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“If you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys,” Australia captain said

Andrew McGlashan23-Jun-20241:16

Moody: Haven’t seen an Australian side field so poorly

Mitchell Marsh has backed Australia’s big-game mentality to come to the fore against India after their first-ever defeat to Afghanistan left their T20 World Cup 2024 hopes in jeopardy amid question marks over another lackluster fielding display.Australia have a very short turnaround as they play the day game in St Lucia on Monday – following a finish of close to midnight in St Vincent – and even a victory may not be enough to reach the semi-finals, which shows how quickly a campaign that had been running smoothly can be rocked: had they beaten Afghanistan, progress would have been confirmed along with India.What is close to must-win cricket in World Cups is not a new experience to Australia – they were effectively in that mode for much of the ODI edition last year after a poor start – and Marsh was confident they could dig deep again.Related

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“We have a lot of belief in our group,” Marsh said. “We are a very good cricket team. Yes, tonight we had an off night, but I guess there’s also a positive in the fact that in 36 hours we go again. I think if you look back at the short history of this team, I know for a fact that it brings out the best in our guys, so the boys will certainly be up and about for it.””It’s all about trusting ourselves,” he added. “We’ve got a good bunch of people and I believe our best is up there with the best. So, we need to bring that on whatever day it is in a couple of days’ time and move forward pretty quickly.”For the second time in three matches, Australia were poor in the field with five missed catches – none of which were easy – and a stumping from Matthew Wade, plus some poor groundwork as they were put under pressure by Afghanistan’s running between the wickets.”We certainly pride ourselves on our fielding,” he said. “Can’t question the boys putting in the work. I think it’s no different to any other skill set. We put in the work, we didn’t execute in the field tonight and ultimately it played a part in us losing the game.”I think we don’t want to have too many off nights in the field but I also believe that at our best we’re an unbelievable fielding side so it’s easy to look at tonight and, yes, it was disappointing but ultimately, we have 36 hours to turn it around and I still believe that our best is very good in the field.”In contrast, Afghanistan were excellent, most significantly with Noor Ahmad’s superb catch to remove Glenn Maxwell when he was threatened to guide the chase home.”I think in T20 especially, a short format, where you make those small mistakes, it’s pretty hard for you to come back,” Rashid Khan said. “In ODIs, yes, you have 50 overs where you can have the comeback. But in T20…you don’t have any space where you can come back again into the game. I think fielding plays [as] crucial role as the batting and bowling.”

Manchester United chiefs are now weighing up whether to sign a £42 million striker instead of Viktor Gyokeres, according to a new report.

Ruben Amorim wants to strengthen the spine of his Man Utd team

It wouldn’t be a surprise to many Man United supporters if the club had a major clear-out this summer and moved several players on, given the poor campaign in domestic competition. Selling players would allow United to enter the transfer market and bring in replacements who fit the criteria of what Ruben Amorim wants at Old Trafford.

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Signing a new goalkeeper may not have been a real priority a few months ago, but given the inconsistent performances of Andre Onana, a new number one appears high on United’s list heading into the summer.

Onana is being linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League, and as a replacement, United have already made contact with Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic over a return to Old Trafford.

The 28-year-old was in United’s academy a few years ago but failed to make a first-team appearance; now Amorim has set his sights on bringing him back.

As well as looking for a new goalkeeper, the Red Devils also want to strengthen their options at centre-back, and it’s been reported that the Premier League side have held talks over signing Jonathan Tah from Bayer Leverkusen. The Germany international is set to become a free agent, and United are now the latest team to show interest in signing him.

Man Utd consider cheaper move for Moise Kean

But the most important position the Red Devils need to address this summer is the forward line, and according to Footmercato, Man Utd are now considering signing Fiorentina striker Moise Kean this summer.

The report states that United chiefs have now added Kean to their transfer shortlist for a new striker, with Victor Osimhen, Liam Delap and Gyokeres already on the list. It claims that Kean is seen as a more ‘profitable profile’ and a ‘major asset’. That is because the former Everton striker has a release clause worth €50 million (£42 million) which becomes active in the first two weeks of July, and could likely be sold for more than that down the line if he performs well.

Kean, who is under contract at Fiorentina until 2029, is thus seen as a cheaper option by the Red Devils, as Gyokeres would likely cost in the region of £60 million plus, as that is reportedly what Chelsea have already bid for the Sweden international.

