How dynamic yet pragmatic methods have built a legacy and delivered results

Sidharth Monga13-Nov-20220:30

Buttler: Over the past few years we haven’t played it safe

In knockout team sport, not always does the better team or the ideal way of playing prevail. Thirty years ago, England were the futuristic ODI side with 11 first-class centurions in their playing XI without sacrificing the quality of the bowling, they were more consistent too, but they were undone by two pieces of genius in the final. At the same venue against a team riding a similar emotional wave and with genius bowlers in its arsenal in 2022, England, the side with the better method, prevailed.England’s comprehensive wins against two Asian sides in the two knockout matches were a vindication of the template of T20 cricket. ‘Template’ is a term cricketers are not a fan of. It is understandable because they adapt to different conditions and match situations every day. Template makes them sound like robots, but there is a method or structure or philosophy to every team, and England’s is truest to T20 cricket.Once we have the ideal resources available in terms of efficient hitters – perhaps a decade or more down the line – an ideal T20 XI will look a little like this: hitters through the line-up, one batter who can arrest a collapse, batters who can bowl both spin and pace, a legspinner or a mystery spinner, and some high pace. In other words, a line-up similar to the ones England have been playing, and did in this World Cup.Related

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To T20 “purists” – or hipsters, depending on your outlook – this result is confirmation that the shorter the format gets the less say the bowling has. That if batting makes the more significant impact on the results, it is better to stack your side with players likely to get you that advantage.In the final, Naseem Shah bowled a beautiful spell, inducing 16 false responses – ten in 12 balls at one point – but got no wicket and went at a rate higher than the scoring rate in the match. A good ball or spell in T20 doesn’t draw the same amount of respect or correlation with the results as it does in longer formats. Adil Rashid is rightly recognised as one of the best bowlers in this tournament but he has only four wickets to show for it. This World Cup is being celebrated for the bowling quality and helpful pitches, but runs have been scored at a faster rate in this tournament than they were in last year’s edition in the UAE.By no stretch was England’s bowling attack sexy, to borrow the word that Indian coach Rahul Dravid almost used to describe Pakistan’s bowling, but it didn’t need to be. Jos Buttler said after the win that their bowling needed to improve coming into the tournament. What their bowling needed to do was to find a way to be efficient, which they certainly did.England’s personnel have changed, but the philosophy and results haven’t•ICC via Getty ImagesIn a tournament supposed to be all about powerplay wickets, England bowlers averaged the worst in that period. Sam Curran, the Player of the Tournament for his 13 wickets, picked up nine of them at the death. It was all about denial without being defensive. In Adelaide, they bowled full to discourage hits to the short square boundaries, in Melbourne they went short to use the big square ones.None of their bowlers went searching for wickets because they knew if they denied the batters for long enough, the wickets would come. Even if they don’t, you need to deny them only for 20 overs. Rashid said he only goes searching for wickets in T20 when he has a small total to defend or not enough support. They had enough depth and efficiency in the bowling to be able to force mistakes without having to buy them. They also had the batting that was equipped to and believed in going one run better.Perhaps the biggest window into how England play T20 was provided just before the semi-final against India. While all other teams talked about assessing quickly what a par total was, Buttler said he didn’t believe in the concept of par totals. “It’s about the winning score,” Buttler said.England don’t blindly hit out, but whenever they are in a situation where being conservative and aggressive has equal merits, they take the aggressive route. That is because they equip themselves with batters who can do that. When Dawid Malan got injured, they didn’t go around looking for another anchor but brought in Phil Salt, whose strike rate in T20 cricket is above 150.England used Moeen Ali down the order to have an experienced batter should it get tight. Ben Stokes was used as the batter who could arrest collapses even though his ideal position might be inside the powerplay. Other than that, Buttler and Alex Hales didn’t believe in preserving wickets or setting up platforms. You go, go, go, and it will have to be a really unlucky day for it to not come off if enough batters just go for it.It shows in their selections, which trickles down to domestic cricket. Their T20 sides value speed over consistency, in other words, T20 specialists. Once you see that kind of player getting the backing in national sides, domestic sides follow, and the message to those learning cricket is that if they want to play T20 cricket for England, they need to bat like Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Hales and Liam Livingstone.It also involves being okay with the odd collapse that doesn’t give their bowlers any hope. However, the frequency of those collapses tends to come down once the batters have the backing. They try to hit the ceiling for those conditions. Even in the final, with almost all of the 80,000 in attendance getting behind the Pakistan attack, they didn’t look to absorb the pressure. They kept hitting, got ahead of the asking rate, and only Stokes played the anchor role.The day England lost to Bangladesh in Adelaide in 2015 and were knocked out of that 50-over World Cup, they drew a line in the sand. Since then, this method has taken them to the knockout stages of all five white-ball ICC events. They have won two, been runners-up once, and ended as losing semi-finalists twice. This is remarkable consistency in this era of professionalism and competitive teams. They have won this one without two of their first-choice bowlers in Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, and without Bairstow. The personnel have changed, but the philosophy and results haven’t.Not only are these results building a legacy, but it is also satisfying to see this method being rewarded through results. It might lead some of the other teams to move into the T20 era.

The team needed someone or something special to bail them out against Zimbabwe, and Joseph was up to the task

Danyal Rasool19-Oct-20221:56

Joseph: ‘We knew we had two finals to play in order to get to the next round’

Alzarri Joseph is in great form, but that’s little consolation for the man right now. He had finished as the top wicket-taker in the CPL 2022, only to see his side, St Lucia Kings, slump to a thumping defeat in the eliminator three weeks ago. He had followed that up with five wickets in two games against Australia – comfortably the pick of the West Indies bowlers – but couldn’t prevent the hosts from winning in both games. With West Indies needing to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the men’s T20 World Cup 2022, they faced Scotland on the opening day. Joseph shone again with a couple of wickets but it didn’t prevent a heavy defeat for West Indies. The two-time T20 World Cup champs were in danger of an early exit. And now, Zimbabwe are about to finish them off.Zimbabwe outwitted West Indies with the ball to restrict them to a below-par 153, and benefitted from some profligate bowling to be 29 for none after two overs. The asking rate is under seven, and Zimbabwe have all ten wickets in hand on a true, hard pitch. A lively bunch of Zimbabwean cricket fans, some of whom have come from significantly warmer climes of Townsville, have decided to brave the late-evening chill in Hobart, where single-digit temperatures in late October are unheard of. But their side is making it worth their while.Related

