It’s always tough to make an impact as a bowler in short-form cricket – you only get 24 balls at most, when the top batters get far more than that. (Imagine if batters had to retire after facing 24 balls?) Furthermore, although there has been a downwards trend in 1st innings totals, WPL has not been a bowlers’ tournament. But this means that (as someone once said) every ball counts all the more; and the cream rises to the top with the likes of Sophie Ecclestone and Marizanne Kapp showing why they are always amongst the top picks for these franchise tournaments. A breakthrough player can someti ..read more

These rankings offer a little bit of a shift in perspective to those you’ll see elsewhere, because they completely ignore the total number of runs scored (or wickets taken) and look purely at ball-by-ball performance. They aren’t better or worse than the absolute rankings, but they are different… and we like different! The epitome of this is Jemimah Rodrigues, who has looked poor value in terms of her absolute numbers. She was one of the most expensive players in the competition, costing Delhi Capitals 2.2 Cr – twice as much as Meg Lanning – but while Meg Lanning was the top run-scorer in the ..read more

This week: Raf reflects on what cricket might learn from Canadian ice hockey WPL: current standings What went wrong for Deandra Dottin… …and what’s gone right for Dane van Niekerk? Is Clare Connor’s new job all it seems ..read more

This week: An exciting week at WPL Sophia Dunkley’s career uptick Are the boundaries too short? And if so… why? Thanks to Cricket Coffee Co for sending us some free coffee. You can find Boundary Breaker at cricketcoffeeco.com #ad ..read more

This week, we’re back in the ol’ US of K: Takeaways from the World Cup – Aus, India & Eng v the rest? Changing perceptions of women’s sport in South Africa The game we didn’t see – England v Australia Build-up to WPL The Mystery of Dottin ..read more

A tightly disciplined powerplay bowling performance set Australia up to lift the World Cup at Newlands, as they went on to defend a par total and win by 19 runs. Australia (156-6) v South Africa (137-6) – SA scored just 22 runs in the powerplay – hard to come back from that… and they didn't. But they did still run Australia much closer than India did back in 2020. pic.twitter.com/TMspSllbS7 — CRICKETher (@crickether) February 26, 2023 Australia held South Africa to 22-1 in the powerplay, with Ash Gardner conceding just 2 runs from her one of those overs, on her way to final figures of 1-2 ..read more

This week: England & Australia dominate at the #T20WorldCup Thoughts on THAT over by Katherine Sciver-Brunt Player retentions in #TheHundred Why Vipers fans will love the new allocation process for regional cricket ..read more

It was England who smashed South Africa all over the park last summer, winning the white-ball series in England 6-0. It was England who pummelled over 200 at this very ground just a couple of days ago; after which South Africa nervously stuttered to a win against Bangladesh. But it was South Africa today that played their hearts out for this generation to finally earn a place in a World Cup final, after falling at the semi-finals in 2 of the last 3 ICC global tournaments. Batting first seemed a brave decision for a “bowling” team, and Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits were not quick out of the ..read more

There have been a lot of words expended about what Jon Lewis has brought to the England camp which is different to his predecessors, but one word stood out to me from Danni Wyatt’s eve of semi-final press conference – “calmness”. “We’re feeling really confident, and more importantly really chilled. We’re all ready for tomorrow,” she said. “Lewy [Jon Lewis] has brought this really calm aura into the team – everyone knows their plan.” For me, it’s that word which has epitomised England’s approach this World Cup. It meant that they didn’t panic when they found themselves 29 for 3 against India. I ..read more

The sheer cliffs of Cape Town’s Table Mountain make Newlands one of the most stunning grounds in world cricket, as they loom majestically over the city. Newlands & Table Mountain pic.twitter.com/IPPNxMQvFh — CRICKETher (@crickether) February 21, 2023 In front of a crowd starting to build ahead of the “main event” later, when South Africa take on Bangladesh with a semi-final place at stake for the hosts, England too loomed majestically over Pakistan, monstering the challengers to win their group in emphatic style. England (213-5) bt Pakistan (99-9) pic.twitter.com/xolsul0qns — CRICKE ..read more