“Think my game has come a long way from limited experiences in Pakistan and Sri Lanka,” he says after a promising knock in Indore

Andrew McGlashan03-Mar-20231:46

Chappell: Australia saw the error of their ways after Head’s non-selection

Travis Head has made plenty of bigger scores in the last 18 months, but a pair of 40s in the past couple of weeks could be among the most important innings of his Test career.It might be easy to scoff at that notion, but Head was left out of the opening match of this series in Nagpur based on his struggles last year in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. While it was possible to justify based on numbers, it did feel like an element of over-thinking from Australia.Even his recall in Delhi was described in curious terms as being as much to do with his bowling as his batting. He began that game in his usual middle-order spot – flashing an edge to slip against Mohammed Shami as he tried to continue his aggressive approach from home soil – before events transpired through David Warner’s concussion to see him open in the second innings.Related

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He played superbly on the second evening to put Australia ahead in the game, transferring pressure onto India’s spinners who erred in their line and length. However, early on the third day, R Ashwin landed a perfect offbreak that nicked the edge. There was little Head did wrong. It was the start of Australia losing 8 for 28. But it had given Head a template.In the first innings in Indore he was lbw playing back to Ravindra Jadeja and then in the first over of the third day he saw his in-form partner, Usman Khawaja, edge Ashwin much as he had done in Delhi. A target of 76 loomed as something more significant.But Head responded with a superbly balanced innings, trusting his defence as India bowled well for 10 overs before sensing the moment to unleash the shackles which coincided with a ball change. Head went from 5 off 24 balls to 49 off 53 when the winning runs came. If there had been the slimmest of chances for India, Head’s take down of Ashwin ended those.”If I could take anything out of last week, [you’ve] got to make sure you back your plans, stay as calm as you can and know that things are going to happen over here,” Head said. “[I was] just waiting for that moment. They didn’t bowl a bad ball for 10 overs. I knew it was going to be difficult for the next bloke, you’d just want to make the right decisions at the right moments. I thought I was able to navigate through that period well, they bowled some bloody good balls, [I was] lucky to get through them.”That was the luck I was looking at with Delhi, thought I played really well and one ball he spun, bit like Uz today. You hope you play and miss and you get a little nick. Those things happen, you have to accept them over here. You just try to get through his best ball. Was able to get through that period and wait for some opportunities to score.”Since Head’s resurgence as a Test batter during the 2021-22 Ashes, he has played a number of pivotal innings in demanding circumstances, starting with the thrilling 152 in the opening game of that series at the Gabba followed by a century on a well-grassed Hobart surface. Perhaps his best, though, was the 92 he made against South Africa in Brisbane in a game that lasted even less time than Indore.But he had gone away from his instincts in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, often found stuck on the crease and worked over by the spinners, which led to the situation of one of the world’s highest-ranked batters not lining up in Nagpur. Head had previously spoken about responding to that adversity and now he has something tangible to show for it.”Think my game has come a long way from limited experiences in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. You learn, you become better, [and I] feel I’ve done that,” he said. “A big score next week would be a nice way to cap it off but let’s just wait and see what the wicket is like. A pair of 40s on challenging wickets where we’ve been under pressure have been nice.”The middle order beckons again for Head later this year, but when Australia next tour the subcontinent for Test cricket, to Sri Lanka in early 2025, he can expect to be in the frame to resume his opening role. And after how this tour began for him, that’s quite a turnaround.

India have a long history of playing ODI cricket around their method of taking games deep, but batters were out going for big shots against Australia

Deivarayan Muthu23-Mar-20235:46

Rohit: Surya really unfortunate, we wanted to give him the last 15-20 overs

Virat Kohli has just brought up a typically risk-free half-century. A massive roar reverberates around Chennai’s newly-renovated MA Chidambaram Stadium. There are no signs of dew and the ball is gripping and turning sharply for Australia’s slower bowlers, but a Kohli century seems almost inevitable. At the other end, Hardik Pandya has run away to 28 off 20 balls. India are 185 for 4 in 35 overs, chasing 270, with batting all the way down to Ravindra Jadeja at No.8.Kohli then collapses his back knee and atypically hits the ball in the air, despite not reaching the pitch of an Ashton Agar delivery that breaks away from him. He looks to take on deep cover, but ends up plopping the ball much straighter to long-off for 54 off 72 balls. Kohli usually takes these chases deep and kills them off, but this time he has veered from his approach and holed out. David Warner pumps his fist after taking the catch and Australia captain Steven Smith pulls his collar up; Chepauk is hushed.The pitch plays more tricks. A skidder from Agar keeps low and storms through the defences of Suryakumar Yadav, who bags his third straight golden duck in the series. Hardik, too, holes out while trying to hit a six, leaving the door ajar for Australia. The visitors capitalise and consign India to their third bilateral ODI series defeat since 2015.Related

