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Starc showed signs of discomfort at the MCG, and went for scans on Wednesday, but he also spent time in the gym in the lead-up to the SCG Test

Andrew McGlashan01-Jan-20252:11

Clarke: ‘Freakish’ debut for Konstas

Mitchell Starc has been termed one of Australia’s “toughest” cricketers as he was backed to be fit for the Sydney Test after having maintained speeds above 140kph in Melbourne despite battling a back problem.Starc first showed signs of discomfort in the first innings at the MCG, but was able to play a key role in the dramatic victory push where he claimed Virat Kohli on the final day. Starc went for scans on Wednesday, but he also spent time in the gym during what became an optional training session where none of the bowlers who played in Melbourne turned their arm over.Normally, Australia have their main training session two days out from a Test but have tweaked their build-up given the short turnaround between the final two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, and the heavier workload at the MCG.”He’ll be fine. He’ll push through,” Alex Carey said. “I’ve played with Starcy for a long time now, and [he’s] one of the toughest cricketers I’ve played with. He’ll grimace, he’ll grab his rib no doubt, but he’ll be ready for the contest.”Related

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Starc has been lauded for his consistency across this series, with Ricky Ponting regularly saying he has never seen him bowl better. He has 15 wickets at 28.73 in the four Tests and was unfortunate not to claim more than the one wicket at the MCG.”I thought first spell [in the second innings] without the reward was some of the best bowling I’ve seen this series from him,” Carey said. “He’s a quality player and has been for a long time. He’s got an opportunity now to help this team in a Test match. He’ll be up for the contest, and I think his bowling’s just gotten better throughout the series.”Overall, Starc’s numbers have faded towards the end of long Test campaigns, with his average in the fourth and fifth matches at 41.82, whereas it is 25.91 across the first three games of a series. He has also struggled at the SCG, his home ground, with nine Tests having brought 24 wickets at 44.16 on a surface that hasn’t always offered much encouragement for the quicks, although Carey said it was reasonably well grassed two days out from this match.Should Starc not be able to take his place in the XI, it would open the door for Jhye Richardson to play his first Test since the 2021-22 Ashes. He featured for Perth Scorchers on New Year’s Day, where he bowled with pace and movement to claim 3 for 29 against Adelaide Strikers before rejoining the Test team in Sydney.Sean Abbott is the other reserve quick in the squad, and would add more depth to the batting order if he were handed a debut as one of three seamers.”Whenever we have put someone in the spotlight, the true Aussie way is to show them how good we are”•AFP/Getty Images

The other player under scrutiny heading into the final men’s Test of the home summer is Mitchell Marsh, who has made 73 runs in the series, with uncapped allrounder Beau Webster remaining part of the squad. However, as with those who have been in focus during the series – the likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith – Marsh has been backed to make an impact.”Whenever we have put someone in the spotlight, the true Aussie way is to show them how good we are,” Carey said. “So I think it is Mitch’s time.”After his thrilling debut in Melbourne, Sam Konstas will also be the focus of much attention after leaving an impression both with the bat and in the field. He was the only frontline batter not to have a hit at training on Wednesday.”I was a spectator that first session,” Carey said. “I probably had the emotions of the 90,000 that were there. At times I couldn’t watch it, at times I was cheering.”But just the energy he brought, it was something different. I probably wasn’t expecting that amount of difference, but he played a style of cricket that was probably new to India as well.”We’ll wait and see how we plays out here. I don’t think that’s his blueprint every Test match, but to be able to throw a few punches early and get a bit of momentum for us, which the opening partnership was probably just lacking that intensity.”I thought Nathan [McSweeney] and Usman [Khawaja] got us through tough situations as well by facing lots of balls. Sam was able to score a little bit, so hopefully another opportunity in front of his home fans.”Weather is often a talking point around Sydney Tests and, with the series poised at 2-1, could shape as an important factor. Currently the first three days look fine and settled, but there is a greater chance of showers on Monday and Tuesday.Mitchell Starc was often spotted stretching his back at the MCG•Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A draw would be enough for Australia to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, but would leave them short of cementing a place in the World Test Championship final before the Sri Lanka tour at the end of January.”[It would be] reward for 24 months of really solid cricket,” Carey said. “[It is] a group that is extremely experienced, skilful, [with] Australian legends amongst it, who are continuing to surprise us with how good they are… but we can’t look too far ahead.”We know it’s a really quality outfit in India, who have shown they are well and truly capable of bouncing back. So for this group, it’s head down, another opportunity to win a Test match, and if are able to secure the trophy it would be fantastic.”It is hoped that the first three days at the SCG, the annual Pink Test to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation, will be a sellout following an Australian-record attendance across the Melbourne Test.

