All posts by h716a5.icu

Ahead of his first PSL, the Australia batter spoke about thriving in chaos, playing on gut feel, and trying to find a spot in the Australia T20 World Cup squad

Interview by Danyal Rasool14-Jun-2021We tend to think of a group of players like Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali as typical Islamabad United players, but you’re one of just a couple in the squad actually born in Islamabad.
That’s the second time someone said that to me. I actually didn’t know that. I assumed there’d be a few players from Islamabad. Yeah, it’s weird. The guy from Australia is the one who actually was born in Islamabad and is playing for Islamabad. It’s nice to have that little lineage, like back in the BBL with Sydney Thunder. I grew up in Western Sydney, so I still have that connection. It’s nice to have that connection here, too.It’s been a chaotic few days with plenty of uncertainty. Have you at times thought, “What have I got myself into?”
No. I’m probably the best person to be in this situation. I’m not structured at all! I could go with the flow as well as any of them. Even when we’re on world tours and people ask me, “When’s the next game”, I’ll be like, “I don’t know!” All I know is we have three training days and then we have a game. I’m not looking that far ahead. I’ve been more of a short-term “what am I doing to get to this next point” [person]. And I take it from there.Related

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I think anyone who’s played cricket with me or knows me knows that I don’t get too flustered by these sorts of things. At the end of the day, we’re in a beautiful hotel. We’ve had some really good food. All the facilities are here. For me, it’s just about trying to get this tournament underway. And then hopefully we can get moving from there.You’ve played a lot of cricket in hot places in your career, particularly with Queensland and New South Wales. But is there anything that compares to what the players are up against in Abu Dhabi over the next fortnight? How prepared do you feel for it?
Honestly, I haven’t been out yet. I’ve just been in my balcony and it’s pretty hot there, especially when the sun’s on you. I played in some hot environments before – probably the UAE was one of the hottest ones. But I’ve played in Bangladesh, in Chittagong [Chattogram] or Colombo. Very hot and humid. You play in these environments a lot when you play cricket. One of the hottest days was during the IPL in Vizag [Visakhapatnam]. We were down there around May and it was the most ridiculous heat I ever played in. We didn’t even warm up.

“It’s weird – the guy from Australia is the one who actually was born in Islamabad and is playing for Islamabad”

You’ve faced some scrutiny in Australia when it comes to fitness. Do you feel you’re under pressure to prove any sort of point playing in this heat?
I haven’t had those issues over the last couple of years. I’ve kept myself pretty fit. As relaxed as I am, there’s one thing that I’m very serious about, and that’s what I eat and when I eat. It’s very hard right now because we’re getting this wonderful food with huge serving sizes. You get croissants and all these things that get put in front of you, and it’s such a shame because I can’t eat any of it.I’ve been very disciplined. I dispelled those issues because I knew the older I got, the more I’d need to be fit moving forward. It helps the mind, helps the body and then hopefully helps you perform consistently over a long period of time.How much value do you place on T20 cricket at this stage in your career? From the outside it feels like, aside from a really strong spell towards the end of 2015 and through 2016, this isn’t the format you’re most famous for.
I’ve played T20 cricket for Australia, played in the World Cup – I was the highest scorer for Australia in the last T20 World Cup. We haven’t got the opportunity to play a lot of T20 cricket outside of Australia because of our domestic schedule, and I still want to play for Australia. So it’s a balancing act. I could have easily given away playing for Queensland or Australia and then going to the T20 circuit. But I chose not to.I could have put my name up early for the PSL, but I never had the opportunity, and if it wasn’t for Covid postponing the tournament, I wouldn’t have this opportunity now either, because the PSL would have happened while we were still playing Shield cricket. It’s the balancing act which makes it hard at the moment. In a few years’ time, if I feel like I can transition away from that and just concentrate wholly on T20, I will.Khawaja scored two hundreds in the 2015-16 season of the BBL, giving Sydney Thunder the title win•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaDo you reckon you’re still in with a shot at playing the T20 World Cup?
Look, it’s hard this year, but sport can change very quickly. I just love playing cricket. That was the reason why I’m in the PSL now. I want to play in Pakistan. It’s not going to happen [in the PSL] this time, which is unfortunate. Hopefully [I can do that] in the coming years, because it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.You had a purple patch in T20 in the BBL in 2015-16, with your side, Sydney Thunder, winning the title. You were Player of the Match in the final. What do you put that phenomenal run down to, and what can you do to try and emulate that?
No one really knows. Sometimes you just score a lot of runs. I worked really hard. In the three years before that, I was one of the leading performers for Thunder moving up to that year, but because Thunder didn’t do as well on the field as a team, my performance probably got swept under the carpet a little bit. We were probably the worst team in the competition for a long time. And then when we started winning games, I was still contributing, and that’s when people start to notice you.It’s just one of those things with T20 – if you can get on a roll sometime, you can keep going with that roll. It’s a game that involves a bit of luck, you need to take some risks, and then it’s your execution. You need all those three things to happen.I went to an IPL where Virat Kohli scored four hundreds and that’s absolutely amazing. And then you see tournaments where he struggled a little bit just because it’s a hard place when you’re not doing as well. It’s very hit and miss, T20 cricket.

