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Sarfraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has said that there is plenty of fast bowling talent in Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2011Sarfraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has said that there is plenty of fast bowling talent in Pakistan and proper guidance is all that is needed to help players make the most of their abilities.”Nowadays bowlers have natural swing but lack execution,” Sarfraz told the . “There was a time when umpires didn’t check the ball and it was easier to craft the ball accordingly but now reverse-swing has become harder.”Sarfraz, who will be coaching fast bowlers at the PCB Fast Track Coaching Programme at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore that begins on July 3, said that the retirement of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis had left a void that Pakistan was not equipped to fill at the time, but the coaching programme will help correct that.”I agree that the process of transformation was halted after Akram and Waqar walked away. Pakistan did not have any sort of backup then. But I think that once I finish this coaching stint, there will be a lot of improvement. Some of our bowlers have technical flaws. Mohammad Talha is a superb prospect but his growth seems to be stagnant.”Abdul Qadir, the former Pakistan legspinner, has also joined the coaching programme and was equally optimistic about making progress with the spinners. “Leg-spin bowling is rare and is one of the difficult departments,” Qadir said. “But I’m happy the talent is still alive in the country as we have Yasir Shah, Usman Qadir and many more in the domestic circuit.”I’ll ensure that they become better bowlers after the programme.”Chief selector Mohsin Khan and former Pakistan batsman Ijaz Ahmed will also be part of the programme as coaches for the 12-man pool of batsmen. The programme for the fast bowlers and batsmen will run from July 3 to July 18 and the allrounders, middle-order batsmen and spinners’ programme will be held from July 20 to August 3.

The manner and nature of Pakistan’s squad selection for this summer’s tour to England has come under fire from members of the selection committee itself, who claimed they weren’t consulted over the composition

Cricinfo staff21-Jun-2010The manner and nature of Pakistan’s squad selection for this summer’s tour to England has come under fire from members of the selection committee itself, who are unhappy with the Twenty20 and Test squad, claiming they weren’t consulted over the composition.The squads were announced on Sunday by the board after a meeting between chairman of selectors Mohsin Khan, coach Waqar Younis, manager Yawar Saeed and captain Shahid Afridi in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, where the Asia Cup is underway. Cricinfo understands that the remaining selectors in Pakistan were not involved or consulted at all in the choices.A couple of key inclusions in particular – the recall of Yasir Hameed and Wahab Riaz and the overlooking of Younis Khan and Mohammad Sami – seem to have irked the selectors who are thought to have been against the decisions had they been consulted. The snub from the chief selector has led at least one of the selectors to ponder handing in his resignation.One of the selectors claims he wasn’t contacted until just before the announcement was made and that too only to be asked about the statistics of a player under consideration. The chief selector, it is claimed, wasn’t prepared enough in the first place to make the selections. Mohsin, still in Sri Lanka, has not spoken to the media yet about the squad.The squads’ composition has also been criticised for lacking experience, particularly in the batting; the overlooking of Younis is a case in point. Banned indefinitely in the aftermath of the Australia tour, Younis was one of several players whose punishments were subsequently overturned on appeal.But over the last couple of weeks the sense has emerged that the board will not let him back in unless he apologises for what they deem to be his mistakes, as the other returnees have done. Ijaz Butt, chairman of the board, said last week that Younis’s return would require clearance from the board, an issue that wasn’t deemed to be an issue at all with Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers.”I feel Younis has been victimised,” Iqbal Qasim, the former chief selector who resigned from the post in February after the Australia tour, said. “He fought his case and was outspoken against the treatment and was dropped.”The absence of Younis and Mohammad Yousuf – who retired from international cricket in protest at his indefinite ban – from the 17-man Test squad robs an already fragile batting side of their two most experienced and successful Test batsman. The pair have scored nearly 30% of Pakistan’s Test runs since October 2004 and almost half their Test hundreds.Even with the pair Pakistan have crossed 300 in a Test innings only 11 times in their last 30 attempts. Now the most experienced batsman in the middle order in their absence is Malik, who has played 29 Tests without fully cementing his spot in the side and is not a certain Test starter in any case. Imran Farhat, with 33 Tests, is the most experienced specialist batsman in the squad.Javed Miandad, director general and regular critic of the board, was also left asking questions about the selection and the manner of it. “An England tour is always a difficult one and we’re playing good teams,” he told . “The conditions are such that you need experience because even they will be troubled, so new, inexperienced players also struggle. In the middle order there is no one to play a Test match innings. One or two experienced guys were necessary for the balance of the side, but apparently even the selectors here didn’t know about the team.”Miandad said he would brief the patron of the PCB, President Asif Ali Zardari, on the matter. “The president is a cricket lover, he encouraged me to take up the job in the PCB for the betterment of the game,” he said. “He must know what’s wrong in the PCB.”Former captain Rashid Latif said that, along with Younis, Sami, Faisal Iqbal and Khurram Manzoor also deserved a place in the squad. “I respect the selection but four players – Younis, Sami, Iqbal and Manzoor – deserved places in the team,” said Latif.