A round-up of the South Zone Inter-State T20 matches played on February 2, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2017A half-century from Vijay Shankar and an all-round performance from R Sathish propelled Tamil Nadu to a 37-run win against Andhra at the MRF Pachayappas ground. Having chosen to bat, Tamil Nadu moved to 101 for 4 courtesy useful contributions from their top order before Shankar (69 off 49 balls) and Sathish (32 not out off 14) combined to add 76 in just 41 balls to power Tamil Nadu to a total of 179 for 5.Sathish then dismissed both Andhra openers over the course of a tight four-over quota in which he only conceded 18 runs. Hanuma Vihari (37 off 34) and Ricky Bhui (61 off 44) revived Andhra with a 75-run third-wicket stand, but the asking rate was climbing steadily, and they needed 79 off 32 balls when Vihari fell. Andhra couldn’t keep up, and eventually finished on 142 for 6, with two of their last three wickets falling to run-outs.A stifling bowling display helped Karnataka defend 148 and hand Hyderabad their first defeat of the tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. A 66-run opening stand between Tanmay Agarwal (22) and Akshath Reddy (42 off 32 balls) gave Hyderabad an excellent start to their chase, but they struggled to keep up with the required rate thereafter as the left-arm seamer S Aravind (3 for 25) and left-arm spinner J Suchith (2 for 18) struck regular blows. S Badrinath remained unbeaten on 37, but wickets fell steadily around him and he himself only managed three fours in a 31-ball innings as Hyderabad finished on 134 for 6.After they chose to bat, Karnataka’s innings was built around two significant contributions. Opener Mayank Agarwal made 65 off 55 balls, while their No. 5 Pavan Deshpande scored 32 off 24. The two added 63 for the fourth wicket after Karnataka had slipped to 49 for 3, and eventually set them up for a total of 148 for 7. Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan was Hyderabad’s most successful bowler with figures of 3 for 16.A three-wicket haul from the medium-pacer Basil Thampi and two wickets each from Jalaj Saxena and Raiphi Gomez helped Kerala bowl Goa out for 86 and beat them by nine wickets. Choosing to bat, Goa’s innings never got going, with only Swapnil Asnodkar (23) and Keenan Vaz (22) getting past 20. Their innings lasted only 18.4 overs.Kerala’s chase was even shorter, lasting only 7.5 overs. Vishnu Vinod plundered 35 off 13 balls in a 40-run opening stand with Mohammed Azharudeen (22*), who then finished the match in the company of Rohan Prem (24*).

Earlier, Burl also grabbed two wickets, as the bowlers combined to restrict Ireland despite Harry Tector’s 47

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2023Player of the Match Ryan Burl went 6, 6, 4 off George Dockrell when Zimbabwe needed 23 off 15 balls and the game was in the balance. In the end, he finished with 30 not out from 11 deliveries to turn the screws in the chase of 142, as the hosts sealed the series 2-1 in Harare. That followed a haul of 2 for 28 with the ball, as the Zimbabwe bowlers combined to restrict the visitors to 141.It was a tricky situation on a pitch that continued to produce middling scores following totals of 114 and 144 in the first two games. Craig Ervine’s 54 off 43 balls set the base for Zimbabwe, for whom the required rate had touched nine an over when they had another 30 deliveries remaining. Ervine was involved in crucial partnerships of 42 for the second wicket with Innocent Kaia when Zimbabwe lost their first wicket in the third over.Another quick partnership of 24 from 14 balls was important from a situation of 92 for 4, as held the innings together before Burl, who also won the Player-of-the-Series award, got down to finish the game off.Earlier, it took a 70-run union between Harry Tector and Curtis Campher to help Ireland to a competitive total after they were 19 for 3 at one stage. Wessly Madhevere had struck in the first over to remove Ross Adair, and ended with 2 for 8 when he got rid of Tector for 47. But it was Burl who had dismissed Campher for 27 to break Ireland’s momentum, and drag Zimbabwe back in the match.Dockrell and Mark Adair added 31 to pump some life back into Ireland’s innings, but 141 proved short in the end, as Burl’s exploits ensured Zimbabwe won the match with an over to spare.

