The Mitchells have kept the Brisbane pitch in the family for over 30 years

Peter English21-Nov-2010The Gabba pitch has been the Mitchell family business for more than three decades, and the latest offspring is causing excitement and fear ahead of Thursday’s opening Ashes Test. Brisbane’s stereotype is a swing-bowling paradise but the generalisation doesn’t often apply for more than the first couple of sessions in five-day affairs. This time it might be different, threatening old-fashioned thrills for the bowlers and unfamiliar spills for batsmen who have grown up on undeviating wickets.Seam, swing, bounce and speed are the perfect storm for bowlers and the attributes have rumbled during an unusually wet Brisbane spring. Only 31 overs were possible in one four-day game in October and the past two fixtures have been no fun for the batsmen. The Sri Lankans were knocked over for 115 in an ODI that came a week after the local Queenslanders, who say they are used to surfaces “with branches growing on them”, were dismissed for 75 and 96 in the Sheffield Shield.Showers have been predicted in the lead-up to Thursday’s Test and the curator, Kevin Mitchell jnr, is likely to bring forward the intensive phase of his preparation in case there are too many disruptions. The lack of sunshine being forecast will create a ripple of nerves for the groundstaff and run-makers.”If that’s the case over the final days and it’s humid and cloudy for the match, it could be a little bit more lively than usual,” Mitchell jnr told ESPNcricinfo. “Our wickets are definitely quick and pacy, which is what we are trying to do. If the conditions overhead are in favour of the bowlers, you can get a double whammy: swing in the air and cut off the pitch, and bounce and pace as well.”Under Mitchell jnr’s watch, which began when he took over from his father, Kevin snr, in 1991, the Gabba has overtaken the WACA as the quickest pitch in the country. The surface gives character to a ground built on a swamp in the late 1800s, and one that has grown into a modern stadium. For a Test the pitch is usually green on the opening morning, providing the bowlers with a chance, before it loses its colour and supports the batsmen. Towards the end it suits the spinners, who enjoy the extra bounce even if the ball isn’t turning.When the wicket is topped up by Queensland’s summer rain and thunderstorms the usual order becomes mixed up. Two years ago, when Australia were hosting New Zealand, the covers were blown off during a mini-cyclone the night before the game and one set of sails in the grandstand were ripped. Mitchell jnr went into the ground at 1.20am and saw the heavy sandbags had been blown away and water was on the square, but couldn’t believe his luck – there were only two puddles on the side of the Test pitch.”It was not a problem,” he said. “You could have started on time, but we started 30 minutes late.” Australia were bowled out for 214 on the opening day, but it was enough to stay well ahead of New Zealand. New South Wales won outright on their visit north last month by scoring 262 in the first innings. When it’s hot and dry, 400 is not enough in a Brisbane first innings, but when it’s damp or humid a total of 200 can make a side feel rich.

Under Mitchell jnr’s watch, which began when he took over from his father, Kevin snr, in 1991, the Gabba has overtaken the WACA as the quickest pitch in the country

Mitchell snr’s last game in charge was water-damaged, but not weather-affected. It was the Ashes Test of 1990-91, a three-day affair because someone had put a hose under the covers before the match. “Half was green, half was brown,” Mitchell snr said. “It was a shock. Half of it was a wet wicket. It was someone being smart.”Australia won by 10 wickets in a match in which the highest score was England’s 192 on the opening day. The tourists haven’t always been disadvantaged by the Queensland weather. An ear-splitting, stand-wobbling electrical storm made their life easier on the final day in 1998-99. England were 6 for 179, with all their specialist batsmen gone, when the sky almost literally opened up after tea.Mitchell snr, now 75, grew up near the Gabba, collecting bottles at the ground for pocket money as a child, and watching Don Bradman play there in the 1940s. He returned by accident in the 1970s, filling in to help a friend while taking a break from his carpentry business. Soon the main job became vacant and he said he’d do it for the season. “Then I’m off,” he said. “I’d spent 15 years in the army, and being out there on the ground was like being in jail.”His son visited from Mt Isa in 1987, planning a short stay – and still hasn’t left. The pair’s most famous partnership came during a one-dayer between Australia and New Zealand in 1987-88. Mitchell jnr spotted dark storm clouds to the west of the ground and crossed the road to pull his dad from the pub, where he was feasting on mudcrabs. Within a couple of minutes Mitchell snr was racing on to the field – the sun was still out and the sky was blue – to tell the shocked umpires and players that “it’s going to rain like buggery”. He ripped out the stumps, stuck the covers on, and the heavens quickly opened. The unconventional intervention saved the game, which Australia won.If something unorthodox is needed over the next week Mitchell jnr will be well prepared. Having learned off his father, and developed his own techniques, he and his beautiful pitch will be ready. Rain, hail or shine.