Defeat deals heavy blow to Sunrisers’ hopes of reaching semi-finals

ECB Reporters Network04-Sep-2024Chloe Skelton’s five-wicket haul propelled Western Storm to victory at Radlett and dealt a severe blow to Sunrisers’ hopes of reaching the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy semi-finals.Off-spinner Skelton finished with 5 for 29 as the home side were rolled over for 150, having earlier played a valuable role with the bat in support of Amanda-Jade Wellington’s counter-attacking 45 not out that lifted Storm to a competitive total of 180.Sunrisers looked on course to chase that down through Cordelia Griffith (39) and Alice Macleod, with a season’s best of 48, only for Skelton to turn the contest back in the visitors’ favour.Storm’s success was only their fourth of this year’s competition and left Sunrisers needing to win their final fixture away to Southern Vipers to maintain their chances of advancing to the knockout stage.Having won the toss, Sunrisers inserted the visitors and immediately seized control of the game, although it took them until the ninth over to make inroads when Kate Coppack took a tumbling return catch off Sophia Smale’s leading edge.Emma Corney and skipper Sophie Luff made steady progress, guiding their side to 61 for 1 before the introduction of Sophie Munro, who yorked Corney for 29 in her first over and finished with 3 for 42, triggered a clatter of wickets.Luff was bowled leaving a slower delivery from Eva Gray that seamed back to hit her off stump and a miserly second spell from leg-spinner Jodi Grewcock yielded two wickets as Storm slumped to 115 for 8.However, their prospects were salvaged by the tail, with Skelton and then Ellie Anderson providing staunch support for Wellington’s spirited counter-attack to extend the innings by a valuable 65 runs.The Australian steered Munro to the point boundary to bring up Storm’s 150 and drilled her next ball over the top for six as she and Anderson frustrated the home side in a partnership of 41, the highest of the innings.Abtaha Maqsood eventually finished off proceedings in the 47th over, bowling Anderson with a flighted delivery to leave Wellington five short of her half-century – but having done enough to lift Storm morale.That received another boost at the start of Sunrisers’ reply when Anderson dismissed both openers cheaply, with Jo Gardner picking out the midwicket fielder before Grace Scrivens played around one and was bowled.When Skelton had Grewcock caught behind off her fourth delivery, the home side were wobbling at 44 for 3, but Griffith adopted a pugnacious approach, pummelling Anderson for successive off-side boundaries.In tandem with MacLeod, Griffith got Sunrisers back on track with a partnership of 46 from 58 balls and looked comfortably set on 39 when she swung Skelton into the hands of deep midwicket.But MacLeod took up the baton, hitting confidently over the infield and took the total past 100 by dispatching Wellington to the rope as well as taking successive leg-side boundaries off Smale.A half-century seemed to be MacLeod’s for the taking until she was thwarted by a stunning one-handed catch from Alex Griffiths at short cover – and that proved to be a turning point.Storm’s spinners pressed home their advantage, with Skelton capturing three of the last four wickets to complete the win with 10.3 overs to spare.

