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Our South Africa correspondent welcomes English cricket’s attempts to diversify its fanbase

Firdose Moonda01-Sep-2022″Do you remember we went to the first ever one?” A cricket fan asked his friend on the walk down Wellington Road, which leads to Lord’s, on Tuesday afternoon. “We had just been released from our f****** Covid.”We all remember what we first did when we were released from our f****** lockdowns. How fortuitous for the ECB that some people will remember attending the Hundred. How fantastic that some of those people have decided to go back, a year later, when the world has changed again; when they could be in the West End or at the football, at a music festival or a pub – 13,152 turned up on a Tuesday evening laced with a chilly breeze to attend the women’s match and 24,116 the men’s. If anyone wants to know if this ‘thing’ works, tens of thousands of people think it does.And they’re not your regular cricket people. They’re what we’d call the minority in a stadium in England – not pale, stale and male – and they’re not having your regular cricket conversations.”How do you know if it’s going to be a fast bowler or a spin bowler?,” a boy asked his father, in the last quarter of the women’s match between London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix, who were attempting to defend 82, and had just brought on offspinner Ria Fackrell.”The fast bowlers come in quickly and from a long way away,” the dad answered.On cue, Georgie Elwiss got the ball next. “Like this, see?”There was a pause as the child considered the mechanics of speed, distance and time, before moving on to specifics. “How fast do they bowl?”Pace is pace, yaar, and everyone wants to know about it, no matter how old they are. “Do you remember in the England-South Africa Tests, the South African bowlers were all really quick?” the father asked.I was quietly chuffed with the way the conversation was going. “The South Africans bowl about 90mph,” the father said. “And England’s best bowler Jimmy Anderson is about 83mph.”Another pause, and I wondered if this young fan was going to be swayed by speed alone. “Jimmy Anderson is the best,” he concluded. Can’t argue with that.Male cricketers were the examples the father used but it was a women’s match which enthralled his son, as Naomi Dattani and Grace Scrivens chipped away. They needed 35 from the last 35 balls, and more than a run-a-ball after that. Cries of “two, two,” from both father and son came every time the ball was hit into some space. At one stage, London Spirit’s ask had grown to 16 runs off 11 balls and they were preparing for defeat but Dattani hit a glorious straight drive to bring the equation down and a song every 12-year old knows the words to was blasted around the ground.Ravi Bopara smoked five sixes in 45 off 20 balls for London Spirit•ECB via Getty ImagesIt’s cricket but “not only about the cricket,” the DJ reminded us. Maybe that jars with you (after all, you’re reading a cricket specialist website and are probably a pretty serious cricket fan) but in a world with entertainment options everywhere, cricket has to keep up. So the Hundred has partnered with BBC Music Introducing to showcase a selection of artists in the intervals. Tuesday night’s was SOFY, a self-titled indie-pop artist from Leicester. She described Lord’s as “much more civilised” than the King Power Stadium.While SOFY brought the moody chilled vibes, the two on-field presenters regularly reminded the crowd that they need to “give this place some energy” and adopted the IPL-style puppet-master approach to audience participation.”Make some noise,” they command and noise is made. “We say London, you say Spirit,” and chants of “London Spirit” began. “We say Lord’s, you say cricket,” and cue the “Lord’s Cricket” chorus. Their crowning moment was getting the Mexican wave to go around the ground, including the Pavilion (yes, MCC Members stood up and raised their arms) at the first time of calling. Later, they asked everyone to turn their smartphone spotlights on to create a band of light (lighters are so 1990, aren’t they?). The mood dimmed a touch when the big screen then displayed a message asking for lights to be turned off so play could resume.By then, the men’s match was well underway and the atmosphere had changed a bit. Some of the parents with younger kids had left – and remember that those are kids who will grow up around a regular diet of women’s cricket – and the 20 and 30-year-olds were in. Many of them had not taken an interest in cricket before the Hundred (one prominent cricket photographer’s 23-year-old daughter and her partner were among them) and were treated to all the thrills and spills of a nail-biter.Related