For Rahul Dravid, analysing his cricket and working his weaknesses out methodically was a way of making up for his relative lack of conventional talent

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012Timeless SteelOn being seen as an intellectual, and whether he is comfortable with the tag
I am comfortable with that tag because that’s who I was. I’m not hiding away from the fact that I did think deeply about this game, and I thought deeply because I loved it. I wanted to know how good I could become. I challenged myself, I asked questions. That’s who I was.People are different. I am not the only intense or intellectual cricketer. I played with other cricketers who could be pretty intense and intellectual. I know Sanjay was too – not to the obsessive levels that I was sometimes, but he was. The beauty of this game is, it allows different people to succeed; it allows everyone to express themselves. In some ways, this intellectualism, or this curiosity, was a strength for me. As well as a weakness sometimes.On his obsession with technique
There are many who would say that. There were times when I thought too much about it. But that was who I was. Thinking about the game, working my weaknesses out, worked for me. I wasn’t the most prodigiously talented cricketer in Karnataka, let alone India. Some of my team-mates in my school team could hit the ball cleaner than I do. I had to work through that lack of talent, so to speak, that lack of natural flair. Runs never came easy for me. That was the foundation for this thinking. It was a strength. I was able to overcome a lot of things. There were times in my career when I overdid it, and that was a red flag.I realised it myself too, and a lot of senior players would tell me too, like you [Manjrekar], Anil [Kumble] and [Javagal] Srinath constantly being in my ear, telling me to just relax. But as a young kid growing up, desperate to do well, it was not always the most natural thing for me to do. As I matured, I managed it better. I don’t think the basic trait will ever go away, but I managed the whole process better.On the idea of being “less talented”
I think we judge talent wrong. What do we see as talent? I think I have made the same mistake myself. We judge talent by people’s ability to strike a cricket ball. The sweetness, the timing. That’s the only thing we see as talent. Things like determination, courage, discipline, temperament, these are also talent. I think when we judge talent, we have got to look at the whole package.The talent I was mentioning was about striking the cricket ball. It’s difficult to explain but some people just have it. You can look at a kid and say he has got it. Sourav Ganguly just had it – to time the cover-drive. You could see it. Sachin has it. Viru has it. You won’t necessarily say that about Gautam so much. Not that he is less successful. That’s what we see as talent.We don’t actually look at the other side of talent. We say a talented player didn’t make it, but maybe he didn’t have the other talent. I hate to bring this example up: Vinod [Kambli] is one of the nicest guys I have met. When [Karnataka] played him in Rajkot, Vinod got 150 against Srinath, Anil. First ball Anil came on to bowl, he hit him straight into the concrete wall. At short leg, you said, “Man, amazing, how did he do that? I wish I could do that.” But maybe he didn’t have the talent in other areas. Of just understanding what it took to be an international cricketer, or dealing with the stress and pressure. I can only guess. But maybe Sachin had that much more. Maybe in that other side of things, I was luckily much more talented.On reading, conversing, showing an interest in others’ lives
It was a way to escape. I thought about cricket a lot. I needed to get out of this bubble of mine. I found it in books and conversations with other people about other things. I was a curious person and this was my release. I like being challenged intellectually. I hated at the end of the day to talk cricket to someone else. I was talking to myself about cricket all the time, so I needed to talk to somebody else about something else. Took a lot of pressure off me. When I was reading books, or trying to find out what was interesting in others’ lives, I wasn’t thinking about cricket.On getting angry, particularly the one incident described by Sehwag to his wife, Vijeeta, where he threw a chair in the dressing room
I don’t think I was a person who got angry easily. I didn’t need to be conscious of it, but I did realise that when I did get angry or let someone enter infiltrate my cocoon, I didn’t play well. I was almost playing for the wrong reasons. There were a lot of times I was trying to prove someone wrong. In those cases I would never do well. Sometimes I tried to manufacture it to see if motivated me, but it didn’t.[On that occasion] I was partly angry with myself. We were leading the [2006] series 1-0, going into Bombay against England. I won the toss and I bowled first, which I don’t think in hindsight was a smart decision. We bowled badly on the first day on a wicket that did help the seamers a bit, we batted terribly, and in the end I was angry at myself too, because I hadn’t batted particularly well. I thought I made a wrong decision upfront. And then to end up capitulating on the last day when we could have easily played out a draw… I got a bit upset that day.On captaincy
