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Widespread use of the helmet has saved dozens of lives, but concussions in the game are now more common than before

Tim Wigmore and Stefan Szymanski01-Jun-2022After Phillip Hughes’ death in 2014, Peter Brukner, the Australian team doctor, and Tom Gara, a historian at the South Australian Museum, conducted an analysis, funded by Cricket Australia, of how common fatalities were in the sport. Until then, no national boards had ever compiled numbers on how many players were killed while playing the game, either at amateur or professional level. Gara spent weeks labouring over newspaper archives from Great Britain and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, going back to 1850. Brukner swiftly learned that “deaths were more common than I thought”.The authors identified 544 cricket-related deaths in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Ireland: an average of around 3.25 per year. The true figure is likely to be considerably higher: their search only covered three cricketing nations, and the Australian coverage was incomplete. The deaths were split about equally between formal and recreational games.The macabre list of deaths in cricket the researchers compiled included a spectator being killed by a ball hit into the crowd by his son; a fielder killed by the impact of a bat hitting their chest; and a boy killed by standing too close to a teacher demonstrating a shot. But about 80% of the fatalities recorded were caused by the impact of deliveries striking batters above the waist, with a significant majority of these hitting the heart or higher. Gara, a committed club cricketer “expected to find perhaps 20-30 deaths” sustained playing cricket in Australian history. Instead, he found 176. “I am still playing cricket and will continue to do so for as long as I can, but I am much more careful.”

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Batting for Marylebone Cricket Club against the touring West Indians in a first-class match at Lord’s in 1976, England opener Dennis Amiss received a blow on the back of the head from Michael Holding, one of the world’s most ferocious quick bowlers. Despite the blow, Amiss continued to bat. He hit 203 against West Indies in a Test later that summer, defying Holding and underlining his status as one of the finest players of fast bowling in the world.Related

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Yet he retained uncomfortable memories of being hit. After World Series Cricket – the breakaway competition featuring many of the world’s leading players that launched in Australia in 1977 – signed him up, Amiss, who was 34, feared the consequences of suffering another blow.”I knew that I would be facing a lot of Australian and West Indies bowlers who would be delivering the ball at 90mph,” Amiss recounted to the . He reached out to a motorcycle helmet manufacturer in Birmingham and asked him to make an adapted helmet to absorb potential blows, using conventional fibreglass with a polycarbonate visor. “He came up with something lighter than the fibreglass motorcycle helmets around in those days. It had a visor that could withstand a shotgun blast at 10 yards,” he recalled. Initially, the design covered a batter’s ears with unforeseen consequences – “we had a spate of run-outs”. A later model solved the problem by incorporating an equestrian design.In the hyper-violent NFL, it is estimated that about 20-45% of professional players are affected by Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition caused by repeated blows to the head•Getty ImagesWhen Amiss arrived in Australia at the end of 1977 with his customised motorcycle helmet, he became the first player to wear a helmet in a professional game. A month into World Series Cricket, the Australian batter David Hookes was struck in the jaw by the Caribbean quick Andy Roberts. He crashed to the ground, dripping blood.It was the moment the helmet went from eccentricity to necessity. As Hookes had surgery – depriving World Series Cricket of one of its most attractive cricketers for the next five weeks – Kerry Packer, WSC’s backer, ordered a batch of Amiss’ helmets to be flown out from Birmingham, hoping that they would help protect his other assets.As word of Hookes’ accident got out, Tony Henson, the owner of Sydney and Surfers Paradise, a company specialising in equestrian caps, sensed a business opportunity. Henson asked a colleague, Arthur Wallace, to arrange a meeting with World Series Cricket representatives, as Gideon Haigh recounts in . Wallace returned from his meeting saying, “It can’t be done, Tony. They want us to make something that can withstand half a house brick at a hundred miles an hour.”But it could be done: helmets could at least deflect blows and lessen their impact. In the months ahead, helmets – most initially without visors to protect players’ faces – became ubiquitous at the top levels of the game, and rapidly spread through cricket’s ecosystem as they became more affordable.What began as an emergency solution to the dangers of facing the quickest bowlers in the world turned into one of the biggest improvements in player safety in sport. “Helmets basically wiped out the most common cause of fatality, which was a blow to the head,” said Brukner. “Since the advent of helmets, I don’t think there’s been a death from a direct blow to the head. Helmets are very good at protecting you from death. The reason people die when they’re hit in the head is that it causes a bleed in the brain, and that’s the thing that kills them – that’s the thing that you’re protected from by a helmet.”Graeme Wood was felled by a Michael Holding bouncer in a 1983 World Cup game and was taken off the field and to hospital unconscious•PA Photos/Getty ImagesResearch conducted by Brukner and Gara shows how much safer helmets have made players. Over the course of the 1970s, there were nine recorded fatalities in Australian cricket – five in organised games and four in informal ones. Over the following 36 years, from 1980 to 2016, there were only ten recorded fatalities, with just five in the 26 years from 1990, when wearing helmets became the norm even at recreational level. And so the growth of helmets ought to be acclaimed as World Series Cricket’s most important legacy – an innovation that has saved dozens of cricketers’ lives since.

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The next catalyst for cricket to take head injuries more seriously was the death of Hughes. StemGuard helmets were developed swiftly after: these have a neck-guard made from foam and plastic that is attached to the helmet.In an Ashes Test at Lord’s in July 2015, eight months after Hughes’ death, the Australian opener Chris Rogers was struck by a short ball from Jimmy Anderson. It hit him behind his right ear and landed on his StemGuard. Rogers was one of the few players then wearing the new protection. Brukner told , “We both said to each other afterwards, if he hadn’t been wearing it, who knows what would have happened?”Yet neck guards are still not compulsory around the world. “It still amazes me that some cricketers don’t wear them,” Brukner says. When Steve Smith was hit on the neck by Jofra Archer in 2019, he was not wearing a StemGuard.Alongside a change in technology, changing the laws of the game can also help to protect players. The introduction of concussion substitutes – first used in Australian domestic cricket in 2016, and in Test cricket in 2019 – may have reduced the number of concussions indirectly. In many cases concussions are thought to be caused not by a single blow but by repeated ones. Concussion substitutes help to destigmatise a player retiring hurt after a head injury, ensuring their teams aren’t penalised. In this way concussion substitutes help to reduce the risk of second impacts after an initial concussion, which could be very serious or even fatal.Australia team doctor Peter Brukner: “The reason people die when they’re hit in the head is that it causes a bleed in the brain – that’s the thing that you’re protected from by a helmet”•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesYet, with neck guards and concussion substitutions alike, the puzzle is why safety measures that mitigate risk have not been embraced the world over. Domestic competitions in most Test-playing nations still do not allow concussion substitutes.