Both teams were docked two points and fined 40% of their match fees as both sides were deemed two overs short of their targets

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2023Australia and England have both been penalised for slow over-rates in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston losing two World Test Championship [WTC] points each while players from both sides have been fined 40% of their match fees.Match referee Andy Pycroft ruled that both teams were two overs short of their targets after time allowances were factored in. Teams are docked one WTC point, and 20% of their match fee for each over they are short of their target. Both captains, Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes, accepted the sanctions.Related

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There were just 82 overs bowled on day one of the Test, with Australia only bowling 78 before England declared and bowled four overs before stumps. England did bowl 90 overs on the second day, utilising the extra half-hour to do so. Rain affected both the third and the fifth day of the Test match, but England were deemed short of their targets on those days.The penalties mean England are on negative two points after losing their opening Test of the new WTC cycle, while Australia are on ten points, having accrued 12 for their dramatic two-wicket victory.Australia were fined 80% of their match fees in the WTC final at the Oval two weeks ago for slow over-rates. They also missed a spot at the 2021 WTC final in Southampton due to being docked crucial WTC points for slow over-rates in that cycle.

Record fourth-wicket stand of 267 leaves Worcestershire well off pace

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2023Wayne Madsen and captain Leus du Plooy rewrote the record books as Derbyshire moved into a position of considerable strength on day two of the LV=Insurance County Champoionship encounter with Worcestershire at New Road.The duo scored centuries and broke a 31-year-old landmark in establishing a new Derbyshire record of 267 from 70 overs for the fourth wicket against the home side. They went past the previous best partnership of 218 by Peter Bowler and Chris Adams at Derby in 1992.Madsen has always enjoyed batting against Worcestershire and in 24 innings has struck four centuries and nine other fifty plus scores.Their efforts have given bottom-placed Derbyshire a realistic chance of completing a first win in 10 Championship matches since they triumphed in the corresponding fixture last season.They will begin day three with a lead of 137 and five wickets in hand and du Plooy unbeaten on 159. But they were aided by an uninspired performance by the home side who dropped both of the batters before they reached three figures.Du Plooy was put down on 69 off Indian pace bowler Navvdeep Saini, a sharp chance to Ed Pollock’s left at slip. And Pollock also spilled a more straightforward chest-high opportunity offered by Madsen on 94 against Leach.Leach was head and shoulders above the rest of the Worcestershire attack and he made the only breakthrough with the ball during the opening two sessions.Worcestershire were guilty of bowling too many ‘four’ balls during the first part of the day to hand Derbyshire a momentum they never relinquished and their ground fielding was also below-par.Derbyshire resumed on 32 for 2 and Leach made a further breakthrough with the fourth ball of the day. Brooke Guest did not move his feet to a delivery which nibbled away as he edged through to keeper Gareth Roderick.It was Leach’s 33rd scalp of the season and he asked questions of both batters during a typically probing opening spell.But Indian pace bowler Saini initially found it hard to find the right line and length on his debut He was driven for a succession of boundaries by Madsen and du Plooy and Dillon Pennington also leaked runs during his initial spell and the fourth wicket pair looked untroubled against the Kookaburra ball on a slow pitch.Matthew Waite had a moral victory when du Plooy edged the allrounder for four. But Derbyshire scored freely and Madsen’s 56 ball half century contained 11 boundaries.The 100 partnership was completed in only 19.1 overs and du Plooy followed Madsen to his fifty from 68 deliveries with 10 fours. The morning session produced 126 runs off 28 overs.Saini bowled with plenty of pace and aggression in the post lunch spell and should have had picked up the wicket of du Plooy on 69 but Pollock spilled the chance at slip away to his left.Leach replaced the Indian pace bowler and Madsen on 94 edged him at chest height to Pollock who again spilled the opportunity and immediately left the field clutching his finger.Madsen completed his fourth hundred against Worcestershire off 148 balls with one six and 16 fours and du Plooy followed him to three figures from 144 deliveries with 14 boundaries.The first delivery with the second new ball finally broke the partnership when Madsen was lbw to Leach for 143 and then Haider Ali tried to cut Pennington and feathered through to Roderick. But du Plooy went onto complete his 150 from 249 balls with one six and 19 fours before the close.