Essex must win at Surrey to stand any chance of a place in quarter-finals

ECB Reporters Network30-Jun-2023Middlesex 226 for 8 (Higgins 61, Critchley 5-28) beat Essex 225 for 6 (Sams 69*) by two wicketsRyan Higgins led Middlesex to a second unlikely victory in three Vitality Blast matches to leave Essex’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage hanging by a thread.The Middlesex all-rounder’s 61 was plundered off just 24 balls and included three sixes and eight fours. It laid the foundations for a chase after 226 runs only surpassed by their record 253 to beat Surrey last week.Even Matt Critchley’s career-best 5 for 28 could not prevent Middlesex reaching their target with two balls to spare for only their second win of the season.Essex now head to The Oval on Sunday where they must beat Surrey to stand any chance of a place in next week’s quarter-finals.Essex owed their 225 for 6 to a splendid 69 off 34 balls from all-rounder Daniel Sams that included six sixes. Essex’s innings yielded 16 sixes, during which Sams, Michael Pepper (32) and Paul Walter (45) all passed 300 runs in this year’s competition.Essex, put in, typically lost three wickets in the powerplay while creeping along to 52 runs. It was the calm before the storm. Feroze Khushi was first to go taking a swing at Ethan Bamber and picking out deep mid-off.Adam Rossington, returning after a finger injury, hit two sixes, one ramped off Tom Helm, before edging behind for 19 off 13 balls.Dan Lawrence completed the trio of early wickets when he retreated towards square leg against Josh De Caires and found himself stretching in vain as the ball thudded into his stumps. Lawrence showed his anger with himself by kicking furiously at the blameless crease.However, the run-rate accelerated once Walter joined Pepper and the pair put on 36 inside four overs. Pepper hammered six fours and a six into the pavilion in a 20-ball knock before he leaned back and slashed Martin Andersson to backward point.Walter, who had recorded single-figure scores in his previous two innings, was back to big-hitting form. The second of the quartet of sixes was the longest, clearing the scorers’ box over de Caires’s head. He perished when slicing Luke Hollman to cover point.Sams slipped almost seamlessly into Walter’s boots and battered 43 of the runs in a fifty partnership for the sixth wicket, in which Matt Critchley contributed three. However, Critchley still hit three sixes in an 18-ball 36 before he was caught by Joe Cracknell sliding in from the midwicket boundary. The pair had shared a stand of 79 in six overs.Sams’s eyes lit up in the final over in which Andersson conceded 26 runs, including three sixes, two off the last two balls, the first over fine leg, the second over third man.The ubiquitous Sams was back on the scorecard when he held a pull from Stevie Eskinazi on the boundary to give Aaron Beard a wicket as Middlesex got off to a steady start in reply. He was in the same position to take the catch that ended Max Holden’s whirlwind 15 off five balls during which 32 runs were compiled from just nine balls in partnership with Higgins.Before that, Cracknell was dropped by Rossington on four and added six, four and a six in his 36 before misreading Critchley and seeing his bails dislodged.Higgins reached his fifty from 20 balls with his third six, swept off Walter, but eventually fell when he pulled Critchley straight into Beard’s hands on the midwicket fence.The third and fourth wickets, with Higgins at the helm, accumulated 78 runs off 24 balls. But three wickets in seven balls turned the tide back in Essex’s favour as Middlesex slide from 173 for 4 to 175 for 7. Sams tempted John Simpson in pick out short midwicket and Critchley had Hollman caught by Beard at mid-on and Alex Davies leg before.Middlesex needed nine off the last over with two wickets standing but a six by Andersson off Walter’s third ball all but wrapped it up.

