Sydney Sixers middle-order batter has had an outstanding season after missing the entire previous campaign

Andrew McGlashan23-Nov-2022Erin Burns has gone from being locked out of playing to having the season of her life for Sydney Sixers.She has been outstanding in Sixers’ middle order, making 294 runs at 36.75 with a strike rate of 147, a key component of a record-breaking regular season that brought 11 wins from 14 matches to put them on top of the table. It came after spending the 2021-22 season on the sidelines, hopes of playing the backend of the competition ended due to the lingering Covid-19 border closures after she missed the start of the campaign to be with pregnant wife Anna.Now this summer Anna and son Jack have been regular attendees at Sixers matches both at home and away as Burns has proved a master finisher.Burns, 34, knew she did not want to end her career by not being able to play, but she was off contract with Sixers after they had finished bottom for the first time in their history. However, a new two-year deal was offered and she has more than repaid the faith.Related

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“Last season was incredibly frustrating. It was certainly something I thought about,” she said. “So having the opportunity to re-sign for the Sixers for a couple of years, guess there was a little bit more fire burning. I would have been pretty disappointed last year with the way it all panned out. For me, Big Bash is probably the thing I look forward to the most. I do really enjoy my state cricket, but I’ve always really enjoyed the short-format stuff. And also the fact it’s also six weeks. So I was always certain that I wanted to do another season.”So what has clicked for Burns this summer? “I’ve been asked that a lot,” she said, before talking of a new view on life that having a family brings. “I feel perhaps a bit more relaxed about it. I’ve always had a fairly good perspective around cricket…but having a family, it gives you a lot more perspective on the things that are super important in life and it’s allowed me to go into this and enjoy it for what it is.”

I was pretty disappointed not to be to get it the girls over the line in Adelaide, so for me it was quite redeeming to be in a similar situation and manage to finish it offErin Burns on her innings against Brisbane Heat at North Sydney

There was, though, a technical aspect as well having spent pre-season working on her leg-side game with New South Wales coach Gavan Twining. A bottom-hand dominant technique had left her vulnerable to being bowled and lbw, but during this season’s WBBL she has yet to be dismissed in that manner. “Just working on playing a little straighter for a little longer and utilising the crease a little more and that’s allowed me to free my hands a bit more and play a bit freer,” she said.And the runs have flowed at crucial times. Her three standout scores are 50 in the opening match of the season against Brisbane Heat, where Maitlan Brown’s first-ball six secured a vital confidence-breeding victory – “it was like a final,” Burns said – then 71 off 38 balls against Adelaide Strikers which narrowly failed to secure victory and then 51* from 32 against Heat at North Sydney Oval when she and Sophie Ecclestone added a remarkable 92 in 45 balls.”It was definitely something in my career that would be up there with one of the best wins that I’ve been a part of and to be there in the middle was pretty special with Sophie,” Burns said of that latter display. “Gives us that extra confidence that if our backs are against the wall, going into a final with that experience…personally I was pretty disappointed not to be to get it the girls over the line in Adelaide, so for me it was quite redeeming to be in a similar situation and manage to finish it off.”Erin Burns and Sophie Ecclestone put on an unbeaten 92-run partnership•Getty ImagesBurns has also regularly featured when the power surge has been taken – including in that game against Heat in Sydney – and she has enjoyed the new dynamic it has brought to the game for middle-order batters.”I kind of think ‘what are these openers whinging about, you’ve only got two out’,” she joked. “Think it’s been a really cool addition to the competition. Being in its first year, think teams are starting to figure it out now, at the start it was a little uncertain and more often than not it brought about a lot of wickets rather than a lot of runs.”I love it, you’ve seen a few balls, you are set then you can opt to take surge, especially here at North Sydney with short boundaries, or Adelaide when there was a massive wind coming across the ground, so it’s just trying to figure out bowlers you can capitalise on and the dimensions of the ground, areas you can chance your arm at.”Her prolific season, which saw her named in the team of the tournament, was enough to raise the question of an Australia recall after she was last part of the squad for the 2020 T20 World Cup. In the end she did not make the group to go to India next month, but national selector Shawn Flegler has been in contact to tell her next year’s World Cup in South Africa was not off the radar.”We had a good chat to Erin, she’s still firmly in the mix for World Cup selection,” he said. “We’re really pleased that she’s come out and performed as strongly as she has in the WBBL. She’s an experienced cricketer, she can come seamlessly into the squad if required, and provides a great middle-order batting option for us if that’s the role that we require.”For now, though, Burns’ only focus is on Saturday’s WBBL final at Sixers’ stronghold of North Sydney Oval. “You always have that burning dream to represent your country, but for me there’s a lot going on for me both on and off the field at the moment so just taking it day by day.”

