Wisden Cricket Monthly Issue 73

I went to a do at The Oval last month, in the plush 175 Suite of the Galadari Stand. Billed as a Champions’ Dinner, it felt every inch like one. After back-to-back Championship titles there was much talk of a ‘three-peat’, and some stirring words from the Crown Prince of Kennington, who reminded the heaving throng that if anyone ever gets bored of winning, the door ’s just over there. If a whiff of triumphalism drifted in at times, then why shouldn’t it? The club has 19,500 members – around a third of county cricket’s combined membership – a turnover of £60m, a multi-purpose stadium, the annual guarantee of international cricket and a playing staff oozing with homegrown stars and canny recruits. They’ve just signed the best player from their most…

Issue 73 EDITORIAL T: 0203 696 5730 E: editorial@wisden.com Editor-In-Chief: Phil Walker Magazine Editor: Jo Harman Editor-At-Large: John Stern Staff Writers: Ben Gardner, Adam Hopkins, Yas Rana, James Wallace, Katya Witney Reviews Editor: Jon Hotten EDITORIAL BOARD Paul Allott, Lawrence Booth, Mark Butcher, Isa Guha, David Lloyd, Suresh Menon, Alison Mitchell, Daniel Norcross, Christian Ryan Contributors: Lawrence Booth, Mel Farrell, Taha Hashim, Heather Knight, Andrew Miller, Scott Oliver, Dylan Richards, Matt Roller DESIGN Chief Designer: Joe Provis PHOTOGRAPHY All photography by Getty Images (unless stated) Cover photo by Mark Robinson COMMERCIAL T: 0203 696 5732 E: sales@wisden.com Commercial Manager: Toby Phillips MARKETING T: 0203 696 5730 E: contact@wisden.com MANAGEMENT T: 0203 696 5730 E: contact@wisden.com Managing Editor: Matt Thacker GENERAL ENQUIRIES AND COMMENTS E: contact@wisden.com Publishing Consultant: Patrick Fuller SUBSCRIPTIONS…

FEATURE TITLE Men’s World Cup final Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad November 19 India 240 (Rahul 66, Kohli 54, Sharma 47; Starc 3-55, Cummins 2-34, Hazlewood 2-60) v Australia 241-4 (Head 137, Labuschagne 58*; Bumrah 2-43) Australia won by 6 wickets (with 42 balls remaining) Pat Cummins stands alone in the 132,000 capacity Narendra Modi Stadium having captained Australia to victory over a shellshocked India in the World Cup final. After briefly shaking hands with India’s prime minister, Cummins is left awkwardly holding the trophy while his teammates celebrate out of shot, but the six-wicket win over the hosts caps a triumphant year for the Aussie skipper, who led his team to the World Test Championship title in June and defended the Ashes a month later.…

Wisden Cricket Monthly columnist, UK editor of ESPNcricinfo and former editor of The Cricketer @miller_cricket Kevin Pietersen gets it. And that’s not a sentence I ever expected to write when it comes to the fight for county cricket’s future. In a tweet last month that read for all the world as though he’d been hacked, Pietersen declared that any private equity deal for The Hundred had to be “about protecting the heritage of English Cricket” for “the little kid who loves his/her cricket and belongs to an academy setup”, and not about “creaming the top of just a mere franchise tournament over 6 weeks!” “History must always come first!” Pietersen added, before explaining that his evolved opinion was the product of “careful months of listening and consideration”, which begs several…

1. Travis Head Australia Head’s World Cup looked like it was over before it had even begun when he fractured his left hand in the preceding series against South Africa. But he returned to the side in stunning fashion for Australia’s sixth match of the campaign, blitzing a 59-ball ton against the Kiwis, the fastest World Cup century by an opener. He was immense in the knockout rounds, picking up two crucial wickets and scoring a quickfire 62 to be named Player of the Match in the semi-final win over the Proteas and scooping the same award in the final after dismantling India’s previously impenetrable attack with a magnificent 137 from 120 deliveries. 2. Ibrahim Zadran Afghanistan The ice to his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s fire, Ibrahim became the first…

England captain @Heatherknight55 My overriding feeling when I first heard that Meg was retiring? Surprise, I guess, especially as I’d heard rumours of her coming back for their India tour. I saw the news the morning of her announcement, knowing I’d be playing against her the following day in the Big Bash. And sure enough, when we met up it felt like business as usual. She was a bit reluctant to have all the attention and media, I guess. That’s the impression I always got with Meg, that her passion was for the cricket; and all the other stuff was a distraction. I didn’t expect her to walk away at such a relatively young age. She is still just 31. Watching her in the press conference affected me. It felt…