• Dattani, Scrivens help Spirit scrap home to end Phoenix's campaign

• Matthew Wade 81 helps see Birmingham Phoenix to thrilling one-wicket win

• Matthew Wade: 'We've given ourselves a chance. We'll hope for a draw or a washout'

• Charlotte Edwards: 'Girls now trust that they can hit sixes down the ground'

Ravi Bopara’s 20-ball 45 ensured London Spirit set Birmingham Phoenix a competitive target of 140. Liam Dawson’s two wickets in five balls threatened to put Spirit straight into Saturday’s final but Matthew Wade’s 81 ensured Phoenix were in it all the way.The scores were tied when the ball that should have been the final delivery was called wide, and my thoughts immediately turned to whether the playing conditions make provision for a Super Over, or even if they would call it that, given that the o-word is not the said thing in this format. “Set of five,” is the preferred terminology. So how about a Super Set? Too complicated, maybe?In the end, Phoenix won, but not well enough to qualify for Friday’s eliminator. Whether those in attendance knew that is hard to say. And that wasn’t the only thing that could have been better explained. The team score is not prominently displayed, for example, with the big screens preferring to show runs scored or needed and balls faced or remaining. It’s not always obvious how many wickets have fallen or which set is being bowled, and the timer between the change of ends can be distracting. But at its core, the Hundred is still cricket. One team bats until either they are dismissed or out of overs, then the other team does. The team that has the most runs wins.The women’s match proved to be a low-scoring thriller•Getty ImagesIt’s been deliberately marketed to attract a non-traditional cricket audience and cricket being the game it is, the traditional audience don’t always like that. And the new audience will face a challenge when they move on to other formats and discover overs are made up of six balls, and you don’t get two bowled from the same side.Think of the re-explaining the father will have to do when his son wants to know why Anderson or Kagiso Rabada are not strategically used to deliver sets in succession. But it’s an interesting tactical innovation and will likely deliver some intriguing strategies as the Hundred continues to be played. For those of us who have watched cricket all our lives, it’s not that difficult a concept to adjust to, even if we want to dismiss it as unnecessary.It’s the opposite argument we should be making. It’s necessary that cricket evolves. In South Africa, we have dispensed with three-Test series to accommodate for a T20 league because that’s the only way the game will be financially viable. It’s up for debate why the ECB chose to create a whole new format, not to mention its impact on other formats, but at least it’s an attempt to get cricket to keep up.It’s also necessary that cricket becomes more welcoming to more people. We’ve just been through a Social Justice and Nation-Building process which has exposed exclusion in South Africa and the ECB’s own review is about to get underway. We know the game has a history of racism, misogyny and intolerance that should be driven out. If an environment can be created where groups of friends, families and people from a variety of backgrounds can get together, that should be encouraged, especially as we collectively recover from the f****** pandemic, and all its after-effects.

