma’s 38-ball 68

Sreshth Shah17-May-2024On a bittersweet evening for Mumbai Indians (MI) fans at the Wankhede Stadium, a high-octane Rohit Sharma fifty gave them something to be happy about, but they also saw their side slump to their tenth defeat of the season to finish bottom of the points table.The victors, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), too, were left with a what-could-have-been feeling as their seventh win of the season took them to the important landmark of 14 points, but a straggling net run-rate of -0.667 left them just outside the top four. In any case, despite scoring 214 batting first, LSG needed an impossible margin of victory to get their NRR where it would have been useful.On the night, it was Nicholas Pooran who rescued LSG from a familiar situation. With their top order struggling again, his 29-ball 75 brought life to a sluggish innings against an inexperienced MI attack that played without Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar his replacement.MI began the chase in dazzling fashion on the back of Rohit’s barrage of boundaries on either side of a short rain delay, but they slid from 88 for no loss to 120 for 5 in the middle overs, effectively ending their chances of putting up a realistic fight.The result meant MI, under new captain Hardik Pandya, finished last for the second time in three seasons. LSG will end up missing the playoffs for the first time in their three-season history.3:21

McClenaghan: Rahul could have gone harder

Pooran goes 360!

LSG gave Devdutt Padikkal another go this season at the top. But he finished the way he had started, with a duck.Nuwan Thushara got the new ball to sling into Padikkal, and Tendulkar too troubled No. 3 Marcus Stoinis early with the swinging delivery. Piyush Chawla also kept LSG quiet enough to prise out Stoinis and Deepak Hooda in quick succession, and at 69 for 3 in the tenth over, LSG’s innings was moving without direction.But Pooran changed that, even masking KL Rahul’s inability to get quick runs. As Rahul moved to only 40 in his first 33 balls, Pooran bashed 22 runs off Anshul Kamboj’s 12th over, and then hit consecutive sixes off Hardik in the 13th.He saved his best for the 14th when Tendulkar’s first two balls went for 12, and after an injury forced the bowler to leave the field, replacement bowler Naman Dhir got pummelled for two sixes. That over went for 29.Not all of Pooran’s shots were pretty, but he rode his luck. Even though he and Rahul fell as part of three wickets in three balls, their partnership and the late assault from Ayush Badoni (22 in ten balls) gave LSG 214 for 6.1:59

A season to forget for Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians

Rohit finishes on a high

Rohit came into the match with scores of 6, 8, 4, 11, 4 and 19. Among India’s batters for the T20 World Cup, he was the most out of form. But, on his way out of the season, Rohit batted the way he was expected to when captaincy was taken away from him at the start of IPL 2024.He hit boundaries on either side of the wicket alongside new opening partner Dewald Brevis to get MI off the blocks early in the 215 chase. He also made up for a streaky early boundary to hit Matt Henry for sixes over midwicket and long-off in the second over.Then, through the fifth, sixth, and seventh overs, Rohit enjoyed the pace-on deliveries and hammered Mohsin Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq for six fours and a six in the space of 18 balls. It got him to his fifty in 28 balls and put MI ahead in the chase.

Krunal, Bishnoi trigger collapse

But MI and Rohit found themselves in a squeeze as the LSG spinners came on. Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi, occasional boundaries aside, made an impact with tidy spells to slow MI down. The two of them also took sharp outfield catches to help LSG’s cause.After holding on to a spectacular sliding catch at long-off to dismiss Brevis in the ninth over off Naveen, Krunal got Suryakumar Yadav sweeping to deep third for a three-ball duck in the tenth over. Bishnoi, who took the tough juggling catch for that Suryakumar dismissal, then had Rohit slicing to Mohsin at short third in the 11th.Hardik couldn’t do much, and Nehal Wadhera then became Bishnoi’s second victim. All told, the six overs Bishnoi and Krunal bowled between eight and 17 gave away 44 runs and netted three wickets.2:36

McClenaghan: ‘Piyush has probably bowled himself to a contract in IPL 2025’

Dhir shows his worth

With Ishan Kishan looking off-colour from No. 4, MI’s game looked done after Wadhera’s dismissal in the 15th over. But Dhir gave the home fans some positives for next season with a dazzling unbeaten 28-ball 62 that took MI to 196.His second boundary of the evening, a scoop off a short ball behind the keeper, showed off his intent, and he followed it up with more big shots.The three sixes in the space of five balls across the 19th and 20th overs gave MI a bit of hope, but another spectacular fielding effort from Krunal on the boundary line stopped a second six to start the final over, and that took the wind out of the chase.