Up-and-coming seamer set to join Hampshire after IPL stint

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2022Hampshire have announced the signing of Nathan Ellis, the Australia fast bowler, as one of their overseas players for this year’s Vitality Blast.Ellis, 26, has been capped twice in ODIs and twice in T20Is, and took a hat-trick on international debut against Bangladesh last year. He is currently involved with Australia on their tour of Pakistan and is set to take part in the upcoming IPL with Kings XI Punjab.He will join fellow Australian Ben McDermott in Hampshire’s squad for the Blast.”We are excited that Nathan is joining us for this summer’s Vitality Blast,” Hampshire’s director of cricket, Giles White, said. “He comes to us with a growing reputation as a death bowler and we look forward to seeing him in the Hawks yellow in May.”Ellis has taken 50 T20 wickets in 44 matches with an economy of 8.06. He came to attention with his performances in the Big Bash League for Hobart Hurricanes, winning his first Australia call-up for the tours of the Caribbean and Bangladesh.The right-arm seamer subsequently won an IPL contract for the second half of the 2021 tournament, and was also a travelling reserve for Australia’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign.”I’m excited to play in this summer’s Vitality Blast and for a team with the rich history of the Hawks,” Ellis said. “I have heard great things about the Ageas Bowl and the Hawks fans and am looking forward to a memorable summer in Hampshire.”

Charity aims to address a 75 percent decline in cricket participation by members of the Black community

George Dobell25-Nov-2020England fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan have become the latest players to sign up as ambassadors for the ACE Programme.Archer and Jordan, currently in Cape Town preparing for England’s white-ball series against South Africa, join England all-rounder Sophia Dunkley, former England and Surrey captain, Mark Butcher, and former England fast bowler Alex Tudor in backing the programme.The ACE Programme Charity was set up by Surrey earlier this year, aiming to address a 75 percent decline in cricket participation by members of the Black community. It is chaired by Ebony Rainford-Brent, a broadcaster, Surrey CCC board member and the first Black woman to play for England. The charity recently secured funding from Sport England for the next three years and, having launched in south London, has recently announced a secondary programme to be launched in Birmingham in 2021. The ECB have also pledged funding.ALSO READ: Surrey’s African-Caribbean Engagement programme launches as charity after funding boostAfter 70 young players – male and female – attended trials shortly before the lockdown in early March, the scheme this summer delivered a coaching and match programme for 25 young players, including a game at the Kia Oval alongside members of Surrey’s Emerging Players Programme. One player graduated from ACE to feature in matches for Surrey U18s.”Well done to Ebz for getting ACE up and running,” Archer said from Cape Town. “I’m looking forward to playing my part in encouraging as many kids as possible to get involved in cricket.”Jordan provided a similar message. “I’m really proud to be an ambassador for the ACE Programme,” he said. “I think it’s an amazing initiative and I hope I can play my part in getting as many kids involved in our sport as possible.” Alongside the ambassadors, former West Indies fast bowler, Michael Holding, journalist Sir Trevor McDonald, Roland Butcher, the first Black cricketer to play for England, and Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis have been appointed Honorary Patrons.”As we look to grow the ACE Programme and accelerate change in cricket, I’d like to thank Jofra and CJ for supporting our work,” Rainford-Brent said. “It’s really important for young players to have role models to aspire to – and with Jofra, Chris and Sophia as ACE ambassadors, it’s very clear what’s possible. We now need to ensure that we create as many opportunities as we can to give young, diverse talent the opportunity to follow in their footsteps.”