“Trust me, if you’re not running twos hard in Australia, you’ll get found out very quickly. You won’t play international cricket”

In Pakistan, Islamabad United is known for advocating a certain approach to T20 cricket that relies more heavily on data than instinct or gut feel. Which side of that debate are you on?
I’ve already got some of that data. One of the managers sent me data about myself, which I always look at, but it’s funny to get the data straightaway. I think there’s always a balance: you need to look at the data, but at the same time, if you are not doing your skills, if you’re not executing what you’re trying to do, then that’s a problem. If I’m a batsman, I need to know what the bowlers are trying to do and try to combat that. If you’re not focusing on simple things, the game can get away from you very quickly.I’m a very gut-feel kind of player – I like to keep things simple and not cloud my mind too much. But I think it’s only because I’ve played so much cricket now and I’ve experienced so many things that a lot of the tactical things happen naturally for me. Being the captain for a few years, you learn the intricacies of the game and how it ebbs and flows. In T20 there are times when you need to attack and [times when you need to] defend and you need to understand which those times are. If you wait till too late, you can lose the game in those one or two overs.I do go by gut feel. I think there are some people that require a lot of data and some people that don’t. I’m probably on the lesser side, but there’s no right and wrong in this.So you’re going to disregard the manager’s data sheets then?
I read it, I always read it! I don’t mind data because I’ve come from a science and mathematics background. But I also know that there’s a place for both data and instinct. For me to execute my game, I know I need to keep things simple. So whatever data I look at, when it’s game time, that data normally just gets put to the side a little bit and I just focus on the competition.Historically, Islamabad have chosen foreign batters to open and occupy four of the top five batting spots. Do you have a firm idea of your role in the side?
Not yet, but I will. I’ll talk to Johan [Botha, Islamabad head coach] about it. I’m sure he’ll have a plan and I’ll make it work. Obviously powerplay is where I’ve started for most of my career. It will be somewhere around there. I’ll do whatever the team needs me to do.”I find I enjoy batting in the subcontinent with a white ball much more, just because you can caress balls for four”•Getty ImagesHow is T20 cricket in the subcontinent different to Australia?
Playing in the subcontinent, especially as a top-order batsman or even as a batsman in general, I feel like there are a lot more boundary options because the grounds are usually smaller. The fields are rock hard. In Australia, there are big boundaries, soft outfields. The twos are massive in Australia. A lot of teams that win games rely on hitting twos. Obviously, boundaries and sixes are important. I quite like batting in these conditions. It’s a little bit different; Abu Dhabi’s a bit more Australia-like than Dubai and Sharjah.You’ve said before that you’re not the most enthusiastic runner between the wickets.
I’m enthusiastic running between wickets. When I was younger, I might have been a bit slower. I run twos as hard as anyone. Trust me, if you’re not running twos hard in Australia, you’ll get found out very quickly. You won’t play international cricket. So that’s not the case at all.But I’ve always been a strokemaker in general. I’ve always preferred boundaries and sixes just because they’re more fun – I’ve always enjoyed that part of it. But as you grow up, you develop and begin to realise how important the other bits are.I find I enjoy batting in the subcontinent with a white ball much more, just because you can caress balls for four. I can beat cover and midwicket by two metres and it’s a four, whereas in Australia a lot of those times it’s just two because the grounds are so big. So I find there’s more value, even if the wickets are slower.You haven’t been in contention for Australia quite as much as perhaps you’d like. Why do you think that is?
That’s a good question. I don’t really know. It’s one of those things where I got dropped from the red-ball and white-ball sides around the same time.

