Hello and welcome to Stumped, your intercontinental hits of news,
features and debate from the quirky world of cricket. I'm Alison Mitchell in London. We're
all taking a breather from the hurley burley rollercoaster ride that is Ashes cricket. Tell
you what, I've been at Wimbledon as well. So, it's been a busy time of it. I've loved the
tennis. I also managed to catch up with some family members this week in the break. So,
if you're ever in London want to visit the Wallace Collection, I highly recommend it. They've got a
portrait of dogs exhibition at the moment, which suited me because I love the animals and learnt
a lot about Edwin Lancia, a bit of culture for you on the start of a Stumped programme. It's
been lovely to just take stock, have a pause and wait for the action to all begin again.
I'm Clint Wheeldon for the ABC in Perth, where we're enjoying school holidays at the moment.
You talk about a bit of culture Ali, I took the kids to the WA Museum, which I highly recommend
if you're ever in the West. It's also been magnificent for those of us with small children
to get a little bit of sleep, considering that the Ashes, as you say, is in a little bit of a
break. There's lots to look forward to though, but it's been a really good week over here in WA.
Hi, I'm Sunil Gupta for Akashvani in New Delhi and the talking points really in India have been two.
One is the new coach of the Indian women's team which has been suffering from a lack of continuity
in coaches. It's Amol Muzumdar, one of the premier Ranji trophy batters, who never, ever played for
India, despite scoring over 30 centuries in the Ranji trophy and being one of the highest scorers.
So that's Amol Muzumdar, and of course, the debut of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the India v West Indies
Test match, which is being played currently. The thing about Yashasvi that you don't know,
is that he actually sold on the street. He sold snacks for a living and lived in the tents on the
Maidans of Mumbai until he made his big entry into cricket. So that is the type of background that he
had, the fighting instinct that he brings cricket and I certainly hope that he will do very well in Test cricket.
It's good to have you with us Clint for this one standing in for Jim. Now last time I
spoke to Jim, he was on a train up to Scotland, so expect to see hear a few stories from him on
his return. Now it is 2-1 in the men's Ashes and all to play for at Old Trafford next week. We'll
talk about that and Headingley in a moment, but we're recording the show in the wake of
a thrilling finish in the first of the women's Ashes ODIs, where England have staged a comeback
having won three white ball matches in a row to keep their series alive. We've spoken so much,
haven't we, about the dominance of Australia as the reigning 50-over and T20 world champions. When
they kicked off the multi-format women's Ashes series with victory in the one-off Test match,
they took a whopping four points meaning England had to win five of the last six remaining games to
win back their trophy for the first time since 2015. Remarkably after losing that first T20,
England have roared back and inflicting three consecutive defeats on Australia, who are also
Commonwealth Games gold medallist, remember. The first time, Clint, that Australia have
lost three matches in a row across formats since 2017. Now they need one win from the last two
ODIs to clinch the trophy. England have got to win both. They've got momentum with them. Did
you see this coming, Clint, after the Test match? No. It is an Ashes series, so we should never,
ever put it in your back pocket until the series is done and dusted. But you're absolutely right
with those two wonderful performances to start with, you thought the Australians would be able to
get the one more that they needed to. A wonderful fightback back. We know how good England can be.
Heather Knight the other day, fantastic with what she was able to achieve. But even then, that's
coming off the back of Beth Mooney's unbeaten 81 with Australia putting on... I thought 8-263
was a really solid score. So, credit to England. I would say and I think the Australian bowlers would
be aware of these too. Perhaps they need to be a bit more disciplined than they have been. Something
like 17 wides in that game. They wouldn't be happy with that at all, but we know that they
are where they are because of what they've been able to achieve for a long period of time and I'm
still confident that they can get one of the two wins they need in the last two one dayers to get
them to retain the Ashes. Who knows, but you're absolutely right. It's been a terrific fightback
from England and just like we're seeing the men's, some brilliant cricket all around.
Well, you know if you look at the men's Ashes, I'm sure you've talked about those. Australia had the
momentum after two wins, but they lost at Headingley. Yes, momentum is a good thing to have,
but remember cricket you're playing in different conditions every time. You're not playing on the
same basketball court or the same tennis court. Conditions are different. And the other thing is
that exactly as Clint said and you said, that Australia are not used to losing and I think that
the type of fighting spirit Australia have always demonstrated. I think that's going to come back
now. 17 wides? OK, that something going to tick and say we're not going to do that again. That's
a big number of wides. It's not just the number of runs, but the number of extra deliveries, so it's
not that they could not have won this. It just that they played some loose cricket. So I think
momentum is a good thing to have. England will be feeling much more chipper after these victories,
but they will know that Australia when they're down, they come fighting hard and that's what
they have to guard against. Yeah. The one thing there that the wides. There are a lot of
missed chances in the match at Bristol certainly. And on both sides, they can tighten things up. So,
I think both teams will look to up their game when they next meet. The thing which really is going in
England's favour is the crowd support, isn't it? The fact that each of the ODIs has been completely
sold out. Tickets have been made affordable and that's getting people in. Sometimes you go on
social media saying there's only crowds because the tickets are cheap. People have still got to
buy those tickets, they've got to make the effort to get hold of a ticket. They have to make the
effort to go and it's showing that people are wanting to and in all the time that I've been
following the England women's team abroad and in this country in particular, crowds like this. It's
absolutely unprecedented for an England women's series. World Cup 2017? Yes, for the final, but
this has been a huge marketing campaign off the back of the successful Hundred tournament as well,
which has elevated the England women. The crowd are certainly being referred to as their twelfthy.