For United, signing Gyokeres may be even more difficult to do should they not win the Europa League and therefore not qualify for the Champions League, as the player wants to continue playing at the highest level.

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United are keeping their options open and have now added Kean to their shortlist, who has had an impressive campaign in Italy, scoring 17 goals in 30 Serie A appearances, as well as a further three in the UEFA Conference League.

However, this would be a risky signing by United, as the last time Kean was in the Premier League, he scored just two goals in 32 league appearances. This is not a return United need or want, so given how many goals Gyokeres has scored in Portugal over a number of seasons, signing Kean would be a huge gamble for the Red Devils despite whatever financial advantage it gains.

Liverpool are looking for reinforcements to strengthen their argument to continue winning silverware and they are now looking to fend off stiff competition for one of South America’s most talented youngsters.

Liverpool kickstart their summer transfer business

The Premier League trophy will arrive at Anfield in a matter of weeks and there is little to be despondent about among the Reds’ support, who have taken to Arne Slot after the Dutchman’s magnificent debut season in charge.

Internally, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have signed extensions to continue their association with Liverpool. However, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future remains unsolved amid heavy links claiming the Three Lions international could join Real Madrid.

While the wait goes on regarding his long-term plans, Liverpool are eyeing a move for Celtic forward Daizen Maeda to strengthen their forward line following an excellent season for the Japan international north of the border.

Reds scouts have also ran the rule over Aston Villa star Morgan Rogers and it is anticipated that they could make a move to bring the former Manchester City man to Anfield.

Rayan Ait-Nouri is on the radar to provide competition for Andy Robertson after another solid campaign for the Wolverhampton Wanderers man, even if he would cost around £51 million to lure from the West Midlands.

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Liverpool are set for a shopping spree this summer.

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Several other names will continue to do the rounds and plenty of transfer scenarios are set to be thrown around in connection with Liverpool, given their status as reigning champions under Slot. Tapping into that theme, the Reds have now made an approach to sign one of South America’s brightest talents once the window opens.

Liverpool make transfer approach for Flamengo's Wesley

According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool have made ‘informal approaches’ to Flamengo over Wesley as they look to land the Brazilian star following over a year of scouting the full-back. Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona are also in contention to sign the 21-year-old, who the Reds see as an ideal successor to Alexander-Arnold should he depart this summer.

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Chelsea are preparing an opening offer of around £17 million for his signature. However, Flamengo are looking to recoup a fee nearer the £29.7 million mark. Negotiations are expected to pick up pace during the Club World Cup.

Labelled “exceptional” by Felipe Luis, the Brazil international has made 125 appearances for Flamengo in total, registering three goals and five assists. His agent has travelled to England previously to hold talks with Manchester City and Liverpool surrounding a potential transfer, suggesting that there could be legs to this story from more than one angle.

Conceivably, the Reds stand a good chance of landing Wesley due to their position as Premier League title holders. Nevertheless, it will be up to the player himself to determine his next career step.

The Namibia opener is hoping the team’s success will inspire people to pick up the game outside the capital city

Firdose Moonda28-May-2024In the 35km stretch between Namibia’s coastal cities of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, there are endless sand dunes (including the world’s seventh largest, creatively named Dune 7) and about 100,000 people. Only one of them, Michael van Lingen, is an international cricketer, and these days he is instantly recognisable in the area.”I stay at Long Beach and I see a lot of youngsters that have never played cricket and never even heard of cricket – and they’re now interested in the game. When I’m there, I train in my Namibian kit and that’s how I try and inspire the guys,” says van Lingen, a top-order batter.”Cricket Namibia have got guys going into rural areas. They get the children involved and they get the parents involved. Because cricket is not an older sport like rugby in Namibia, people don’t know cricket. Lots of the parents are a bit sceptical and ask: ‘What is this sport? What’s this bat and ball?’ And then they realise it’s a great sport. It’s grown so much in the last two or three years.”Where the 26-year-old van Lingen lives is important because although Namibia itself is huge – at more than 800,000 square kilometres – its population of just over 2.5 million people is tiny. Almost anything of significance that happens in the country takes place in the capital, Windhoek (400km east of Walvis Bay), including most elite sport, and it’s rare to find someone who still lives in what could be called the wilderness involved in something as high-profile as cricket has become.Just his presence could help grow the game that he had to learn through television, and later in South Africa.Related