Let me say, it’s been a great honour and privilege to captain India. When I got the opportunity, I took it up with a certain amount of energy and enthusiasm. I wanted to do it. At the time I gave it up, I felt that somehow, over a period of time, that had gone. Maybe it was the amount of cricket we played, or some of the up-and-down results we had. We had some good results, and crushing disappointments was well. All that took a toll on me. When I gave up, I wasn’t enjoying it. I was getting up in the morning, before a one-day game, and thinking, “Oh god, another game of cricket.” I had never felt like that about a game of cricket.It’s a tough job. It’s a challenging job, no doubt about it. There is a lot of stuff that happens outside the field that you need to deal with quite well. In hindsight there is a lot of stuff that I can look back on and say, “Maybe you could have done that better.” I don’t know any captain who will not look back and say, “Maybe some things I could have done better.”I’d like to believe I still did a pretty good job. I could have done a better job, yes. If I paced out better, maybe if some results had gone our way, especially the World Cup. It takes a toll on you emotionally. If some results had gone our way, I would have been able to carry on.On Greg Chappell
Right from the first time I met him in Australia, and Sourav introduced us, I thought he was a terrific man to talk cricket with. People like Greg have grown up with the game. They talk the game, they discuss the game, they have grown up in an era of Australian cricket where they would play the game and sit back and spend hours at the bar discussing the game. There was a lot he could offer, in terms of knowledge, from his experiences of having played the game so much. He was a great batsman, he knew batting, he understood batting. There was a lot he could help young kids with.On the impression that it was Chappell’s team and not Dravid’s
It was my team. It was obviously my team. Because Greg was a strong personality, because he was himself a great cricketer, and because of the fanfare and the publicity that came with whatever he did, it sometimes gave the impression that it was his team more than my team or our team or the Indian team. That’s the nature of the person; he is the kind of person who can polarise opinion. He is a strong personality. Comes across like that. I always felt that it was my team. I was always happy with the way things went.On the decline of cricket conversation among cricketers
It definitely happens less and less. In a way it is a sign of professionalism. People are cooling down, having ice baths, having stretches, going to the physio. Getting together happens less and less. I am sure when guys get together they talk about cricket, but I think there are more distractions – so much more to do. A lot more external entertainment. People don’t want to hang around in dirty, smelly dressing rooms, you know. That’s one of the sad things about the game.I remember long train journeys in our time, when playing first-class cricket. And in the evening you hear GS Viswanath and Syed Kirmani talk about the game, or Carlton Saldanha or Roger Binny. You have their undivided attention. You are pestering them with questions. They are having conversations among themselves, and you are eavesdropping on those conversations. A lot of my learning happened on these train journeys; I really enjoyed them. Sometimes I miss that. Creating that environment for that sometimes is missing.People do talk cricket, but it is different when it is casual and relaxed. Someone asks you specific advice, it is different. The best learnings happen in these casual conversations. You are talking to someone else, and someone eavesdrops – those are some of my fondest memories.On eliminating his exaggerated trigger movement, and whether it contributed to his getting bowled repeatedly in Australia
I did try and stay stiller rather than have that exaggerated shuffle. Actually, after I started playing well, it happened naturally. As time went on, as I batted better and better, that trigger movement became less and less. I tried to try and stop doing it. Partly because I was falling over a lot.My timing went off a little bit. It’s a tricky one, timing. Probably I was late on the ball. The timing of the coming down of the bat, maybe I lost that a little bit. Maybe they bowled well. Thing with these tours is, there is not a lot of time in between to analyse too much. There is not a lot of time to go back and work on some of these small things that come into your batting.On his possible future in cricket administration
Nobody can do anything about the governance of the game. It’s an impossible task I think.I’m joking. It’s a great game, it has been part of my life, I will always love to be some way involved in it. What form that takes, and how it happens, you never know. I have got to be humble about it. A lot of people who I respect and who have been able to make a contribution have always taken some time away from the game. I have lived this game, played this game, for about 25 years. I think it’s not a bad idea to step away from it, look from outside, get a perspective and then come back. I don’t know what form it might take. It’s too great a game for me to “give back to it”, but I will love to be associated.India readers, get the book here at a special price

В магазине Steam стали доступны четыре бесплатных шутера с видом от первого лица, два из которых — мультиплеерные. Все проекты можно навсегда забрать в свою библиотеку.