“Around the time Pakistan played Australia in the ’99 World Cup final, my parents were Pakistan fans. Adam Gilchrist was the one who turned me over”

In any good cricketing country, there’s only 11 spots in the team at once and I bat in the top order, where there’s only three spots. If you don’t fit in them, it can be pretty tough. Sometimes if players who are doing well are in front of you, you can score as many runs as you want, but you won’t get in the side.How’s your relationship with the selectors?
I have good relations with the main selector in Australia, Trevor Hohns, who lives in the same city as me. And Justin Langer [Australia’s coach] and I get along with quite well. We don’t always talk about selection, but I keep in touch with JL just because we get along. And then, at the end of the day, it’s just about scoring runs and hopefully doing it at the right time when the opportunity presents.When you play for Australia against Pakistan, do your parents still support Pakistan?
No, of course, their son’s playing for Australia! I’ll be honest – my parents were diehard Pakistani fans and they lived there for 35-40 years. And even when I first moved to Australia, I pretty much supported Pakistan because I’d just moved to Australia and didn’t feel the connection.Around the time Pakistan played Australia in the 1999 World Cup final, my parents were Pakistan fans, but that’s around when I started to change. I was probably ten years old then and Adam Gilchrist was the one who turned me over. I loved him – left-handed player, entertaining. And he’s such a nice guy now that I know him, one of the best blokes you’ll ever meet. I started feeling more Australian than Pakistani. But my parents had lived there for a long time, and so did my brothers. But now I’ve started playing for Australia, I’ve switched them all over.

West Indies’ No. 7 was at it again, trying to dig his team out of a hole – the way he often goes about it begs the question: does he deserve a promotion?

Shashank Kishore06-Feb-2022Not for the first time in his career, Jason Holder had to clean up a top-order mess. And not for the first time, he showed how the job ought to have been done. Again, not for the first time, he made you wonder if he was batting too low at No. 7.Ahead of the series, Kieron Pollard spoke of batting out 50 overs being a realistic goal, but West Indies were in danger of folding inside 30 overs in the series opener against India. Holder’s defiance, which quickly turned into a full-blown attack, especially with India’s spinners trying to exercise control, helped them bat out 43.5 overs eventually. This was by no means any consolation.For the record, West Indies haven’t batted out 50 overs for seven matches in a row now, stretching back to the Australia series at home in July 2021. It merely reaffirms Pollard’s statement that West Indies have a batting problem.Related