Trouble is brewing and the strongest shall win

Alan Gardner14-Sep-2020You may well have heard of the ongoing “culture wars” dividing modern society (basically just a glorified term for the actions of certain men who want to play computer games without being told to tidy their rooms) – but news has reached the Light Roller this month of a far more serious rift. The normally carefree troupe of globetrotting hipsters known as the Australia cricket team has split into rival factions based around their preferences for coffee.Clearly, dealing with life in the biosecure bubble while on their tour of England has taken a toll. Discussing the situation in an emotional, socially distanced interview, Kane Richardson spilled the beans (organic, hand-picked) on the group’s descent into caffeine-fuelled nihilism, hitting out at diminutive legspinner and haircut wearer Adam Zampa for being a “coffee snob” who had never extended him an invite to the famous Love Café.(As watchers of will know, the Love Café was founded in response to the crisis that engulfed Australian cricket following the 2018 sandpaper affair. Zampa and Marcus Stoinis are the designated “rare units” who front the operation, with the goal of fostering a more caring, sharing environment within the national team. There is also an aim to teach Stoinis how to play legspin but they haven’t got round to that part yet.)Richardson revealed that he has taken to patronising the newly established outlet of batsman-barista David Warner, adding warmly that “to me it all tastes the same”. Marnus Labuschagne has also tried to claim a slice of the market with what connoisseurs describe as a homespun brew that looks a bit funny but gets the job done – though given he is only open for business when not batting in the nets (or throwing for Steven Smith in the nets), success is believed to have been limited.Furthermore, rumours that Smith was considering switching to coffee from tea, in a move that could help unite the warring parties, have been dismissed by well-placed sources who point out that he could never betray his preference for exotic leaves.While captain Aaron Finch has so far managed to maintain appearances of elite mateship, mainly by overseeing a series of team-bonding latte art sessions, there are fears more serious cultural issues may once again be percolating through the Australian system. Dressing-room feuds such Warne v Waugh or Katich v Clarke are nothing new, but the emergence of this latest beef/vegan-friendly meat substitute could tear the squad apart. What might be the consequences, for instance, of Pat Cummins starting up a cold brew movement, or Glenn Maxwell experimenting with kombucha?
Remember, as the old saying goes, a team is only as strong as its weakest pot of vacuum-brewed single-origin fair-trade Sumatran.

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Australia’s old guard, meanwhile, continue to cherish their status as unappointed moral arbiters of the sport, diligently policing “the line” wherever they go. Ricky Ponting has been quite clear about which line he doesn’t want R Ashwin to cross during the IPL – that is the notional, “spirit of cricket” perimeter beyond which lies the lawless world of running out a non-striker for backing up (NB: completely the Laws). However, it seems after a chat with Ashwin, he has now noticed the actual, physical white line that non-strikers keep sauntering past, too. “I think something has to happen with the laws of the game to make sure batsmen can’t cheat,” said a perplexed Ponting. Quite right, too, Ricky. But what possible solution could there be?

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From the IPL to the Svenska Cricketförbundet – quite literally, in the case of Jonty Rhodes, who will head for Scandinavia after the completion of his stint with Kings XI Punjab in the UAE. Tempting as it is to make the joke that Sweden is one of the few places whiter than South African cricket, Rhodes has spoken openly in support of transformation and his own experience of privilege growing up – and we wish him great success in helping to establish the game in what looks to be an inhospitable foreign clime. Here’s hoping he is able to assemble a capable team quicker than you can say ubiquitous flat-pack furniture manufacturer and is back at an ICC event in the very near future, leading a bunch of tall, chiselled Nordic types who are all absolute guns in the field. Just don’t ask questions about how they will handle the knockout rounds.

Let’s lead off with a spoiler alert. The documentary—not unflawed, but quite a good one, on balance—is titled, provocatively, But the demise of Canada’s beloved National League team was not a murder (who) so much as it was a death from natural causes (what).

The film depicts a cast of heroes, including the universally beloved Felipe Alou, a very cool Pedro Martínez, Canadian star Larry Walker and an assortment of beleaguered fans whose loyalty wasn’t reciprocated. And there are villains—cloying David Samson and his former stepdad, owner Jeffrey Loria, and, to a lesser degree, the hapless Claude Brochu.

But above all, there were immutable, unsentimental forces at play. That is, the usual suspects: An unfavorable exchange rate meant that the Expos took in revenue in Canadian dollars, but paid players their ever-escalating salaries in stronger American dollars. A provincial government that—agree or disagree—took a stand that other cities did not, and refused to commit public money to funding a new sports venue. There were the revenues lost and revenues spent maintaining the old venue—Olympic Stadium, a charmless white elephant on the wrong side of town, built to host a few events for the 1976 Summer Games, not 80-plus baseball games a year in a flourishing pro sports sector decades later. 

Rule of thumb: When you play in a domed stadium and still face rain delays because the roof springs leaks, you know you’re in trouble. The Expos’ death? Olympic Stadium wasn’t the scene of the crime so much as it was the proximate of the crime.