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West Indies have tended to turn to Kyle Mayers with the new ball of late, but it is a gamble that backfires spectacularly here. Instead of giving Mayers a second, Nicholas Pooran calls on his fast bowling ace early. Joseph begins with the classic warning shot across the bow – a bouncer that finally gets Regis Chakabva off that front foot, from where he mauled West Indies in the first two overs. It’s also at a pace that Mayers could never manage, and that’s important because of what Joseph has in mind next.”After the start they got, we knew Zimbabwe had the upper hand,” Joseph said. “But in the powerplay, the batter has the upper hand anyway. So I was just thinking of coming in and doing something special, which I would have needed to.”Joseph follows it with a fuller ball that sees Chakabva rooted to the crease and drag an attempted smear over cow corner onto the stumps. It is not a special delivery as such, but Joseph is only getting started.Zimbabwe then send in the explosive Tony Munyonga, likely as a low-value wicket to take advantage of the powerplay. There’s nothing wrong with that strategy, but an in-form Joseph isn’t one worth taking on. The next ball that Munyonga faced of Joseph is the one this game will be remembered by – the Alzarri Joseph yorker at over 90mph. It’s often touted as a high-risk delivery but not when you can execute it like Joseph does these days.”I’ve put a lot of work in on the yorker because if you can bowl the yorker at different stages of the game, it can really surprise the opposition,” he said. “I wouldn’t yet say I’ve mastered it, though.” Zimbabwe might disagree.Jason Holder then joins the party, backing up the young gun who would call him a “father figure to a really young group” with a first over that gets rid of the dangerous Wesley Madhevere. Holder later traps Ryan Burl dead in front before Joseph returns to knock back Richard Ngarava’s stumps at such searing pace that the off bail flies up and lands three quarters of the way to the fine leg boundary. Luke Jongwe might have been having some fun, but the first ball Joseph bowls to him is guided missile programmed to hit the base of the stumps. There’s no defence Jongwe can mount in response.Alzarri Joseph bowled Tony Munyonga with a 90mph yorker•ICC via Getty ImagesZimbabwe had used spin to rein West Indies in with the ball. The seven overs of Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams went for only 36 runs for the return of four wickets. It could have been tempting for West Indies to stifle Zimbabwe with spin. But instead, their fast bowlers combined for nine of the ten Zimbabwe wickets. On a cold Hobart night, did anyone really think West Indies would rather strangle an opposition with spin rather than blasting them out through pace?There’s little point in comparing this West Indies unit with that of the 2012 or 2016 T20 World Cup title-winning ones, both because such comparisons are strategically inaccurate and chronologically premature. This was simply West Indies showcasing they have the specific bowling skillsets so valuable to succeed on the surfaces they will encounter over the next couple of days, and potentially the next three weeks. It does not make them legitimate title contenders; it doesn’t even assure them a place in the second round of the competition. Joseph acknowledged how much of their work still lay ahead them.”Everyone got together and knew the value of putting in a big performance because it’s essentially a final,” he said. “We knew we had two finals to play in order to get to the next round.”The job might be only half done, but as Joseph walked out of the post-match presser, his face remained as impassive as it had been throughout. There was no hint of a smile, no sign of any impending celebrations. Being the star player of a vanquished side can wear thin fairly quickly, after all. West Indies seem to understand qualification for the Super 12s is merely the floor of their ambitions, even if Alzarri Joseph is hitting ceiling after ceiling to make sure his side gets there.

First impressions were encouraging on South African cricket’s quest for renewal

Firdose Moonda10-Jan-2023There were people. For the first time in three years, Newlands was filled with thousands of fans. And not just any kind of fans. Happy fans.This is not a dog-bites-man story, but actually worth stating loud and proud up front because prior to this, the opening night of the SA20, there have been more than 1000 very difficult days in South African cricket. Unhappy days. And unhappy people.The tough times started right here, at this ground, in December 2019 when a new CSA leadership was unveiled amid administrative chaos. In the weeks and months and years that followed, pretty much everything that could go wrong, on and off the field, did go wrong and public confidence in the game shrivelled and shrunk. Even the most dedicated supporters took up residence in negative town and talk on their streets was that nothing could interest them in anything CSA did ever again. But 20,000 of them were lured back into Newlands on Tuesday afternoon, two weeks before January’s pay-day, and rumour has it the same number will turn up at Kingsmead on Wednesday and in Gqeberha the day after.They liked what they saw in Cape Town. People smiled and took selfies as they slowly found their seats in the afternoon sun. Young children, still on school holidays, came in with their parents, and would doubtless be permitted a later-than-usual bedtime. As had been the case just before the pandemic silenced our stadiums, the crowd was diverse in age, gender and race – a heartening sight considering the polarised state of the game outside of this tournament. And then they sang.Related