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Holder put on a batting show that many of his team-mates would do well to emulate. There was no premeditation, neither was there an attempt to throw the bowlers off their lengths. He was simply reacting to what was presented to him and played shots he thought were appropriate without worrying about how the pitch was playing or how one good ball could get him.The essence of his innings was built around trying to get fully forward and using his long levers to play Yuzvendra Chahal’s teasing legbreaks, and playing Washington Sundar by going right back into the crease because the offspinner was looking to largely bowl good length.It wasn’t that the class of his batting suddenly stood out; he has oozed plenty of it right from his debut seven years ago. You don’t average 30 across 53 Tests at No. 7 without possessing it. You don’t make a Test highest off 202 not out without learning to apply yourself at the crease. Yet, you couldn’t help but marvel at his ability to loft the ball cleanly with the spin, pick lengths early to punch through the covers, and nonchalantly play the pickup shot to anything that veered into the pads. More than anything, Holder seemed to revel even when he walked out to immense scoreboard pressure at 71 for 5 in the 20th over.For a better part of the last seven years, Holder has shouldered much of West Indies’ lower-order batting in ODIs. Since the 2015 World Cup, Holder has walked into bat inside the 25-over mark 19 times when he has batted at No. 7 or lower. He has made 564 runs at an average of 35.25, including six half-centuries, in these games. He has struck these runs at 88. Does this merit a promotion? You’d think yes.”When you’re looking at different things, you can say that,” Pollard told host broadcaster Star Sports at the presentation ceremony, when asked if there was merit in promoting Holder. “For instance, 12 months ago, guys wouldn’t have been saying that from a statistical point of view. But last couple of games, he has done well. He has played Test cricket, he has made a double-hundred, so he can bat at any position in the order.”But again, the combination of the team, when you look at it, yes he can bat at No. 6 or at No. 5, but when you watch the make-up of our team, we have international batsmen who have played Test cricket. He (Holder) has a role to play for us, and he came into a crucial scenario and made a crucial fifty. In the last couple of weeks, his cricket has improved and he’s doing well for himself. We’re happy for Jason as a team and long may it continue.”Jason Holder adapted to the challenge of batting in India despite limited time to acclimatise•ICC via GettyThis batting ability from a bowling allrounder is something teams around the world yearn for. Holder’s batting, along with his nagging bowling, has contributed largely to whatever success West Indies have had in Test cricket too, in recent years. It has allowed them to play five bowlers for one thing. But Holder’s improved batting hasn’t quite been enough to mask the inefficiency, and in some cases recklessness, of some of his colleagues.In Ahmedabad, Shai Hope was out driving with no feet in the same over that he dispatched Mohammed Siraj for two glorious boundaries. Pollard was out looking to hit out, disregarding Chahal’s dip and spin as he attempted a big mow first ball with his team four down and trying to rebuild inside the 20th over. Brandon King and Fabian Allen tamely lobbed return-catches to deliveries that stopped on them. Nicholas Pooran completely misjudged the length trying to sweep a full delivery, only to lose his balance and wicket. Of course, you could make some allowances for the fact West Indies came into the series barely having had one full training session, but the question remains: if Holder could, maybe some of the others could, too?Holder aside, there were a few other positives too for the visitors. Alzarri Joseph, fresh off a short stint in the Bangladesh Premier League, was zippy and nipped out the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in an over. Kohli’s, in particular, was a wicket well-earned because he surprised him for pace and got him to top-edge an attempted pull to fine leg. Rohit was beaten and nipped out lbw trying to play across the line.West Indies have little time between now and the second ODI to get their mindset right. If they need to look for inspiration, they needn’t look beyond Holder. In an era of the Pollards, Bravos, Narines and Gayles, that he has managed to carve a niche for himself speaks volumes of his drive and resolve. His team-mates will do well to try and match the benchmark he has set.

The team’s top run-getter in T20Is talks about making her debut as a 13-year-old, and juggling a radiography course with cricket

Firdose Moonda14-Jul-2022If Irish cricket had a royal family, Gaby Lewis’ would be it. Her father and grandfather played first-class cricket for Ireland between the 1960s and 1990s, her older sister, Robyn, played alongside her at the 2016 T20 World Cup, and last month, at 21, Lewis became Ireland’s youngest captain. Born and raised in the game, it’s almost all she knows.”My first memory is being down at my club in YMCA in Sandymount,” Lewis says. “I don’t have any memories of my grandfather playing, but I definitely have memories of my dad. I even played a few games with him and batted with him. And my mom coached us for a bit. I was always down at the club, me and my sister. We were just born into it.”Ireland are currently hosting Australia and Pakistan for a tri-series, and last month they had South Africa over for three ODIs and three T20Is. Ireland won one match in that series – a ten-run victory in the opening T20I in Dublin, in which Lewis top-scored with 52 off 38 balls. In the process, she went past Clare Shillington to become Ireland’s leading run-getter in women’s T20Is. She’s also their only century-maker in the format.Even though she’s so young, Lewis has already played international cricket for nearly eight years now, making her Ireland debut as a 13-year-old, in a T20I against South Africa in 2014.Related