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While direct fatalities in cricket remain extraordinarily rare – less than the chances of dying in the car on the way to a game, Brukner notes – death is not the only risk associated with suffering a blow to the head. Across American football, football, rugby and a range of other sports, recent years have highlighted the long-term effects of repeated blows to the head. These may be related to “sub-concussive” events: blows to the head that do not directly lead to concussions. Repeated impacts to the head – from heading a football to collisions with opponents in American football or in rugby – can lead to degenerative brain injury.In July 2017, a study examined the brains of 111 deceased NFL players; 110 of them showed signs of a degenerative disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head, of the kind that routinely occur in NFL games. About 20-45% of professional American footballers may be affected by CTE during their lifetime, explains Thomas Talavage, a concussion specialist at Purdue University. In 2015, a class-action lawsuit settlement between the NFL and more than 5000 former players provided up to $5 million per retired player for serious medical conditions associated with repeated head trauma. A range of other sports have also faced lawsuits.Cricket has been warned. Just because players are rarely killed by bouncers, there is no guarantee that bouncers will not have catastrophic repercussions for these players later in life. A 2020 study by a group of scientists, including John Orchard, Cricket Australia’s chief medical officer, identified situational factors associated with concussion in cricket based on video analysis of elite Australian men’s and women’s matches. It found that 84% of head impacts occurred to a batter on strike against a pace bowler, with most of the others sustained by close fielders. No deliveries by spinners in the study led to batters sustaining concussion, showing how lower ball speeds reduce risks.The evolving science has shown that, even as the number of deaths has declined, the ultimate danger of head injuries in sport is greater than previously assumed. The trajectory is unmistakable. “Concussions have become much more common in cricket over the last ten or 20 years,” says Brukner. This is not simply the result of increased focus on concussion. “Since the advent of helmets, a lot more people are being hit in the head.”Graham Yallop, seen here in the Barbados Test in 1978, was an early pioneer of the DIY helmet•The Cricketer InternationalThere are myriad theories for the increase in head impacts and concussions. Batting technique against short bowling is said to have deteriorated; the protection offered by helmets – and the extra time it takes to move their heads while wearing them – has been blamed for batters being less adept at ducking. Limited-overs formats are blamed for encouraging batters to hook the ball more compulsively. Helmets also may have liberated bowlers to use the short ball more aggressively. Worldwide, improved strength and conditioning, some believe, has enabled players to bowl up and around 90mph now more frequently than before. And there is simply more cricket played now.

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The experience of Australia suggests that concussions have been systematically underreported. In the men’s professional game, there was on average only one concussion per season recorded in the decade until 2014. Following Hughes’ death, Cricket Australia commissioned a study by La Trobe University, whose findings were published in 2018. They counted 92 head impacts in men’s matches in Australia between 2015 and 2017; 29 of them were diagnosed as concussions. As the authors of the study observed, “The rate of concussion in cricket is higher than previously appreciated.”The La Trobe figures equate to a head impact every 2000 balls and a concussion every 9000 balls in male domestic cricket. These figures suggest more than one head impact per Test match that runs the full five days, and more than one concussion for every four such Tests. Assuming head impacts and concussions were sustained at the same rate in international cricket as the Australian domestic game, we would have expected there to be 39 incidences of concussions from 2015 to 2018 in Test cricket alone, an average of 9.75 a year. Overall, we could expect an average of 16 concussions and 75 head impacts a year throughout all men’s international cricket involving the 12 Full Member nations.BloomsburyMedical officials argue that, per ball bowled, Australian domestic cricket is likely to produce more head impacts and concussions than the average across the world. There are a number of reasons for this: pace bowlers in Australia tend to be faster, spinners deliver a lower share of overs, and the pitches tend to be quicker. As such, they estimate that, per delivery bowled, the number of head impacts and concussions per ball in all first-class cricket is about one-third of the Australian rate. Using this ratio, and the fact there were 1,012,160 deliveries in all first-class cricket in 2019, implies that there were around 169 head impacts and 37 concussions sustained in men’s first-class cricket in 2019.Brukner does not think that cricket will witness the same prevalence of CTE in retired players as in sports such as American football and rugby, because there are fewer sub-concussive blows to the head in cricket: “We believe that cricketers are therefore not as much at risk of that long-term issue as those other sports.”It will be many decades until it becomes clear what damage, if any, Will Pucovski suffered from his ten concussions. “We really don’t know whether he’s at risk of long-term damage,” said Brukner. “There’s so much we don’t know about concussion.”Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket

This World Cup exit – after losing to Netherlands – beats all their previous exits, and the recovery is going to be tough

Firdose Moonda07-Nov-20222:36

Moody: Regardless of captaincy, Bavuma shouldn’t be in this format

Tomorrow doesn’t exist. Not in South African cricket. After their worst World Cup exit, there are no thoughts of tomorrow, or next week, or the next tournament. There is only the pain and the puzzle of now.How did it happen that South Africa, who flew so far under the radar that they weren’t mentioned as favourites when the tournament began, but then became talked about as the team who could win it, crashed out after being beaten by Netherlands? No disrespect to them but the Dutch are not a team that on an ordinary day – even when T20 cricket reduces the gulf between sides, and one over, one crazy catch like Roelof van der Merwe’s, one person, can change everything – South Africa should lose to. Sunday was no ordinary day. It was a day that will scar a generation of players.Related