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The SA20 organisers have spent significant resources on the entertainment and brought out two of South Africa’s best-known performers for an otherwise low-key opening ceremony. Sho Majozi, a rapper, and Master KG, famed for the lockdown hit “Jerusalema”, performed on a stage just outside the newly built office development at the ground while dancers did their bit in front of the embankment. A clutch of pre-converted MI Cape Town supporters, with branded azure blue caps, flags and t-shirts, joined them, complete with all the right moves. The fireworks in the day time only managed to blend in with the bright blue sky and were lost on just about everyone but the presence of the who’s who of South African cricket was not.On the grass embankment, a fenced-off area functioned as a makeshift commentary box. Graeme Smith, now in his role as the league’s commissioner but who has worn hats from national captain to director of cricket, was swamped by autograph-hunters. Smith has found himself loved and hated in equal measure over the last three years – for saving South African cricket after the terrible Thabang Moroe era, and for suspicions that he fostered a boys’ club of sorts in the national team (which was also implied at the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings), but he still commands an audience. AB de Villiers was around too, and had a similar reception. But the biggest response was reserved for the men on the field. Specifically, the one we’ve called “Baby AB”, now known as DB: Dewald Brevis.He lived up to his reputation as the next big thing in South African innings with a match-winning knock in the tournament opener, after it seemed local players would be outshone. Cape Town’s own George Linde was tasked with bowling the first ball of the new competition and would never have played in front of a crowd this big at home. His first two deliveries went well but this third was threaded through extra cover by Jos Buttler. He conceded eight in total and then switched ends to bowl the fourth over, where he conceded nine more.Jofra Archer picked up a wicket in his first over on comeback•SA20In between that, Jofra Archer made a much-awaited comeback to competitive cricket, after 18 months on the sidelines, and he could not have asked for a better start. He removed Wihan Lubbe with his third ball, after swinging the first and zoning in on the toes with the second, and finished with a wicket maiden. The oohs and aahhs were admiring but probably also a little anxious. Remember that Archer will be part of the England ODI squad that plays South Africa in World Cup League matches later this month and if he’s already getting his speeds up to 145kph, how dangerous might he be then?The English performers continued to give South Africa plenty to worry about as Buttler found his groove with ramps and lap shots and then Olly Stone took out both his and Dane Vilas’ middle stumps. David Miller provided a reminder of what South Africans can do with a 31-ball 42, including a glorious six over long-on off Sam Curran, but became the first of Archer’s two-in-two. But then South Africa’s new names dominated.Brevis and Ryan Rickleton, both talked about as batters who should have been in the Test squad in Australia, made the target look small as in the president’s suite some of the national rugby team, including scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies, looked on. They batted with a freedom South African players have not had for the last three years, unshackled from the burdens of controversy and to some extent, expectation.A sunset walk around the ground revealed that as much as people were paying some attention to what was going on in the middle, they weren’t paying that much. This is, after all, a tournament that’s about more than cricket and many of the people at Newlands were enjoying the other things on offer. They were catching up with their friends, eating too many hot chips, queuing at the bars and every now and then appreciating a big hit. So far, so successful then as the SA20 officially starts.

Also: what’s the most wickets to fall at the same score in an international?

Steven Lynch28-Feb-2023Is it right that Harry Brook has scored more runs in his first nine Test innings than anyone else – even Don Bradman? asked Dan Perkins from England
It is correct: after his ninth innings – 186 in the first innings of the second Test in Wellington – England’s Harry Brook had scored 809 runs. The previous record was 796, by India’s Vinod Kambli.I’m writing this before England’s second innings. If he bats in that, Brook needs to score at least 72 to stay ahead of Kambli, who had 880 runs after ten innings. After that, Kambli loses the top spot to the great West Indian Everton Weekes, who had 968 runs after 11 Test innings, and 1024 after 12. And then Don Bradman takes over: after 13 Test innings, he had scored 1196 runs. He stays ahead to the end of his career – 6996 runs in 80 visits to the crease: the next-best in a player’s first 80 innings is Weekes’s 4446 runs, just ahead of Jack Hobbs with 4384. Weekes had only one more innings, scoring 9. The fewest innings needed to surpass Bradman’s 6996 is 126 – 46 more than the Don needed to get there – by Steven Smith.Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman put on 51 for the last wicket to beat India late last year. Was this the highest tenth-wicket stand to win an ODI? asked Roqibul Hossain from Bangladesh
That unbroken stand of 51 between Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman in Mirpur last December was actually the fourth-highest last-wicket stand to win an ODI. Still leading the way is a memorable match from the first men’s World Cup, at Edgbaston in 1975, when Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts put on 64 to take West Indies to a one-wicket victory over Pakistan.James Faulkner and Clint McKay put on 57 as Australia beat England in Brisbane in 2013-14, and Tom Odoyo and Hiren Varaiya added 55 as Kenya beat Ireland by one wicket in Nairobi in 2006-07.Australia lost four wickets with the score at 95 in the second innings of the Delhi Test. What’s the most wickets to fall at the same score in an international? asked Aravind Subramani from the United States
Australia lurched from 95 for 3 to 95 for 7 in the recent Test in Delhi. That’s one short of the Test record: there have been four instances of a side losing five wickets at the same score, three of them by New Zealand. The first was in Wellington in 1945-46, when they went from 37 for 2 to 37 for 7 in the first innings of their inaugural Test against Australia. On a drying pitch that was giving great assistance to the bowlers, New Zealand were bowled out for 42 – and lost two more wickets at 37 in their second innings of 54 all out.New Zealand lost five wickets at 59 in the second innings against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 1964-65 (they actually lost seven wickets for two runs in this spell), and five at 133 against South Africa in Hamilton in 2011-12. A year later, Bangladesh lost their last five first-innings wickets with the score at 134 against Zimbabwe in Harare.Such collapses are obviously a New Zealand specialty, as they also hold the record for men’s one-day internationals: they lost five wickets with the score on 155 against Pakistan in Lahore in 2003-04.The record for men’s T20Is is also five, by Australia against Pakistan in their T20 World Cup match in St Lucia in 2010; Australia started their last over at 191 for 5, but finished with 191 all out, after a Mohammad Amir maiden that included five wickets, two of them run-outs. Mali equalled this record against Kenya in Kigali in 2022-23, losing five wickets with the score stuck on 8, en route to 30 all out.There are two cases in women’s T20Is of six wickets falling at the same score: by UAE against Bangladesh in a World Cup qualifier in Utrecht in July 2018 (from 33 for 2 to 33 for 8), and by Maldives against Nepal in the South Asian Games in Pokhara in December 2019, when they lost their last six wickets with the score on 8, which included seven wides. There are six cases of five wickets falling at the same score in women’s ODIs or T20s (note that we do not have full details for some games).In Kingston in 1999, 322 of West Indies’ 431 came from Brian Lara and Jimmy Adams’ fifth wicket stand – the next highest partnership was 22 runs•PA Photos/Getty ImagesEngland’s first innings in Wellington contained one partnership of 302, but not a lot else. What are the lowest Test totals that contained partnerships of 300, 200 or 100? asked Nick Jones from England
The lowest completed (all-out) Test total to include a partnership of 300 or more is West Indies’ 431 against Australia in Kingston in 1998-99: Brian Lara (213) and Jimmy Adams (94) put on 322 for the fifth wicket, but the next-biggest stand was just 22. For an innings in which not all ten wickets went down, India made 361 for 1 against West Indies in Calcutta in 1978-79, with an unbroken second-wicket stand of 344 between Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar.Australia’s total of 284 against West Indies in Brisbane in 1968-69 included a second-wicket stand of 217 between Bill Lawry and Ian Chappell (the next-highest score was 17). And the lowest completed Test total to include a hundred partnership came in Auckland in 1973-74, when New Zealand were all out for 158 against Australia despite an opening stand of 107 between Glenn Turner and John Parker. That came close to being beaten in Galle in 2021-22, when West Indies were bowled out for 160 by Sri Lanka, despite a seventh-wicket stand of 100 between Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua Da Silva, who came together at 18 for 6.Regarding last week’s question about the number of grounds used in each country for men’s internationals, does India still lead the way if you include women’s matches too? asked Samanth Karthikeyan from India
India had a comfortable lead when it came just to men’s matches – 53 grounds have so far staged internationals in the three formats, with England and Australia next on 23 – but there’s a big change if you lump in women’s games as well. Australia have staged internationals for both sexes on 63 different grounds, and India on 81 – but England (and Wales) are well ahead with 99. The main reason for this is that some very small club grounds were used for some of the early matches, especially in the inaugural women’s World Cup in 1973. To see some of them, click here for the 90 different grounds used just for women’s ODIs in England.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.An earlier version of this story featured an answer about Harry Brook being the top scorer from No. 5 on the first day of a Test, which has been replaced due to inaccuracies.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Playing his 28th game at the ground and 53rd in Bangladesh, he said the key was to “trust the method”

