Hello and welcome to Stumped, your intercontinental hit of news, features, and debate from the
quirky world of cricket. I'm Alison Mitchell in London, where I can tell you my body is
aching because I played my first game of cricket in some four years yesterday. Although, I
don't really know why it's aching because I only bowled one over and then batted for
about four balls, but it was a really, really special day. It was in aid of the Duke of
Edinburgh's Award, and we played a game at Frogmore, in the shadow of Windsor Castle.
It was against the Royal Household Cricket Club. Prince Edward popped down to say hello.
Devon Malcolm played, Monty Panesar played - a really special day, but yes, my back is
a little bit sore, I think I need some more practice. You've got to practise that pull
shot and hook shot, I think Ali. I didn't even get a go. I've got a big bruise on my
thigh! Well, that's a prize you take from the game. You should look at it that way - a trophy.
It's Jim Maxwell here in Sydney and not too much going on here, but we've been watching
what's been happening in Sri Lanka where Australia have had some good and bad moments I suppose.
We're looking forward to things eventually rolling as we head towards the season now
that the schedule of Big Bash has been announced and we know we're going to have the West Indies
and South Africa here in Test matches. I'm Charu Sharma from Bangalore again. I've just
reached home after a wonderful trek in Kashmir where it was raining off and on, but it was
probably raining more in Bangalore back at home. At any rate, unfortunately the trek
was disturbed a bit because our average age was 65, so you can imagine we were ripe for
an incident or too. My older brother was on the trek with me. He unfortunately fell on
some rocks and in the river and dislocated his elbow. So, he had to be evacuated and
who else would choose to do that but one of the younger brothers. I got back from the
little earlier. He's in a cast now, he's OK. He's going to be all right. But of course,
I returned to a lot of cricket in England. The Indian team is there where England seems
to be playing white-ball cricket in red-ball matches, but in white-ball matches they seemed
to have lost the plot and India are doing pretty well. It was extraordinary at The Oval,
wasn't it? England don't have much of a turnaround time in this short of three match series,
but goodness me. India just absolutely marmalised England and they rather gave it away, didn't
they with the bat? Brilliant bowling from Bumrah, but I tell you what it's going to
be in Sri Lanka, where we start this week's show because a few weeks ago here on Stumped,
we heard about the political and economic crisis within the country ahead of Australia's
tour. Amid the unrest that continues, the men's cricket side provided some momentary
joy for its people with one of the greatest Test victories for them this week. Yes, Sri Lanka
had lost the first Test of the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy. That's the name of the
series between Sri Lanka and Australia in Tests. But, they bounced back with a stunning
win against the Aussies to draw the series. There was a double hundred from Dinesh Chandimal
that carried them into a huge lead. Prabath Jayasuriya then completed the best figures
by a Sri Lankan on Test debut on the bowling front. He bagged a 12-wicket haul and
Sri Lanka won by an innings and 39 runs with time to spare on the fourth evening. Charu, I mean,
goodness that was a little bit of magic from Sri Lanka during a crisis, wasn't it? A phenomenal performance.
It seems almost ridiculous what the country is going through, sadly, just
outside the stadium. And here are people playing inside the stadium, who have to somehow keep
themselves oblivious of everything going on outside. So, it's mentally and psychologically
a very tough ask for Sri Lanka to have done what they did considering what's happening
to the country. And yes, I mean, it's magnificent because Australia are the toughest competitors
anywhere, any time around the world. And for Sri Lanka to bounce back, despite everything
that was going on I think they're extraordinary. I mean, you have to pre-ex their effort because
you cannot, as a Sri Lankan keep your mind away from what the country is going through.
And yet they manage to do that to score a double hundred. Can you imagine the kind of
concentration required? Yeah. Jim, I mean on the other side, Australia capitulated,
didn't they? They might have won that first Test inside, three days, but all out for 151
in their second innings. What went so wrong for them? Well, they probably mucked the game
up on the second day when they resumed at 5-298 and got shot out for 364 when over 400
with Smith going the way he was and no more support in that tail, he was there on 145
at the end. And then, a combination of factors, perhaps. You shouldn't make excuses. Australia's
been there for five weeks, but it wasn't their best performance in the field. They
missed a couple of half chances and some real chances a couple of stumpings that Carey missed
out on. They didn't manage DRS very well, which is a line you can put on the grave of
every captain who's ever lead a side with DRS involved. They didn't manage the DRS very
well, yes. Australia got themselves into a position where all of a sudden, there were
no reviews left. What happened? Chandimal nicked one when he was about and there was
nothing they could do, so that conspired against them a bit. But, it was a pretty tired performance
and you'd have to say on the look of their second innings that Australia got themselves
into a rhythm that they couldn't stop against the turning ball, and they didn't handle it
very well. They were trying to be industrious with shovel shots, sweeps, and that didn't
help their cause. So, it was a combination of factors, but can't take it away from
Sri Lanka, given all that's going around them; all the hardship in that lovely little island.