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Disappointment at major tournaments is something some teams become used to. West Indies have gone from two-time T20 champions to Super 12 exiles. New Zealand have never won a World Cup despite reaching the last three finals. South Africa are also in that bracket and the nature of their exits means they are more storified and more in the spotlight than others. Each tournament exit somehow builds on the one before, spiraling them through a narrative of doom.They hear of 1992, though most of the current squad were only young children with no memory of what 22-off-one-ball is about, and of 1999, which some of them may have watched on television with the same disbelief as teenagers, who watched them against Netherlands. Then the wheel of misfortune starts to spin faster. Rain in 2003. Being 27 for 5 against Australia in 2007. Shahid Afridi in 2009. New Zealand in 2015Something died in South African cricket after that last one, and every one of the current squad saw it. Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Rilee Rossouw and Wayne Parnell experienced it first hand. The players felt betrayed by their administrators who interfered in selection on the eve of the match and the golden thread of trust in the system snapped. If you think there’s an exaggeration in this analogy, think again. In recent weeks, players involved in that 2015 episode have spoken about how difficult it was to get over. Dale Steyn did not talk to anyone about the pain of that day for more than a year. Faf du Plessis in his recently released autobiography wrote that it took the squad more than 18 months to just start to rebuild. Things have never been the same.The 2015 debacle was about transformation, which has always been one of tenets of the new South Africa. The need to change had come up many times before and affected starting XIs but never in a more consequential match than on that day. It has dominated the cricket conversation since and has reared its head at the most inopportune of moments.Temba Bavuma was named South Africa’s white-ball captain in March 2021. He had only played six ODIs and eight T20Is at the time but averaged 55.83 in 50-over cricket and 35.57 in T20Is. He spoke with the calm of a softly-flowing river and the confidence of the great ocean. With no-one else to lead South Africa, following the failed de Kock experiment, Bavuma seemed the sensible choice. His form in Tests has long been a talking point because he is yet to score a second century, but his T20 numbers only really became a discussion point this year, and only after he missed the England tour with an elbow injury and fellow opener Reeza Hendricks reeled off four half-centuries in succession. The conversation was about runs but, because it’s South Africa, it was soon also about race. Bavuma went into the T20 World Cup with the weight of being the country’s first ever black African captain and being out of form. That is an intersectional burden very few players will ever understand the heaviness of carrying. He struggled through the tournament, but South Africa’s failure to reach the final four is not his fault.Not what the South African fans were expecting to see – a loss versus Netherlands•ICC via GettySome will say, once again, that the administrators are to blame. Should they have made the bold call to drop the captain despite the optics? Or should they have explained their decisions better? Should they have communicated a little more with their coach Mark Boucher, whose last assignment is this World Cup and who resigned with a year left on his contract? Should they have persuaded, perhaps even begged him to stay, given that his departure only casts more uncertainty over an already shaky set-up? And what are they left with now?Malibongwe Maketa, who has a good rapport with and the respect of players from his time as Ottis Gibson’s assistant, will take the team to Australia for the three-Test series over the festive season and then the job is set to be split. A red-ball coach will work closely with the first-class set-up and the Test side; a white-ball coach will be in charge of the limited-overs teams and therefore World Cups.Cricket South Africa is due to advertise the posts imminently but the board is likely to find a dearth of responses. Several high-profile coaches, including former South African national players contacted by ESPNcricinfo, have said they are not interested in the position. There are several reasons for that: concerns about the CSA administration, which has only just pieced itself together after falling apart, a lean FTP which has only Ireland and Zimbabwe playing fewer bilaterals than South Africa in the 2023-2027 cycle, and worries about depth in the system. Although South Africa continues to produce exceptional sportspeople through its school system, it does not have the resources to entice all of them to stay in the game. Some leave for other countries, or leagues where the money is better; others pursue different careers, where the heartache is less.Much hope is pinned on the SA20 to change that but the franchise league kicks off with a dark cloud looming over it. Bavuma and South African allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo went unsold at the auction and only six black African players were picked up by the six teams. Tested in the open market, 30 years of transformation failed. What does that say about a system set up to provide opportunities that were ripped away from the majority of the population for hundreds of years by racial segregation? Maybe just that it needs more time.Will Dewald Brevis take South African T20 cricket forward?•Titans/ Gallo ImagesWhile that happens, teams around the world improve and innovate. The T20 game of 2022 is not the T20 game of 2007. It’s dynamic and unorthodox. It doesn’t follow scripts (and South African cricket loves a script, even though it often can’t read) and requires skills that are sometimes lacking in the South African set-up even though several players are regulars in overseas T20 franchise leagues, where they are exposed to modern tactics. Batting line-ups need to be flexible (why can’t Hendricks bat in the middle-order?), and bowlers versatile. One example is slower balls, which Lungi Ngidi has mastered but he, and to a lesser extent Anrich Nortje, are just about the only ones. South Africa have upskilled in various departments but their T20 blueprint is stodgy and that has to change. They have to change. And for that to happen, they have to get over the pain of losing to Netherlands.They didn’t look as broken as they have before, which could be a good thing, but they seemed resigned, which is not. Bavuma said the younger players such as Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen would be shielded from the disappointment and hopefully he is right. Neither were part of the XI that lost to Netherlands but Stubbs played in four other matches and underwhelmed. Jansen may have escaped as he was only part of the squad – roped in as an injury replacement for Dwaine Pretorius – and did not play at all.Perhaps the luckiest thing to come out of all this is that South Africa’s next big thing, Dewald Brevis, was left at home. The day before the senior side crashed out of the T20 World Cup, Brevis failed in the CSA T20 Challenge final but his team still won. He has experienced both individual and collective success and hopefully he holds on to that. Brevis plays T20 cricket, albeit only at domestic level, in a way that suggests he can take the game forward, and not chase it. South Africa need to find more players like him, but also avoid turning him into a messiah.No one person – administrator, coach or player – is going to take South Africa into tomorrow. Collectively, they will have to crawl their way there and stand up again.

And how many players took a wicket with their first ball in Tests but none after that?