GreenIsland — простой шутер на выживание про лётчика, который потерпел крушение на неизвестном острове. В этой игре геймерам придётся исследовать локацию, собирать ресурсы и заниматься строительством. Проект был создан на движке Unreal Engine 5.1. Страница в Steam.

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World Boss — мультиплеерный шутер с мультяшной графикой и боями на 14 игроков, который несколько лет находился в раннем доступе. С полноценным релизом в игру добавили много контента, включая новую арену, новую механику спринта, достижения и скины. Страница в Steam.

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West Ham are now very eager to sell one surplus player at the earliest opportunity, alongside the likes of Niclas Füllkrug and James Ward-Prowse, who are both nailed on for the exit door.

Fullkrug and Ward-Prowse set to leave West Ham next month

The Hammers are bracing themselves for significant January departures, with both Fullkrug and Ward-Prowse appearing certain to leave the London Stadium when the transfer window reopens.

Fullkrug’s disastrous spell looks destined to conclude after barely 18 months, with the German international having managed just three goals across 29 appearances since his £27m arrival from Borussia Dortmund in August 2024 (GiveMeSport).

The 31-year-old striker has been given official permission to leave by West Ham, with his agency ROOF formally notified that he can seek a January move (Sky Sports Germany via Claret and Hugh).

West Ham ready to take huge loss on mainstay who's 'failed to impress Nuno'

The Hammers are willing to sell for a cut-price fee.

By
Emilio Galantini

4 days ago

Fullkrug himself is keen to leave the club for pastures new with a decision already made, and Fabrizio Romano has backed up reports that the ex-Bundesliga star is poised for his final few weeks at the club.

Ward-Prowse has suffered an equally dramatic fall from grace under Nuno Espírito Santo, having been completely frozen out since the Portuguese manager’s September appointment.

The 30-year-old England international enjoyed an excellent debut season following his £30m transfer from Southampton in 2023, registering seven goals and eleven assists under David Moyes, but his form collapsed under subsequent managers Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter.

Nuno and West Ham have already instructed the midfielder and his agents to seek new clubs in January, with both Everton and Southampton reportedly expressing interest.

Former manager Moyes wants to reunite with Ward-Prowse at Everton, according to ExWHUemployee, as both the midfielder and Fullkrug prepare to pack their bags and leave Rush Green next month.

There are other candidates for the exit door too, including Guido Rodriguez.

West Ham 'determined' to sell Rodriguez 'as soon as possible'

According to reports from Spain this week, West Ham are preparing to cut their losses on Rodriguez, with three La Liga clubs expressing interest in the struggling Argentine midfielder.

Rodriguez has endured a lacklustre spell since arriving at the London Stadium following his impressive performances at Real Betis.

The 31-year-old has managed just four appearances across all competitions this season, failing to establish himself under Nuno, and his lack of playing time has made a January departure increasingly inevitable.

The Hammers are actively facilitating his exit, with West Ham ‘determined’ to offload Rodriguez ‘as soon as possible’.

The World Cup winner needs to improve his chances of featuring in Argentina’s 2026 squad for the USA tournament, making a return to familiar territory in Spain particularly attractive.

Real Sociedad have emerged as serious contenders for his signature, with Girona also monitoring the situation closely after making an inquiry.

Villarreal are the third option, with Rodriguez viewed as an ideal addition to complement existing midfielders Dani Parejo and Santi Comesana.

West Ham face announcing record £100m losses in their December accounts, so Rodriguez’s departure would be very financially beneficial considering he’d count as pure profit in the eyes of PSR.

Shohei Ohtani created the 50/50 club this season when he became the first MLB player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same year. Ohtani's 50th home run came on September 19th against the Miami Marlins in one of the greatest hitting performances in baseball history.

In that game, Ohtani went 6-for-6, hit three home runs, had two doubles, and drove in 10 runs. It was spectacular, which only makes the 50th home run ball cooler.

That's probably why it sold for a record $4,392,000 at auction. Like many of Ohtani's numbers is a record that beats the price of Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball which sold for $3.05 million in 1999.

The man who put the ball up for auction, Chris Belanski, was originally offered $300,000 for the ball but turned it down. Now that the ball has been sold for 14 times that, all he has to do is win a couple of lawsuits filed by other fans who think they should be the rightful owners of the ball.

As for Ohtani, if he really wanted the ball, it only would have cost him a tiny fraction of his 10-year, $700 million contract, but the way he's deferred money, maybe he didn't have the cash on hand to make a winning bid.

The Toronto Blue Jays have been among the finalists for a number of this year's top free agents, but have ultimately failed to make a marquee signing the franchise has longed for. That changed Monday.