The Pakistan captain made up for not scoring a ton against Australia in March, and gave his fans what they came for

Danyal Rasool03-Dec-2022It’s a curious thing, a third-wicket partnership for Pakistan, and it was no different on an otherwise sleepy Saturday morning in Pindi. The stadium hums with activity, the seats begin to fill up. Gazes move from smartphones to the action on the field, even if the thrum of excitement has little to do with any of the characters in the middle. The amplified interest isn’t down to Azhar Ali, brilliant as his career has been, or Imam-ul-Haq, despite his third consecutive hundred at this ground. It certainly can’t be explained by England’s bowling attack, which had comprised Jack Leach, Will Jacks and Joe Root for the entirety of the morning.Instead, the crowd is transfixed by the prospect of a man who hasn’t even left the pavilion. The cheers when Imam gets out might seem harsh on a player who’s scored 121, but despite his famous love-hate relationship with Pakistan’s fanbase, it isn’t personal this time.Related

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As Pakistan’s No. 4 steps out of the shadows and into gentle early December sunshine, the chants of “Babar!” reveal what the people have come here for. The Test itself is positively meandering towards meaninglessness, but Babar Azam’s purposeful strides to the middle have whipped the crowd into a frenzy.With seven Test hundreds in four different countries, few crowds could reasonably claim Babar wasn’t worth the price of admission alone, but those who showed up here against Australia in March may feel Babar owed them one. On a wicket as turgid as this one, he was the only member of Pakistan’s top four to miss out on a big score in the match, run out going after an unnecessary single the only time he batted. He might have had two prior centuries here, but for now, Babar has scores to settle, and scores to make.All of a sudden, there’s a spring in England’s step, perhaps as much down to the infectious enthusiasm of the crowd as the sudden fall of two wickets. Ollie Robinson is warming up, ready to bowl his first spell of the day. Root is shining the ball on Leach’s glistening scalp. Babar has just clipped him past mid-on for a boundary, and the crowd is baying for more. Azhar has just played out a maiden over against Jacks at the other end; some things don’t change, after all.When the Barmy Army basked in the entertainment of the first four sessions of this game, and England revelled into the brave new era Brendon McCullum was leading this Test side into, concerns about the pitch were pushed to the back of the mind. Not because they didn’t know this was a “terrible wicket”, as the characteristically forthright Nasser Hussain put it on commentary, but because if you don’t enjoy 657 runs in 101 overs, why are you even here? In the same vein, every Pakistan fan clustered around this intimate little cricket ground is well aware they’re watching a contest severely devalued by the strip laid out. But in the moment, watching Babar bat, they refuse to let their experience be sullied.Babar Azam celebrates his eighth Test hundred•AFP/Getty ImagesBabar survives the early salvos and makes inroads of his own. He’s sped along to 28 off 36 by the time lunch is called, looking as supremely untroubled as you’d expect from a batter of his character on a pitch that lacks any.England call upon James Anderson. The Pakistan captain was eight years old when Anderson made his Test debut, 11 when he last played in Pakistan. Yet somehow, this grandfather clock of English cricket finds himself in a position where Babar could be his first Test wicket in the country. It is the marquee match-up this series, so try stopping Rawalpindi from enjoying it, duff pitch or not.It’s an absorbing cat-and-mouse battle – Anderson might be getting no assistance from the conditions, but Babar knows better than to get carried away. Sixteen of Anderson’s 18 balls to him probe off or middle stump, and produce just three runs for the Pakistan captain. Off the two deliveries the old grandmaster strays down leg, Babar milks him for six runs, including a boundary through midwicket. England’s relatively more benign spin bowling – at least in the middle session – is dispatched with more fluency, their collective 93 balls to Babar conceding 92 runs. It included a majestic drive down the ground to bring up his half-century, but he still has promises to keep.It’s a procession, a cakewalk, an inevitability, and yet when the strike turns over to Babar, Pindi is entranced once more. Babar is suddenly on 96, having just slapped one off Ben Stokes in front of square. Pakistan are closing in on 400, still dangerously far away from England’s 657, but when Babar bats those hard numbers don’t quite seem to matter as much.It’s short and wide, and Babar swings his arms, all nonchalance and elegance. The contact is true, and the ball pings of the bat, racing through a vacant cover region. Babar lets his arms swing by his side, allowing himself a moment of personal reflection before raising them to acknowledge the rapturous applause thundering around the stadium. As he prostrates, Rawalpindi’s on its feet. The debt he accrued in March has been repaid.He ensures Pakistan avoid the follow-on he finally succumbs, a loose shot off Jacks’ first ball of the evening flying straight to point. Suddenly, Pindi falls silent, and as the next two wickets fall in quick succession, it becomes apparent how vulnerable Pakistan’s position actually is and the extent to which Babar’s presence seemed to inoculate his side from the hazards. He may have appeased the fans for one more day, but he still has miles to go before he sleeps.