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“It’s always been like that,” she says. “You’re used to playing against people older than you. Back then, cricket was quite small, and everyone who played cricket knew everyone else. It didn’t seem strange because other younger players like Lucy O’Reilly [who also made her debut at 13], who I was quite close to, had gone through it as well. I just absolutely loved it.”Lewis started off in the middle order but two years later was promoted to open the batting with Shillington, her club team-mate. And before she made her ODI debut, in 2016, Lewis had already featured in a T20 World Cup, getting a taste of playing against teams with fully professional set-ups and greater match experience than Ireland had. “I remember that I wasn’t scared because I’d batted with Claire before and she made it quite easy,” she says.”World Cups are the best tournaments to play in,” Lewis said. “You’re playing against high-quality opposition. Being from Ireland, we play against teams with a mixture of abilities. We have Qualifiers where we play against the likes of the European teams and then you can go to World Cups and play against the likes of Australia – there’s a huge gap.”By the time Lewis played her second World Cup, the 2018 T20 event in West Indies, she realised that cricket was growing and a professional expansion was on the horizon for her.”We were playing against teams where you know their players have had a career, and that’s what I knew I wanted. I thought it was only a matter of time before it would filter through the countries.”Lewis became Ireland’s youngest captain, at 21, when she led them in place of regular captain Laura Delany last month against South Africa•George Tewkesbury/Getty ImagesIt took another four years before professionalisation came to Ireland. In March this year, seven women’s cricketers were given full-time contracts and nine more, including Lewis, who is a student, got part-time deals.”I am studying radiography full-time,” she says. “I think it’s very important to study as a cricketer. There’s only so many hours you can train, especially when you are on tour. It’s important to plan for that time after cricket, and if I can work one day a week while I am playing cricket, I think it’s very important. I got into the course through my school exams and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. It’s hugely important, especially on tour, to have something to take my mind off cricket.”Being a student-sportsperson comes with its own challenges, as Lewis discovered when the Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe last November was called off after the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in southern Africa. While packing to return home, Lewis put her study notes in her suitcase, which was mislaid in transit.It took the team almost five days to get home, via Oman, and their belongings were only returned to them two weeks later. “Oh, the stress, the stress! I didn’t think that putting my notes in my suitcase would end up like that,” Lewis says. “It’s a lesson learnt. Always carry your notes in your hand luggage. But it turned out okay – I passed the exam.”Although Lewis started off in the game as an allrounder, in the last four years, she has put away her legspin to focus more on her batting, and has also worked on the mental side of her game.”Over the last few years, I struggled with my bowling and that started to creep into my batting, so I just decided to park it [bowling] for the time being. I went through quite a hard patch a year and a half ago and worked with a psychologist about sticking to my routines and processes and trusting the game.”Lewis: “I love playing for Ireland, and I love the girls that I play with. Once we execute our skills and stick to our plans, I have no doubt we can win games. It won’t happen quickly and that’s fine”•Sam Barnes/Getty ImagesIn September 2019, Lewis scored only 21 runs in four matches in a T20 World Cup Qualifier, which was the worst of her bad patch. Since then, she has averaged nearly 40 in T20Is, with three 50-plus scores, including the century, and 51.14 in ODIs with four fifties.”I don’t have specific bowlers that I fear or that I enjoy,” she says. “With us as a nation, you play a variety of standards, so it’s important to focus on what we do and not so much the opposition we play. I just focus on the ball that’s coming down and how to react as opposed to who’s bowling it.”She’s been rewarded for her form with contracts in two franchise leagues – the Hundred and the Fairbreak Invitational, which has broadened her cricketing experience and allowed her to rub shoulders with different players. Lewis was her country’s only representative in the Women’s Hundred last year and one of three Irish players at the Fairbreak event this May.”The Hundred was brilliant,” she said. “It’s a great format of the game for people who don’t really know that much about cricket, especially people who don’t really have such high concentration levels. It simplifies the game. And the crowds they got – they are very lucky with the timing of it being just after Covid – so people went after work and it’s got that kind of vibe.”The Fairbreak competition was really nice to have everyone come together from different parts of the world and play together. It was a great opportunity for players to bowl to world-class players and know what it takes to take their cricket to the next level.”Despite cricket’s increasing franchising, she doesn’t see either tournament as having the same pride of place as the international game, especially for someone who has Irish cricket in her blood.”I love playing for Ireland and I love the girls that I play with. I can see a place for both,” she said. “There’s a lot of belief in our group. Once we execute our skills and stick to our plans, I have no doubt we can win games. We know it takes time. It won’t happen quickly, it’s a slow process and that’s fine.”

Women’s cricket is all set to debut at the Commonwealth Games beginning in Birmingham on July 27

Valkerie Baynes26-Jul-2022What is the Commonwealth Games?The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event that takes place every four years (usually in between the Olympics), this time involving athletes from 72 nations and territories, many of which were at one time British colonies. The first edition, called the British Empire Games, was held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930.Similar to the Olympics, some sports can come and go from the Commonwealth Games and increasingly that list – determined by the host city with agreement from the governing body – is ever evolving in addition to “core sports” that are always featured, like athletics and swimming.This is the first time that women’s cricket will be a part of the Commonwealth Games after it was included along with beach volleyball and para table-tennis.Where is the Games being held?Africa was due to stage the Games for the first time when the South African city of Durban was awarded hosting rights in September 2015. But the Commonwealth Games Federation removed those rights in March 2017 after it emerged that financial constraints brought on by South Africa’s flagging economy would prevent the city from fulfilling some of the promises made when it bid for the event. Birmingham was announced as Durban’s replacement to host the Games in December 2017. The opening ceremony will be held on July 27 and the Games close on August 8.Related