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“The skill and everything I’ve learned was through TV because the facilities [in Namibia] weren’t great. We had only one field and a cement pitch and the coaches were minimal.”I would look at guys like Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting and all the top players,” he says. “I used to like Michael Bevan even though he was a bit before my time. He was one of my favourite cricketers because he’s left-handed and was a finisher and I also used to be a finisher when I was young, so I would try to replicate what I saw him do.”When he was in his second year of high school, van Lingen and his family moved to South Africa’s Western Cape, where he attended one of the country’s best-known sporting schools: Paarl Boys, whose alumni include England international Dawid Malan.”I went to the school for squash, actually,” van Lingen says. “But then cricket started to take over.”At the outset van Lingen was a middle-order batter who only bowled in the nets. “I actually started off bowling left-arm wristspin and it came out well, but obviously that’s quite a hard skill if you haven’t been doing it for years. I sort of put that in my back pocket and I guess I could bring it out again, but I can’t promise it will be any good.”Instead, he made his name as a seamer and was picked in Namibia’s squad for the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. “We lacked bowlers at that time, so I thought I would make sure it was something I did.”A view of the Atlantic Ocean from Long Beach•Michael van LingenAt the tournament, van Lingen took 4 for 24 against South Africa, dismissing future internationals Kyle Verreynne and Tony de Zorzi, and finished as Namibia’s second-highest wicket-taker. Less than two months later he made his first-class debut, but went wicketless. After that, he did not play any cricket for the next five years.”My studies took over and then it was Covid, but I also had injuries,” he says. “The reason I stopped bowling in the first place was because I had a stress fracture in my lower back. I was out for a year, and then when I started playing again, two weeks in, I tore my hamstring. I just decided to step away from cricket.”He finished his studies at the University of Pretoria and moved back to Namibia to help with the family business. “I just started playing for fun and before I could wipe my eyes out, I made my [international] debut.”In that first T20I, against PNG in Dubai in October 2021 , he didn’t bat and bowled only one over – of orthodox left-arm spin.”My mechanics were awful and I was very injury-prone, so I sort of stepped away from bowling because there would always be some niggle that held me back. I decided to start focusing on my batting instead.”Van Lingen on Namibia’s chances in the 2024 T20 World Cup: “We think that if we play good cricket on the day, we can take any of the four teams [in Namibia’s group] out”•Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty ImagesIn his fourth match, against Scotland at the 2021 T20 World Cup, van Lingen opened the batting and scored 18 off 24 balls.”We only had one or two guys that wanted to open the batting, and because I played squash, I’ve got a good eye and good reflexes, so I said, I’ll give it a go, I don’t think I’ll be too bad at it.”He wasn’t. In his first ODI, a month after his T20I debut, van Lingen scored 51 off 48 balls from No. 3 as Namibia beat Oman by 40 runs in Windhoek.Since then, he has scored four ODI hundreds and two T20I half-centuries, but he hasn’t quite nailed the kind of power game the 20-over format demands. Van Lingen thinks he knows why. “I’m a bit more technical, I focus on timing the ball and I wouldn’t say I’m a big six-hitter, especially in the beginning.”I don’t really like to compare myself to guys like Travis Head and all those players. I just try to focus on my own game and make sure that I nail my skill as a solid opening batter. One of my goals for this World Cup is to lay a strong foundation in the powerplay for the team.”In the Namibian set-up, van Lingen feels that a slightly more circumspect approach works. “We’ve got a very strong finishing team. JJ [Smit], David Wiese and Gerhard [Erasmus, the captain] can come in later if we’ve set that strong foundation in the powerplay and just finish it. They can take games away from teams.”Namibia beat Sri Lanka by 55 runs in the 2022 T20 World Cup•Daniel Pockett/ICC/Getty ImagesIn the 2024 T20 World Cup, Namibia are slotted in Group B, along with Oman – whom they beat 3-2 in a T20I series in April – Scotland, England and Australia, and it’s the big guys that they are gunning for.”We want to be playing against England and Australia and the likes of South Africa and New Zealand. We’re very excited and very, very positive,” van Lingen says. “We think that if we play good cricket on the day, we can take any of the four teams out. We’re very optimistic in making it through the group.”That’s fighting talk from a side who have never played England or Australia in T20Is, and have only ever beaten three Full Members in the format – Zimbabwe, Ireland and Sri Lanka. No member of the current side has played in the Caribbean before either, save for Wiese, who has featured in the CPL.Their win over Ireland came during a dream run at the 2021 T20 World Cup, where they progressed from the first round to the Super 12s. Van Lingen was part of that squad and remembers it as life-changing.”There’s not much of a better feeling. I I never thought I would be able to feel so much joy and see so much passion and love for the sport and for the country.”For me, the biggest thing about qualifying for the Super 12s was the inspiration that the youngsters had. That was huge. After that World Cup, I think cricket increased tenfold in Namibia. People suddenly started asking questions and wanted to get involved. Before that, people didn’t even know Namibia played cricket, especially people at the coast.”Now they do and it’s a big deal because Cricket Namibia is trying to grow the game outside of the capital ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, which the country will co-host with South Africa and Zimbabwe.Namibia still have to qualify for that tournament, but van Lingen is confident they have the inspiration and plan to get there. “There’s still a lot of time, so there’s still a lot of upskilling that we can do. And we want to get there. We’ve seen the stadium [in Windhoek] getting built and the other preparations and it’s such an exciting time for the whole country to be hosting the event.”By then, if all goes well, there may also be more national cricketers living at Long Beach.

