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In the semi-final of the World T20, India for some reason omitted Mithali Raj and got bowled out for 112.
“They bottled it,” was Charlotte Edwards straightforward assessment.
Tell you who wouldn’t have bottled it: Mithali Raj.
Raj played two innings in the World T20 and made two fifties. She is the tournament’s ninth-highest scorer, even though everyone above her has had at least four innings and in many cases five.
“Whatever we decided, we decided for the team,” said the captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, by way of non-explanation.
The feeling seemed to be that Raj plays too cautiously and that the world has moved on. This is the problem with always looking ahead. You can get ahead of yourself.
Kaur added that she had “no regrets,” about the decision, which represents an extremely poor use of hindsight. Something to work on ahead of the next tournament, in our opinion.
For England, Amy Jones and Nat Sciver made unbeaten fifties in a run-chase that only very occasionally demanded that they do that half-run thing you wheel out when you’re crossing a road and want to make big show of the fact that you’re hurrying for the benefit of the patiently waiting drivers.
Sciver’s innings entirely negated her uncharacteristically costly bowling. Even after conceding 16 from two overs in this match, she is still only going at 3.76 runs an over in this tournament. According to Adam Collins, she tweaked her action a few weeks ago. As risky decisions go, that appears to be the inverse of “let’s omit Mithali Raj”.
England play Australia in the final at the very, very start of Sunday UK time.
I probably would have watched a lot more of this tournament if the matches were on at a non horrible time.
I remember watching a lot of the men’s tournament there in 2010. What times were those games on?
I’m with Howe on the lunacy of the timings – midnight our time, which is 5:30 am on most of the Indian sub-continent seems to me to be a daft start time to maximise TV audiences. And I’m not convinced that 20:00 attracts bigger crowds in e.g. Antigua than 16:00 or even (weekends) 12:00.
I think we should entertain the possibility that the men’s cricket is getting first dips of the 24 hour TV scheduling time slots and that the women get what’s left.
While I have your attention and am in ranting mode, I simply have to offload about the ghastly Ladbrokes commercial that is broadcast at regular intervals during the cricket.
You know the one – a cheeky-chappy in a rocket-propelled space suit that doesn’t work.
At Notting Hill Gate tube, while I was away, they started escalator works which means that you have to walk down to the Central Line platform.
There is a recorded announcement broadcast at regular intervals, alerting passengers and telling them where to go (elsewhere) if they cannot walk down stairs.
The announcer sounds so much like the Ladbrokes cheeky chappy I am pretty sure it is him.
And once the announcement has got through the bit that says, “From 5 November until the end of the year, there is no down escalator service to the Central Line Platforms at Notting Hill Gate Station…”
…into my head pops…
“…oh well, I fancied a walk anyway. Laters!”
I feel so much better now I have written that down.