Mohammad Isam01-Mar-2023You would think the best reply to a spinning, fizzing delivery at the Mirpur monster, is to blunt it with a dead bat. Think again.The Shere Bangla National Stadium pitches, raging turners with uneven pace and bounce often from the same spot, reward the proactive batter who looks to pick singles and find the odd boundary. Staying deep inside the crease, being iffy on the front foot and unable to pick the turning ball often gets you into trouble here. Batters who negate the raging turner are often the ones with quick hands and feet movement, and eyes wide open.Dawid Malan’s unbeaten 114, his first century in Asia across formats that led England to a thrilling three-wicket win in the first ODI, had most of the elements of the perfect Mirpur innings. Malan was confident about every shot he played, which is the most crucial aspect of playing on these pitches. You cannot leave anything to chance.Malan also played an understated knock – most unlike Bazball, or England’s normal white-ball approach. Malan specialises in the slow-burner, and here in Mirpur, it became the perfect pairing.Malan’s secret weapon is his vast experience in Bangladesh, something that escaped many Bangladeshis, and a fact that would surprise many fans here. This was Malan’s 53rd match overall in Bangladesh, his first for England though. He had played for Prime Doleshwar Club in the Dhaka Premier League for two seasons, in 2013-14 and 2014-15. English players usually go to Australia during their winter but in those two seasons when the PCB denied NOCs to Pakistani players, the DPL clubs went after many English and Afghan players.Malan, who was still three years away from his international debut, lapped up the experience, scoring 902 runs in 24 matches, averaging 56.37 with a century and six fifties. He was one of only two batters to breach the 900-run barrier in those two seasons, after Rony Talukdar’s 919 runs.Malan said that this experience in Bangladesh was a priceless asset to have when tackling the tricky chase of 210 in Mirpur. His stints here also include four seasons in the BPL. He played two matches for this season’s eventual champions Comilla Victorians too.”The more you can play in different conditions, the more your game grows,” Malan said after his match-winning knock. “Whether you are successful in the past or not, it is just great to learn in different conditions. I have had some experience here. It is not the easiest wicket to start on. It is to trust the method to get through the tough times, and cash in towards the end, especially when it gets dewy.Dawid Malan took England over the line•Getty Images”I think Owais Shah messaged me that Ravi Bopara got in touch to play a few 50-over games for Prime Doleshwar. It was brilliant to play two seasons for them. It helped my game. You get to play the ball a lot squarer in England.”Here, the wickets are skiddy during the day. It gets better as the game goes on and gets slower in the evening. I had to learn to spin in a different way than I played in England. It helped my game progress massively before the franchise stuff happened. It was a massive help.”Malan called it probably the best innings of his career, including domestic knocks, simply because of how well he tackled the difficult conditions, with wickets also falling regularly at the other end.”I think even domestic cricket, talking about knocks that you, when you retire you can walk away, think it was extremely satisfying, this was definitely up there. Just the situation of the game, to be out there in the end. It is one of my better innings in my whole career.”It got a bit dewy, and the ball was skidding on. We started early because the dew plays a massive factor here. We thought that it might get slightly easier in the end, if we were still in the game. The key was to keep yourself in the game as long as possible.”Malan said that he was craving for opportunities in ODIs for a long time, and that patience finally paid off. “It is great to be playing ODIs for England,” he said. “I have carried the drinks since 2017, waited for the opportunity.”I’ve only played 16 games now, so it is great to get a bit of a run. It is obviously due to the scheduling, injuries, etc. I have absolutely loved it. It has been really good. It is always nice to contribute to win games.”Related

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Malan explained that it was key to take the game deep in these type of conditions, rather than think that a low run-rate or a high asking rate is fatal. He said that once the chase goes beyond 35 overs, it becomes easier for the chasing side.”I think the hardest thing is that you feel that you are behind the game,” he said. “You can be a long way behind in your feelings of the game, but actually in the context of the game, you are actually two or three shots away from bringing the game back in the balance.”If you are 80 in 23-24 overs, you’d panic in a normal game. You’d try to put your foot down. But you can lose the game in the first 30-35 overs here. But if you are still batting by that time, you are in a good shout to win the game.”Malan’s understanding of the game, particularly in Bangladesh, paved the way for England to take a crucial 1-0 lead. Playing his 28th match at this venue, he showed how crucial having the experience of alien conditions can turn out to be even in a pressure situation.