It will be the first women’s T20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh; could kick off at the end of the ongoing BPL

Mohammad Isam17-Jan-2025The BCB will be launching a maiden Women’s Bangladesh Premier League (WBPL); it is likely to be held soon after the ongoing men’s competition ends on February 7. According to Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the BCB director, it will be a three-team competition, with each team playing the others twice for a total of six league games followed by the final.”The board has been thinking about the various ways that we can take women’s cricket forward,” Fahim said. “Whether we can do a T20 competition for women was in our thoughts. We have decided today that we will do the Women’s BPL.”Fahim said the BCB is in talks with some of the men’s BPL franchises regarding ownership of the women’s teams, and that a couple of owners have shown interest.”We have already spoken to a few BPL franchises, who have shown interest [in owning women’s teams],” he said. “We want to see how a women’s tournament has an effect on our T20 cricket. We are hopeful that it will help our women’s game progress.”Fahim said that only allow one overseas player will be allowed in the playing XI, with the squads having a maximum of 15 players each.”We won’t take many overseas players due to the financial constraints,” he said. “Four overseas players puts financial pressure on the teams; perhaps they don’t want to take that pressure. We want to give more opportunities to our domestic cricketers. We want to add competitiveness.”It will be the first women’s T20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh. Women cricketers in the country play the one-day league in Dhaka, and the BCB recently launched a women’s three-day competition.

Reassuring medical opinion about the long-term effects of his concussions helped the opener prepare for his debut

Andrew McGlashan07-Jan-20211:28

Mike Hussey: Will Pucovski looked very composed at the crease

Reassuring medical opinion that he did not need to be concerned about long-term damage helped prepare Will Pucovski for his Test debut after what he admitted had been a “rollercoaster” period following a ninth concussion last month.Pucovski was felled by a bouncer from Kartik Tyagi the Australia A match against India at Drummoyne Oval in early December and was ruled out of contention for the first two Tests of the series. It was no given that he would be brought into the side at the first opportunity, and in the days leading up to the SCG match he visited an independent neurologist alongside the specialists used by Cricket Australia.The advice he received allowed him to look Australia coach Justin Langer in the eyes and tell him he was ready and available. A couple of days of nets followed, before he was told on Wednesday that he was in the side, forming a new opening partnership with David Warner.”It’s been quite surreal… it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, getting hit about a month ago and been to millions of different doctors it feels like trying to get a bit of clarity and a bit of an answer as to what the go was and everything along those lines.”But I managed to get through all the protocols and put myself up for selection and lucky enough to get selected. Has been a bit of a whirlwind but awesome to be here.”The maturity with which Pucovski speaks about all topics from batting, dealing with concussions and his mental health has always stood out and he is aware that he needs to be sure life after cricket is not impacted by what takes place on the field.”When you get the information from doctors that things are actually going okay and there’s nothing too much to worry about long-term at this stage it makes it a lot easier for you,” he said. “It’s one of those things with your head, you don’t want to risk it because you’ve got a long life after cricket and a long life after sport [that] you want to be fit and healthy for.”I sought some different opinions on what was going on and I was pretty satisfied I’m in a pretty good place to continue even if I get hit again it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”A moment to cherish for Will Pucovski, handed his baggy green on Test debut•Getty Images

Pucovski admitted he had a slightly restless night knowing he was going to debut, but that the occasion itself did not feel as overwhelming as he thought it might. He was given the option over whether to face the first ball and after some back-and-forth decided to dive straight in.”In my head I think I’d built up I was going to be ridiculously nervous and it wasn’t that bad in the end. I was just excited that the opportunity had finally got there. In that sense it was actually quite calming in a way. It was pretty cool going out to bat”It was one of those days where I was just absolutely loving it. Probably my favourite day of cricket to date and it’s just a really exciting experience playing your first game for Australia but on top of that obviously with a bit of background to get to the position I’m in, it was just pretty awesome to be out there.”