Steven Lynch20-Feb-2023Jimmy Anderson narrowly missed out on a five-for against New Zealand the other day. If he gets one soon, will he be the oldest seamer to take five in a Test innings? asked Phillip Baker from England
Jimmy Anderson finished England’s crushing victory in Mount Maunganui at the weekend with 4 for 18 in the second innings. He’s already the third oldest non-spinner to take a Test five-for – he was about a month short of his 40th birthday when he claimed 5 for 60 against India at Edgbaston last July. Ahead of him lie the South African medium-pacer Geoff Chubb, who marked his only series – in England in 1951 when he was 40 – with 6 for 51 in the third Test at Old Trafford, and the legendary England bowler Sydney Barnes, who was around two months short of his 41st birthday when he took 7 for 56 and 7 for 88 against South Africa in Durban in 1913-14. Anderson will be older than Barnes if he can conjure a five-for in this summer’s Ashes series.Even the seemingly ageless Anderson will be hard pressed to take the overall record: the Australian slow left-armer Bert Ironmonger was almost 50 when he took 5 for 6 and 6 for 18 against South Africa in Melbourne in 1931-32. Here’s the full list of the oldest men to take five wickets in an innings in a Test.In a recent women’s T20 international against Australia, both New Zealand openers were dismissed for golden ducks. How often has this happened in international cricket? asked Siddhartha Bhattacharya from Chile
The match you’re talking about was last week’s T20 World Cup match in Paarl: New Zealand’s chase got off to a disastrous start when both Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine fell to the first ball they faced, in Megan Schutt’s opening over. We don’t have balls-faced data for all matches, but this looks like the second such instance in women’s T20Is: both Mexican openers were run-out for ducks after facing one ball against Brazil in Lima in October 2019. I suppose some might not consider being run-out first ball as a golden duck.There are six women’s ODIs where we do not have full details – all of them involving Netherlands – in which both openers were out for ducks, and two in early women’s Ashes Tests (neither looks like two first-ball ducks, but we can’t be sure).Moving to the men, and again remembering the lack of data in some cases, there have been at least five instances of this in Tests. The first came at Old Trafford in 1888, when Australia’s Alec Bannerman was dismissed by the first ball of the second innings, from Bobby Peel, and Percy McDonnell went to the first delivery of the next over, bowled by George Lohmann. Australia were soon 7 for 6.There was a sensational start in Christchurch in 1932-33, when England’s Herbert Sutcliffe fell to the first ball of the match, and Eddie Paynter to the opening delivery of the second over. That was as good as it got for New Zealand: Wally Hammond helped himself to 227, and England reached 560.At Headingley in 1982, Bob Willis dismissed Mohsin Khan and Mudassar Nazar for golden ducks in the first over of Pakistan’s second innings. Sri Lanka’s openers Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya both fell first ball in the second innings against South Africa in Kandy in 2000; on the first morning of the match, both South Africa’s openers had bagged five-ball ducks. And in Centurion in 2016, Dale Steyn reprised Willis’ feat by removing both New Zealand openers, Tom Latham and Martin Guptill, in the first over.There have been three instances in men’s ODIs: by Zimbabwe against West Indies in Georgetown in May 2006, by Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan in Dunedin in the 2015 World Cup, and by New Zealand against West Indies at Old Trafford in the 2019 World Cup. There are also two cases in T20Is, by Bangladesh against West Indies in St Kitts in July 2018, and by Malaysia vs Nepal in Singapore in July 2019.Is it right that Gudakesh Motie now has the best bowling figures by any West Indian spinner in a Test? asked Brijesh Malalasekeran from Guyana
The Guyanese slow left-armer Gudakesh Motie had match figures of 13 for 99 (7 for 37 and 6 for 62) in only his third Test – West Indies’ innings victory over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo last week. These were indeed the best by a West Indian spinner, beating Sonny Ramadhin’s 11 for 152 against England in a famous match at Lord’s in 1950.Hardus Viljoen took the wicket of Alastair Cook with his first ball in Tests, in 2016•Getty ImagesOnly two bowlers, both pacemen, have ever recorded better match figures for West Indies. Michael Holding took 14 for 149 against England at The Oval in 1976, while Courtney Walsh reaped 13 for 55 against New Zealand in Wellington in 1994-95. Here is the full list of West Indies bowlers to take ten or more wickets in a Test.Is there anyone who took a wicket with his first ball in a Test, and then never took another one? asked Nick Smith from England
There are now 20 men who are known to have taken a wicket with the first ball they bowled in a Test. Two of them never took another one. The New Zealander Dennis Smith took the wicket of Eddie Paynter with his first ball in the match mentioned in the first question above, in Christchurch in 1932-33, but finished with 1 for 113 and was never selected again. Much later, in 2015-16, South Africa’s Hardus Viljoen dismissed Alastair Cook with his first ball in a Test, in Johannesburg. He also hit his first ball for four when he batted, but never played again.Three of the others never played another Test, but did take at least one more wicket in the one they played: Australia’s Arthur Coningham (1894-95), Matt Henderson (in New Zealand’s first Test, in 1929-30), and the West Indian Tyrell Johnson (in the last Test before the Second World War, at The Oval in 1939). Here’s the full list of players who took a wicket with their first ball in a Test.I think I heard that Raipur recently became the 50th Indian ground to stage an international match. Is that the most of any country? asked Lalchand from India
The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur was the venue for the second one-day international against New Zealand in January. It was actually the 50th different Indian ground to stage a men’s one-day international, or the 53rd if you lump in Tests and T20 internationals as well. At the moment, Raipur is one of five Indian grounds to have held a solitary men’s international, after the Bombay Gymkhana (a Test in 1933-34), the University Ground in Lucknow (a Test in 1952-53), Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium (an ODI in 1981-82), and the Indira Gandhi Stadium at Vijayawada (an ODI in 2002-03). Eden Gardens in Kolkata comfortably leads the way with 84.India has had by far the most international grounds (men’s matches only): England and Australia have both used 23, Pakistan 21 (including one now in Bangladesh), West Indies 17, South Africa and New Zealand 16, Sri Lanka ten, Bangladesh eight, the UAE six, Zimbabwe five and Ireland four.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Alan, Miller and Matt look back on an eventful couple of weeks, which included England Women losing a World Cup semi-final

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2023It’s been a busy fortnight since the Switch Hit team last sat down, with England’s men and women in action in various parts of the globe. Alan Gardner, Andrew Miller and Matt Roller/ start by reflecting on a famous finish to the Wellington Test, as New Zealand became only the fourth team in history to win after following on. They also look back at England’s semi-final exit in the Women’s T20 World Cup and run the rule over another impressive series win in Bangladesh for Jos Buttler’s ODI side.

