✍️ Pratyush Sinha traces the impressive feats of New Zealand – especially since 2015 – as the tiny island nation consistently punches above it’s weight.
“Sriram [Krishnamurthy, former NZ coach] noticed it in small moments as much as big ones. Players could move through everyday life like anyone else, but there’s one early experience that stayed with him. Ahead of the Hamilton Test against the West Indies in December 2017, he was invited to observe a Black Caps training session. He wasn’t part of the coaching staff then, just there to watch.
“I rocked up in my normal clothing, the athletic wear that I had,” he says. Southee was the first to spot him. “He straight away came up and said, ‘Sri, you’re part of us, buddy,’” Sriram recalls. Southee then went on to arrange for him a set of Black Caps training gear for the session. “It was only one practice but gestures like that tell you a lot about the culture,” Sriram adds. “He could easily have just said hello and moved on. Instead he made sure I felt like I belonged.”
✍️ Matt Roller talks to Liam Livingstone about how Rob Key and the ECB have frozen him out in the last 12 months; it’s a damning interview that puts the English side’s repeated failures within a structural context.
“Livingstone says that McCullum phoned him last May to tell him he had been dropped for England’s home series against West Indies: “I don’t think it [the call] would have reached a minute. I asked why; they said they wanted to try someone else. That was off Baz. Wrighty [outgoing selector Luke Wright] didn’t reach out, and Brooky [captain Harry Brook] sent me a text.
“That probably sums that group up as a collective. Keysy said nothing – [he] said I’ll speak to you in the summer. I actually rang him one day, and he said he was busy at a Test camp at Loughborough. And then I didn’t hear off him until the end of September.”
✍️ Amar Panicker talks to Riyan Parag about his new leadership responsibilities with the Rajasthan Royals
“Parag knew how it felt to watch the season slip away between his fingers. The stand-in captain for Rajasthan last season, Parag, endured a difficult campaign, with his side losing close games on multiple occasions, often finding ways to fall short in moments that mattered.
And in the IPL, when you lose a stretch of games, it is hard to come back, harder still to keep belief from quietly slipping away.
“Last year we were ninth,” Parag said. “How do you motivate your players to come out and perform every single time, knowing you’re not going to win the trophy, knowing you’re not going to qualify, but still going out there and putting on a show for everyone who’s paid their hard-earned money?”
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“From The Ashes”
✍️ Sarthak Dev on witnessing the miracle of Eden 2001 as a child. -
“Sometimes you just know”
✍️ CS Chiwanza has the childhood background on teenage pacer Nqobani Mokoena who’s touring with the SA team in NZ. -
“Before Old Trafford”
✍️ Giles Wilcock looks back at the man behind ‘Tate’s Match’ – the unfortunate Fred Tate who was immortalised for losing an Ashes game in 1902 rather than winning one, and the reality of his impact on English cricket. -
“Summer on the auction block”
🔒 Sam Perry on Cricket Australia’s impending financial decision on selling their domestic summer -
“Living with Endometriosis”
✍️ Ildikó Connell talks to SCO’s Abbi Aitken-Drummond on living with endometriosis, from the physical pain of the symptoms to the psychological pain of having doctors dismiss your symptoms for years.
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“My father tortured me”
📽️ High Performance talks to Kumar Sangakkara about the sacrifices and pain it takes to be one of the greatest of all time. [YouTube] -
“Ambition, pressure, and winning the WPL”
🎤 Katya Witney/Lauren-Winfield Hill talk to Nadine de Klerk about South Africa and RCB, and becoming an elite finisher. [Apple/Spotify] -
“How I will coach Sri Lanka”
📽️ Murali End hosts Gary Kirsten to discuss his plans for the Sri Lankan national team.[YouTube] -
“IPL Glory, Watching Man Utd with MS Dhoni, & Kohli Battles”
📽️ Overlap Cricket talks to Sam Billings about the IPL, cricket in India, & The Hundred. [YouTube] -
“Reliving the Epic”
🎤 The Last Wicket host Karthik Krishnaswamy to relive the 2001 Eden Gardens Test, the relevance, and the impact. [Apple/Spotify]