Nevertheless, the Netflix documentary, which premieres Oct. 21, offers both a poignant, locally flavored love letter and an earnest post-mortem for a franchise that deserves better. The Montreal Expos’ last game was held in 2004 after a strange sort of three-way trade that brought MLB franchises to Miami and Washington, D.C., and eliminated one from Quebec. And more than 20 years later, countless fans have yet to work through their grief. Now here comes the film—explicitly geared to the French-speaking locals—that will provide a bit of balm for what remains an open wound.

The timing for the doc’s release works as well. Never mind that the lone remaining Canadian team, the Blue Jays, of course, are amid a deep postseason run. At a time of tariffs, rhetoric over a 51st state and “American betrayal” chilling neighborly relations, the story of a foreign baseball team, brash Americans and the winners-take-all realities of capitalism add resonance.

recently spoke to Montreal-based director Jean-François Poisson and producer Marie-Christine Pouliot.

The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers over the weekend and they are just starting to answer questions about both the move and the overall health of the team. According to a new report, Devers was not the only dysfunctional part of the organization, and now people have no choice but to notice.

On Monday afternoon, Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke with the media over Zoom and tried to explain the move from the team’s perspective. According to Breslow, they're trying to put together a functional team and it sounds like they don't even have to reach very lofty goals for the season to be a success.

"This isn't about the game that is played on paper," said Breslow. "This is about the game that is played on the field and ultimately about winning the most games that we can. And in order to do that, trying to put together the most functional and complete team that we can. So I think that when you consider the flexibility, the ability to give some of the young players some run, the opportunity to maybe repackage some of the resources and fill some voids in the roster as early as approaching this year's deadline and being really intentional about the environment that we create for these young players to thrive in, I do think there’s a real chance that at the end of the season, we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would’ve.”

The Red Sox are currently in fourth place in the AL East. Luckily, they only need to win more games than they otherwise would have with Rafael Devers for the season to truly be a success.

Shohei Ohtani is man.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves tied 5–5 in the bottom of the ninth, Ohtani smashed the first pitch he saw for a 399-foot walk-off home run to win the team's eighth game of the season.

It was fitting that Ohtani would win the game for the Dodgers on his own MVP bobblehead night. Fans lined up hours in advance of the game for a chance to take home one of his bobbleheads, and then the three-time MVP delivered exactly what those fans would've dreamt of seeing.

Dodger Stadium understandably went wild as Ohtani rounded the bases. His teammates drenched him when he got to home plate.

The Dodgers became the first reigning World Series champion in MLB history to start the season 8–0. And, of course, Dodgers fans can thank Ohtani for solidifying that piece of history.

Fans were already chanting "MVP" at Ohtani as he was doing his post-game interview on the field. Could he be a three-peat? There's a lot more baseball left to play this season, but doubt Ohtani at your own peril.

Mustafizur Rahman and Mahedi Hasan picked up five wickets between them in eight overs

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2025Dasun Shanaka clobbered 64 not out off 37 balls to propel Sri Lanka through the middle and death overs, after their openers had provided a rapid 44-run opening stand.In between those batters, however, Bangladesh imposed themselves, mainly through Mustafizur Rahman and Mahedi Hasan, who took five wickets between them, and were also economical. Mustafizur was especially impressive, taking 3 for 20. His last over – the 19th of the innings – cost Sri Lanka three wickets, but they could only scramble five runs off it. Mustafizur had also had Shanaka dropped off his bowling on 38 off 27, in the 17th over.Related

Tait confident Mustafizur Rahman will do better against Sri Lanka

Bereaved Dunith Wellalage rejoins SL squad in Dubai

Shanaka’s was not the only catch Bangladesh missed. Mustafizur himself had failed to attack a dying chance at fine leg (he likely could have got there), to reprieve Kusal Perera on 11. Charith Asalanka was also put down by Towhid Hridoy at deep point, on 16. Both those batters made five further runs. Asalanka was also dropped a second time by Hridoy, but was run out off that same delivery, attempting a second.Sri Lanka will feel their total competitive, on a Dubai track known to be tough for batters. Bangladesh are unlikely to be fazed by its heft either, however.