The offspinner, who has been sidelined all season, made a massive mark on his return to the side as Nottinghamshire stumbled towards another defeat

Jon Culley in Nottingham14-Jul-2019Amar Virdi. Remember him? The offspinner who took 39 wickets and won a Championship medal in an extraordinary first full season but was never seen again? He’s back.Sidelined last January, when diagnosed with a “stress reaction” in his back, Virdi marked his first appearance of this season with the best figures of his young career, finishing with 8 for 61 as Nottinghamshire’s spiral towards relegation showed no sign of being brought under control.He managed to upstage even R Ashwin, who was meant to be the prime beneficiary of an unusually spin-friendly Trent Bridge pitch. The wonderful Indian offspinner returned his best haul of wickets in England when he took 6 for 69 on Saturday, yet another defeat surely awaits Nottinghamshire.Replying to a Surrey first-innings total that you suspected would be more than the home side’s struggling batsmen could accumulate, Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 116, their second-lowest tally of the year and their fifth of 126 runs or fewer, which is a lamentable statistic.Virdi struck with the 13th ball of the morning after Nottinghamshire had resumed on 20 for 1. He may have been away but, to the amusement of a knot of Surrey supporters in the Fox Road stand, he had not forgotten the celebration that became so familiar last season, barely waiting for confirmation as the ball turned into Jake Libby’s pad before wheeling away towards square leg, arms stretched wide.Thereafter, although Gareth Batty had Joe Clarke caught at short-leg to extend one of several woeful runs of low scores among this Nottinghamshire team, it was Virdi’s platform as the techniques of one batsman after another were found wanting. The celebrations did become a little more muted, largely because his colleagues tired of chasing after him, but the smile broadened with every dismissal.Only Ashwin, as you might expect from such an accomplished practitioner of the art, had much of an answer, resisting for an hour and a half for his 27. Even he succumbed in the end, caught behind off a leg-side under-edge as he tried to whip the ball away from the posse of close fielders.Virdi hurt his back during the winter, forcing him to withdraw from the England Lions’ winter itinerary. The injury had cleared up sufficiently for him to join his Surrey team-mates in pre-season work but only in the last few weeks has his general fitness been deemed good enough for first-team cricket. Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, admitted that Virdi had needed a regime of “tough love” to push him to meet the required standard.He looked trim enough here, and clearly his skills remain intact. It can only augur well for the defending champions, whose title may be beyond them after winning only one match in nine but who still fancy they can conjure a strong finish to the season.Another likely to be invited to play a part in the last four matches is Jamie Smith, a batsman who keeps wicket (and is doing so for the first time in the senior side, in this match, in the absence of Ben Foakes).Smith is another graduate of the Surrey academy system, having followed the same development pathway that yielded Virdi, Ollie Pope, Sam Curran and the others. The scorer of a debut century in the Champion County match in Dubai in March, Smith is enjoying a run in the side, having made a half-century against Yorkshire on his Championship bow last month.He completed a second here. Indeed, no one played the Nottinghamshire spinners more impressively, using his feet in a manner than suggested he had been schooled rather better than some on the opposite side.Ashwin claimed four more wickets for 10 in the match and Liam Patterson-White another couple on his home debut. But Surrey, with a lead of 308, are in complete control and may as well declare overnight.

Mark Footitt has been loaned to Derbyshire after failing to break into Nottinghamshire’s all-England attack in the early rounds of the Championship

David Hopps02-May-2018Nottinghamshire’s left-arm fast bowler Mark Footitt has joined Derbyshire on an initial 28-day loan deal where he will be available to play Specsavers County Championship and Royal London One-Day Cup cricket.The 32-year-old, who spent six seasons with Derbyshire between 2010 and 2015, is earmarked for two four-day matches and five 50-over games, starting against Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Thursday.”Mark’s pre-season has been affected by injury and we feel it’s a good opportunity for him to get out there and get some cricket under his belt,” said Nottinghamshire’d director of cricket Mick Newell.”Our pace attack has started the season in fine form and Mark has found himself short of game time so far. Hopefully he can get some overs under his belt and come back ready to go when the season ramps up from June onwards.”The move suits Derbyshire who have fielded a high-class pace attack this season in three bowlers with international experience – Duanne Olivier, Ravi Rampaul and Hardus Viljoen – but who have limited stocks in reserve and fear the danger of overbowling their prize assets as a conequence.Derbyshire’s cricket advisor, Kim Barnett, said: “We’re grateful to Nottinghamshire and Peter Moores for allowing Mark to join us for this busy period, and I’m sure this arrangement will be good for all parties.”This move for Footitt is not as angst-ridden as the last, involving just a few miles up the A52. He admitted that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders when Surrey gave him permission to return to Nottinghamshire in the middle of last season on a two-and-a-half year deal. The strain of hotel living, away from his fiancé and daughter in London had become too much.Footitt has travelled this way before. He first joined Derbyshire in 2009 after Nottinghamshire released him from his contract as injuries bedevilled his early career. He became a firm favourite at Derbyshire, taking 82 County Championship wickets in 2014. He moved south to Surrey, fired by England ambitions, and came close to a Test debut when he was chosen for the South Africa tour of 2015/16 but never played.