The big prize on the horizon is the ODI World Cup, but it’s only nine months until the next men’s T20 edition takes place in West Indies and the USA

Firdose Moonda and Andrew McGlashan28-Aug-20233:47

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Dewald Brevis

You probably already know this name but if you don’t, remember it: Dewald Brevis. Tipped to become South Africa’s next big batting thing since finishing as the leading run-scorer at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, Brevis has had to wait 18 months to crack the senior side and has racked up a host of domestic accolades in the meantime. Apart from deals in the IPL, CPL and MLC, he was the 13th highest run-scorer in last season’s SA20 and the second-highest in the domestic T20 competition, where he smashed an incredible 162 from 57 balls against Knights – the fifth-highest score in the format ever. He is known for his audacious batting ability, fearless strokeplay and love for boundaries so expect some big shots if he gets to make his debut.Related

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Josh Inglis

As is often the lot of the reserve wicketkeeper, Josh Inglis has carried a lot of drinks for Australia. It was something noted by George Bailey, the selection chair, when this squad was named. The three matches against South Africa will offer Inglis his best run of games since facing Sri Lanka in early 2022. Having initially been earmarked as a potential finisher around the time of the 2021 T20 World Cup, he impressed against Sri Lanka batting at No. 3 and No. 5. It seems likely he will again slot in higher up the order, with finishing duties left to the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Tim David. Inglis will want to take his opportunity, though, because Matthew Wade’s T20I is not as over as it appeared after last year’s World Cup and he is now with this squad as Glenn Maxwell’s replacement, although is not expected to keep wicket in the series.

Matthew Breetzke

It’s been a slow burn for top-order batter Matthew Breetzke, who has consistently been among the top domestic run-scorers but has not found a place in a national squad until now. In the 2021 CSA Provincial T20 Cup, he was the second leading run-scorer and went on to enjoy his most profitable summer the following year. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged just under 40 in List A cricket and close to 50 in T20s. He offers stability in the top three, safe hands behind the stumps and the experience of six years on the domestic scene and will hope he can use this series to start to establish him on the international stage.Dewald Brevis is one of the most talked-about young batters in South Africa•SA20

Matt Short

Assuming David Warner reaches next year’s T20 World Cup as he has planned, there’s a spot vacant alongside him. The uncapped Matt Short, last year’s BBL player of the season after 458 runs and 11 wickets, is among the contenders and Steven Smith’s withdrawal from this series should ensure he gets an opportunity. It could be that he opens with Adelaide Strikers team-mate Travis Head in what may develop into a tussle for a World Cup spot. He is coming off the back of playing the Hundred for Northern Superchargers where he had a strike-rate of 166.66. Short’s offspin, which he has bowled in the powerplay, is another strong to his bow.

Donovan Ferreira

A surprise big-earner at the SA20 auction last year, Donovan Ferreira was picked up for R5.5 million (approx US$300,000) by Joburg Super Kings and was the fifth-highest purchase of the tournament. But the Chennai-backed squad knew what they were doing. Ferreira proved himself as a finisher with the bat in the previous two season’s domestic tournaments and has subsequently also earned IPL, CPL and Zim Afro T10 deals. In the last of those, he grabbed headlines when he hit five successive sixes in one match. With Quinton de Kock rested from the T20Is, he could take the gloves at least once, with Tristan Stubbs and Breetzke also likely to be given opportunity and should see this as a chance to be considered for next year’s T20 World Cup.Can Matt Short translate his BBL form onto the international stage?•Getty Images

Spencer Johnson

From Australia’s perspective, no one is going to be watched more over the next few weeks than Spencer Johnson. At 27 he is starting to make up for lost time after a string of injuries; the speed of his elevation to the international stage is remarkable. The selectors have an eye on him as an option across all formats and he will now remain in South Africa for the ODIs due to Mitchell Starc’s groin injury. Given the condensed nature of the schedule he will likely play two of the three T20Is and then also be rotated through the 50-over matches.

The New Zealand left-armer talks about his new ball – the Claw – bowling to lefties, and how his time at Chennai Super Kings will help him in the World Cup

Deivarayan Muthu04-Sep-2023In this age of mystery spin and quick wristspin, there are still some capable fingerspinners who are fighting the tide. Among them, Mitchell Santner stands out for his remarkable control, despite having spent most of his career on the easy-paced bash-through-the-line pitches on small grounds in New Zealand.Mohammad Nabi (4.29), Shakib Al Hasan (4.44) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4.70) all have better career economy rates than Santner (4.87) in ODI cricket, but they’ve all been bred on spin-friendly tracks in the subcontinent. That Santner is keeping pace with these fingerspinners – and even some wristspinners – is a credit to his defensive skills.So what’s on Santner’s mind when he is at the top of his mark, preparing to bowl to big hitters in ODI cricket?Related

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“I guess in recent times in one-day cricket, everyone is coming out quite hot with the bat,” he says. “We’ve seen some bigger scores, and it can be quite challenging at times for bowling. Our recent [bilateral] series in India was an example of that – where scores were 350-plus, and it makes a massive difference only having four men out vs five [between overs 11-40].”One [extra] guy you’ve got to have up [in the circle] and it’s usually a cow [midwicket] to the right-hander or mid-off to a left-hander. We know that the bowling style isn’t too different between T20 cricket and ODI cricket at the moment. You get a couple of dots, and you know the batsman wants to try some stuff and you try to build the pressure the same way.Santner says the strategy changes depending on the pitch he is bowling on. “You’re going to get a few more dots in one-day cricket, depending upon the surface. But if there’s a little bit there, you can probably be a bit more attacking. If it is a very flat wicket, like it could be in some of the World Cup games [in India], you have to be a bit more defensive and try to get wickets through false shots.”Santner used to be a left-arm seamer until he was about 15. Inspired by Daniel Vettori, he belatedly switched to left-arm fingerspin. When he was 17 or so, he suffered a back injury and he returned to action with a stiff non-bowling arm. The little pause in his bowling action and the effort he puts into reading the batter’s intention have helped him gain an advantage, though he isn’t a big turner of the ball.3:14

Mitchell Santner: ‘We’ve got our fast bowling and spin sorted for the World Cup’