Isobel Joyce has stepped down as Ireland Women’s captain, though the 32-year-old allrounder has said she will continue to play

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2016Isobel Joyce has stepped down as Ireland Women’s captain, though the 32-year-old allrounder has said she will continue to play. Her decision comes following her team’s group-stage exit from the Women’s World T20 in India. No new captain has been named as yet.Having captained Ireland in 62 matches across formats, Joyce said she thought the time had come for “a younger leader” to take charge while she was still around to offer her guidance. “I’ve played cricket for Ireland for over half of my life and while I have not decided when I will call time on my playing career, I feel it’s time to step aside and help a younger leader to learn the role before I do eventually retire,” she said. “I’m looking forward to focusing on my own cricket for the twilight of my playing career and hopefully helping the team qualify for another 50-over World Cup, 16 years after I played in my first one.”Joyce had led her team through the qualifiers into two World T20s, and was a dedicated professional, coach Aaron Hamilton said. “Isobel has been a professional leader both on and off the field for the team,” Hamilton said. “She will be missed in the role of skipper but I’m delighted she will continue to play and assist this group of talented young players; her experience will be invaluable for us going forward.”

Ireland progressed to the final of the Desert T20 Challenge with a performance that showed glimpses of the form that made them the dominant force among Associates

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Dubai20-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:54

Crowds are what we play cricket for – Porterfield

Four years ago, Ireland were the dominant force among Associates, beating virtually all comers on their voyages in the desert at back-to-back World T20 Qualifiers. But after falling on hard times in the game’s shortest format, their performance in a semi-final win over Scotland may have been a rebirth. They thrashed Scotland by 98 runs to set up a clash with Afghanistan in the final for the fourth time, and first since Ireland’s undefeated run to the 2013 World T20 Qualifier.In scoring a mammoth 211 for 6, Ireland tied a T20I record score at the ground set by Sri Lanka against Pakistan in 2013. It’s also Ireland’s second-highest T20I score, 14 short of the 225 for 7 they racked up against Afghanistan in the final of the World T20 Qualifier in Abu Dhabi. Paul Stirling and Stuart Poynter fired Ireland at the top, scoring 71 for 0 in the Powerplay, the best first six overs for any team at the tournament, and added 78 for the first wicket before Poynter fell to Con de Lange for 39 off 19 balls.Stirling peppered the rope between point and cover for most of his five boundaries and hit two of his three sixes over square leg before he fell for 60 at the start of the 12th over. Gary Wilson picked up the baton and continued the relay sprint past 200, firing a clinically savage 65 not out off 29 balls.Scotland fought gamely in their own Powerplay as Matthew Cross biffed his way to 35 off 16 balls. Cross lifted Craig Young, Kevin O’Brien and George Dockrell over the rope for six in a frenetic first four overs before he was beaten for pace by Boyd Rankin attempting a pull and was caught at mid-on. Young persisted with a short-ball plan to Coetzer. He was hit over the leg side for a pair of fours and sixes in the fifth over as Coetzer tried to balance the ledger after the wicket of Cross.Legspinner Jacob Mulder entered in the eighth over and hastened Scotland’s demise, producing another impressive spell to finish with 4 for 16. After his first two overs, the required run-rate had jumped to 13 halfway through the chase. Forced to take more risks, Scotland started to slog their way back to the dugout and the innings concluded one ball into the 16th over.What if … Left-arm spinner Mark Watt took the new ball, coming around the stumps. With his first delivery, Watt found Paul Stirling’s outside edge prodding forward to a good-length ball. Cross, one of the best pure glovemen on the global circuit, couldn’t hand on to the chance. Two balls later, Stirling played a scoop over fine leg and Ireland never looked back.Legspinner Jacob Mulder has used the bounce in the Dubai surface to induce plenty of false strokes•Peter Della Penna

Mr RobotAfter Stirling broke down Scotland’s firewall with a blitz at the top of the innings, Man of the Match Wilson continued to hack through their opponent’s operating system.Wilson’s finest sequence came against Josh Davey in the 18th over. He cut the fourth ball past point to the boundary, then lofted straight for six over long-on, who had been fielding wide on the boundary. He moved straighter for the next ball, and Wilson took pleasure in manipulating the field as he flicked Davey’s last ball of the over through wide long-on for another boundary.Jacob’s ladderThe emergence of legspinner Mulder in this tournament has been positively divine for Ireland. Like most bowlers at the tournament, Mulder hasn’t been getting a lot of turn, but in Dubai in particular, he has seized on the extra bounce on offer to produce plenty of top edges and wickets.Calum MacLeod was his first victim in the semi-final, as his slog against the turn ballooned up to Andy McBrine at deep square leg. Coetzer fell targeting mid-off but sent a catch swirling to Porterfield at cover. He put himself on a hat-trick next ball when he got Safyaan Sharif to slog to deep midwicket, then clipped Craig Wallace’s top edge in the 14th over as an attempted cut fluttered to short third man.Heading into the final, Mulder is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 10, one more than Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan. The final is all set to be a tantalising legspin duel.