By holding up a mirror to expose cricket’s flaws, this landmark document should help to instigate meaningful change

Andrew Miller27-Jun-20232:24

Miller: ICEC report exposes imperial legacy as cricket’s biggest flaw

Language matters. That much has become increasingly apparent with every new revelation in England’s ongoing racism reckoning. Whether the arrestingly awful headline slurs that Azeem Rafiq outlined during his emotional testimony at the DCMS hearings, or more insidious everyday micro-aggressions – such as Cheteshwar Pujara protesting on this website that he didn’t much like his nickname at Yorkshire of “Steve” – there cannot be many people within cricket who’ve watched this story unfold across the past three years, and not had reason to reflect on behaviours that would simply have gone unchallenged in a previous age.But language matters in the other direction too. If, as the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) has set out to achieve, your aim is to speak devastating truth to a demographic that you suspect may be resistant to the message you are bringing, then the only hope you have of achieving any cut-through is to engage the brains of your target audience before they can withdraw them from the process.That – over and above the 317 pages, the 44 recommendations and the plausibly uttered and graciously received apology from the ECB for past failings – is the crowning achievement of a masterfully compiled document.Related

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Australia are quite good, England might not be as good as they thought

'Home of cricket is still a home principally for men': Lord's castigated for lack of Women's Tests

For those who approach the ICEC report with an open mind, there’s a fascination to be derived from a historical narrative that delves deep into cricket’s colonial history, and draws together a range of disparate threads into a single, compellingly argued point: that a sport that was born in pre-industrial England but exported around the globe as a soft-power byword for imperial Britain’s underlying sense of fair play has had deep-seated prejudice baked into its soul from inception.And for those less willing to give such findings the same slack, they might find it reads rather like a perfectly argued comment piece in your least-favourite newspaper. You can try to disagree with its at-times forensic findings if you really must. But should you dare to do so, you’d better come armed with facts to back up your opinions, because this is a work that is ready to take you back to school.Take the report’s skewering, in a section called “Before we begin” (which in itself is a disarmingly candid turn of phrase, like Columbo turning fatefully to utter “just another thing”), of those respondents to the commission’s online survey whose views were much as you might expect to find in many a website comments section: “Don’t bow to the scourge of wokeness,” wrote one such contributor. “99.9% of people couldn’t care less [about race, class, gender],” declared another.”So we begin this report with a request,” the ICEC narrative continues, “that people who hold views like these keep an open mind and accept the reality that thousands of people who participated in this review, and many more who didn’t, have experienced discrimination in cricket …”Some people may roll their eyes at the perceived ‘wokeness’ of this work. However, as much as the word may have been weaponised in recent years, taking on a pejorative meaning, we consider – and it is often defined as such – that being ‘woke’ or doing ‘woke work’ simply means being alive to injustice.”Azeem Rafiq’s revelations sparked a race reckoning within the game•PA Photos/Getty ImagesTo that end, the ECB comes in for some justifiable early praise within the report’s preamble for “proactively initiating this process” and being “positive and brave” enough to open itself up to such forensic scrutiny. For if, as the subsequent narrative rather implies, cricket is a microcosm of the English establishment, then maybe the process of “holding up a mirror” to the establishment’s favourite sport could yet be a means for similar meaningful change to take root in society at large.”The problems we identify are not, sadly, unique to cricket,” the report continues. “In many instances they are indicative of equally deeply rooted societal problems … change does not happen without understanding the issues that need to be addressed and so we believe the ECB is worthy of praise for undertaking this exercise.”As a means to define the report’s terms of reference, therefore, it is incontrovertible; calm but firm. Precisely the sort of tone that this conversation has been crying out for, ever since Rafiq’s claims first burst into the public conscience, in part through ESPNcricinfo’s reporting in September 2020.From that moment onwards, cricket has floundered for a coherent game-wide response, and failed with increasingly depressing inevitability – most damningly at the recent Cricket Disciplinary Commission hearings, a process criticised by ICEC as a case of the ECB “marking its own homework”, and from which most of the ex-Yorkshire defendants withdrew claiming, with some justification, that they did not believe it could give them a fair hearing.

“When viewed through a post-colonial lens, it is easier to see why race and class in particular are such fundamental barriers to cricket’s quest for greater inclusivity”

By that stage, of course, the “who” and “what” had long since been the most titillating source of media interest – what was it that Michael Vaughan said to his team containing four Asian players on the outfield at Trent Bridge, and who within the Yorkshire dressing-room truly believes the word “P**i” was acceptable banter? No matter how often it was claimed throughout this phase of the process that cricket’s attempt to heal itself would be focused more on institutions than individuals, the collateral damage of the past three years – from Vaughan, to Yorkshire’s back-room staff, to David Lloyd, and self-evidently Rafiq himself – told a different, more divisive tale.But for the sake of a true advancement of the cause of equity, the ICEC report has rightly recognised that “how” and “why” are the only questions that matter now, with a pivot away from personality-based explanations, and a deep-dive into the longstanding root causes that any cricket fan with a conscience would be able to recognise as complicit.Certainly, when viewed through a post-colonial lens, it is easier to see why race and class in particular are such fundamental barriers to cricket’s quest for greater inclusivity (and why the women’s game, to quote the report’s brutal assessment is “frequently demeaned, stereotyped and treated as second-class”).It was some four decades ago that the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit suggested that immigrants who support their native countries rather than England during Test matches are not significantly integrated into the UK. And yet, that delineation still endures – and in many cases is joyfully celebrated by the communities concerned, even several generations later – perhaps most notably in recent weeks when Bangladesh took on Ireland in Chelmsford back in May, and the vast British-Bangladeshi communities of East London flocked to the three-match series, to rally around their cultural heritage.That’s not to say that the traditional rivalries that form the version of cricket that still pays most of the bills and draws most of the crowds in this country are the root cause of the sport’s ills. But given the oft-quoted figures about the popularity of cricket among ethnically diverse communities, compared to the conversion of that interest to the professional game (30-35% to 8.1% in 2021), the ICEC is within its rights to infer that a degree of “them and us” has been hard-coded into the sport’s pathways.British-based Bangladesh fans flocked to watch their country play Ireland at Chelmsford•Cricket IrelandPerhaps the one truly sour note about this report is the timing of its release. A bombshell dropped on Lord’s, the focus of much of the ICEC’s righteous anger, 24 hours out from a must-win Ashes Test in a summer that feels disproportionately important to the overall health of English cricket.The logic of the drop is sound enough in isolation. The contents of this report are too important to be snuck into the news cycle on a day when the media’s attention could conceivably be drawn elsewhere. This way, the rug is pulled from under the game before the report can be swept under it. And, for the next five days, whenever the cameras cut to those egg-and-bacon types in the pavilion, or to the punters in the stands with their stereotypically white, male and affluent profiles, it would be astonishing if there was not at least an incremental uptick in the number of people checking their privilege along the way.It does, however, feel like a punitive piece of timing, if the overall aim of the ICEC report is to unify for the betterment of the game as a whole, and perhaps one that’s been designed with Lord’s as the specific target, rather than an England team that has been visibly eager in recent years to fulfil its social obligations – not least, of course, in their at-times evangelical determination to entertain and inspire a new generation.For if there is a villain of the piece, it is Marylebone Cricket Club – the embodiment of the ancient order, the root of all the sport’s inequity (and, to judge by the language that the report uses, its iniquity too).Whether it’s the damning assertion that “the ‘home of cricket’ is still a home principally for men”, or that the MCC’s ban on musical instruments has been disproportionately offputting to the Caribbean community, or the remarkable fact that the Eton-Harrow match at Lord’s – ostensibly an anachronism with no relevance beyond the narrow social confines to which it appeals – is deemed to be one of the 44 most urgent issues that the sport needs to address.For the time being, a brief statement from Guy Lavender, MCC’s chief executive, is the sum total of the club’s response, with its commitment to reflection, and a focus on making sure that Lord’s is “a place where everyone feels welcome”. The language you might expect from an embattled organisation at such a critical juncture, in other words.But it’s the language of the ICEC that offers the most startling critique, within the broader context of its findings. “We respect and value many of the traditions of cricket generally, and Lord’s in particular, but not all,” the commission writes. “Some no longer have a place in contemporary Britain.”And as a consequence, for the next five days, contemporary Britain will be watching the goings-on in NW8 with perhaps a touch more scrutiny than the grand old club is used to feeling. As a proxy for cricket’s wider problems, which the ICEC is now seeking to drag into the light, it’s clearly as good a place to start as any. And in terms of underlining the issue’s existential importance, to unveil it right now is a reminder too that the sport cannot get away with standing on ceremony any longer.