Rub of the green, invisible heroes, plants in rival teams… is it too early to say ?

Sidharth Monga26-May-2022Forget the role clarity. Never mind the death bowling of Harshal Patel and death batting of Dinesh Karthik. Leave aside Wanindu Hasaranga in the middle overs. If you are a Royal Challengers Bangalore fan and believe in signs, you are probably already playing “” at wedding celebrations. For it looks destined right now that this is Royal Challengers’ year. You probably know more signs than us, but here are a few that are staring us right in the face.If you haven’t noticed these, you either don’t follow IPL or are just trying to be a hipster by following only teams that have no connect with the geographical units they claim to represent: Rajasthan Royals or Punjab Kings or whatever their name was last week or Delhi Capitals.

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DRSYou probably get nightmares of the marginal calls gone against your team or that erroneous short run that you believe ended up costing you a playoffs spot, but this year the rub of the green has been on Royal Challengers’ side. Remember the second ball Karthik faced in the Eliminator? Looked gone for a duck. Not given. Saved by an umpire’s call on the review.Who will forget Rishabh Pant, so trigger happy on most days with DRS requests, being conservative in a match that Royal Challengers desperately needed Mumbai Indians to win against Capitals?All these marginal calls are going against Royal Challengers’ rivals elsewhere. Capitals’ Rovman Powell not getting the no-ball, for example. Gujarat Titans’ Matthew Wade hitting the leather off the ball only for Ultra Edge to not show a sound signature. With some luck, we might even have a year when Royal Challengers don’t demand for an aspect of decision-making to be taken away from the umpires.Related

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They are dropping your match-winnersBoth Rajat Patidar and Karthik were dropped when the partnership was hardly past 10: in the end they end up with 92 in 41 balls.Also before we let Pant go, he dropped Karthik on five in the league game against Royal Challengers only for Karthik to score 66 off 34 that buried Capitals.Speaking of match-winnersShouldn’t they be Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli? Between them, Maxwell and Kohli have played three innings of 40 or more at a strike rate above 140. du Plessis last had such a big impact on May 8. It’s the others who have been carrying them. You would think with two matches remaining the big three are due according to the law of averages.He’s won it with Mumbai. He’s won it with SRH. He’s won it with CSK. This year, Karn Sharma is with RCB. Should we say more?•BCCIWhat are the odds?Patidar was supposed to be getting married during this IPL. It was only an injury to young Luvnith Sisodia – an event so unremarkable that the IPL release doesn’t even mention what injury – that brought Patidar in as replacement after Royal Challengers had let him go. He spent more than 20 days on the bench, and came in only when others played them out of contention. Now he won you the Eliminator with his first century in T20 cricket.Plants in rival teamsIf Patidar is an example of a lost soul finding its way back, another lost soul helped them from the outside. Tim David was part of Royal Challengers last year but they made not a single bid for him at the auction table this year. Only for David to score 34 off 11 in Mumbai’s final league match to make sure Capitals finished below Royal Challengers.The invisible heroStarting 2016, only Mumbai have been able win the IPL without Karn Sharma in their squad even though Karn has played only four matches in the playoffs. That’s four titles in four playoff matches, one with Sunrisers Hyderabad, one with Mumbai, two with Chennai Super Kings. In one of the title runs, he didn’t play a single game.If you think all of Royal Challengers’ calls at the auction table have worked only in a circuitous way, you have another thing coming. They managed themselves a steal deal this year: Karn Sharma at the base price of INR 50 lakh.The captainThe last time a team won the IPL from outside the top two, it was an overseas captain leading them. du Plessis is the only overseas captain in the playoffs this year. Okay now we are taking it too far but you get the drift.

