The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 35

The end of the WTC, the beginning of the Ashes - it's been a fairly busy week in the world of cricket. And if we are to go by what we saw in the last seven days, the upcoming week is going to be a whole lot busier.

There's the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers that begins from Sunday, 18th June. Will the likes of Sri Lanka and West Indies predictably make it to the next round, or will we see an upset or two? Only time will tell. 

Coming back to the past week.   

Australia win their maiden WTC

The Aussies made light work of their defense of 444, as they defeated India by 209 runs. Travis Head was awarded POTM for his blistering 163 in the first innings. The knock set the game up for the Australian bowlers to consolidate. 

BCCI shares draft schedule of WC 2023 with the ICC

With less than four months to go for the World Cup, there was finally an update on it's schedule. And no, it's not the one we're waiting for. A draft schedule was shared that tentatively put the mouthwatering India - Pakistan in Ahmedabad on the 15th October. Talk about keeping you waiting?

Schedules for the MLC, India's tour of West Indies, and Asia Cup announced

India begin their month-long tour of the Caribbean with a Test in Dominica on 12th July.  While making the announcement, Johnny Grave, CEO of CWI, spoke about Trinidad hosting it's 100th Test during the series. 

MLC also released their schedule, which has the tournament beginning from 13th July. Texas Super Kings and LA Knight Riders will take on each other in the inaugural game of the tournament. 

A lot of announcements happened, the last of which was of the Asia Cup. India's resistance to travel to Pakistan, and Pakistan's reluctance to let go off hosting rights had caused a delay in making the schedule. They finally reached a middle ground, as the edition will follow a hybrid model. Pakistan will host four matches, while the remaining nine will be played in Sri Lanka.

Anya Shrubsole and Nahida Khan announce their retirements

Women's cricket saw two of their veterans end their international careers as Anya Shrubsole and Nahida announced their retirements. While the former had already retired from international cricket, the latter will be looking to stay close to the field in a coaching role.

TNPL and MPL kicks off strongly

Indian domestic players won't be complaining too much about lack of cricket, as two domestic T20 tournaments began this past week. 

While TNPL will see the likes of Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, R Ashwin, etc. amongst other; the inaugural Maharashtra Premier League will see Ruturaj Gaikwad, Kedar Jadhav, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, etc. as the Icon Player of their respective teams. 

Bazball continues it's merry ways

The first Ashes Test began yesterday. England won the toss and elected to bat first on what was a fairly flat surface. They racked up 393 at over five RPO, before declaring and asking the Aussie batters to bat for a while. Joe Root led England's innings with yet another century, his 30th overall.

The Articles Corner

Our team has been busy churning out brilliant pieces on a wide array of topics. 

First, we have Anirudh Suresh talking about Australia's winning their WTC title and what it means to them. Their bowling attack and Steven Smith have played a huge role in this success. How exactly? Check it out to understand more.  

Next, Pramod Ananth, our resident Associate Cricket expert, spoke to Ali Naseer about his journey from tennis to cricket and his expectations from the upcoming World Cup Qualifier. You can read more about it here.

India faltering at yet another knockout game has raised more than few eyebrows now. Who do India go to? And how do they fix these problems? There are a few questions, among others, that Aakash Sivasubraniam tries to answer in his article.

Virat Kohli yet again succumbed to deliveries outside the off-stump in swinging conditions. Having dominated these conditions before, Shubh Aggarwal talks about how rampant this issue has been with the former Indian skipper. Don't forget to give it a read, it's worth your time.

Lastly, we have Bastab Parida writing about how fans, considered to be the biggest stakeholder in a sport, have been taken for granted far too often by the BCCI. Despite there being less than four months to the tournament opener, there's still no update on the schedule or what fans can do to avail tickets for themselves.