If England are to defend their title, input from Stokes, Root, Buttler, Rashid et al will be key

Matt Roller08-Sep-2023It resembled an old-fashioned shoot-out. With the ICC final World Cup selection deadline looming, Harry Brook and Dawid Malan walked out to open the batting together in the Cardiff sunshine. Naturally, their first task was to help England beat New Zealand in the first ODI – but the subplot was clear.At least one of Brook and Malan will be in England’s 15-man squad for India, and possibly both. England are in no rush to make a firm decision – they have nearly three weeks to finalise their travelling party – and will hope that an obvious solution presents itself, whether through form or through injury.Malan made the stronger case, scoring a fluent half-century – the eighth time he has passed 50 in his 19 ODIs – but fell to Rachin Ravindra for 54 in the first over of spin bowled. Brook, who arrived in Wales late on Thursday night and played after Jason Roy suffered a back spasm, made 25 off 41 before gloving a sharp Lockie Ferguson bouncer behind.What did it all mean? Malan’s innings encapsulated the differences between T20I and ODI cricket. He has long insisted that 50-over cricket is his strongest format and he played several crisp cover-drives to get England up and running in the Powerplay, resembling a completely different batter to the one who lacked tempo in the preceding T20Is.Brook clipped the first ball of the match for four through fine leg but only managed one more boundary, playing second fiddle throughout an opening partnership worth 80. He was thrown in at the deep end, opening in a 50-over match for the first time; this was further proof that even the best young players will have the occasional off-day.In truth, the picture has hardly changed: Malan is still a consistent 50-over run-scorer; Brook remains a hugely exciting young player. There may be some concern over Roy’s fitness, having missed most of the Blast with a calf tear, but England have every reason to be cautious rather than risking players at this stage.Jonny Bairstow was rested as a precaution with a shoulder niggle. “We didn’t want to take a risk,” Jos Buttler explained. Mark Wood was not required either: “He’s still building back up… we don’t need to rush it. Getting him fully fit and ready for travelling to India is the priority.”Dawid Malan stole a march on Harry Brook in the fight for a World Cup squad berth•PA Photos/Getty ImagesIf anything, then, Friday was a reminder that the identity of England’s fringe players is unlikely to be the difference between success and failure at the World Cup. For all the intrigue around selection – and the interest in Brook specifically – major tournaments tend to be won by teams whose senior players perform.Four years ago, at the equivalent stage in their World Cup preparations, there were two spots for England to resolve in their squad: which reserve seamer would Jofra Archer squeeze out, and who should be their spin-bowling allrounder? They backed Tom Curran and Liam Dawson over David Willey and Joe Denly – and at the tournament itself, neither of them played a game.Careers can hinge on such decisions: Willey thought his days as an England player were over after his last-minute omission in 2019 and cherishes the medal he picked up as a member of last year’s T20 World Cup squad, despite the fact he did not make an appearance.But whatever England choose to do this time around, the performance of the players who are guaranteed to feature will be far more relevant to their progress in the tournament than decisions around who should be their spare batter or their sixth seamer.Related

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Take Joe Root. He struggled to get going on Friday, making 6 off 15 balls before slog-sweeping Ravindra to deep midwicket, and the next three ODIs will be vital match practice for him in a format he has hardly played over the last four years. Whether he scores 250 runs or 500 in the World Cup will make a huge difference to England’s hopes.Much the same is true of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, who slipped seamlessly back into 50-over tempo in a partnership of 88 off 104 balls. England would have been runners-up but for their 110-run stand in the final four years ago: “The thing about World Cups,” Stokes said on Thursday, “is they can come down to who can handle the pressure best.”England lacked a cutting edge with the ball, with Wood kept in mothballs ahead of more important tests to come and Adil Rashid unavailable to bowl due to cramp while Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell were building their unbroken, match-winning partnership of 180.Rashid’s eventual figures – 1 for 70 in eight overs – were ugly by the conclusion, but redeemed by the context, having to bowl to two set batters with the field up as England chased the game – that too at a ground with notoriously short straight boundaries. Again, England will not be worried so long as he comes good when it matters – as he did in Australia last year.It is not that England don’t care about results – they were rightly proud to beat Bangladesh 2-1 earlier this year, given Bangladesh’s formidable home record – but they have accepted these shadow bouts for what they are. “Of course, we’re disappointed,” Buttler said, “but there’s a lot of quality in the team.”Tom Latham, New Zealand’s captain, joked that these two teams are playing a five-match series: four September ODIs in England, then a fifth in Ahmedabad on the opening night of the World Cup in four weeks’ time. But England’s approach has long been attuned to the futility of modern bilateral series: these games will be quickly forgotten so long as they win on October 5 … and beyond.

