key events
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan raised eyebrows last week when he successfully called on Sri Lankan player Angelo Mathews to become the first international cricketer to be suspended s concern. Tough questions about the spirit of the game.
Tanya Aldred Enjoyed the sideshow.
Ultimately, Matthews’ firing was a moment of levity in a world that’s becoming more chaotic and catastrophic by the hour. It sets the touch paper on fire, allowing for lively and safe debates about right and wrong, morality and shame as you walk through the pub door. Friendly partners in the ICC World Cup, Aramco, continue to be hungry for oil and kill each other endlessly.
South Africa’s victory yesterday was actually a picture of the group stage. They now have a semi-final against Australia to look forward to. And Bangladesh’s bowling coach Alan Donald can look forward to afternoon TV close-ups while commentators address doubts about his decisions made 24 years ago.
Before the cricket team leaves Glenn Maxwell’s game in the dust, once again enjoy the spectacle of Maxwell at his peak Jeff Lemon.
Sometimes, in any sport, all you can do is sit back and look and ask: What the hell is going on? Sometimes it defies any conventional understanding. Glenn Maxwell has created more of these moments than most. But this one, which happened on Tuesday night in Mumbai, was the high point. Not just a moment, but a series. A succession of impossibilities, spiraling one after another into an impressionistic style of floodlights, smoke and endless roars of exultation, sweat, confusion and metallic adrenaline. smear.
Preface
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everyone, welcome to the live broadcast of the 43rd match of OBO 2023 cricket World Cup. Australia vs Bangladesh will kick off in Pune at 10.30am local time (4pm AEDT/5am GMT).
With just two games left to go, the group stage is almost already underway. India dominate and will face New Zealand in Wednesday’s semi-finals (unless Pakistan pulls off a miracle of miracles against England later today), while Australian and South African teams are certain to meet in Thursday’s semi-finals.
There is also contention for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the other end of the table, but even then Sri Lanka and the Netherlands will miss out.
So what does this mean for today?
For Bangladesh, it’s a chance to end a disappointing tournament on a high note and start the process of renewal before the next cycle.
For Australia, it’s a dress rehearsal for the knockout stages and the last chance for an all-round performance from a team that has relied on individual moments of brilliance so far in this World Cup. Of course, none of these moments tops this one. Glenn Maxwell had a shocking innings against Afghanistan.
Australia’s think tanks have some tough decisions to make. Will they go all-in on today’s game and select a sore Maxwell and a vertigo-stricken Steve Smith, even though neither is likely to make a full recovery? Or will they rest and rotate and bring in players like Sean Abbott and Alex Carey to share the load?
There’s always a risk of flirting, but only Maxwell and David Warner have averaged over 40 with the bat, while Adam Zampa is the only bowler to convincingly sit below 30 – so no A whole bunch of states can be destroyed.
Additionally, Josh Inglis (18.71 GAA) hasn’t done enough to warrant keeping Kyrie, and picks three through seven (other than Maxwell) are still a lottery. Today’s decisive performance – good or bad – from anyone in the middle order will be crucial in determining the Proteas’ XI next week.
I’ll leave it there for now, but if you’d like to be contacted while I’m on the phone, please close all communications to jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.