Plus, the BCCI – who have no opposition

Alan Gardner15-May-2023Some bowlers, when they get into the latter stage of their careers, pare down their repertoire and focus simply on executing their best skill again and again. Others keep looking to develop new tricks, real or imagined, and push themselves to engage with the opposition in innovative – perhaps even puerile – ways.Which brings us, as you’ve no doubt already guessed, to Stuart Broad’s reinvention as a teenage internet troll, a 36-year-old headband-wearing provocateur, shitposting his way through the summer. The England team’s Outside-Edgelord, if you will.Broad was always a prime candidate for this sort of thing, given the way he lapped up all the “smug Pommie cheat” banter that came his way during the 2013-14 Ashes. His very presence as a blond, pouting, celebrappealing member of the English establishment is enough to wind up some people, and that’s before you begin to factor in the 500-plus Test wickets.Now, at the start of another Ashes summer, he has decided to put down the controller and get fired up for the time-honoured phoney war that precedes any England-Australia skirmish. The first salvo came a few weeks ago during an outing for Nottinghamshire, when he revealed that he had been working on – wait for it, wait for it – an outswinger. “It’s designed, to be honest, for Marnus and Smith,” he said with a committed poker face.Related

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That’s Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith, the ICC’s No. 1 and No. 3-ranked Test batters. Who you suspect might have faced a bit of RFM away swing in their time. Perhaps for his next move, Broad will reveal that he has been working with Darren Stevens and plans to bowl 65mph with the keeper stood up to the stumps this summer. (Although given Labuschagne’s experiences on the “Stevo’s gonna get ya” circuit, that might not actually be such a bad idea.)Anyway, Broad then added in a newspaper interview that he considered the previous Ashes in Australia, which took place under pandemic restrictions in 2021-22, “a void series” – a calculated dangling of bait that was swallowed by more than a few down under. “The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game,” Broad said, by which measure England didn’t actually contest the urn at all in the 1990s.By now, with the comment threads fizzing and empty bottles of Prime all over his bedroom floor, Broad was ready for a full-on flame war against anyone and everyone. Despite his semi-mythical status as the Bazball Nighthawk, he came out to bat against Lancashire – facing up to his old England mucker James Anderson – and flicked the Vs at the new orthodoxy, blocking his way to 3 off 50 balls to nick a draw for Notts. One famous mischief-maker who would surely look on approvingly is the late Shane Warne, a man for whom teenage rebellion was a way of life. This will be the first Ashes without any involvement from the Australian in over 30 years but the Light Roller likes to think that, while Broad stirs the pot in the physical realm, Warnie is up there in the windowless basement in the sky, teaching Loki and Beelzebub exactly how to grip the Zooter.

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Over in the IPL, meanwhile, another of the game’s great competitors was going back to basics. “If you can give it, you got to take it,” growled Virat Kohli after a typically feisty display in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win over Lucknow Super Giants earlier this month. “Otherwise don’t give it.” Valuable lessons there in the immutable laws of playground pointing-and-shoving, following some beef between Kohli and his former India team-mate, now Lucknow mentor, Gautam Gambhir. Or was it with Kyle Mayers, whom Gambhir had gone to rescue? Maybe Naveen-ul-Haq, who had words with Kohli during the Lucknow innings? Whatever, whoever, Kohli is always up for a bit of give and take. Anyone who says otherwise can meet him round the back of the bike sheds in ten.

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While administrators in England and Australia can still afford themselves some hearty backslapping when they eye up space for another Ashes series on the FTP, the rest of the calendar for bilateral cricket isn’t in quite such fine fettle. But don’t worry, the BCCI has come up with a solution. Essentially, because most of the great piles of sweaty media rights cashola heading for the ICC coffers comes from the Indian market, they reckon most of it should come straight back to them, too. Who cares if cricket is still being played in Papua New Guinea/ Afghanistan/England, so long as India gets its (increasingly large) slice of pie? Call it equality, “Big One” style.