Temba Bavuma hoping his side can set up “Super Saffaday” for their countrymen in Paris

Firdose Moonda20-Oct-2023There are Super Saturdays and then there are Super Saffadays and this is one of the latter.South Africa and England (hence Saffa: the casual expression for someone from South Africa – which is also where a lot of English professional sportspeople come from) have only played each other in international cricket and rugby once before on the same day and that was 25 years ago. In 1998, South Africa and England were tussling on day three of the Manchester Test, which was eventually drawn, and the Springboks beat England 18-0 in Cape Town. This time, they’re both on neutral ground playing at World Cups, an unprecedented occasion, which means there’s at least 10 hours of entertainment and rivalry guaranteed.Related

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Let’s start with what’s at stake: in Paris, in a replay of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, there’s a spot in the 2023 final up for grabs. It’s win or bust. In Mumbai, we’re not quite there yet. Both teams are only a third of the way through their group stage campaigns but already, they both need to get their trains back on track. South Africa and England are coming off losses against lower-ranked sides, after failing to chase fairly modest scores against Netherlands and Afghanistan respectively. South Africa’s loss stung particularly sorely, after they were also beaten by Netherlands at last year’s T20 World Cup, but one of their prominent countrymen has told them it doesn’t matter.”We believe in you guys. We trust you guys. One hiccup, but you know what to do,” Siya Kolisi, the Springbok captain said in a video message to the Proteas. “Enjoy it and play as hard as you can. You know that over 60 million South Africans will be supporting you, including us. So make it special.”Said by anyone else, those words may seem greeting-card glib but delivered by Kolisi, with his earnest tone and honest eyes, they carry enormous meaning. Kolisi is the poster child of the message that sport in South Africa is about more than a game. Born to a teenage girl in a township and raised by his grandmother, Kolisi as an adult found and adopted his half-siblings from an orphanage. He is the epitome of how sport can change lives. And while he knows that winning matches will never put food on ordinary South Africans’ tables, he also hopes it can provide some joy to people in a state of despair. A pre-tournament video promoting their campaign shows the Boks dedicating their performances to people and places that matter to them. Some do it for their hometowns, others late grandparents or parents, others for South African leaders and legends. Towards the end, Kolisi says they are doing it: “For you, South Africa, we are who we are because of you.”By the time you get to that point – 47 seconds into a one-minute clip – even if you have never heard of Kraaifontein or the Karoo, your eyes might be brimming. Now, Kolisi has called on Bavuma to jump on the same train, and to set the tone on Super Saffaday, where the cricket will be played first and should end just in time for the rugby to start. “The responsibility is on us to get things going the right way,” Temba Bavuma said at the Wankhede. “We have that responsibility to put smiles on our countrymen’s faces, and make sure we go out and entertain, and bring back the win.”Like Kolisi, Bavuma called the defeat to Netherlands “one blip” and said his team will not allow it to define this campaign or even their performances over the last year.”We acknowledge the fact that in the last couple of months, we’ve played a lot of good cricket. We can’t overlook that and allow one blip in our game to override everything that we’ve done. It’s easy to second-guess yourselves but it’s about not forgetting all the good work that we’ve done.”South Africa will be looking to bounce back after the defeat against Netherlands•ICC/Getty ImagesAnd against England, South Africa don’t have to look too far for evidence. Earlier this year, they beat England 2-1 in a crucial World Cup Super League series, which was squeezed into the SA20 window, to earn some of the points they needed for automatic qualification to this tournament. Rassie van der Dussen and Bavuma scored match-winning centuries in those matches, which will be confidence-boosting reminders after their dismissals in Dharamsala. Bavuma was bowled by a delivery that did not turn and van der Dussen reverse-swept Roelof van der Merwe straight to the square leg fielder. But for once, South Africa are not running away from their ghosts. Bavuma advanced down the track to smash a spinner for six in the nets at the Wankhede while van der Dussen was spotted practising his reverse-sweep in a suggestion that both are attempting to conquer their demons here and now. It may not work, but the new South African cricket way is to make sure they try.They’ve been given a license to thrill, and it has resulted in the top six playing some of the most dynamic cricket of the last two years. In case anyone forgot about that, David Miller served up a reminder when, at optional training on the eve of the match, he hit a six from the nets into the press box window, 14 rows up. More are expected to come on the day itself. “The guys that have played here, JP Duminy [batting coach] and Quinton [de Kock], have spoken about how it can be a batter’s paradise. You get value for your shots and the ball seems to travel further,” Bavuma said. “As batters it can build a lot of confidence. And if it is your day, you can fill your boots. And I guess just the atmosphere of it all, being a full ground, it can really be something to enjoy.”For Bavuma, the occasion holds special significance. He spent his early years idolising hometown hero Sachin Tendulkar (he was even nicknamed “Sachin” after him), and dreaming of one day playing at the Wankhede. Now he is here, not just playing but leading the national team. His story to international fame is not dramatic as Kolisi’s, and unlike Kolisi, he is not as public-facing a figure, but their ascendance at the same time is symbolic of a transforming South Africa that is slowly and painfully working through its past.On Super Saffaday, Bavuma will first lead out the Proteas before Kolisi does the same for the Springboks and 62 million hearts will stop for a second. South Africans don’t unite for too many things but when they do, they do it properly. It’s loud, it’s colourful and it’s passionate. The pulse of a nation will start with the first delivery in Mumbai and continue through to the final whistle in Paris. Whatever happens, it’s going to be a day to remember.