Williamson? Azam? Das? Vince? Bravo? Three of our staff members pretend debating this is work

Sambit Bal, Alan Gardner, Karthik Krishnaswamy04-May-2020Rabbit HolesAlan Gardner, deputy editor: Hello chaps. So we’re here to talk about aesthetics, or sexy batting, as us kids say. The shots that have us purring, the movements that would grace the ballet, the style straight out of a fashion shoot… By which I’m mainly referring to the oeuvre of Alastair Cook.Sambit Bal, editor-in-chief: I know we are supposed to be talking about current batsmen, but just to set the mood, and to purge this image of Cook from our minds, let’s begin with this photograph of a different England left-hander. I am the oldest here, and unlike most of you, my cricket consciousness was shaped by stone tablets, newspaper writing, books, radio and photographs. And even before I watched him play, I was besotted with the idea of David Gower.David Gower: bursting with beauty even in a grainy b/w•PA Photos/Getty ImagesKarthik Krishnaswamy, senior sub-editor: Helmets have ruined cricket, part 13,783: that photograph wouldn’t look half as glorious with Gower wearing a helmet.Bal: That’s true, helmets took out a little personality. But there is still a lot left… the flow of the bat, the way the feet line up, the arc of the bat, and how the body finishes.Gardner: Straight to the golden-locked left-hander, eh? Although who would argue with that? Pinged his first ball in Tests, as a 21-year-old, for four, while looking like a Michelangelo carving and batting with a twig.Krishnaswamy: How much did Gower’s appeal stem from the fair hair and the lovely features? Would everyone have swooned over him to the extent they did if he was exactly the same batsman from neck down but looked like… Mike Gatting?ALSO READ: The Jury’s Out: The best batsman to watchGardner: I’ve only ever watched Gower on YouTube, but it’s easy to see why people get – what’s an appropriate euphemism – misty-eyed? There’s a documentary from 1989, in which Frank Keating offers up this as his intro: “Only two men – Boycott and Cowdrey – have made more runs for England than David Gower in all Test match history, but no man in the whole game has scored more while at the same time vesting all the world’s cricket fields with such freshness and delight.”Bal: Here’s a bit from a piece in our own .)Sick flicks: Mark Waugh breezily plays one off the hips•Nick Wilson/Getty ImagesBal (): But I want to pick up from there: when you think of beauty in batting, what stroke personifies it the most to you guys?Krishnaswamy: It’s hard to pin it down to one, but if I was forced to, I’d pick the flick either side of midwicket. I remember reading in an article sometime in the ’90s that Mark Waugh plays the flick off his hip with the ease of a man putting on his hat. A friend of mine on Twitter posted this, and asked me which of these flicks is better. And it’s honestly impossible to answer. Mark Waugh’s minimalism or Azharuddin’s flourish?And minimalism v flourish is the biggest divide when it comes to attractive batsmen. Azhar and Brian Lara on one side. Mark Waugh and Damien Martyn on the other. VVS Laxman somewhere in between.Gardner: If only we had time to psychoanalyse Karthik’s preference for working-class shots (the off side being the “posh side”).Krishnaswamy: The toff side, you mean.Bal []: To me, it’s the cover drive. Always the cover drive. The straight drive, particularly to the on side, is almost the perfect stroke. But it’s often minimalistic. The flick is full of wrist and art, but for full expression and majesty, it’s the cover drive for me.Gardner: The cover drive is the cricket version of Gentleman’s Relish, right? Although there’s something about an effortless pull shot that flicks my switch. There’s this Arlott line on Clive Lloyd’s pull: “The stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick”.Krishnaswamy: So since the cover drive makes the two of you so giddy, who plays it best today?ESPNcricinfo LtdBal: Three of them: Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. Technically, Williamson is the best. He plays it the latest, as much under his eyes as possible. Kohli has a better range – he can played a checked drive, like a punch, one with the full flourish, and also one off the back foot.Krishnawamy: Those picks are hard to debate. I’d break it down this way: Williamson plays the off drive – beating mid-off either