Series wins over England, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa have paved the way

Andrew McGlashan04-Mar-2023vs England, Gabba: won by nine wicketsMitchell Starc’s first ball to Rory Burns set the tone for the match and the series in Pat Cummins’ first Test as captain. With England threatening a comeback with the ball, Travis Head carved a scintillating 152 from 148 balls. Nathan Lyon’s 400th Test wicket then broke England’s second innings open and the rest followed swiftly.vs England, Adelaide: won by 275 runsCummins’ enforced Covid absence and an injury to Josh Hazlewood did not knock Australia off course. Marnus Labuschagne rode his much talked-about luck with a century while stand-in captain Steven Smith and David Warner just missed out. England folded from 150 for 2 against Starc and Lyon and in the second innings Jhye Richardson claimed a maiden five-wicket haul amid some late resistance.vs England, Melbourne: won by an innings and 14 runs”Build the man a statue!” On a heady third morning, this became Scott Boland’s Test as he blew England away with an astonishing 6 for 7. Australia’s win, though, was set-up late on the second evening in one of more high-octane sessions you could witness. Until then England had just about stayed in the game, but Marcus Harris’ 76 was a fine effort on a tough pitch.vs England, Sydney: drawnThe first points dropped by Australia as James Anderson batted out the final over against Smith in fading light. The highlight of the match was Usman Khawaja’s remarkable return to Test cricket with twin hundreds but England did well not to fold after being 36 for 4 in the first innings.vs England, Hobart: won by 146 runsAnother counterattacking hundred from Head led Australia’s fightback after they had wobbled in seamer-friendly conditions. Although bowled out for 155 in their second innings and England being 68 for 0 chasing 271 the game ended in a hurry as the visitors lost 10 for 56 in 22 overs.Corks fly as the Australians celebrate a 4-0 Ashes series win•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Imagesvs Pakistan, Rawalpindi: drawnAn historic but ultimately forgettable occasion as Australia returned to Pakistan for the first time since 1998. The pitch offered nothing and batters on both sides prospered, albeit Australia’s top order missed out on hundreds.vs Pakistan, Karachi: drawnA golden opportunity slipped away for Australia when they had secured a huge lead after another hundred from Khawaja and some skilful fast bowling. Declining to enforce the follow, Pakistan still needed to survive two days. Babar Azam produced one of the great rearguards with 196 from 425 balls while Mohammad Rizwan also made a hundred but Australia dropped crucial chances.vs Pakistan, Lahore: won by 115 runsThis time they didn’t let it slip. Australia were 8 for 2 in the third over but after a vital stand between Cameron Green and Alex Carey, a reverse swing masterclass from Cummins and Starc blew the game open. Cummins dangled the carrot, leaving a target of 351 in four sessions and Pakistan were 77 for 0 early on the final day. But Australia managed to chip away with Lyon take five and Cummins again magnificent.Pat Cummins was front and centre during an incredible series win in Pakistan•AFP/Getty Imagesvs Sri Lanka, Galle: won by 10 wicketsA game played in fast-forward on a pitch that offered a huge amount for the spinners. Khawaja, Green and Carey played the crucial hands to secure a hefty lead. Sri Lanka crumbled in dramatic style, all out in less than 23 overs with Head taking 4 for 10 and Lyon a match haul of nine wickets.vs Sri Lanka, Galle: lost by an innings and 39 runsAmid the extraordinary scenes of the anti-government protests around the ground, Australia let a strong position slip away. Labuschagne, stumped shortly after his hundred, and Carey reverse sweeping into the deep were key moments. In reply, on a more sedate surface, Dinesh Chandimal forged a magnificent double century. This time it was Australia’s turn to fold, losing all 10 wickets in 27 overs as Prabath Jayasuriya enjoyed a remarkable debut with 12 wickets.Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith have been key to Australia’s success•AFPvs West Indies, Perth: won by 164 runsA predictably efficient victory for Australia. Labuschagne and Smith racked up double centuries and Head chopped on for 99. West Indies made them work for their success with the ball, especially Kraigg Brathwaite’s second-innings hundred, but the result was never in doubt despite an injury to Cummins. Lyon took 6 for 128 to help fill the void.vs West Indies, Adelaide: won by 419 runsRuthless from Australia. Woeful from West Indies, albeit with a hefty injury list. Centuries for Labuschagne and Head set the game up and the bowlers went about their work in systematic style. The game hurried to a finish with Boland taking three wickets in over and West Indies skittled for 77 early on the fourth day.Australia celebrate winning the Frank Worrell Trophy•Getty Imagesvs South Africa, Brisbane: won by six wicketsA Test dominated by some ferocious fast bowling, it was over in less than two days. Head played the game’s defining innings with a brilliant 92 off 96 balls before South Africa were bundled out for 99 in their second innings. The chase of 34 was a bizarre, brutal affair on a pitch later rated “below average”.vs South Africa, Melbourne: won by an innings 182 runsA superb all-round performance from Australia, although they paid a heavy price. Green had a breakthrough moment with a maiden five-wicket haul only to suffer a broken finger – although returned to make a gutsy fifty – and Starc also picked up a finger injury. Warner stood tall in his 100th Test amid talk about his form with a herculean double hundred in energy-sapping heat and Carey sped to a maiden century.vs South Africa, Sydney: drawnRain probably denied Australia the win that would have secured the WTC final before visiting India. Khawaja was left stranded on 195 when the lost time forced Cummins to declare. They were able to enforce the follow-on during the final day, but South Africa’s lower order had taken enough overs out of the game.David Warner scored a double century in his 100th Test•Getty Imagesvs India, Nagpur: lost by an innings and 132 runsRohit Sharma’s hundred and India’s lower order put Australia’s first-innings 177 into context on a tricky but not impossible surface. They were then overwhelmed by India’s lead and subsided to 91 all out on the third day. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, on his return to Test cricket, took 15 wickets between them.vs India, Delhi: lost by six wicketsA crazy morning session on day three, where Australia lost 8 for 28, decided this game after they had been in a strong position. They had been in line for a big first-innings lead but Axar Patel’s 74 closed the gap to just one run. Jadeja carved through the second innings with seven wickets to take 10 in the game.vs India, Indore: won by nine wicketsA remarkable bounce back in a game that barely reached the third day. Matt Kuhnemann, not originally on the tour, took 5 for 16 as India crumbled for 109. Khawaja produced one of his more important innings although Australia still lost 6 for 11. But then Lyon cut through the home side with an eight-wicket haul and the chase was less fraught than it might have been.vs India, Ahmedabad: drawnAfter three high-octane Tests, the pitch was the winner this time. Green’s maiden Test century was the highlight for Australia, along with another hundred for Khawaja, but they were left with only the draw to play for after India past them courtesy of Virat Kohli’s 186 and Shubman Gill’s graceful hundred.