“If you talk to some of the other bowlers, they try to probably look at some spot on the pitch. I try to watch the batter the whole time. The little delay [in my action] helps me if they’re going to charge at me or try something… At times, especially when it’s flat or if I think the batsman is going to do something, I watch him even harder. And at times, if it’s spinning, I might just bowl my best ball – the one that spins – and see what happens.”It has become increasingly difficult for left-arm fingerspinners to operate against left-hand batters in white-ball cricket. Colin Munro, a former New Zealand team-mate of Santner’s and currently a freelancer, recently spoke about playing Bazball-style cricket against left-arm fingerspinners. He talked about how Brendon McCullum, who was a mentor of sorts to him, spoke about picking match-ups. “If the left-arm spinner comes on to a left-hand batter, take him down. Don’t just get ten runs in the over; if you can get 18, it accelerates the game.”These days, even right-hand batters are switching into left-handers to spook left-arm spinners. For instance, in his first full season at Wellington Firebirds, Finn Allen switched his stance and monstered Santner into the grass banks beyond midwicket at the Basin Reserve. Santner says in these situations he tries to watch the batter’s feet and movements even more carefully than usual, and to vary his pace even more.”With the nature of these pitches being flatter and a lot of T20 cricket [being played], people are being very aggressive in ODI cricket. [As a bowler] there are times to attack and there will be times to defend as well, so being able to watch the batter is massive… see when the guy is going to switch [-hit] or run down.”With the lefties, you have to try and vary your pace [more] and maybe bowl a few variations to try to keep it away [from them]. Being a left-hand batter, if a left-arm spinner comes on, I try to take him down as well. So, it’s obviously vice-versa when I’m bowling.”Santner is also planning to use his version of the carrom ball, “the Claw”, to counter left-hand batters on particularly placid pitches in the World Cup. He recently flicked it out during his T20 stint with Worcestershire Rapids in the Blast in England.On bowling with Ish Sodhi: “We have a very good relationship, so we talk about different roles between each of us. If it’s spinning, we could do it [attack] together and at times we might both have to defend, depending upon the conditions”•Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images”I think it’s definitely an option to some left-handers. Something that just goes away from the left-hander has been so effective. I know [R] Ashwin uses it a lot against right-handers as well, so just some variation outside of the natural stuff to keep the batsmen guessing, especially when the pitches are flat.”Santner usually dovetails beautifully with legspinner Ish Sodhi, and their partnership will once again be crucial to New Zealand’s success in India. They combined spectacularly to spin India out for 79 in Nagpur in the T20 World Cup in 2016 and have both grown in stature since. New Zealand also have other options in Rachin Ravindra (another left-arm spinner) and Glenn Phillips (part-time offspinner).”Me and Ish have done it for a very long time,” Santner says. “We have a very good relationship, so we talk about different roles between each of us. It might be on me to tie up one end and he can be more aggressive at the other. If it’s spinning, we could do it [attack] together and at times we might both have to defend, depending upon the conditions.”In New Zealand, you might just go for one spinner every now and then, but in the World Cup in India, you might see at least two.”Michael Bracewell’s injury has stripped New Zealand of batting depth, but Santner’s improved power-hitting could help make up for that. Some of that power was on display when he cracked 64 off 46 balls at No. 3 for Worcestershire against Derbyshire in July.”Yeah, it’s been nice to get some opportunities [to bat up the order]. When you’re playing a lot for New Zealand, you’re kind of coming at the end. With our top order and middle order, we’ve got quite a good line-up, so you don’t get that much opportunity. It’s nice to go back and play for ND [Northern Districts] and get some more batting opportunities and then with Worcestershire. Michael Bracewell got injured, which wasn’t ideal for us, but it was an opportunity for me to go from No. 5 to No. 3, which was nice. Batting in the powerplay is definitely different to batting at the end. The more I can bank those experiences, and have good opportunities with the bat, the better.”Santner has been working on his batting ahead of the World Cup and worked with power-hitter Albie Morkel while playing in MLC in the USA•Dan Mullan/Getty Images”I think we’ve seen in one-day cricket, but especially in T20 cricket, power-hitting at the end of an innings – or even throughout the innings – is so important. We had Albie Morkel [assistant coach] with the Texas Super Kings [in MLC, the US-based T20 league] who was a very good exponent of that in his time. It was nice to work with him for a little bit as well.”More recently, on his Hundred debut for Southern Brave in August, Santner made an immediate impact, taking the new ball and giving away only 20 runs in his four sets, handcuffing Jos Buttler and Phil Salt with his subtle variations.Santner also fronted up to take the newish ball in MLC. He could perhaps do a similar job for New Zealand in their two World Cup games in Chennai, which is also his home base in the IPL.”The nature of playing leagues is, you come up against some of the best players and you’re likely to play them in these World Cups coming up. You get more of an understanding about each person playing and the conditions.”The IPL has been so good for that. You play a lot of games in India on some pretty good pitches – some slightly slower and some that can go through. Having that understanding of what you think batters are going to do and pitches are going to do is a massive one. Adapting on the day might be slightly different and you have to keep your options open when you’re out there.”Santner’s first introduction to the World Cup was through footage of the 1992 edition, when New Zealand bossed their way to the semi-final. Dipak Patel was New Zealand’s trump card at the time with his cagey fingerspin on small grounds with fielding restrictions in place. After that Vettori did that job for New Zealand, and though the landscape of the game has changed vastly since, Santner has taken over and continues to show the way for fingerspinners.

A week-long training session in Alur gave the players a chance to meet fans and journalists alike, over dinner, drinks and plenty of laughs

Shashank Kishore26-Sep-2023″I’m looking for Logan van Beek. Can you help me find him?” An organiser is frantically looking for the allrounder, who is like the best man at a wedding. Everyone wants him at the same time. “This is Logan speaking. How can I help you?,” he replies as everyone breaks into a chuckle.A few rows behind him, Bas de Leede is on an Instagram live, Scott Edwards, the captain, is signing jerseys, Teja Nidamanuru is discussing blockchain, bitcoins and startup ecosystems. On the stage, Vikramjit Singh is professing his fandom for Punjabi singer AP Dhillon, and Max O’Dowd, the team’s vice-captain, is humming by Australian pop star Fisher.”When that Super Over was about to begin, was playing in our dressing room; I can tell you now, I was definitely losing it then,” O’Dowd says to a room full of laughter.Related