By the end, they laid claim to the record of joint-lowest total successfully defended in a PSL match in Pakistan.

Alan Gardner02-Mar-2023Defending champions Lahore Qalandars staged a magnificent recovery from 50 for 7 to win by 17 runs at Gaddafi Stadium and keep Quetta Gladiators rooted to the bottom of the PSL table. Sikandar Raza was their hero with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 71 from 34 balls, before the Qalandars attack recovered from a poor start to comprehensively throttle the chase, led by Haris Rauf’s 3 for 22. By the end, they laid claim to the record of joint-lowest total (148) successfully defended in a PSL match in Pakistan.Qalandars were in deep trouble after being inserted, but were given something to bowl at by Raza’s first PSL half-century. The Zimbabwe allrounder struck eight fours and three sixes in a stunning counterattack, putting on an eighth-wicket stand worth 69 off 6.3 overs with Rashid Khan and helping to set Gladiators a target of 149 despite being bowled out early.Gladiators were seemingly cruising as they reached 53 for 1, with Yasir Khan falling to Rauf from the last ball of the powerplay. Will Smeed had struck six crisp fours in 32 off 25 balls to help get his side ahead of the asking rate, but after he fell lbw to Rashid in the seventh over, Gladiators began a slow-motion collapse that saw them add 11 runs in five overs while losing three wickets.It got worse for Gladiators when Martin Guptill launched David Wiese down the throat of deep midwicket, with the required rate crossing 10 per over. Odean Smith and Mohammad Nawaz were dismissed by Rauf as the home side took control, conceding just five boundaries in the second half of the innings and ensuring the victory was all but secure with an over to spare.For the first quarter of the match, it seemed nailed on that the Lahore fans would go home disappointed. Qalandars lost a wicket in the opening over of their innings, Umaid Asif marking his Gladiators debut with a direct hit that caught Fakhar Zaman short; Umaid’s night then got better when he struck with his third ball, taking a simple return catch after Mirza Baig top-edged a pull. Naveen-ul-Haq struck twice in as many overs as Qalandars limped to 29 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.Qalandars’ attempts to disrupt the flow involved sending the captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, out at No. 6 – he had never previously batted higher than No. 8 in a T20. It was a partial (and relative) success, as he outscored the rest of the top six with 16 off 16, before running himself out looking for a non-existent single in the ninth over. With Abdullah Shafique and Wiese falling to Nawaz either side of Shaheen’s dismissal, Qalandars were seven down at halfway.But Raza hit his sixth ball, from Nawaz, for six, added another in the next over from Umaid, hit Naveen for three fours in five balls and took a brace of boundaries off Naseem Shah as the recovery partnership swelled past 50. Even with Raza’s efforts, Qalandars were unable to bat their full 20 overs – but it turned out the league leaders had more than enough for a fifth win in six.

Legends of Rupganj captain Mosharraf Hossain and Mohammad Mithun have been handed one-match bans each for their misconduct with the umpires during their DPL match against Kalabagan Krira Chakra

Mohammad Isam03-Jun-2016Legends of Rupganj captain Mosharraf Hossain and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun have been suspended for one match each on account of their misconduct with the umpires during their Dhaka Premier League match against Kalabagan Krira Chakra in Fatullah on May 30.The incident in question occurred when Alauddin Babu, Rupganj’s No. 8, had completed two runs before Mashrafe Mortaza’s throw escaped for four overthrows. However, the umpires, Asadur Rahman and Rafiqul Islam John, awarded Babu only five runs and asked his partner at the time, Taijul Islam, to take strike.Coach Khaled Mashud, who was seen arguing with umpires at the end of the match, was fined Tk 20,000. So were Mosharraf and Mithun, and a Rupganj team official, Ahmed Rubel. The penalties were handed by Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis.Match referee Samiur Rahman told Bengali daily on Thursday that, “I had given Rupganj the four letters of suspension on the day of the match. But they didn’t receive them. So yesterday, I informed the umpires’ committee, which later asked the CCDM to take necessary action.”Mashud, however, claimed, “We were not given any letter about the suspensions or fines at the end of the game. They sent the letter to our office on Thursday evening. We haven’t been able to communicate with the CCDM today since it is the weekly holiday.”At the end of the game, I showed the match referee the footage of the overthrow after we had disputed the call at the end of the Rupganj innings. There was also a contentious leg-before decision during our innings.”

