Australia, no one cares about your ball-tampering anymore
Our correspondent is fed up. And Steve Smith's boring YouTube channel isn't making him feel any better
Steven Smith has started a YouTube channel in which he talks about the basics of batting. This has serious potential, right? The most bats**t batter of his era passing on his methods, inspiring a generation of young minds to follow him into the realms of cricketing craziness? Ideally the channel's intro video would be him taking a flamethrower to every single book on batting technique previously written.
- Weirdest motivational phrases to yell at yourself in the nets.
- How to play a leave like you're in the middle of murdering a squadron of Storm Troopers.
- Dealing with stalkers (aka setting clear boundaries with Marnus Labuschagne).
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to move on, feelings linger. It's been almost exactly three years since AB de Villiers broke things off with the South Africa national team. He was "tired", he said. Who hasn't heard that in a relationship that's no longer working?
Halfway through Bangladesh's first ODI against Sri Lanka, the Bangladesh board president, Nazmul Hassan, was royally ticked off at his team's batting effort. In a media briefing at the innings break, he asked: "How many good balls or brilliant fielding got us out?" Exactly. "Was our shot selection right? There's no point bringing a good coach if this is their shot selection." You tell 'em Nazmul. "Some of the outs [dismissals] were very ugly. There was no need to play those shots in that situation." Preach.
Australia, please let us let you in on a secret: nobody cares anymore. Last month, Cameron Bancroft apparently suggested the bowlers probably knew about the ball-tampering in Cape Town in… was it 2018 (look, I'm not even going to bother looking it up). The bowlers then took exception to this and produced a joint statement pleading ignorance. David Saker, the bowling coach at the time, has weighed in. There's been talk about reopening an investigation into the issue.
Our favourite coach was back doing what he does best this month. In a press interaction ahead of the World Test Championship final, Virat Kohli was asked what the difference was between the Kohli of 2014 and the Kohli of 2021. After Kohli had answered, Ravi Shastri, who was sitting beside him, jumped in, saying: "He's slimmer, fitter, the most successful Indian Test captain, and 5500 runs richer", probably thinking the whole time, but somehow stopping himself from saying that he is also way cuter.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf