Hello and welcome to Stumped, your intercontinental hit of news, features
and debate from the quirky world of cricket. I'm Alison Mitchell and I'm back home again in London
after having spent ten days in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games and of course,
T20 cricket for the women was featuring for the first time. Cricket, making her return from its
first appearance in 1998 - that was a one off with the men - but I managed to get out and see
a little bit of beach volleyball as well, a bit of gymnastics. There wasn't much of a gap in between
cricket matches because they came thick and fast. But Jim delighted for you that the Aussies came top of
the podium. England didn't even make one, two or three. Yes, Australia had a wonderful time and
I did take in as much as I could with the time difference and a very exciting performances by
a number of the Australians. You have to mention the cricket, which we will. But the performance by
that guy Oliver Hoare in the 1500m final was just extraordinary. Extraordinary. Anyway, it's
still wintry down here. Although I had my first cricket meeting for the new season last night. So,
we're starting to think and talk a little bit more about the game as we move towards September
and the start of it all. Hello, everyone. I'm Charu Sharma for All India Radio. I'm in
Mysore, one of the more liveable cities in the country and very clean. Very nice. What am I doing here?
Well, we reconstructed & christened our Karnataka T20 tournament, one of the premier domestic T20
tournaments, from the Karnataka Premier League, which had a bit of a wobble some years ago
to the Maharajah Trophy, which makes sense because it's all about the Mysore Maharaja.
That's where cricket started in Karnataka, by the way. So, I empathise with you, Alison because it's
been thick and fast here. Doubleheaders every day and of course accompanied by rain because
we're in the middle of the monsoon. Everything gets delayed and we're home by midnight. It's
still great fun and one of the co-commentators I have is Veda Krishnamurthy who played for India.
You might remember her and well we sit and lamented together about what might have
been in that final, which India was about to win. Enough of this generosity in hospitality,
we allowed Australia to win once again. Well, we will talk more about the Commonwealth Games
right now because Australia's domination of the women's game continues, and they are
Commonwealth Games champions. That is in addition to being the holders of the Ashes and
world champions in both the T20 and ODI formats of the game. So how did it feel for a cricketer
to stand on a podium at a Commonwealth Games? I put that question to Australia fast bowler Megan Schutt.
It was absolutely incredible. I didn't really know what to expect coming into the Commonwealth Games and
if I'm honest, I didn't at the time hold it very high in terms of it's not close to a World Cup. I
was like it would be great if we win gold but if we don't, I won't be overly disappointed.
Then once the game kicked off and obviously your competitive spirit kicks in, but
to stand on the podium and have the national anthem play after you received the medal,
rather than before the game and see all the fans that stayed for the medal ceremony,
it was phenomenal. It actually maybe a little bit emotional way more than what I thought,
so that was really cool. And what is it about this side which is making you that decent
side and a little bit better than decent, even? I just think we scrap well. We get along tremendously. I think
that's the unique part is there is absolutely no rifts in the team, and we are so glad. Naturally,
there can be that, especially in female teams, but there's been none of that and the core of our
group has been together for a long time now. There are real senior heads there, so there's
a lot of experience, but I think when the going gets tough we don't really pick on each other.
That's a big noticeable difference that we see with other sides. When things get heated and
dropped catches or miss-fields happen, they tend to take it out on each other,
and we pride ourselves on making sure we don't do that. That doesn't help anyone, no one means to
mess up in cricket. So, I feel like that goes a long way, especially in those tight situations.
You had a quite unusual situation didn't you in the lead up to the final, literally in the hours
before, because Tahlia McGrath had a positive Covid test and she was cleared to play, but
how did that all unfold from your perspective? We found out not long before we left for the match.
Good on Tahlia for testing. I think that would be a big difference between someone in our squad
versus anyone else in any of the villages, as no-one was testing, there were no protocols, and
we were the only team that were bar the Kiwis, wearing masks in the hotel. So, it's kind of like
fitting that the one team that had Covid protocols are the one team that tested positive
throughout the tournament. We almost got through it without a positive case, and it just happened
to fall on that day and honestly, I just feel for Tahlia. She just wanted to play cricket,
didn't want any other headlines that came with it and yeah there's a bit of salty fans out there,
but there are always going to be. And Meg Lanning we've just learnt is now taking an indefinite
break from the game. We don't know when she's going to return. Did you have any inkling of that
during the Commonwealth Games? Not really. I mean, Meg is Meg. She has such a professional
head and she shows that no matter what. For her to kinda come out and do something for herself,
I'm actually super, super proud of her. That would have taken a lot of guts and hopefully
she enjoys that time and really looks after herself. Is it symptomatic that there's actually
an awful lot of women's cricket now? That you guys do need to take breaks at times and notably
in a couple of New Zealand players even before the Commonwealth Games had taken mental health breaks.
Is that is a good thing, is the game struggling with a balance at where it is at the moment with
the amount of cricket on offer? How do you see it? It's a tough one because everyone handles
it differently, I guess. It shows that we are playing a lot of cricket, which is exactly what we
asked for. I think the real beauty of it is that all those players are supported in that time and I
mean, people in real life jobs do the same thing. They take time off work and are supported by their
employer. So, I think as long as everyone takes care of each other, it's a sustainable product.
I mean being a professional sports person is only a short career anyway, so you have to take
your breaks here and there and make sure you're taking care of your mental health and if that
kicks on your career for a couple of years longer than you imagined, then so be it. And I imagine it's
probably going to be more in the future. That's Australia fast bowler Megan Schutt. So, it turned
out that the Jim Maxwell v Charu Sharma derby ended up going the way of Maxwell's Australia.
Jim, what more can be said about this team because they are phenomenal, aren't they?
Phenomenal, yes, but they were tested certainly by India on two occasions
during this tournament and they have shown their resilience, depth in batting. It's hard to
question much about this Australian team. Even if they have a lapse or two, they've got the ability
to recover because of their experience and their skill just keeps shining. I think for those
involved in this team they call Team Australia, getting a gold medal - the first one ever
at a Commonwealth Games for a women's team in cricket is an extraordinary triumph and one of the
more memorable, I would say, victories Australia's had given they've had quite a few of them.
As we move on it will be really strongly remembered if not already by the players for what
they have done, because there'll be a few of these players who won't be at the next Commonwealth
Games assuming cricket is going be played and you would think in regional Victoria it works in
perfectly. But this is an extraordinary team. It felt quite pointed, I thought, when Megan Schutt
said there in that interview about how together the Australians are and stressing that they
don't take things out on each other when things start to go wrong. It was quite pointed that the
England team seemed to get a bit ratty. Katherine Brunt got herself a reprimand from the ICC:
An official reprimand for audible obsenity when a catch was dropped off her bowling by the youngster
Freya Kemp as well. Katherine Brunt is brilliant when the passion's firing and she's taking wickets
and things are going well. And she's been an awesome leader of England's attack for so many
years. She is one who I think she knew that this was her one shot at a Commonwealth Games gold.
Whether she decides to retire or whether she sees through the English summer or whether there's
another carrot, another tilt of a trophy at the T20 World Cup early next year in South Africa
will we await to see. There's a new England coach who'll be needed won't there because
Lisa Keightley, the Aussie has now said she is stepping down at the end of this England summer. Maybe that
would be a juncture for a bit of a new start with those newer names taking over from somebody like
Katherine Brunt, but I thought was quite an interesting comment that Megan Schutt made.
Charu, I commentated on the medal ceremony and as regards India I did make the point when the
players step forward onto the podium that perhaps with more investment, India could be top of the
podium one day. The India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after the final that Women's IPL could be the
turning point that would then start to turn these second places and silver medals into trophies and
golds. Do you agree? She could well be right. But let's not forget that India ran
Australia very, very close in both the matches, in the league stages and the final. With a bit more experience,
you're right, they should have won because they were matches that they conspired to lose. India
were in winning positions in both those matches. So there are alot of good things going on in
Indian women's cricket. By the way, it attracted a lot of attention here in India, the Commonwealth
Games and the women progressing into the final. But there is a little flaw in the theory because
do remind me, who won the world T20 sometime back, wasn't the West Indies? They did in 2016. Right.
They don't have a West Indies IPL, and England won, they didn't have The Hundred or whatever else
and all the rest of the league. They won the 2017 World Cup so it's not all down to a women's IPL.
Australia weren't as established then either. I'll just say that. Well, there you go. So,
the women's IPL of course is a very important milestone, a benchmark that needs to be
reached as quickly as possible, but I don't think that's the primary reason why the Indians lost all
these tournaments in the past. It's just a little something missing, maybe a late middle order
surge that they need when the batting. You can talk about more cricketing aspects but
I think she has expressed on behalf of the rest of the cricketers that they are ready for a women's IPL.
We on Stumped have been talking about it for years. I just think that the commercials need to
come together because the Indian world of cricket is very obsessed about the whole commercial angle.
Perhaps this effort at the Commonwealth Games, a silver medal, might in fact
fast track the process for a women's IPL. But let's not forget that for it to be attractive,
you need more in the pyramid playing a higher level of cricket because sometimes if it comes
too soon it might work against a women's IPL where if the standards are not uniformly high for
the four or six or eight teams that first start, then it might lead to a little bit of cynicism.