“Women’s cricket is very much on the map. People want to invest in it and I hope it continues.”

Firdose Moonda01-Jun-2022Women’s domestic cricket in India has already benefited from franchise T20 cricket to the point that Indian “domestic players can walk into the South African side any day,” according to South Africa’s captain Sune Luus, who played for the Supernovas.Luus, who has featured in both the FairBreak Invitational tournament and Women’s T20 Challenge last month, said while the overall standard of women’s cricket has improved across nations, India have fast become among the leading nations in the shortest format and have a steady supply for players and strong support for the game to thank for their progress.Related

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“Being at FairBreak and being in India for the IPL was a massive opportunity and an awesome learning curve. Both are T20 cricket – the changes are in the conditions and the opposition you are playing against,” Luus said, on arrival in Ireland, where South Africa’s winter tour begins.”The IPL was a bit of a better standard. With FairBreak there are a lot of girls from the Associates, some girls who used spikes for the first time, who played on a turf wicket for the first time so it was a whole different experience. The most surprising thing for FairBreak was the standard of cricket. You don’t really know about Austrians playing cricket or countries like that. But to see the standard they are at and the love of the game, it was exceptional to see. You can’t compare it to India. They are fanatics of cricket. They absolutely love it. And even the domestic players can walk into the South African side any day. The standards were a bit different but overall it was good cricket.”Luus was part of the winning team in both competitions and had ample opportunity to test herself against the best. She hit the winning runs for the Tornadoes in the inaugural FairBreak tournament in Dubai, in what was a fairly one-sided final, and made a crucial decision in the field for the Supernovas in a tight final against Velocity in India. Chasing 166, Velocity needed seven runs to win off the last two balls and Laura Wolvaardt, unbeaten on 64, was facing strike. Given that Luus captains Wolvaardt at international level, Supernovas captain Harmanpreet Kaur had a question for Luus.Sune Luus, Alana King, Sophie Ecclestone, and Pooja Vastrakar ahead of the Women’s T20 Challenge final•BCCI

“She ran to me and she was like, ‘Do we bring square leg up and keep deep extra out or do we take square leg out and bring deep extra in?’ It was a very short conversation.”Knowing Wolvaardt’s strength on the cover drive, Luus, who was stationed on the boundary, told Kaur, “You cannot bring deep extra cover in. You are going to have to keep me out and we are going to have to gamble with square leg being in the circle.”England international Sophie Ecclestone, the left-arm spinner, was bowling and delivered a flatter, faster ball that Wolvaardt could not get under and inside-edged to long-off for a single. Luus was more relieved than excited at first, as she helped mastermind a title-winning fielding strategy.”Luckily Sophie, the competitor that she is, executed her ball perfectly and the game plan worked,” she said. “If it had been the other way around, she (Kaur) would have probably been on my case for that one.”It’s instances like that, where national team-mates are pitted against each other and international competitors are made to combine, that has underpinned the success of various franchise men’s T20 leagues around the world and Luus hopes it can do the same for women’s cricket.”It’s an opportunity for some of the domestic players within countries to play with international players from around the world and obviously gain experience and learn from them,” she said. “It’s important to have T20 leagues across the world to get to know different players and play in different conditions.”Just like the men’s game, as franchise tournaments grow and the calendar is squeezed, Luus recognises that international cricket may suffer. “It’s just a case of finding the balance with international cricket and finding the time to get enough international cricket in the calendar,” she said.Already, the likes of Luus, Wolvaardt and Ayabonga Khaka have only had a couple of weeks between the Women’s ODI World Cup, which ended in April, and the FairBreak and Women’s T20 Challenge. The trio have now traveled to the UK, where South Africa will be on tour until mid-August, playing in six T20Is against Ireland and England. Also on the calendar are the ICC Women’s Championship ODIs against Ireland, a one-off Test against England (South Africa’s first since 2014), ODIs against England and the Commonwealth Games. Luus said they would have to be smart with switching between formats and keeping players in form as the weeks roll on.”It’s a very difficult thing because we have ICC points up for grabs, we have a Test match coming up which is quite new for a lot of the players and in-between that we have to focus on T20 cricket for the Commonwealth Games,” she said.But, Luus agrees that it’s better than the alternative, especially as women’s cricket continues to make big strides.”Women’s cricket is becoming big in a lot of the countries and we are making our case for it to become professional in many of the countries and some of the Associate countries as well,” she said. “Women’s cricket is very much on the map. People want to invest in women’s cricket. I hope it continues. Women’s cricket deserves that.”