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Cricket at the Commonwealth Games?Men’s cricket featured at the 1998 Commonwealth Games as a 50-over tournament involving 16 teams in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where South Africa won the gold medal after defeating Australia by four wickets in the final. New Zealand won the bronze-medal match against Sri Lanka, while India did not make it out of their group.Women’s cricket will be played in the 2022 Games after the ICC and ECB lobbied successfully for its inclusion. In announcing Birmingham’s proposal for women’s cricket, the Commonwealth Games Federation said that the sport’s addition was “likely to be popular not only with spectators locally in Birmingham, but also for fans across competing nations, with 90% of the sport’s one billion fans worldwide thought to reside in the Commonwealth”.Supporters of the ICC’s push to have cricket included in the Olympics from 2028 in Los Angeles (LA) and beyond will no doubt have a keen eye on this event as a test case, particularly given that the sport failed to make the provisional list for LA with a final decision looming next year. No pressure, then!India play Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games on July 31•ICC via Getty ImagesWho’s playing cricket at the Games?The women’s cricket competition will be played in the T20 format featuring eight teams split into two groups. Group A comprises Australia, India, Pakistan and Barbados, while Group B is England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka, who were the winners of a qualifying tournament – which also involved Bangladesh, Scotland, Malaysia and Kenya – to determine the eighth team. All the matches in the Games will be classified as T20 internationals.Each team plays the other teams in its group once with the top two in each group advancing to the semi-finals. The top team in Group A will play the second-placed team in Group B in the semis, and the Group B leaders will play the second-placed team in Group A for a spot in the final. The runners-up from each semi-final will go into the bronze-medal playoff.The women’s cricket event begins with Australia playing India on July 29, while India play Pakistan on July 31.All the matches at the 2022 Commonwealth Games will be played at Edgbaston•PA Photos/Getty ImagesWhere will the matches be played?Ah, now this is a place many of us are familiar with … Edgbaston. The scene of Brian Lara’s first-class-record 501* for Warwickshire in 1994, England’s two-run victory in the 2005 Ashes, and, more recently, a seven-wicket victory over India as England completed their highest successful chase in Test cricket. It was also the venue of the Blast finals, with Hampshire winning this year’s title in extraordinary circumstances. Edgbaston also staged the inaugural Women’s World Cup final in 1973, when England defeated Australia.How did Barbados make it to the Games?In late 2020, the ICC announced a qualification process for the Commonwealth Games: England automatically made it as hosts, along with the six highest-ranked sides as of April 1, 2021, with the eighth and final place going to the winner of a qualifying tournament – Sri Lanka.West Indies were direct qualifiers under that rankings criteria and so a tournament within the region – involving Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and two composite teams representing Leeward Islands and Windward Islands – was planned to determine which Caribbean country would compete in the Games. That competition was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Barbados were selected to participate in the Games because they were the champions of the West Indies’ regional competition – the Twenty20 Blaze.For all you statsgurus out there, Barbados’ matches at the Games count at T20Is, so player and team stats will count as international stats. Some familiar names in the Barbados squad include Hayley Matthews, their captain and recently appointed West Indies skipper, star allrounder Deandra Dottin, twin sisters Kycia and Kyshona Knight, Shakera Selman, Shamilia Connell and Aaliyah Alleyne, all of whom are experienced players for West Indies.Who are the favourites?Australia. It has to be Australia. Their dominance in recent years has been there for all to see and they would love to add the inaugural Commonwealth Games title in women’s cricket to the T20 World Cup they won at the MCG in 2020, and the ODI World Cup they claimed in emphatic fashion in New Zealand this year.

Here’s how the cricket community reacted on Twitter to the 19-year-old’s stunning innings in the CSA T20 challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2022All of 19 years old and Dewald Brevis is setting records. The South Africa batter smashed 162 runs off just 57 balls in a T20 match between Titans and Knights in Potchefstroom that very quickly gained global acclaim.Brevis, who is called ‘Baby AB’ by fans because of his uncanny resemblance to AB de Villiers, earned some praise from the man himself.

Dewald Brevis. No need to say more

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) October 31, 2022