I have said that before as well. So, events will conspire. The universe will conspire to make it happen at the right time.
So Ali you were at the Commonwealth Games, what did the fans make of it? Dis they enjoy it?
Yeah, I'd say so. There was a pretty enthusiastic atmosphere at all the matches.
Curiously, the Commonwealth Games make it their policy not to release individual crowd numbers per
match, but they did put out that initially more than 150,000 tickets were sold. That has since
gone up to 160,000 I've seen reported across just 16 matches. So that beats overall, the numbers
of tickets were sold for the T20 World Cup in Australia two and a half years ago. I understand
that around 17,500 were at the gold medal match and even the neutral matches were well supported
and in terms of neutral, non-England being the host nation. From the reaction of the crowd
cheering, clapping, it felt as if there were those knowledgeable cricket fans who were applauding
certain nuances of the game and there were also new cricket fans who were clapping and cheering,
so enthusiastically even when a team was limping towards the finish line and were certain for defeat.
So, I think in that sense it would have to go down as a success. But of course we all know
that in England, cricket is a known game and in Australia, if the Games goes to regional Victoria,
it will be a known game. In terms of other Games, it would be interesting to see what happens if the
Games is hosted in a country that doesn't have big cricket facilities. Can cricket grounds be built?
Is there the know-how around pitches etc? So that would be interesting to see, certainly. But in
terms of people attending, at a Games like that and indeed Olympics, because a lot of the success
of cricket at the Commonwealths is thought to go a long way as to whether the ICC can get cricket
into the Olympics. I think there will always be good crowds because as I mentioned at the start,
I went to watch beach volleyball. I went to gymnastics. I would've gone to the weightlifting
if I had a chance because at a Games, you find yourself just keen to watch any sport
and sometimes more so, the sports you don't usually see. In that sense, yep cricket absolutely
is widened out to a broader audience. Now on Stumped, we've had the sad news this
week that former South African umpire Rudi Koertzen died suddenly at the age of 73 after
a car accident. He retired from umpiring in 2010 following a career that saw him officiate in 332
internationals. There's been loads of tributes from all over the world pouring in, from the likes
of Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting, Wasim Akram. He was so well respected. I knew him have more
professionally rather than personally from being on the international cricket circuit and he was
somebody who was always very... umpires are very affable, aren't they? He always had a word
if you bumped into him in the lift or a chat over the breakfast buffet in a hotel. Jim, I wonder
what your memories of Rudi Koertzen are? Rudi Koertzen, I think he put that little place called
Knysna on the map in South Africa. I remember having a few chats to him. He was a fairly
direct South African in the way he conducted himself and he had his opinions on the game,
but it was more the signature of that slow arm going... Like a drawbridge. The finger of
death drawing the gun out of the holster going bang, you re out! Those sort of mannerisms as we've
seen with people like Billy Bowden have left their mark. Rusty sounds like a fan as well,
I have to say, in the background. Yes, he's applauding. Charu, he became an iconic umpire,
didn't he? I guess maybe because of that slow finger of death as it became known.
Perhaps, but to my mind much more and because of his personality, his demeanour. He was truly
very friendly with the players. Not all umpires are but I think he was he was genuinely
friendly and happy to be a part of a game. There was not a negative bone in body. He was,
as you said, you'd meet everyone whenever it was and exchange a word or two. We've had plenty of
meets as well on the international cricket circuit and I always found him to be very friendly.
Not just with all of us, but the whole universe, with the players as well. Virender Sehwag,
as you mentioned there, sent a tribute where Rudi Koertzen often... Well, not admonish,
but certainly meet him on the field and say "don't play that shot! We like to watch you, so
watch what you play. You stay as long as you can," which was obviously an indication that I'm quite
happy to be neutral, but I also like watching good cricket. I suppose umpires do retire.
Maybe they can carry on longer. We had on Stumped, if you remember somebody who was umpiring at the
age of 85. So perhaps he could have gone on a bit, but a very friendly personality and of course a
bit of a legend in the umpiring world. We shared some wonderful happy times together and
our thoughts go out to the rest of his family because it's a little premature. Accidents are
a horrible way to go. Rudi, you gave us lots of very memorable moments in and around the cricket field.
Yep, very sad indeed, and for England cricket fans, they will remember he and Billy Bowden
walking out to the middle famously at the climax of the 2005 Ashes when the final day had been
affected by rain and bad light and they had to ceremonially remove the bails from the stumps to
signify the end of the match, which brought about England's historic Ashes victory. So,
Rudi Koertzen, very fondly remembered. That is it for this week's Stumped. Thanks
to Jim Maxwell and Charu Sharma and to you for listening. We'll see you again next week. Bye.