Former Zimbabwe captain and legspinner Graeme Cremer has returned to the country’s domestic cricket structure and is available for international selection. Cremer, who is 38 and led Zimbabwe between 2016 and 2018, gave up cricket for golf and then moved with his family to the UAE, where his wife Merna works as an airline pilot. He has now made his return in Zimbabwe’s National Premier League, the 45-over club competition.ESPNcricinfo has confirmed he is eligible for selection for the national side and could be in contention for September’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers, which will be played in Zimbabwe.Cremer last played international cricket in March 2018 and has been involved in coaching roles in Dubai, including with the Rajasthan Royals Academy. He is now playing for the defending champions, Takashinga Patriots 1 Cricket Club, and is the leading wicket-taker after two matches.Related

• Cremer temporarily puts cricket career on hold for family

• 'A debut-like feeling' – Taylor grateful for second chance

“It’s amazing being back,” Cremer told about his return after the match against Queens Sports Club in Kwekwe. “Kwekwe was my home ground for many years, so it was great walking out and being part of Takashinga, which is such a prestigious club. They welcomed me into the team and it was an amazing team environment. I’m really happy with the start.”Cremer took 4 for 43 as Takashinga defended 263 for 6 and won by 134 runs. That match, played on August 3, also featured Brendan Taylor, who has subsequently made his return to the Test side after serving a three-and-a-half-year ban for breaching the ICC’s anti-corruption code. Taylor scored 61 in that match as he tuned up ahead of his international comeback.”We are close friends, myself and Brendan, so it was an amazing feeling being on the field with him again and nice to see him score some runs,” Cremer said. “It’s great watching him bat, and then walking out onto the field with him, just how we communicate because we have played so much cricket together. It really helps someone like that out with me.”Taylor and Cremer are two of Zimbabwe’s most experienced players, and their return to the set-up with two ICC tournaments (T20 World Cup 2026 and ODI World Cup 2027, which Zimbabwe will co-host) speaks to Zimbabwe Cricket’s seriousness to ensure they qualify. Zimbabwe missed out on the last T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean after losing to Uganda in qualifiers and have not played a 50-over World Cup since 2015 after missing out on both the 2019 and 2023 editions.Zimbabwe will host the Africa Regional Qualifier for the upcoming T20 World Cup from September 26 to October 4. The tournament consists of eight teams, and the top two will progress to the main event.

MatériaMais Notícias

A CBF divulgou na quinta-feira (12) a análise do VAR da partida na qual o Volta Redonda bateu o Paysandu por 1 a 0. A análise dos lances da partida válida pela sexta rodada do quadrangular final da Série C apontou que o meia Robinho, do Papão da Curuzu, foi expulso após ter sido substituído.

O Voltaço acenou com a possibilidade de entrar com um pedido de impugnação da partida no STJD, afirmando que o meia atleta teria recebido o cartão vermelho ainda em campo e, por isso, a equipe paraense teria de ficar com um jogador a menos. No entanto, as imagens e vídeos mostram membros do VAR revisando o lance. No momento da expulsão, Robinho tinha sido substituído e Ronaldo Marques estava no gramado do Estádio Raulino de Oliveira.

A partida estava empatada sem gols quando tudo aconteceu. O Volta Redonda marcou com Bruno Barra, mas tinha de vencer por dois gols para obter o acesso à Série B do Brasileirão.

Na súmula, Wilton Pereira Sampaio afirmou que expulsou Robinho aos 13 minutos do segundo tempo por “Retardar excessivamente sua saída de campo, causando um princípio de tumulto com atletas adversários quando já se encontrava fora de campo de jogo após a sua substituição”.