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Hardik and Adam Zampa have some history: six years ago, Hardik had said he could hit a six off Zampa anytime he wanted to. But Zampa is at the peak of his powers now. Since the end of the 2019 ODI World Cup, no spinner from a Full Member nation has more wickets than his 66, and only Alzarri Joseph (69) has more wickets during this period. In Chennai, both Zampa and Agar were getting some balls to spin viciously from the line of the stumps.KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja all fell trying to hit Adam Zampa for a six•Getty ImagesWith the asking rate hovering around eight and with Jadeja at the other end, Hardik could have seen out Zampa’s last two overs and targeted the medium-pace of Marcus Stoinis, who ended up bowling the 48th and 50th overs. With Mitchell Marsh playing as a specialist batter this series, Australia did not have a sixth-bowling option. However, despite the presence of a straight long-on, wide long-on and deep midwicket, Hardik throws his hands into a low-percentage slog against a Zampa legbreak and slices a catch to extra-cover. KL Rahul and Jadeja are also dismissed trying to hit Zampa for a six.India captain Rohit Sharma wasn’t too critical of India’s uncharacteristic batting approach, but he called for greater application on tricky tracks like the one at Chepauk.”No, I don’t think it was too many runs,” Rohit told at the post-match presentation. “The wicket was a little challenging towards the second half, but I didn’t think we batted well. The moment we thought we had a partnership, we lost a wicket. So, yeah when you want to win games like this, partnerships are crucial and it’s something that we failed to do today.”A bit of both [the nature of the wicket and manner of dismissals] actually disappointed me. You’re born and brought up playing on these kinds of wickets, so sometimes it will be challenging, but it’s important to apply yourself and try and give yourself a chance. We were not chasing 300, we were chasing 270. After the start we got, it was important for one batter to carry [on] as long as possible and take the game deep. But, again, having said that, we know these things can happen and all of us were trying our best to go out and achieve that, but it just didn’t happen.”At the press conference, Rohit said the team management would not judge the batters based on the batting malfunction on Wednesday. “If you look at the last few overs, it was probably a run-a-ball or probably more than that,” Rohit said. “So someone has to take a chance. We didn’t want to wait till the end for the last couple of overs. We’ve always spoken of playing a little fearlessly and if someone feels like they can take the bowlers on, we’ve given them complete freedom to go and do that. And while doing that, there’s a big possibility that they might not be able to achieve what they want to achieve, which is fair. Which is fine by us.”You will learn from that and we will definitely not judge [players] based on a couple of poor shots. All these guys have a lot of potential and they can play shots whenever they want and we want to encourage them to go out and do that quite often.”India have a history of winning ODIs with their tried-and tested method of taking games deep, and perhaps the batting failure in Chennai was just an anomaly.

Five time world champion hopes to help her new WPL team hit great heights

Vishal Dikshit02-Mar-20233:34

‘Shafali Verma is a super talent’ – Meg Lanning

It’s a new set-up, a new team with new players. As a captain what are you most looking forward to in putting the team together?
It’s about working out what everyone’s strengths are and what they can bring to the team. Everyone’s different and everyone is able to bring something different and we try and embrace them and bring it all together. We have got a good blend of youth and experience. The tricky part is to try and work it out in such a short space of time. With JB [Jonathan Batty, head coach], he’s been around the squad for a little while now…We’ll try and get a handle on it in the next few days and try and bring it all together and have some fun and go out there and do our best.Related