England allrounder Ben Stokes was bought for INR 14.5 crore ($2.16 million approx) by Rising Pune Supergiants at the tenth IPL player auction in Bangalore on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-20171:56

How the bidding war for Stokes progressed

England allrounder Ben Stokes has become the most expensive overseas player ever bought at an IPL auction, going for INR 14.5 crore (USD 2.16 million approx) to Rising Pune Supergiants. He is also the second highest paid player among those currently active in the IPL, behind Virat Kohli, who is paid Rs 15 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore per season.England fast bowler Tymal Mills also set a new record price for a specialist bowler: he was the second most expensive sale at the tenth player auction, in Bangalore on Monday, and bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 12 crore (USD 1.8 million approx). Allrounder Chris Woakes was the third England player to get a hefty payday; he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 4.2 crore (USD 625,000 approx).Three other England players bought – all at base price – were: batsman Eoin Morgan for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx) to Kings XI Punjab, batsman Jason Roy for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000) to Gujarat Lions, and allrounder Chris Jordan for INR 50 lakhs (USD 74,000) to Sunrisers Hyderabad.While demand for England players was expected, Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi, 18-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan, and UAE batsman Chirag Suri became the first Associate players after Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate to get an IPL bid. The Afghanistan players were bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad – Rashid for INR 4 crore (USD 595,000 approx) and Nabi for INR 30 lakh (USD 44,000 approx) – while Suri went to Gujarat for INR 10 lakh (USD 14,000).Delhi Daredevils were the most active team in the early bidding. Their purchases of Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx), South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx) and Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins for INR 4.5 crore, (USD 670,000 approx) exhausted their quota of nine overseas players in the first 90 minutes of the auction.6:07

IPL auction trends – ‘Left-arm quicks in high demand’

Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, did not bid for any of the first 22 players up for sale despite having a squad of only 13 available players before the auction. They were successful in the first player they bid for, buying New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult for INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx).Of the first 108 players that went on sale in the main draw of the auction, only 33 were bought and among them only two from Australia: Mitchell Johnson to Mumbai Indians at his base price of INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), and Cummins to Delhi. More Australians – Nathan Coulter-Nile, Billy Stanlake, Dan Christian and Ben Laughlin – were bought in the second round of bidding after lunch. Coulter-Nile was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 3.5 crore (USD 520,00 approx.) while Stanlake, Christian and Laughlin went at base prices.The trend among Indians was for the more experienced players to get no bids – Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parvez Rasool and RP Singh were unsold – while several uncapped players were picked up at high prices.Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj was bought by Sunrisers for INR 2.6 crore (USD 390,000 approx), left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary by RCB for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx.), K Gowtham by Mumbai for INR 2 crore ($300,000), T Natarajan by Kings XI for INR 3 crore (USD 445,000 approx), Basil Thampi by Gujarat for INR 85 lakh (USD 125,000 approx), Karn Sharma by Mumbai for INR 3.2 crore (USD 475 approx), Eklavya Dwivedi by Sunrisers for INR 75 lakh ($110,000), Varun Aaron by Kings XI for INR 2.8 crore (USD 415,000) and M Ashwin by Delhi for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000).India allrounder Pawan Negi, who was bought for INR 8.5 crore last year and then released by Delhi, was bought by RCB for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx).