They've come up with an extraordinary win. Charu, talk about Prabath Jayasuriya,
because I mean, it's a remarkable story for him, isn't it? He wasn't even in the squad
at the start of the series and yet he turned out to be the star of the show.
Talk about grabbing opportunities with both hands in both the innings. Yeah, you're right. I mean,
Praveen Jayawickrama and Jeffrey Vandersay were both ruled out and in comes Prabath,
who provides a very famous surname in Sri Lanka in Jayasuriya, and spinners have always
done very well in Sri Lanka. That's the way they prepare their pitches. That's there a
legacy and their tradition as well and he did extremely well to pick up 12-fer in your
first Test. Remarkable. I must mention my old friend, Narendra Hirwani's name. He still
leads 16 wickets for whoever it was, just ahead of Bob Massey, but it also puts a little
bit of pressure on him to perform here after outside of Sri Lanka. We'll see how that goes,
but I think it's the quality of the batsman that he took with the ball, which is important.
You talk about Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Khawaja - batsmen in great form. And if he can bamboozle
them, get their wickets altogether. It just shows the quality that you have. He maintained
a great line and length, didn't do anything particularly special and maybe Jim's only
mentioned that there was a little bit of frustration in the Australian batting which you probably
led to a few more wickets given away, rather than taken by the bowlers. Let's take nothing
away from a fabulous debut. He'll remember it forever. I hope he's got the ball safely
tucked away in some safe. Next on Stumped, the Federation of International Cricketers'
Association, or FICA as it is known, plays a very important role in cricket around the
world. Since it was created back in 1998, it's served as the voice of the player's internationally.
It protects their rights and interests during a time when they are being asked to play more
cricket than ever before. It now has a new president and a first female president at
that - former Australia captain, Lisa Sthalekar - and Lisa is with us on Stumped. Welcome
Lisa and congratulations on the roll. Tell us first of all, how it was that this role
came about for you. I've been involved in the players' associations for a while.
Obviously, the Australian Cricketer's Association in Australia. I sat on the board there for a
number of years and then there was an opportunity for a female to be part of FICA as well. So,
I sat on their board as an independent for about four to five years and actually was
in Dubai when the chairman and the CEO kind of pulled me aside and said, "Look, we think
we need a new president and we'd love it to be you," and I said, "surely there's someone
better." But after a bit of convincing and talking through, the guy's explained that
this was the way forward. Women's cricket is part of the game now and probably my role
as President just shows how the game has evolved and changed; that women can be part of the
game at the highest level, even in administration and play an important role for the development of the game.
Hi Lisa, Jim Maxwell here in Sydney. Tell us a bit about FICA and how it
actually helps the players. It's an organisation that formed out of the players' Association;
heavily through Australia and Tim May. Tim was the first CEO, and what it does is it's
the international body of all of the players' associations that exists within cricket. What's
on the agenda from here? Where do you start? I think firstly, conversations with the ICC
and speaking to a number of CEO's of the national boards to try and see if we can get the future
tours programme sorted out and how that's going to work. We've seen in Australia, Jim,
South Africa have pulled out for a T20 league, so that is potentially going to be something
that we see more often. Where does bilateral cricket fit it? That's probably the most important
issue at the moment, but there are other issues with... You've got the NFT's coming out and how
does...It's above my pay grade in understanding the NFT s, but it's something that certainly
big within the sport. I'll point you towards an episode of Stumped that explains that!
Okay, thanks Ali! Yeah, there's that aspect and then also when you look at women's cricket
and where it's going the evolution of that really exciting times for the women's games.
We're starting to see more Test matches being played, where does that fit in exactly in
the strategic vision of growing the game. Obviously, the Commonwealth Games is starting,
there's a bid to get cricket into the Olympics. So, there's a lot going on. Yes, there is.
Hi, Lisa. You mentioned women's cricket evolving. There are many other aspects, but let's stick
to that equal pay issue and we were talking to Heath Mills of New Zealand last week on
Stumped about this, and how much more work do you think needs to be done to actually
reach there? Because as currently, of course, there's a huge gulf. Yeah, there is and credit
to New Zealand Cricket Association and the players' Association in coming up with that
deal. That's a huge step forward for New Zealand cricketers, especially the female players.