That could yet have a big energy for the England team when they have come up with these last two
ODIs. Lots of action still to come, so a lot of people can't wait to see how it will unfold.
So, what of the men's Ashes? Well that too is finely balanced going into the Old Trafford Test
match next week. It's 2-1 to the tourists as we head into the fourth Test. A drawn series,
just to remind you, means that Australia would retain the Ashes urn. England need to win both
of the last two Tests to win it back. So, Clint, with this a little break before we go into the
last two matches, it does seem a good time to sit back and have a bit of reflection. So how have you
found this series following it from afar, as an Aussie? And what have you made of the way that Pat
Cummins has been leading the side as well? Because he's had some questions asked of him at times and
he has had to contend with his team being at the centre of a big controversy as well. That's a word
you don't often associate Pat Cummins with. It's been brilliant, absorbing. It's been as good as
you would ever hope for from any series anywhere. And that continues a trend of recent Ashes series
in England. I'm thrilled that it's 2-1. I mean, obviously, as an Australian, I'd like it to be
3-0, but it keeps the series alive. Every single session has had something happening. It's been
impossible to look away. I have loved and I hope I don't lose my citizenship for this,
but I've loved what Ben Stokes has been able to do. He's just a cricketer that you watch whenever
he's at the crease. It's impossible not to like Mark Wood. And we saw the troubles that express
pace can cause any batter. It's breath-taking when you see someone who can consistently deliver a
cricket ball at 150kph. We got a little taste here in Perth at the most recent T20 World Cup to see
him bowl live, but to see him be able to do that consistently in an Ashes Test. And then just when
it looked like maybe the Australians had wrested back the initiative late in the third Test,
that little cameo that he put on as well to prove what he could do with a bat. He's an impossible
cricketer or not to like. But having said all that, love that Usman Khawaja has continued to
do what we've hoped that he's been able to do. And has won over so many friends with what he's done
out in the middle. I think what Pat Cummins has been doing has been terrific. He's had to shoulder
a huge workload. I understand and I was the same in the first Test. I wondered about the fielding
positions. Why weren't the Australians on the front foot as we tend to see Australian cricket,
but it worked. It was a 'look, this is our plan b as such. We will try to contain England. And we
will get ourselves in a position where we can win the Test match.' It is not always going to
work and let's not take anything away from the opponents, who are brilliant cricket team. So,
we've had two successes, which could have gone the other way and one loss that also could have gone
the other way. So, I think some of the criticism that has gone around against Pat Cummins for the
fielding positions. I understand from a fan point of view, but I also can see what he's trying to
do. I think it's been an absolutely brilliant series. I was, without going over old ground,
bemused by the whole hoo ha about the Bairstow incident that I guess I say that as an Australian.
If you're going to be a bit dozy, you deserve to get punished for it. But other than that, it's
added a bit more spice to the proceedings and that is not necessarily such a bad thing. All things
considered, with a few things that hopefully never happen again, it's been brilliant to watch and we
like a history lesson as every English cricket fan like to give us before going in Leeds about what
happened last time. Let us remember what happened last time after Australia lost at Headingley and
then, of course, we headed back to Manchester. Let's not forget that one either.
I remember the scenes well at the end of the 2019 Manchester Test match of the Aussie celebrations. Sunil,
what have you made of it as a neutral, if you like? You've got two very contrasting styles
of Test cricket in a way. England, taking this all-action approach and Australia,
a bit more of the traditional Test cricket style. It's produced three absolutely cracking matches.
I tell you, we've been riveted. Absolutely riveted. I'm acting in a play right now and
we were supposed to be having a rehearsal on Sunday and it rained very heavily in Delhi,
so that rehearsal was cancelled, so we could actually watch the game. I was so happy about
that. But let me tell you as a neutral, I think the Ashes is something that we look forward to
even in India. You asked me about what sort of approach. We've been talking about BazBall, the
Australian approach. At Lord's, they were outfoxed completely by the bouncer barrage that came
through and I felt exactly what Clint said. Mark Wood, why wasn't he playing? Not quite fit enough.