England in control against Australia A while Lauren Winfield-Hill, Paige Scholfield post tons against Test side

Valkerie Baynes16-Jun-2023Tammy Beaumont scored a double-century as England Women piled on 510 runs in a day to build a huge 390-run lead against Australia A Women during a three-day warm-up for the Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge next week.Beaumont retired out on 201 from 238 balls in Derby with England 611 for 7 in response to 221 all out by an Australia A side captained by left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen, the only member of Australia’s Test squad to move into the A side for the build-up game.Beaumont and Emma Lamb, who fell for 10 on Thursday when she was caught by Tahlia Wilson off the bowling of Maitlan Brown, are England’s incumbent Test openers, having done the job in last year’s draw with South Africa at Taunton. Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley all scored half-centuries and Amy Jones cruised to 88 off just 65 balls before Jonassen had her caught by Brown.Related

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Jones was full of praise for Beaumont’s knock, which resumed on 65 on the second morning with England 120 runs behind with nine wickets in hand. She shared a 170-run partnership with captain Knight for the second wicket and 148 with Sciver-Brunt, Knight’s deputy, for the third.”Five hundred runs in a day is a great effort and Tammy set that up brilliantly,” Jones said. “I thought it was an incredible innings really. I don’t remember any chances. She just looked really free flowing and soaked up pressure in the harder moments of the game as well, so she was brilliant and we had some good partnerships throughout which is good to see.”But an intriguing sub-plot was developing in Leicester, where England A, led by captain by Lauren Winfield-Hill, took a lead of 278 runs after two days of their three-day warm-up against Australia’s Test players. Winfield-Hill, who lost her England central contract ahead of this season amid a nine-month period of being overlooked for the senior side, reached 106 from 148 deliveries batting at No. 4 before legspinner Alana King had her caught by Georgia Wareham.Meanwhile Danni Wyatt, who is part of England’s Test squad but moved to the A side this week, scored 37 off 43 balls at No. 5 before she was trapped lbw by Australia pace spearhead Darcie Brown. Wyatt had moved to the top of the order in the shorter formats last year when Winfield-Hill lost her place during the 50-over World Cup and Beaumont was dropped from the T20 side ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Winfield-Hill made a return to T20Is during England’s winter tour of West Indies, twice batting at No. 3 below Wyatt, who has played 245 white-ball internationals but is yet to make her Test debut.Paige Scholfield, the leading run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy so far this season, also scored a century, while Bess Heath and Grace Scrivens, who led England to the Under-19 T20 World Cup final earlier this year, scored a half-centuries against the Australians.Ashleigh Gardner, the Australian allrounder named Player of the Tournament after helping her side lift the T20 World Cup in February, didn’t bowl as a precaution after being hit on the right index finger while catching before play on Thursday. While there was some swelling, the injury didn’t trouble her while batting or fielding and she was expected to be fit for the Test starting on Thursday.England A closed on 562 for 9 in reply to Australia’s first-innings 284, which was built on opener Beth Mooney’s century. Kim Garth was the pick on a “tough day” for Australia’s bowlers, with 4 for 69, and King claimed three wickets.”There is a lot of positives to come out of it though,” Garth said. “I think we actually did quite well on a wicket that’s not offering much for the bowlers. Credit to them as well, they did bat very well. If you asked the coaching staff upstairs, I think they probably would have wanted a game like this rather than just cruising through three days of cricket so I think there’s plenty to take out of it into next week.”

India captain fined and receives four demerit points for her outbursts during the final ODI vs Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-20232:13

