Free Hit
David Warner is polarising opinion till the very end
As ever through his career, you can't ignore him as he heads into the T20 World Cup, his last goodbye
Andrew McGlashan
16-May-2024 • 3 hrs ago
It wouldn't have been part of the David Warner story without a final little twist to the tale. A late dose of debate and intrigue.
His 15-year international career will finish next month with the T20 World Cup. It has not been the smoothest of lead-ins. His IPL season with Delhi Capitals has become somewhat of a forgettable affair, finishing with scores of 18, 10, 8, 1, 1, a damaged hand, and being left out of the final game.
That, though, is only part of it. On its own the form and injury would have been enough to provoke the usual chatter, but a whole other level has been added by the rapid emergence of Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has taken the IPL by storm.
Full postLet us now worship Chamari Athapaththu
She's lording it over cricket like nobody's business at the moment
Andrew Fidel Fernando
14-May-2024
*Knock knock.*
Oh, hello there. Sorry to bother you, but I would like to talk to you about something important.
It won't take long. Your laundry can wait. Those emails don't need to be answered immediately, right? You can still pick your kids up from school tomorrow.
Full postSunil Narine: the perfect T20 cricketer? It's complicated
He has reinvented himself repeatedly to stay ahead of the curve in a game that moves at breathless pace
Osman Samiuddin
07-May-2024
I came to a neat conclusion the other day after watching Sunil Narine bat.
Sunil Narine is the perfect T20 batter because he wasn't a batter and so never had that ingrained sense of the value of a wicket. As such, he now doesn't worry about losing his wicket, which, for a top-order batter in the format, is the game's key cataclysmic event.
And what's more, that makes him the perfect T20 cricketer, because he's understood that bowling in this format is a mug's game and it's better to turn yourself into a batter instead.
Full postAre Pakistan stuck in a T20 time warp?
As records are gutted in the IPL, they continue to be hampered by the fear of losing powerplay wickets
Osman Samiuddin
30-Apr-2024
178.
One hundred and seventy-eight: welcome, Gary Kirsten, to Pakistan's T20 world.
Twice in the recently concluded series with New Zealand, Pakistan scored 178. Once they scored 174. Of those, they lost two and won one. In three of the five T20Is Pakistan played in New Zealand earlier this year, they made 180, 173 and 179. They lost all three.
Full postHow many sixes need to be hit before they lose their magic?
Almost unthinkably, the spectacle of batters hitting the ball into the stands has become routine and predictable
Sambit Bal
27-Apr-2024
Can something feel incredible and inevitable at the same time?
Can you immerse yourself in the thrill of a first-of-a-kind sporting experience and also find emptiness creeping in?
Can you at once exult at an odds-defying shower of six-hitting and also feel benumbed by it?
Full postCricket, like life, is better experienced from the depths of a deckchair
In praise of that quintessential English cricket experience - taking in the goings on while seated in a lounger in the sun
Alan Gardner
26-Apr-2024
It is not quite true to say that every activity in life is better undertaken while reclining in a deckchair. Quite possibly it's not the ideal position from which to tackle a bit of spot welding, or create the perfect Hollandaise sauce (I'm an expert in neither field).
But when it comes to vantage points from which to watch sport, you can't beat it. And when it comes to sports that offer you the deckchair option, cricket - with all due respect to beach volleyball - is in a league of its own.
We're not talking sand and sun-loungers at Kensington Oval, by the way (although that scenario certainly has its merits). Rather, the start of the English summer down at Hove, where the seagulls swoop and the county game comes with an extra dollop of seaside charm. It's a quintessential English cricket experience - and don't just take my word for it, ask the editor of Wisden.
Full postIt's too many runs, somebody make it stop
Batters are smacking the ball around like it has taken away their first-born, and it's not pretty
Andrew Fidel Fernando
24-Apr-2024
Sometimes it's an injury or illness that causes you to confront your own mortality. Other times, it's Travis Head.
Watch him as he ker-thumps his 60th boundary this IPL, in the next innings he plays, probably. The guy has 324 runs so far, off 150 deliveries faced. Both he and Virat Kohli have a century and two fifties each. Jos Buttler has two centuries from seven innings. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Marcus Stoinis, and Rohit Sharma have also hit a hundred apiece. But so has Sunil Narine.
Yet, while many others have contributed, it is Head who has led the ludicrous hitting this season. And Head who has been involved in matches that saw:
Full postSix sixes in an over: still special after all these years
The way batters monster totals in T20, you would think hitting six sixes in an over would be routine. It's not
Osman Samiuddin
16-Apr-2024
This is the second post on a new blog, Free Hit, that features random thoughts, observations and reflections from ESPNcricinfo's writers.
Last week Dipendra Singh Airee of Nepal hit Kamran Khan of Qatar for six sixes in an over at the Al Amerat Ground of Oman. It's a wonderful sentence to be able to write for its cosmopolitan tenor. Cricket is a big sport without a great geographic spread, but it is bigger for this sentence.
Quite likely you did not see the feat live, though the ACC Premier Cup is broadcast live on YouTube. By now you must have come across clips, though, in the same way as watching Sir Garry Sobers do it for the first time on YouTube, the experience is unsatisfying. We're thoroughly spoilt by modern broadcasts.
Full postWe need to talk about MS Dhoni's hair
Is this the first time ever he's not quite managed to pull a look off?
Osman Samiuddin
09-Apr-2024
This is the first post in a new blog, Free Hit, that will feature random thoughts, observations and reflections from ESPNcricinfo's writers.
I'm sorry, but two weeks into the IPL and someone's got to say it. More than the two bouncers, or the booing of Hardik, or Kohli's strike rate, I'm just not sure that MS Dhoni's new hairstyle is working.
The only plus I see is that he's not gone full mullet, like Mitch Marsh or Adam Zampa, who leave the impression not so much of a style statement as of an exercise in postmodern irony. Hair as a prank, except we're not sure if they are the pranked or the prankster.
Full postShowing 1 - 9 of 9
Most Read
Writers
Terms of Use|Privacy Policy|Your US State Privacy Rights|Children's Online Privacy Policy|Interest - Based Ads|Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information|Feedback
© 2024 ESPN Sports Media Ltd. All rights reserved