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Head coach Ryan Cook chimes in, “Before the tournament, at the coaches’ meeting, when the ICC was spelling out the playing regulations, I remember taking the Super Overs regulation with a pinch of salt. What was the probability of it happening? Not much. But when we got to it, with everything on the line, it was so tense. I remembered that moment from the meeting.”We’re in Alur, in Bengaluru’s outskirts, where Netherlands have camped for a week-long training camp ahead of the World Cup beginning October 5. The event is organised on behalf of Nordek, a UAE-based technology firm, that has come onboard as their team sponsor for the tournament. Events of this scale are generally reduced to being a dull PR exercise where players chit-chat among themselves and quietly make a beeline for the exit doors at the first available opportunity.The Netherlands players, though, are soaking in the rare opportunity to meet and greet people, a few fans and journalists over dinner and drinks. It’s unlike anything they’re used to. It seems a culture shock to some that players from a national team can be so laidback and outgoing, happy to resonate the warmth they’ve received.De Leede, like van Beek, is one of the favourites for the evening. He is busy signing memorabilia, posing for pictures, and generally talking to an array of cameras, one after the other, without losing his smile or focus. “Jeez, back home, we aren’t even recognised,” he says. “Phew, that’s as much media as I’ve done, ever. Great fun, though.”Twenty-seven years ago, his father, Tim de Leede, came to India for his first World Cup. It’s a wonderful story of a father-son duo playing their maiden World Cups in India across two different eras. While much has changed in India from the train and bus journeys to the airports, hotels and the cricket infrastructure, Tim passed through a chaotic-yet-charming experience of the subcontinent, whereas Bas comes to a country he calls “super passionate”.It seemed a culture shock to some that players from a national team can be so laid-back and outgoing, happy to resonate the warmth they’ve received•NordekIt has been just two nights in India so far for Bas, but he is already taken in by the warmth and, of course, the facilities to train and play in Alur. Netherlands have been hosted by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and three grounds at Alur are at their disposal, as are the indoor facilities.In the outdoor area, surfaces of varying degrees of dryness have been prepared to help them train against spin. The sprawling facility, where cricket is on at every nook and corner in some form, has caught their imagination. One moment they are training, next they are dining with VVS Laxman and some of the next-in-line India players, who are also undergoing a camp prior to the Asian Games. It’s an immersive experience like no other.Netherlands are on a tight budget. Prior to their sponsor coming on board, they had invited applications for net bowlers to be part of the tour group for their week-long stay in Bengaluru. They received over 10,000 applicants from which they shortlisted just four players: a left-arm wristspinner, a fast bowler who can bowl over 140 kmph, a left-arm orthodox spinner and a left-arm seamer.Among them, Hemant Kumar is an administrative officer at the Rajasthan High Court. He has previously been a net bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Left-arm wristspinner Lokesh Kumar does food delivery with an app-based service when he isn’t playing fourth-division cricket in Chennai. Left-arm spinner Harsh Sharma hails from Haryana, and has previously been with RCB, while fast bowler Rajamani Prasad from Telangana has previously bowled for Chennai Super Kings.

“They will return to Bengaluru for their final league game against India on November 12. By then, they hope to have taken down “a few big scalps.” For now, practice, fitness work and plenty of song, dance and cheer, like on Monday evening, will do”

All the four members are popular within the group for the variety and skillsets they bring, but importantly, the hours they spend bowling tirelessly as the squad trains in batches. They go from morning to evening, with short refreshment breaks, and have grown so comfortable with the squad that they are often referred to by their nicknames. Coach Cook presented them caps at a welcome ceremony prior to their camp. It highlights how close-knit the group is, pushing each other to bring out their best.”We have a community of 6500 people who are passionate cricket-lovers, not more,” O’Dowd says when asked of the interest surrounding their World Cup participation. “We’re a country of 1.8 million, so you can see how small it is. Still, the kind of interest and appreciation we’ve received for getting this far has been immense. Hopefully it’s just the start.”Prior to this event, Netherlands had just finished a warm-up game against Karnataka that went “not so well”. It gave them a reality check as to the challenges they are bound to expect over the coming weeks. On Tuesday evening, a team dinner is on the cards as they plan to explore eateries in downtown Bengaluru before they turn in early for another warm-up on Wednesday. Their Bengaluru leg will end with a visit to the Netherlands High Commission in the city, before they fly off to Thiruvananthapuram for the World Cup warm-ups.They will return to Bengaluru for their final league game against India on November 12. By then, they hope to have taken down “a few big scalps.” For now, practice, fitness work and plenty of song, dance and cheer, like on Monday evening, will do.

A team that invariably played their best cricket when it mattered most produced one of its poorest displays in recent memory

Alagappan Muthu12-Oct-20231:39

Moody: This Australian team is far from the previous champion sides

Of all the legends around Australia and the World Cup, there is one that stands on its own and it might not even be real.Those five shiny gold trophies that they have in the cupboard don’t showcase the aura they carry into ICC tournaments nearly as well as seven little words that may or may not have been spoken just before the start of the millennium.Twenty-four years later, another very good middle-order batter hit the ball straight to the fielder and this one ended up on the ground too.Related

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Did you say it, Aiden? Did you say it back?On a balmy evening in Lucknow, a strange thread kept unfolding. Glimpses of it were first seen a few days ago in Chennai. Australia could have had their opposition at 20 for 4 but they dropped the catch and spent the rest of the evening wondering what if.That doesn’t happen. Certainly not in World Cups. South Africa know this feeling more than most. Of all the teams that have fallen prey to the Aussie juju, they stand on their own.Everything was going perfectly in 1999 at Edgbaston. Shaun Pollock five-for. Allan Donald four-for. Just 214 to chase to win the semi-final and the openers get em off to a flier. 48 for 0 in the 13th over.And then, completely against the run of play, Shane Warne arrived, did some things that didn’t make sense, inspired the rest of his team-mates to follow suit and the game of cricket itself was changed forever.The other protagonist from that unbelievable day managed to inflict even more wounds on South Africa. Glenn McGrath, who produced two wickets in the 49th over to force that tie, was still around in 2007 when the two teams met in yet another semi-final. He was 37 and perhaps because of that alone there were questions about whether he was still good enough. Well, five overs of his bowling reduced South Africa to 27 for 5.Pat Cummins spilled a caught-and-bowled chance in the 30th over•Associated PressFor the longest time, this has been Australia. Especially at World Cups. They dropped jaws. They defied logic.In 2023, one of their own has called them “a side put together at the last minute.” In 2023, they are only 0.061 net run-rate points off the bottom of the championship table. In 2023, they are the worst fielding unit, with a catching efficiency of 54%. In 2023, their juju has deserted them. Worse yet, it seems to have shifted allegiance.Australia’s best batter was dismissed lbw after he had struck South Africa’s best bowler for back-to-back fours and the decision left both him and his partner at the other end in open-mouthed disbelief. Steven Smith was rapped on the pads by Kagiso Rabada and it looked to be missing the wickets. Or at the very least umpire’s call – which in this case was not out – but all of a sudden the big screen flashed three reds showing only the final still HawkEye projection of the ball hitting leg stump. The ball-tracking bit had gone missing. Smith had to walk off the field, shaking his head. The broadcast eventually showed the full replay with ball tracking and it was going on to hit enough of the target.Until that moment, Australia’s frustrations were directed only at themselves. They dropped six catches of varying difficulty – two in the space of three balls – but the most galling of them was Marcus Stoinis letting a regulation chance slip through his grasp in the 49th over. Having worked hard to come back from a hamstring injury, he was meant to provide ballast to Australia’s middle-order, especially with his ability to swat spin bowling. But none of that would come to pass as he was given out caught behind in another contentious umpiring decision.Australia have twice found themselves in a World Cup game with their seventh-wicket pair at the crease and the score a paltry 70. But that was pre-juju, in 1975 and 1983. That South Africa have put them back there is a nice, neat little twist in one of the game’s greatest rivalries replete with highlights such as Mitchell Marsh basically tripping over himself and watching the ball sail over him for six and Sean Abbott palming a relay catch to thin air.These fielding lapses can be addressed in training – and they really should be – but of greater concern is how Australia have misread the conditions and ended up fighting them at every point in this campaign, a self-inflicted wound because they won both tosses. With seven matches still to play, there is hope for Pat Cummins and his men to mount a fightback. The only thing is it no longer looks inevitable. It used to be. But no longer.