When I look at the game and I look at, what international players are able to achieve
now, they're starting to get a full calendar. There are a lot of tours that are happening
and plenty of opportunity to financial reward as well coming that way. But the real issues
for the women's game moving forward is that tier under that domestic cricket. That's where
FICA can potentially help with the players' associations in those countries to try and
ensure that we are looking at that next generation. Lisa, thank you so much for chatting with
us today. It's great to hear your take and where you want to take the game forward. Congratulations
on the role and good luck going forwards. Now finally on Stumped this
week, the men's T20 World Cup starts in less than three months, a competition where the
world's top cricketers will be aiming to knock the ball right out of the ground. But did
you know that another cricket World Cup also begins in October in Australia? One in which
it's pretty impossible to hit the ball out of the ground. That's because this is the
Indoor World Cup. The men's edition was established back in 1995, the women's tournament in 1998
and every single event, Jim, has been won by Australia. And so they'll be looking to
defend their titles on home soil in just a couple of months time. But how much does everyone
know about the way indoor cricket works? Well, one of the stars of the Australia men's team
is here to tell us. Clive Rose, welcome to Stumped! Give us your brief
background story, in particular, how you got into indoor cricket. I grew up playing outdoor
cricket with my old man and then in the winter time, it's a bit cold and wet in Australia,
especially particularly in Melbourne, where I grew up. I didn't play footy or any other
sport, I loved cricket so I played, Dad played a bit of indoor cricket in the winter. It's
four nets basically, you're inside a net. Yeah. You got a yellow ball, a light yellow
ball. You'd have a bat and some gloves. Everyone gets to ball. Everyone gets to bat. So it
was a great way to stay in touch with my skills in the winter before outdoor cricket.
You played that indoor cricket, you obviously played outdoor cricket to a good level because
you played Big Bash Cricket as well. But in terms of the indoor game then, give us a brief
resume of the rules apart from that obvious difference in venue and you just said a yellow
ball and the nets but paint a picture as to how it actually works. So, yeah. Everyone's
got to bowl two overs. So you've got eight players per team. Everyone bowls two overs
and every and each pair bats for four overs. You get out but if you get out, you lose five
runs instead of stopping your turn and not being able to bat again. You just continue
to bat for the four overs and you just lose five runs. If you're unlucky and you keep
getting out, your score goes to negative. But, yeah. And then I think the side nets,
if you hit the side nets and then you run one, you get the one run you run plus whatever
the net is valued. So in the front court, the side net's worth one extra run. In the
back court, it's worth two extra runs and the right back net is four runs plus whatever
you run or six runs plus whatever you run. Clive, are the dismissals all the same in
indoor cricket as to outdoor cricket? Yeah, basically, a lot of them are run outs because
you're in a closed space, you have to rotate, the scoreboard has to change within three
balls and if it doesn't, then the third ball, you have to run. The only different rule that's
in indoor cricket an not in outdoor is the hesitation rule, which is basically on the
third ball, if the non-striker stops running then it's basically you're automatically out.
The non-striker has to run to the striker's end. But other than that all the other rules
are the same. Catches. There's a few more mankads in indoor cricket because you get
non-strikers cheating and trying to get down the other end a little bit quicker than they
should be. But basically all the same. So you don't get the runs if you hit the ball
into the net on the full but then its caught, you don't get the runs at all, you're just out?
You don t get anything, you just lose five runs. Wow, that's a tough gig!
Well, Clive, this is Charu Sharma from Bangalore. Just like you play in the
Big Bash, I'm sure most players that play indoor cricket are also very good outdoor
cricketers. So is there a difficultly in transition because of all the rules and the different
mindset perhaps that's required? I wouldn't say too big of a transition. I think indoor
cricket can help outdoor cricket because of the yellow ball, it swings a lot more than
an outdoor ball. It's a little bit like the Duke when it does swing, so batters have to
learn how to play the swinging ball and we call them down ups, when you hit the ball
into the ground and try to bounce it over the fielder so that actually teaches players
how to play the ball really late and watch the ball all the way onto the bat. Bowlers
have to learn how to bowl with a swinging ball. It's good for T20 cricket for bowlers,
like bowling your change-ups, bowling some off-speed deliveries, bowling Yorkers, bowling
different lines and lengths like you do in T20 Cricket. And the fielding some of the
best fielders in the world, indoor cricket is great, just great to watch. It's what sort
of drew me into the sport to be fair. Being able to bounce off the net and catch the ball
and turn and throw and hit the stumps. Because you are in an enclosed space, the ball is
always basically gonna come to you. You've going to be in the game so I think there's
some really good aspects of indoor cricket that can be transferred into outdoor cricket
and you know, generally, I've seen if you're a good outdoor cricketer and you've got the
basis of outdoor cricket, you can come into indoor cricket and pick the game up really
early and really quickly. That is Clive Rose, former domestic and Big Bash cricketer, now
indoor cricketer for Australia. Well, that's all we've got time for on this week's Stumped.
So my thanks to Jim Maxwell and Charu Sharma and of course to you for listening. Make sure
you join us again on next week's show. We'll see you then. Bye bye.