A half-century from Ashleigh Gardner and brisk forties from Alyssa Healy and Sara McGlashan set Sixers Women up for a 21-run win over the Thunder

The Report by Will Macpherson at the SCG16-Jan-2016
ScorecardAshleigh Gardner struck five fours and two sixes in her 36-ball 55•Getty Images

Sydney Sixers are on the charge. After losing their first six games in the WBBL, they now have seven wins on the spin and a win in their last game tomorrow will take them to the Finals. In front of an impressive crowd, and live on TV, they veritably thrashed their cross-town rivals Thunder, who are limping into the Finals having been the tournament’s pacesetters. This was compelling cricket, with the Thunder fighting back themselves after finishing their Powerplay 31 for four.As the fortunes of these two teams show, with every team playing each other twice, the WBBL is a more complete competition than its more condensed brother, the BBL. There is greater scope for recovery, with time to bed in, to breathe and reassess plans, as the Sixers evidently have done, but also the possibility of a nosedive in fortunes.Mistakes made in the women’s game are often dwelled on for longer; unfairly treated as periodic rather than an isolated abomination. Sure, there were glaring errors here. Thunder dropped three makeable catches in three overs; both teams were guilty of overthrows, full tosses and half-trackers, and even the brilliant Ellyse Perry let a ball through her legs in the covers.But these aspects might stick out, as those who made the effort to tune in or turn up early will attest, they do not tell anything close to a complete story. They do not tell of the excellence of the Sixers’ batting, first Alyssa Healy’s booming cover drives, then the aggression of 18-year-old Ashleigh Gardner’s 32-ball half-century and Sara McGlashan’s hitting masterclass at the death. It does not tell of the brilliant fielding of Lauren Cheatle running round from long-off to save two, or Healy’s dreamy legside stumping to dismiss Naomi Stalenberg, or Lauren Smith’s wonderful diving catch, running in from cover, to send Rachael Haynes on her way. No tournament has done more than the WBBL to acquaint fans with all this excellence. Equally, those (ever rarer) mistakes have never been tolerated less. It says every thing about the success of this tournament that a crowd of 12,220 might be considered a disappointment because it was not a record.The Sixers’ fightback has been built around captain Ellyse Perry’s form with the bat – she recently went on a run of four consecutive scores between 47 and 67, but here they had to make do with a scratchy contribution of one run from 13 balls before she was bowled through a wildly unlatched gate by Nicola Carey. Not that it mattered, as Healy and Gardner shared 76. Healy had already taken three boundaries from Erin Osborne’s opening over, including two fine cover drives, but Gardner played the more eye-catching innings, hitting a pair of beautiful straight sixes, including one to bring up her 50. The spin of Osborne and Maisy Gibson – who continued flighting the ball fearlessly – was particularly targeted.When Healy miscued to mid-off trying to accelerate the score and Gardner skied to Alex Blackwell in the first over from 15-year-old Belinda Vakarewa – who bowls with an unorthodox, extremely leapy action – McGlashan picked up the mantle, boshing 49 in only 22 deliveries as partners fell around her, particularly to run outs, with a fine direct hit from Rene Farrell seeing off Marizanne Kapp while backing up. McGlashan’s innigns was characterised by strong cutting and a clever array of ramps and sweeps, and she sent the last ball of the innings, from Farrell, for six having hit a pair of fours earlier in the over.Thunder required the WBBL’s highest chase ever, but their hopes were as good as over by the time Kapp had taken three wickets in her first three overs, with Smith’s brilliant diving catch followed by Alex Blackwell plumb LBW next ball, and Stafanie Taylor miscuing to mid-off. Carey survived the hat-trick ball and shared 77 with Osborne in a mini-fightback, with the former sweeping and ramping superbly. But the return of Lisa Sthalekar sealed the deal for Sixers, as she bowled Carey and added to that the wickets of Osborne and Vakarewa.Sixers’ extraordinary escape is just a win away from completion.