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You have a young Jemimah Rodrigues as your deputy. How are you two looking to lead this new team?
I’m excited to work with Jemi. She is a very vibrant character, brings a lot of energy and she is obviously a great player and has good leadership quality as well. I certainly will be leaning on her a fair bit in terms of bringing the squad together and getting to know people and on-field stuff too. I have got no doubt that we will work really well together. Excited to learn off her just as much as she’ll learn off me. That’s the great thing about this tournament, that you get to work alongside different people and learn different things. Can’t wait to work with them.Shafali is the kind of batter who starts very well but doesn’t convert them into big scores often. What kind of guidance are you looking to give her to make her a successful player?
Shafali is an incredible talent and has already played some incredible cricket. A lot of understanding of the game and having an immediate impact on the game comes with experience. She’s getting there. I can’t wait to stand at the other end and watch her whack other teams around the park instead of setting the field which I have done for a few years. She’s learning a lot, she’s learning very quickly and she’s a super talent. I can’t wait to play alongside her and see her dominate.”I’ve been lucky to have a lot of success with Australia, but this is a totally different situation,” Meg Lanning said•ICC via GettyYou’ve led Australia for many years. How are you looking to lead this new side and how confident are you about winning a title here?
I’ve been lucky to have a lot of success with Australia, but this is a totally different situation. But nothing changes from my perspective; I love winning, I’m very competitive and I’m coming here to try and help Delhi win as many games as possible. It would be great [to win], every team is probably thinking the same thing but we’re doing our best and the biggest challenge is to bring everybody together and making sure we’re working as a team. I look forward to that challenge, it’s going to be exciting and hopefully we can do well. The first step is making the finals and hopefully go from there.The Australian team at any level or in any format always talks about this winning culture and bouncing back in games. How are you going to try and inculcate in this kind of a team?
Winning is a little bit of a habit, and you sort of get an understanding of what it takes to win in different situations of games. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of very successful teams. A lot of it is very simple; it’s just being very calm under pressure, playing to your strengths when you’re under the pump and also playing with freedom and try and enjoy what you’re doing. It’s not complicated but the teams that I’ve been involved with do it the best and are able to bring that together at the right time. I’ll be trying my best to get this group coming together and playing as one as best they can and hopefully, we can do that and we’ll see where that takes us.

It’s just being very calm under pressure, playing to your strengths when you’re under the pump and also playing with freedomMeg Lanning’s secret to being a serial winner

How are you looking to handle the younger and unknown players?
I think that one of the challenges of being a leader in a tournament like this is how do you bring the best out of everyone, not just of the players who play internationally but also the younger crew. I’ll lean on Jemi and Shafali as well a fair bit to try and bring it all together. I certainly don’t know everything and they’ll certainly need to help me in bringing it all together. But it’s just such a great opportunity for the young players to come in and play alongside their heroes like Jemi and Shafali and to be able to be in the same team as them is great. I can’t wait to get to know all players and work alongside them and I have got no doubt that I’ll learn a lot as well.As captain what kind of information are you going to lean on the head coach for?
I’ve known JB a little from the Melbourne Stars and he seems a very calm and collected character. He seems very planned, and really good at working with people as well. I think he’ll make a really big difference for me and allow me to just worry about the things that I need to. That’s important as well because we’re here to win some games and do as well as we can for Delhi. His calmness and ability to stay composed is going to be important not just for me but for the whole team as well. So I can’t wait to work with him.What was the reaction of your Australian team-mates heading into the WPL?
Everyone in the Aussie team was super excited that the competition was up and running. To be able to have so many of our girls involved is great. It’s going to be a great experience to play alongside different people, learn different things and also try and also impart some of our knowledge to some of the younger players and some of the players over here in India. That’s the great thing about franchise cricket like this is you get to play alongside different people and play in different conditions and different teams. I know everyone I spoke to in the Aussie contingent was super pumped and excited to be involved.

A year after a pulsating finish at the Asia Cup, the same protagonists delivered another blockbuster climax

Danyal Rasool25-Aug-2023It’s often said that all current mainstream cinema is the same superhero storyline with a superficially rehashed script. If cricket classifies as theatre, the second Afghanistan-Pakistan ODI stretched that concept to an almost parodic degree.Hostility between the sides had nearly spilled over into physical aggression during their dramatic T20 fixture at last year’s Asia Cup, before Naseem Shah pulled off a victory a scriptwriter would have dismissed as too corny. With one wicket remaining and 11 still needed, Pakistan’s golden boy swung hard twice against Fazalhaq Farooqi, and struck gold both times. Throwing down his gloves and helmet, he set off on an in-your-face victory lap as exhilarating as it was provocative.Related