Well, there you are. Why not a top notch spinner? Fair enough, throw Rehan Ahmed into
the mix. It's a big match so let him show what he is made of. You can't go to a part time spinner at
Headingley. I know Todd Murphy bowled brilliantly in India, really well. But at the end of the day,
even he is a youngster. This is the Ashes. His first Ashes Test match and Nathan Lyon
wasn't there. Had he been there, who knows what might have happened. So, I'm saying those are the
little margins that I think each captain needs to look at. But whichever way you look at it,
whether it's Cummins and get down and get your teeth into the game, or whether it's a way that
Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have made this team into a team in their own avatar. I think
it is going to be riveting. Just one last point about Bairstow. At the end of the day,
it's not just catches, it's the stumpings. As a keeper, one of your key responsibilities are the
stumpings. If you look at the Carey stumpings, the way that he executes them. And Bairstow has
missed two or three very key stumpings. Those could have been the margin of I know your
emotional about Bairstow. He's done very well in the previous year, but he's not fit because
he had that terrible leg injury. I think losing Nathan Lyon for the series is an enormous blow for
the Australians. We've seen his ability to wrap up tails quickly, which they missed and I think
Todd Murphy is going to be a very good bowler, but he hasn't had the experience that Nathan
Lyon has had. He just isn't the bowler that Nathan Lyon is and I reckon that is a key... I'm
not saying it's as dramatic as when Glenn McGrath stood on the cricket ball and the impact that had,
but nonetheless losing Nathan Lyon has been a huge blow. And you talk about being brave as well,
Sunil. There's a moment here with the Australian selectors. Will they be brave and decide on what
is generational change. Does David Warner keep his spot at the top of the order? Stuart Broad
has absolutely got his number. We know that now - 17 times he's dismissed him in Test cricket.
Well, the Netherlands have done it. They have qualified for the men's cricket World Cup for
the first time since 2011. They've made it ahead of the likes of West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe
who are all full member nations of the ICC. The Netherlands for example, only have one
full time coach on their staff. Now we reflected on the demise of West Indies cricket and their
failure to qualify in last week's show, so you can listen back to that online. The Netherlands
sealed their place in the tournament in India next October with a thrilling win over Scotland,
chasing down the target they needed inside the number of overs required to qualify on Net Run
Rate and breaking some Scottish hearts in the process. We are joined now, though, by a member of
the Netherlands team for whom reaching this World Cup is even more special because of the fact he
is originally from the host nation, India. And he played a super star role in a particularly famous
win during the qualifying tournaments as well. It's middle order batter Teja Nidamanur. Teja,
welcome to Stumped and congratulations to you. Can you put into words what it means for you and
your team mates to have made this 50-over World Cup? Thanks for having me on, guys.
Look, I think we put a huge amount of work leading into the World Cup qualifiers and to be able to
be sitting here now, knowing that we're going is something that we're extremely proud of. Obviously
we played the West Indies in May. I made my debut against them in the Netherlands, so we kinda had
a small taste of what was going to be coming at us given this particular game in the qualifiers.
We felt very confident and fully prepared. Obviously, they batted very well and got to
370 and the pitch was playing well. We felt that there was no reason why we couldn't go about
it and we had the chase broken down into certain parts and different stage that we d like to be at.
To be able to pull that off and the high of it and the way that Logan played, especially in the super
over and the way that he bowled, it's sensational. Obviously, happy to contribute towards the team
there and to be able to contribute through the middle, which was amazing. And for us as a group,
I think it's the highest score we've ever scored and the highest chase that we've ever chased. So,
there was a lot of milestones achieved for our group as a whole. It was celebrated well,
but obviously we knew within the tournament, we went there wanting to qualify and wanting to win.
The coaching staff and the players, we had a really nice evening and we turned our attention to
the next game. I'd say about 24 hours or so, the next day I think a few of us were still thinking
that was amazing. But we knew that we can play the brand of cricket and we do have the skill
to be able to compete with the best in the world. In some senses, it's just really good to see the work coming through.
So, how will it feel? Tell us about the emotions you've got to go through coming
back to India to play as a full international cricketer? What's going to go through your mind?
My granddad, unfortunately who passed away a few years ago now,
but he's the one who kind of started me early in my life as I was growing up in India. He's
the one who bought me my first bat and always threw balls at me at home in my first few years.
My mum and my sister and my grandma and part of my family is living in India and being able to come
back... they live very close to Hyderabad, where the first two games against Pakistan and New Zealand.
It'll be something that I'm really looking forward to and it will be a very proud moment.
I think as life goes there isn't necessarily a straightforward way for how things work out,
and many people have many different stories and different ways that things get done and
I'm part of that, basically. But I'm extremely proud to be going back to India to play and I'm
extremely excited to experience what Indian cricketers experience which is like nowhere
else in the world. The fanfare or that type of support that they get and the overall atmosphere
is also not compared to elsewhere in the world. We got a brief taste of that in Australia at the
T20 World Cup where I didn't play, but I was part of the squad. We played India at the SCG.
It could be a single and there would be a roar, so I can only imagine what 60,000 at Bangalore or
65,000 at Bangalore is gonna be like. I think it's something that all of us as a group are looking
forward to, but for me especially to be in front of my family and to be able to go back to the
place that I was born and to be able to play there, it's something that I am looking forward to and
I'm very excited about for sure. Teja, we would love to catch up with you I'm sure during the
World Cup if that's even possible. Congratulations on making it and your journey is a fascinating
one, so well done and good luck for the preparations, not least, leading into the World
Cup. That's all we've got time for on this week's Stumped. I'll say thank you to Clint Wheeldon
and Sunil Gupta and of course to all of you make sure you. Join us again next week. Bye for now.