Veteran set for his second Shield final 11 years after his first having helped WA claim hosting rights with a five-wicket haul against Victoria

Tristan Lavalette19-Mar-2024During his long Sheffield Shield career, Cameron Gannon has been used to being well down the pace pecking order, forced to bide time and wait patiently for opportunities to emerge through injuries or international call-ups.He’s mostly stayed on the fringes, which would frustrate many, but the experienced Gannon, 35, takes a pragmatic view. “It’s a difficult job, but you would rather have that than no job at all,” he told ESPNcricinfo.As Gannon prepares to play the Shield final, after being 12th man for the past two, he encapsulates Western Australia’s remarkable pace bowling depth and ‘next man in’ mantra.WA are on the cusp of their first hat-trick of titles since the late 1980s despite frontline quicks Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and Matt Kelly playing just five matches between them this season.Related

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None of them will be available for the final against Tasmania starting on Thursday at the WACA. But Gannon, who played just five matches across the previous two seasons, has taken his opportunities and was key in WA’s barnstorming finish of the home-and-away season.Able to swing the new ball menacingly and bowl a nagging line and length consistently, Gannon has effectively slipped into the role of workhorse that was previously held by Kelly, who only managed to bowl seven overs this domestic season due to injuries.Gannon claimed 14 wickets at 21.79 in WA’s last three Shield matches highlighted by a player-of-the-match performance against Victoria with a place in the final at stake.Using his 6 foot 7 frame to devastating effect, Gannon superbly exploited a spicy Junction Oval surface on a pivotal day two. He generated awkward bounce and targeted the divots to finish with 5 for 42 and ensure WA had a 100-run first innings lead after bowling Victoria out for 144.Cameron Gannon has become WA’s workhorse•Getty Images”It was awesome. I had a whole lot of fun,” Gannon said. “As one of the senior bowlers you want to contribute when given a chance. That’s been the most pleasing thing.”Gannon might make it look seamless, but stepping in and making an impact is “incredibly difficult” despite his experience.”You hear players from previous generations say the game is easier now. I could not disagree more,” he said.”The quality of cricket being played across the country compared to when I started has improved so much. So many young guys come in and are ready to perform.”To come in and play a game here and there is so hard because you don’t have the rhythm of playing consistently and build on performances over a period of time.”Gannon’s late-season surge means he will get a chance to win his first Shield title. His only previous appearance in a final was in 2012-13 with Queensland and against, coincidentally, Tasmania in a match that ended in a draw at Bellerive Oval.Before the competition’s bonus point system, home teams in finals had notoriously been producing flat surfaces in a bid to get the draw needed to claim the title.”The flattest wicket of all time, it was horrific,” recalled Gannon with a laugh. He toiled for 1 for 88 in 32 overs as a cautious Tasmania made a painstaking 419 from 173.4 overs in their first innings.The match also dredges up painful memories for Gannon, who was twice reported for an illegal action and subsequently banned by Cricket Australia.A biomechanical analysis at the Australian Institute of Sport found Gannon bowled with an average elbow extension of 24 degrees – far above the allowable 15-degree limit.

“Playing in a Shield final is what we aspire to as domestic cricketers. It’s the closest thing a lot of us will get to Test cricket. It will be an amazing thing to be part of, especially in front of our home fans. I’m incredibly excited.”Cameron Gannon

It halted a rise for Gannon, who collected 31 Shield wickets at 23.51 during a breakout 2012-13 summer having made his first-class debut in October 2010.”It was tough. I’m glad that period of my life is done,” Gannon said. “But it taught me some valuable lessons and it’s knowledge I can pass on to younger bowlers.”If I hadn’t done the work back then I wouldn’t have these opportunities now.”Gannon painstakingly rebuilt his action during remedial work, but when he returned to the field he had to endure the stigma of throwing and copped barbs from fans.”From a technical standing there were a lot of cues that got me through that period. But I don’t even use them now. They are second nature to me,” he said.Gannon relied on the support of coaches Ashley Noffke and Andy Bichel to help him overcome the physical and mental challenges.”[Noffke’s] a wonderful technical coach,” he said. “Bic is unbelievable from a belief perspective. He always instils amazing self-belief. It’s almost like he believes in you more than you believe in yourself.”Gannon’s confidence gradually returned and he finally became a regular member of Queensland’s XI in 2019-20 when he was the Shield’s leading wicket-taker with 38 at 20.92.But with emerging quicks making their way through the ranks, led by Xavier Bartlett who had debuted that season in first-class cricket, the then 31-year-old Gannon was only offered a one-year deal from Queensland after wanting two.Cameron Gannon playing for Queensland•Getty ImagesWA sensed an opportunity to pounce. Still early in Adam Voges’ tenure as coach, WA were in the midst of a rebuild following Justin Langer’s departure having finished fifth in 2019-20. They were on the lookout for a seasoned and durable seamer to help prop up an inexperienced and injury-prone attack.WA’s three-year offer proved too hard to refuse. “I loved the boys and playing for Queensland, but what pushed me over the line was security. WA were there for me when Queensland weren’t,” Gannon said.”My wife and I looked at it as a chance to live somewhere different and push ourselves outside our comfort zone. We decided that cricket was going to be a vehicle for experiences for our family.”So we decided to bite the bullet and shift across the country,” added Gannon, whose kids Henry and Nora were aged four and one at the time.But Gannon struggled to replicate his previous season’s form and averaged 39.58 from eight matches in 2020-21. He was soon back on the sidelines, as Richardson and Morris took the reins, and played just five matches across WA’s back-to-back Shield triumphs.Gannon’s first-class career appeared in familiar jeopardy after appearing in only two of WA’s first seven matches before his late-season burst earned him a one-year extension. It has ensured he will hold off on his move into financial planning post his playing days.”I’ll keep playing until I’m 40 if I can,” Gannon quipped. But it might not be a stretch with Gannon also building a playing career in the United States. The holder of an American passport, through his Sacramento-based mother, Gannon starred in last year’s much-anticipated inaugural season of Major League Cricket. He won the domestic player of the tournament to help Seattle Orcas reach the final.Having played four T20Is for the US in 2019, Gannon had hoped to be part of the upcoming T20 World Cup with some of the tournament’s matches to be played in New York, Dallas and Lauderhill.But Gannon is set to be ineligible for selection having missed zonal trials in the US due to his domestic cricket commitments in Australia. “If that’s the policy then that’s the policy and there is nothing I can do about it. But it’s disappointing,” he said.Gannon’s focus right now is on the Shield final and playing his part in a WA attack that continues to dominate opponents no matter who is in the lineup.”It’s a very intelligent bowling group with clear plans,” he said. “As a group, we communicate really well. If someone is working on a particular thing, they communicate it to the others and we can all feed off that knowledge. It’s really a great group to be a part of.”After so much time waiting in the wings, Gannon gets an unexpected late career chance to shine on the most famous stage in Australian domestic cricket and help etch WA into Shield lore.”Playing in a Shield final is what we aspire to as domestic cricketers,” he said. “It’s the closest thing a lot of us will get to Test cricket. It will be an amazing thing to be part of, especially in front of our home fans. I’m incredibly excited.”