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In the time since, Naseem has made little effort and shown little desire to get himself out of the way of Afghanistan’s firing line. Earlier this month at the Lankan Premier League, he directed an especially boisterous send-off the way of Rahmanullah Gurbaz; any half-decent Pashtun lipreader would have told you what he said wasn’t family-friendly.On Tuesday, after Afghanistan were bowled out for 59 – the lowest total anyone has scored against Pakistan in an ODI – Naseem was interviewed by the PCB’s in-house media unit. His team-mate Mohammad Haris was the interviewer, with Naseem flanked by Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. It was supposed to be gentle, wholesome content. Until that game, Naseem had scored just three ODI runs; on the day, he’d managed an unbeaten 18. When asked what he put his improved batting down to, Naseem went for a mischievous jab. “The Afghan bowlers,” he couldn’t resist saying, before breaking into peals of laughter.In the year since the Asia Cup drama, Afghanistan had landed a blow of their own, beating Pakistan 2-1 in a T20I series in March. Gulbadin Naib at the time remarked that his side had specifically targeted Naseem. But Naseem is a unique phenomenon, a boy who still possesses the charmed optimism of youth as well as a man with the grit and raw ability to bring those dreams to fruition.Last year’s Asia Cup was the setting for the first iteration of Naseem vs Farooqi•AFP/Getty ImagesAnd as this year’s sequel plays out, Naseem is the first to realise he’s seen this movie before.Afghanistan have worked themselves into a position of dominance, but if you know your Afghanistan-Pakistan history, that really doesn’t mean much until the final ball is bowled. Shadab Khan may bleed Islamabad United red but he knows when to shelve blanket all-out attack in favour of taking the game deep. The conditions are slow, and Afghanistan take pace off the ball. So instead of galloping, Shadab inches.”When you’re a senior player, you go through these stages again and again,” he says. “Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed. I try to be as calm as possible. Their team has world-class spinners so I wanted to see their overs off and accelerate against their fast bowlers. The boundaries are long so there are easy twos, so when Shaheen and Naseem came our plans were to go for twos.”Shadab wants to run at every possible opportunity, and he doesn’t care who knows. And with fate conspiring to have Farooqi bowling the final over of a humdinger to Naseem once again, Afghanistan know. There’s a team huddle before the start of an over Shadab desperately wants to be on strike for, and he sneaks out furtively with Farooqi enters his delivery stride, which begins well behind the wicket.Farooqi has his eyes on Shadab, and has no qualms about whipping off the bails. There’s little love lost between the two sides; Afghanistan don’t need to think twice about effecting that dismissal, and Shadab doesn’t even look back to know there will be no reprieve. When Naseem’s penultimate partner Asif Ali was dismissed in the Asia Cup, the contretemps that followed nearly overshadowed the game. There’s no such drama here.Naseem followed his career-best 18* in the first ODI with a provocative line about Afghanistan’s bowling•AFP/Getty ImagesThis should, really, be a no-contest between a young man who has trained to bowl fast all his life against an even younger man whose approach to batting constitutes little more than casual fun. The numbers would write off last year as an aberration, and the odds would favour a reversion to the mean.But there’s a certain state of mind a few sportspersons are able to call up, when the mere desire to win allows them to see a way against bookmakers’ odds or conventional wisdom. Ben Stokes famously possesses it, but at least he knows how to bat. Naseem? He just doesn’t want to lose, especially not against Afghanistan, and especially not against Fazalhaq Farooqi.A remarkable inside out-drive brings him four first ball after Shadab’s exit. As Afghan nerves fray, confusion on the boundary allows Pakistan a third run that brings him back on strike for the denouement, with three needed off two balls. Naseem has a slog that reminds everyone he’s really not a batter, but no legendary sporting tale develops without fortune. There’s an outside edge, a desperate look back. The man at short third has no chance, and from there, it’s clear green grass all the way to the rope.Naseem reprises the frenzied tossing of the helmet and gloves, but this time he doesn’t get far before his team-mates are all over him. It’s almost like they expect him, the youngest man in the side, to lead them out of trouble each time. The context of the win from last year, the acrimony that followed, and the spice that tinges each encounter between these sides only makes this win sweeter.The targeting of Naseem will invariably become even more laser-focused. And Naseem will simply spread his chest out and walk towards it every time. Perhaps there is a reason, after all, that superhero films continue to be box-office.