Mandhana: Hopefully we’ll have neutral umpires next time

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur is set to miss the first two matches of the Asian Games, having been suspended by the ICC for breaching the code of conduct during the final ODI of the Bangladesh series.Harmanpreet, who had reacted angrily to her dismissal by smashing the stumps after being caught, pleaded guilty to two different charges pressed by the match referee Akhtar Ahmed.In a media release on Tuesday, the ICC confirmed that Harmanpreet received three demerit points relating to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”. Harmanpreet becomes the first women’s player to be handed a Level 2 sanction since the ICC started listing code of conduct breaches publicly in 2016. The India captain was also fined 50% of her match fee for the same offence.Harmanpreet also received a separate Level 1 penalty along with a fine of 25% of her match fee and one demerit point for “public criticism” of match officials, having described the umpiring in the Bangladesh series as “pathetic”.As per the ICC’s rules, when a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points. Anything in the range of four to seven demerit points equates to two suspension points i.e. a ban from one Test, two ODIs or two T20Is, depending on which comes first in the player’s schedule.The last time Harmanpreet earned a demerit point was during the semi-final of the 2017 ODI World Cup against Australia. After working legspinner Kristen Beams through midwicket, she was involved in a mix-up with Deepti Sharma before they completed the double that brought up Harmanpreet’s century. Instead of celebrating the milestone, Harmanpreet flung her helmet to the ground and fired verbal volleys at Deepti. Harmanpreet was found guilty of a Level 1 offence, which she had accepted.After the game in Dhaka, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana supported Harmanpreet’s actions by saying her captain disagreed with the umpire’s call and that led to an angry reaction. Mandhana also said she expected “neutral umpires” to be present when India tour Bangladesh next time.Players breaking the stumps – either with the bat or by kicking them – while reacting to umpiring decisions is a rare occurrence in top-flight cricket. Coincidentally, the most recent case also happened in Bangladesh: in 2021, Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was suspended for three matches and fined US$ 5800 (approx.) during a Dhaka Premier League T20 match between Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club.India women’s next campaign will be at the Asian Games in Hanghzou in China between September 23 and October 8. India will be fielding both men’s and women’s teams at the Games, which features the T20 format.

Says he relies on his hands for placement and gives himself “a few options for different lengths”

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-20234:00

Harmison on Maxwell’s 201*: ‘It has to be the greatest innings in ODI cricket’

One of the reasons why Glenn Maxwell’s hardly-believable double-century against Afghanistan in Mumbai is being billed as the greatest ODI knock of all time is because of how he was suffering from back spasms and severe cramps in the lower half of his body, and he still managed to hit a total of 21 fours and 10 sixes to lead Australia to victory, mainly by using his arms and upper-body strength.Maxwell attributed that ability to a pre-match batting drill he used to practice around eight-nine years ago in the BBL, to hit some big boundaries.”One of the things I used to work on before every BBL game – going back about eight or nine years – was foot drills where the first 12 balls I’d face I’d stay dead still but try and hit them as far as I could,” he told the . “Whatever the length, I basically had to hold my top body for as long as I could to get the right trajectory to feel like I hit a six. Working on that upper-body movement without using your legs is actually a good way of finding out where your ideal heave point is. Going back to that [innings against Afghanistan], I obviously had to tinker a little bit with actual bowlers not just bowling half-volleys outside off stump but bowling different areas. Jut relying on stuff I had worked on in early years and try to adapt as quickly as I could.”Related

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When asked what helped him prepare for such unorthodox shots, Maxwell said: “I think it has a lot to do with the positions I get myself in on a golf course where I’m stuck behind a tree and I’ve to throw my wrists around or flick it around. It’s little things like that. I feel like it allows you to be inventive and tests the boundaries.”Maxwell also revealed on the podcast that the worst cramps in his body were in his calf muscle, and that at one point the middle toe on his right foot “starting to bend back” and combined with the back spasms, his “body was starting to shut down”.When he fell to the ground at one point and lay flat because of cramps just after completing a single, he was attended to by the team physio who said that going off the field would be worse because Maxwell’s body would cool down and coming back down the long staircase from the dressing room at the Wankhede Stadium would become very tough. The physio then advised Maxwell to slow things down since the batter also “couldn’t control my breathing,” and told him to hydrate himself more and bat on.Not only against Afghanistan, but during his record-breaking 40-ball century against Netherlands, and further back in the past in white-ball cricket, one of Maxwell’s trademark ability is to find the gaps in all corners of the ground, irrespective of the line and length of the ball, and the bowlers.”Once I get in, I feel like I can set myself early enough in my mind and have a good idea of where I’m trying to hit it,” Maxwell explained. “I feel like my hands can get me out of trouble if the ball is not quite in that areas and do I give myself a few options for different lengths.”