Fifteen years after representing South Africa in the men’s Under-19 World Cup, Engelbrecht lives his World Cup dream with Netherlands

Shashank Kishore16-Oct-2023Sybrand Engelbrecht is 35, and is living a dream he once gave up on.Fifteen years after breaking through for South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, he’s now a capped international cricketer. For Netherlands.On Tuesday, when he plays against South Africa in a World Cup game in Dharamsala, it’s likely he will be flooded with memories of his early initiation into the game in Pretoria, at the same school Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers went to.”Personally, it is a dream come true,” Engelbrecht, primarily a top-order batter, says with a distinct glint in his eye after Netherlands’ match against New Zealand, his debut. “Any young kid that comes through wants to play international cricket, and to do that at a World Cup is really special. So it’s a moment that I’ll look back on fondly.”Related

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This, after having retired from the game. Engelbrecht played for Cape Cobras till retiring from all cricket in December 2016. While he was still an active player, he completed a degree in finance and a post-graduation in project management. At the time, the possibility of playing top-tier cricket seemed remote.”I started working for a business called Fairtree in January 2017,” he says. “Two years into my corporate career, I did an MBA from Stellenbosch Business School [in the Western Cape]. So, it was a couple of years that I didn’t really have much to do with cricket.”In January 2021, Fairtree were keen on expanding their footprint in Europe, and Engelbrecht was chosen to spearhead their Netherlands project to expand their equity business in the real estate sector. While work kept him occupied during the week, he began playing recreational cricket on the weekends.”It was really when the family and I moved to Netherlands that I picked up the bat again, because it was kind of the easiest way to integrate into the community and to make new friends,” Engelbrecht says. “When I picked the bat again, it was kind of like, I missed it. And I fell in love with it all over again. It was good.”But I’m still working full time. I’m still very fortunate to work for a fantastic business, so that’s still my primary focus. Whilst I’m here, I’m going to give it my all for Dutch cricket.”Heino Kuhn presents Sybrand Engelbrecht with his ODI cap•ICC/Getty ImagesEngelbrecht played for Voorburg Cricket Club, which rose to become one of the major teams in the top-tier of the club structure in the Netherlands. He featured in three successive finals for them. Even as he slowly veered from recreational to competitive cricket, while still working his day job, head coach Ryan Cook had been keenly following his progress.A decade earlier, Cook had worked with Engelbrecht at Cobras and knew what he could potentially offer. He was keen on broadening the player pool for Netherlands, and Engelbrecht’s compelling performances with the bat threw open the eventual question: was he eligible to play for Netherlands?”We’ve integrated and built a strong foundation within the club,” Engelbrecht says of his stint at Voorburg. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are in the Dutch setup, so it’s been fantastic to test my skills against those guys, try and help and guide, learn and help them where I can.”I suppose it was always at the back of my mind, but never the primary focus. It was never ‘Oh, I want to play for the Netherlands’. It only became more apparent once we started the journey of finding out if I am eligible or not.”Cook and KNCB (Netherlands Cricket Board) then began seriously exploring the prospect of integrating Engelbrecht into the setup after the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in June, following their sensational run where they knocked off some strong contenders like West Indies and Ireland.”I did a bit of research and spoke, and thought I was close,” he says. “We checked with the ICC, and they came back and said, ‘you are eligible’. And it all happened so quickly. The week after that, I made my debut for Netherlands A and was integrated into the team.”I also got the blessing from the business to give this a proper crack and try my best to get to the World Cup. The entire team at work has been amazing, they’ve taken all the workload off so that I can try and hit a cricket ball.”

“We checked with the ICC, and they came back and said, ‘you are eligible’. And it all happened so quickly. The week after that, I made my debut for Netherlands A and was integrated into the team”Sybrand Engelbrecht

Engelbrecht hasn’t had the time to think about what happens next. For now, he’s firmly driven by the desire to give back to the team and help grow the game in his adopted country.”I think the important thing for me and for us as team is to make sure we learn and grow, and try to be better to win some games,” he says. “So it’s special [to be at the World Cup], but at the same time, we really want to come out here to compete and ensure Dutch cricket is going in the right direction.”He is realistic of the challenges they face in terms of funding and opportunities. But he hopes things will change by the time they get to the end of the World Cup. They have already received a full-time sponsor for the next three years, and the prospect of playing another world event next year [T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA] should also help drive the change.”It [the setup in the Netherlands] is different, it’s not as professional as the structures and systems are in South Africa,” he says. “There’s a lot less capital involved, but the environment that has been created by the management team, led primarily by Ryan Cook, has been nothing short of phenomenal. The culture and the values that they have instilled in the team is fantastic.”Yes, we’re not fully playing to potential, but I believe Dutch cricket is on the right track. With a little bit of capital and time, I believe we’ll be a force to reckon with in the years to come. It’s not near where it is for some of the bigger nations, but we are working extremely hard with what we’ve got to try and make an impact.”