He has had a stop-start international career, but could now get a good run of games and make a case for the ODI World Cup squad

Shashank Kishore26-Jul-20231:51

Why Sanju Samson needs to make the most of this opportunity

In October 2022, in the absence of some ODI regulars who were preparing for the T20 World Cup in Australia, Sanju Samson made heads turn in the home series against South Africa. In three innings, he recorded scores of 86*, 30* and 2*.That series was Samson’s last streak of three straight ODI innings in his short career of 11 matches so far. The story is much the same in T20Is, of which he has played just 17 since his debut in 2015. In one day, out the next – a recurring theme in Samson’s career.Nearly ten months on from that series against South Africa – during which he has played just one more ODI, scoring 36 in 38 balls against New Zealand in Auckland – Samson is likely to get another straight run of three ODIs, and possibly three T20Is, in the West Indies with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant recovering from injuries of varying magnitudes. Unlike earlier, where he knew he was playing in a makeshift squad, this one comes with more promise, of knowing that he is possibly a few compelling performances away from a World Cup ticket.Related

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From that series against South Africa, the unbeaten 86 in Lucknow is his highest ODI score. It was a fighting knock on an unusual pitch, which provided a lot of seam movement and prodigious turn. Samson walked in with India tottering at 51 for 4 in a chase of 250 in 40 overs, with the asking rate a fraction under nine an over.Samson exhibited immense composure to start with. He was on 15 off 21 at one stage, having shelved his natural flair and opted to dig in. And then he seamlessly switched gears and took over the controls after Shreyas Iyer’s dismissal with India still needing 133 with five wickets remaining. He launched a fierce counterattack with Shardul Thakur for company, but India eventually fell nine short. Samson finished unbeaten on 86 off 63.Some other things about the knock stood out: Samson’s belief in his methods, the composure despite a spiralling asking rate, and his shot selection. Qualities the Indian team management will expect of him in the build-up to the World Cup.From Samson’s point of view, even if Rahul regains fitness and walks back into the middle order for the World Cup, India will still probably need a reserve wicketkeeper, given Pant isn’t likely to be ready. This could lead to a toss-up between Samson and Ishan Kishan.Kishan brings with him the left-handedness that India lack in the top order, but if he has to be in the XI, it will mean a reshuffle of the batting order, since Kishan is a top-order bat. But with India’s top three of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli all but set in stone – barring an injury – fitting Kishan in could be a challenge.Samson offers the flexibility. He can bat in the top three. Equally, he could be devastating in the middle and death overs as a finisher, like he was in that game in Lucknow last October. Or more recently, at the IPL in a game against defending champions Gujarat Titans, where he, along with Shimron Hetmyer, turned an ask of 112 off 48 in Rajasthan Royals’ favour, blasting a 32-ball 60, which included a stunning takedown of Rashid Khan.Even if KL Rahul regains fitness before the World Cup, Samson could be a reserve wicketkeeper•BCCIFor all his talent and skill, though, Samson comes with a bit of fine print. Of someone who can deliver X-factor performances, but can also be notoriously inconsistent – because of his high-risk game.He had once summed up his approach by saying, “I’m not here to score lots and lots of runs. I’m here to score a small amount of runs which is very effective for the team.”It’s an approach team managements over the years have taken a liking to, and believe he is worth investing in. Even though the popular sentiment is that he doesn’t get a consistent run, which is true to a certain extent too.It’s a game he hasn’t changed over the years whether he has been picked by India or not. Now that he is on the verge of getting a decent run, there is little reason to move away from that method. In fact, a clear run of matches should only will him on to stick to what gives him the best chance of success.Last year, soon after the T20 World Cup, Samson played the first ODI in New Zealand and made a solid contribution of 36, but was dropped from the last two games seemingly because India wanted to bring in a sixth bowling option in Deepak Hooda. The only other batter who could have been left out was Suryakumar Yadav, whose ODI initiation had not been as successful as it was in T20Is.Samson was seen as a shoo-in for the T20Is that followed, especially after India left out the seniors in an effort to reboot their approach under a new captain in Hardik Pandya. However, he sat out of the entire series, with Hardik later clarifying it had to “do with the situation”. Whatever the reason was, Samson has to grab every opportunity he gets.Between now and the World Cup, India have a maximum of 12 ODIs. That’s a decent number of games for Samson to finally be able to nail down a place and deliver more consistently than he has so far. If he can, Samson would have given the team management and himself a fair degree of clarity on where he stands and which way his career is headed in the immediate future.