to his right or left – better than anyone today. Kohli’s best shot is the extra-cover drive, beating cover to his right. Babar plays both that and the one to the left of cover with equal aplomb. Though all the social-media love for Babar’s cover drive seems sort of shallow to me and pisses me off.Bal: Yes, it’s the range that matters. All three of them hit it off both front and back foot.Gardner: All wrong answers, because actually James Vince plays the best cover drive.Krishnaswamy: Vince’s is good-looking but flaky as hell, as likely to get him out as it is to get him a four. But does that disqualify Vince’s cover drive, or add to the appeal of the shot?Gardner: Since all true beauty is also fragile, I’d say it makes him untouchable. []ALSO READ: Osman Samiuddin: The frictionless genius of Kane WilliamsonBal: I had big hopes for Vince. I fell out of love with English cricket after they sacked Gower and I have desperately waited for that one player who will make me warm up to English cricket again.Krishnaswamy: Alan’s is a compelling point, and taking off from there, we must look away from the Kohlis and Williamsons while talking about beauty. The fragility is important. Which is why… Liton Das is the world’s most beautiful batsman, full stop. Watch the whole thing, but especially the shot he plays at 2.58.Bal: But the point is that beauty without substance is nothing. I once thought Darren Bravo would get me deliverance. It’s like we found Lara again in him.Krishnaswamy: He’s turned himself into an incredible T20 six-hitter now. I’ve never seen anyone hit sixes with such a clean, full-circle bat swing as he did in a couple of matches during the 2018 CPL.Brian Lara and Darren Bravo: the prince and his supposed heir•PA Photos, Getty ImagesBal: Just look at the flow of that drive here. Look at where the bat finishes. And he still has all of this but he has become a far more subdued batsman now, often the anchor.Krishnaswamy: He either blocks or hits boundaries. For someone with his experience, it’s amazing how much he struggles to rotate strike. I think he has Lara’s bat swing but not his hands.Bal: That’s why he is perhaps not as good off the back foot – no cuts.Krishnaswamy: The guy with the best hands today, I think, is Glenn Maxwell. I’ve always wondered what sort of batsman he’d have become if there was no T20. He’s got amazing hands, capable of the full spectrum, from slice to whip.Gardner: Some of Maxy’s wristwork is straight from a banned 18th-century sex manual. I’d put Jos Buttler in the same category.Krishnaswamy: Batting in whites with the baggy green on – this is how Maxwell should appear in everyone’s mind’s eye, but won’t. Buttler generates tremendous power from his wrists, but I’m not sure they’re as rubbery as Maxwell’s.Gardner: Interesting that a lot of the guys named above (Kohli, Babar, Vince, etc) are right-handers – maybe thanks to Jarrod Kimber busting that lefties myth for us. But one guy who I rarely see but always leaves an impression is Soumya Sarkar. Although that could be as much because of a beautiful piece of writing from Christian Ryan at the 2015 World Cup, in which he pretty much goes the full Gower.When you’re sexy and you know it•Steve Christo/Getty ImagesBal: But we are going away from the topic. There can be things that are thrilling, breathtaking, seat-of-the-pants stuff, but not necessarily beautiful. The hook shot, for example, is perhaps the most thrilling shot in cricket. We know the danger that comes with it. Nothing gets cricket grounds buzzing more than when a batsman takes on a bouncer. But it can sometimes be ungainly – batsmen might end up off balance and very awkward. But a cover drive? Even if you miss it, it still looks magisterial.Gardner: There’s something of the architectural debate here – form versus function. There’s a brutalist beauty to Cook, or Steven Smith, say, and you can’t argue they aren’t effective. But I think we’re just aiming to find the six batsmen that most make you drop an ice cream into your lap, right?Krishnaswamy: Yeah. I think cricket writers haven’t done enough to widen the scope of what the world thinks is beautiful. I always thought Simon Katich was unfairly maligned for his shuffling ways, and the universal labelling of the guy as ugly and crabby simply didn’t allow enough people to appreciate his wristy artistry, which was out there for you to see if you bothered to see it ()