The Blue Jays have agreed to a five-year contract with veteran outfielder Anthony Santander, pending a physical, according to multiple reports. ESPN's Jeff Passan indicates that Santander's deal with Toronto is worth upwards of $90 million.

Last year, Santander set career-highs with 44 home runs and 102 RBIs. His 44 homers trailed only Aaron Judge (58) and Shohei Ohtani (54) for the most in MLB. Santander boasted a .814 OPS and made the first All-Star Game of his career. The former Baltimore Orioles slugger is set to remain in the AL East and make the move north of the border.

Santander, 30, spent the first eight years of his career with the Orioles. He's hit 28 or more home runs in each of the last three seasons. He figures to provide more offensive prowess to a Blue Jays team that lacked power in 2024, having hit the fifth-fewest home runs (156) in MLB. Only the Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins had less.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got annihilated by the Chicago Cubs on Saturday by a score of 16-0. The loss, their seventh in the last nine games, was the franchise's most lopsided defeat in 60 years and puts them at 10-7 on the season after their high-flying 8-0 start.

In an effort to not unnecessarily exhaust his bullpen with his team already down 11 runs, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called on shortstop Miguel Rojas to pitch the game's final two innings. The 36-year-old allowed five runs on seven hits—and also had some fun for himself while on the bump.

Over his 33 pitches thrown, Rojas hilariously mimicked his L.A. teammates' pitching deliveries, copying the windups of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, and Roki Sasaki.

Here's a look:

That's one way to make a loss like that less painful.

Without much time to recover from the ugly defeat, L.A. will once again take on the Cubs from Dodger Stadium on Sunday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN.

The New York Yankees endured a major blow when it was announced starting pitcher Gerrit Cole would undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn right ulnar collateral ligament. Cole will now miss the entire 2025 season, leaving the reigning American League champions without their ace as they try to get back to the World Series.

With Cole now out for the season and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil dealing with a lat strain that is expected to keep him out until the middle of the season, the Yankees have limited options for their starting rotation.

Unfortunately, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman does not have high hopes of adding to their pitching depth at this point. Cashman said Tuesday that there are few pitchers available, and that they plan to “rely on what we have" at this point, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Cashman noted that luxury tax penalties also make it "less likely" for the team to add a pitcher externally.

The Yankees will likely move forward with left-hander Max Fried, their prized eight-year, $218 million offseason signing, as the team's ace. Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman, and Clarke Schmidt will likely round out their top four starters, and Will Warren is a strong candidate to become the team's fifth starter.

Cashman and the Yankees could also pursue a trade, but MLB Network's Jon Morosi believes it's unlikely they could pull off a trade for San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease. The Yankees could look elsewhere, or opt to go after another starter ahead of the trade deadline in July.

The Boston Red Sox shocked Major League Baseball by trading star third baseman Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. Since that move, several stories have surfaced about the dysfunction in the Red Sox organization. An MLB insider detailed another on Monday.

In a piece for Yahoo! Sports, Joon Lee reported on a firing that exemplified the chaos behind the scenes in Boston. Per Lee’s report, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has become insulated as his front office has lost cohesion. Longtime staffers have felt shut out by him and the "collaborative spirit that once defind Red Sox baseball operations has frayed."

Things only got worse when Breslow brought in a consulting firm in 2024 to help streamline the organization. Firings ensued and things frayed further. That led to an incident that saw the developing tension boil over.

From Lee's piece:

There's a few lessons here. First, always mute yourself during a team Zoom call. Second, maybe Boston should have a tighter hand with Breslow, who had never been in this position before October of 2023.

Whatever is going on with the Red Sox isn't good, and an organizational reset might be in the cards.

Cubs second baseman Nico Hoener wasn't expecting to hit a low slider by Reds relief pitcher Yosver Zulueta in the eighth inning of Wednesday afternoon's game. He attempted a check swing, but ended up hitting the ball instead of avoiding contact.

Luckily for Hoerner, his swing had enough power behind it for him to hit a single to left field. As he eyed the ball to make sure it dropped, Hoerner got extremely excited when he realized his mistaken hit was turning into an RBI for him and a run for the Cubs. He was able to bring in his teammate Matt Shaw from second base to home.

Marquee Network caught the perfect shot of Hoerner's reaction once he realized his hit was a happy accident.

Hoerner's RBI single brought in the sixth and final run of the day for the Cubs. Chicago beat Cincinnati 6-1, pushing the Cubs to a 66-48 record to secure a stronger second-place hold in the NL Central behind the MLB-best Brewers.