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Can New Zealand make it to their third straight ODI World Cup final?

World Cup pedigree
New Zealand have made it to the semi-final stage of every ODI World Cup since 2007. They produced, along with England, perhaps the greatest game of 50-overs cricket ever at the 2019 final and, since that heartbreak, have gone on to win an ICC World Test Championship and make it to the final four of the T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2022. Whatever they’ve got in the water over there may be the key to unlocking human potential and preventing the robot apocalypse.Recent form
New Zealand landed in India having beaten Bangladesh 2-1 at their Mirpur fortress in conditions that shouldn’t be too dissimilar to what they will see in the World Cup. The only problem is that was a very different squad to the one that will line up against England on October 5. Limited access to their best players has certainly been a factor in them winning just eight out of 20 ODIs in 2023. Their two most recognisable talents – Kane Williamson (3) and Trent Boult (5) – played less than half of those matches.Related

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Selection
There’s a whole lot of experience in their 15. New Zealand have set so much store on it that they are happy to carry not one but two players who are still figuring out if their very recently healed bodies can handle the rigour of a global tournament. The risk is understandable. Williamson is the team’s captain and the one the whole batting line-up revolves around and Tim Southee is necessary to round out a bowling unit that includes a left-arm quick, an express quick, a legspinner and three fingerspinners.Squad
Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will YoungKey player
So much of ODI cricket in the subcontinent is about top-order batters bedding all the way in and that is pretty much what Devon Conway does everywhere he goes. A left-handed hitter of spin whose off-side power game is on par, if not better than, his leg-side power game and who is managing a hundred roughly once every five innings? That’s bank right there.Devon Conway – the player to watch out for at the World Cup•Getty ImagesRising star

Glenn Phillips is must-see TV. Dude does things that end up outing even the most closeted cricket fan. *Cough* John Cena *Cough*. He sets up to bat like Steven Smith – yells of no-run included – but probably has more in common with Glenn Maxwell. Phillips’ ability to hit 360 degrees and utterly ransack runs from down the order was on brilliant display at the start of the year in Karachi, where he led New Zealand to their first ODI series victory in the subcontinent since 2008. He also bowls pretty some useful offbreaks, which New Zealand might rely heavily on over the coming weeks, and is phenomenal in the field. #TotalPackage #ManCrushWorld Cup farewells?
Well, 12 of the 15 are over 30, and one of the other three is 29, so there’s going to be a fair bit of this. A golden generation of New Zealand cricketers – Williamson, Southee, Boult – will likely be riding off into the sunset soon.