After two low-key performances, Australia’s one drop has sounded a warning ahead of the semi-finals

Sidharth Monga11-Nov-20231:17

Marsh: Started at negative fifty after my bowling

Australia’s World Cup campaign has resembled a balls-in-a-maze puzzle. From catches going down in the first two matches, to Steven Smith having to adjust to a new role, to his vertigo, to Glenn Maxwell’s concussion on a golf course, Australia just haven’t been able to get all the balls in the innermost circle.One concern must have been how Mitchell Marsh, a big part of their plan to frontload their batting, didn’t quite respond immediately to moving down to No. 3 midway in the tournament. After Travis Head and David Warner added 175 in 19.1 overs against New Zealand in Dharamsala, Marsh scored 36 off 51 even as part-time offspinner Glenn Phillips operated at one end. That they won by just five runs despite scoring 388 must have been affirmation that they need to maximise what they can get.Against Bangladesh, in the final league match of the tournament, Marsh ticked that box with an innings full of power and intent that must sound a warning bugle for their opponents in the coming week.Related

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The plan on paper is great. Power at the top, one circuit breaker in the middle, and then more power in the end. However, Marsh’s numbers at No. 3 raised the question whether the fit was right. Coming into this match, he averaged 23.35 at 83.84 per 100 balls, a significant drop from his stats when opening: 55.4 at 113.75.In an 87-match career, in which Marsh has batted in eight different positions, the sample size is expectedly small. So small that this innings has taken his average at No. 3 to 36 and strike rate to 96.55.It is no insignificant innings: 177 runs off just 132 balls in Australia’s biggest successful chase in a World Cup match, with 17 fours and nine sixes, which makes it more than one boundary every over. It had all the trademarks of a Marsh innings. Respect the ball if the length is in-between, but if it is full or short, be brutal. The clubbing blows down the ground and into the covers used all his reach and power.Marsh was not shy to use his feet against spin to create that length. He scored 92 off 72 balls from the Bangladesh spinners. Coming into this match, Marsh’s career strike rate against spin was 77.94 as opposed to 109.27 against pace. So this was an obvious course correction Australia needed, having decided to bat Marsh at No. 3 in a World Cup in India, where spin inevitably plays a role.It helped that Marsh got seven overs of powerplay field restrictions and the two new balls to get stuck into. It is different to starting when the pitch is slowing down and the ball is losing some of its shine. Those challenges might yet arrive, but Marsh said it was important that he maintained this same intent.Does anyone hit the ball harder than Mitchell Marsh?•Associated Press”I sort of knew that when Heady came back in that I was gonna go down to three,” Marsh said when asked about the switch to No. 3 at the post-match presentation. “I think the most important thing for me is to play with that same intent and back myself. And I guess that’s the sort of way we wanna play our cricket. Me coming in at 3 and keep trying to apply the pressure. I probably had a few games in the middle of the tournament where I lost my intent. So it was really good to sort of learn quickly and back myself. I’m probably gonna fail a few times, but hopefully, I come off more than I don’t.”On a personal front, there have been challenges for Marsh, who travelled to Australia and back after the death of his grandfather. “I’m sure my nana and mom and all the family will be watching at home, so hopefully it’s put a smile on their face,” Marsh said. “My pop was a great man, and they celebrated his life yesterday afternoon. I’m sure they probably had a few beers too, so, yeah, it was nice to be able to perform for the family, but just good to get a win.”Having been earmarked for greatness from a young age to having reached a point where he was resigned to “most of Australia hates me”, Marsh’s career has not been the best utilisation of rare talent: ability to bowl serious heat and also to bat as well as he does.And yet, even without reaching 100 internationals in any format, Marsh has collected for himself an impressive highlights reel: captaining Australia to the Under-19 World Cup and the many BBL titles with Perth Scorchers aside, he was the Player of the Match when Australia finally won the T20 World Cup in 2021, he gritted out a draw to retain the Ashes earlier this year to go with a scintillating century earlier in the series, and now he has matched father Geoff’s two centuries when Australia won the World Cup in India in 1987, and is only two behind his tally of 428.As he stands on the cusp of another possible highlights week, Marsh can rest assured that more than just most of Australia, in his words when he lamented the dislike for him, “respect me for the fact I keep coming back”. Batting was arguably not even his stronger suit when he started out, but here he is, winning them all over with the bat. And there is time still: he is only 32.

The major stats trends that emerged over the 48 matches in the 2023 ODI World Cup

Sampath Bandarupalli21-Nov-20231:41

Anil Kumble and Tom Moody discuss the future of the 50-over game

A tournament of big wins

A total of 22 out of 48 games in the 2023 ODI World Cup were decided by a margin of 100-plus runs, or four-plus wickets and 60-plus balls to spare. Eighteen of the 22 matches were between the Full-Member teams.The percentage of matches (45.83) with one-sided results in 2023 is the joint second-highest for the men’s ODI World Cup, behind the inaugural 1975 edition (53.33). The 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand also had 22 one-sided results in 48 games – the same as in 2023.