Best of Cricket

John Wisden stole Fred Lillywhite’s life. Wisden made his name as an upstart at Sussex, showed enough talent to represent England, had the business acumen to organise a profitable international tour, and left an enduring mark on cricket when he created the Wisden Almanack. And yet, at the dawn of Wisden’s career in the 1840s, most reasonable fans would’ve expected those accomplishments to come from Lillywhite.

Image Credit: Cricket Australia ✍️ Adam Burnett talks to Steve Smith about returning to South Africa, his legacy, and nearing the end of his career. “If he could acquire a time machine and travel back to 21 March 2018, what advice would 37-year-old Smith have for 28-year-old Smith ahead of that fateful Cape Town Test? “’You’re playing for your country. You’re doing everything you love, and everything you wanted to do growing up.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: An Asian Games ‘treat’, J&K’s other pacers, & Ngidi finds stability. 🏆 ASIAN GAMES | IND beat SL by 124 runs. | 📊 Darpan Jain on Ishan Kishan solving sluggish pitches. | PAK beat BAN by 6 wickets. | 🏆 J&K TRAIL BY 216 | Shashank Kishore on the two J&K’s pacers who stepped up in Auqib Nabi’s absence. | Shuvaditya Bose on Shikhar Mohan as Rest of India’s batting saviour. | 🇮🇳🇦🇺 IND-A NEED 337 | Ashok Venugopal with Sai Sudharsan on his comeback.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: IND’s immaculate top order, Kashmir’s changing attitude, & the rise of Indonesia. 🇮🇳🌴 IND BEAT WIN | Abhijato Sensarma on IND’s ridiculous top order that chased down 405. | Sreshth Shah on WI’s John Campbell making up for lost time. | Aadya Sharma on WI’s Amir Jangoo playing the long game. | 🏆 IRANI CUP | Pradeep Magazine on how Kashmir’s attitude towards IND cricket has changed since 1983. | Shashank Kishore on how Kashmir is more integrated into Indian cricket now.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: WI’s Jewel, Jadeja drifting, & Irani Cup previews. 🇮🇳🌴 IND-WI | Sreshth Shah on 19-year-old Jewel Andrew’s rapid rise for WI. | Shankar Narayan thinks that Ravindra Jadeja has outlived his ODI usefulness. | 🏆 IRANI CUP | Shashank Kishore with Akash Deep on reviving his career after stress fractures. | Shashank Kishore with 41-year-old Paras Dogra on suiting up for another season.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: Handscombe spins it, Navgire’s uses, & why Pink Day matters. 🏏THE ROUNDUP | Deivarayan Muthu with AUS-A skipper Peter Handscombe on being more than just a spin specialist. | Praatibh Surana/Jiya Laddha on how IND can use Kiran Navgire. | CS Chiwanza on why Pink Day means so much. | Neil Manthorp starts a series remembering Sandpapergate. | Ali Martin on how The Hundred lost the spotlight this summer. | Tanya Aldred on bamboo bats.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: Kuldeep tears into WI, County winners, & Molineux’s in charge. 🇮🇳🌴 IND BEAT WI | Abhijato Sensarma on Kuldeep Yadav 2.0. | Sandip G on Shubman Gill leading his more experienced teammates. | 📊 Deepu Narayanan on how Shai Hope has improved his numbers by moving down the order. | Garfield Robinson on WI’s 19-year old wrist spinner Vitel Lawes sitting on the sidelines. | 🇿🇦🇦🇺 SA BEAT AUS | Telford Vice on SA’s twin centurions and Pink Day.

✍️ Matt Slater on how the authorities that be are trying to make cricket a popular sport in Japan, and how they are looking at baseball for inspiration. “The Asian powers had not played each other at India’s favourite pastime, cricket, mainly because Japan preferred baseball. That relationship goes back to the opening of Japan’s ports to western nations in the 19th century. British expatriates brought cricket bats; Americans brought baseball bats. America won out.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: SA squash AUS, SL level the series, & Wood’s fastest spells. 🇿🇦🇦🇺 SA BEAT AUS | Telford Vice on Matthew Breetzke & Marco Jansen scoring nearly 200 runs between them. | 🇱🇰🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 SL BEAT ENG | Matt Roller on Jos Buttler’s injury giving SL the filip to level the series. | 🇮🇳🇦🇺 AUS-A TRAIL BY 308 | Deivarayan Muthu on Todd Murphy’s 7-fer. | 🏏 THE ROUNDUP | Matthew Henry with Mark Wood on his fastest spells.

🏏 Cricket Roundup: Kushagra demands attention, the life of a scorer, & Ingram’s retirement. 🇮🇳🇦🇺 IND-A LEAD BY 173 | Deivarayan Muthu on Kumar Kushagra’s century, as the 21-year old knocks on the door for more opportunities. | Raunak Thakur on AUS’ continuing top order struggles, even with their A team. | 🏏 THE ROUNDUP | Aryan Surana talks to veteran scorer Rajesh Arora - who marked Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th run - about what the job entails.