Attention turns to the Ashes after India epic | Plus, The Hundred so far and county cricket changes

21:29Nasser Hussain:And, you know, what will the pitches be like in the championship in September? So it's not straightforward at all, but he definitely needs to bat. Yeah, it's not. It's not straightforward, but you have to take some individual responsibility as well. You know, you've got to know your own game. You've got to make that decision. The IPL decision wouldn't have been an easy one, but you've got to maybe look and learn from this summer and say, right, I didn't play enough cricket. You know, last night Sam Billings was there. And Sam Billings, I know you raved about Sam Billings when he was burst on the scene.

22:00And Sam Billings went through a very similar thing where every time I put my TV on, Sam Billings was in a bib carrying drinks. And he ended up not playing red ball cricket and he's now a white ball specialist or whatever. I think you do have to learn from your own summer that you've had and say, right, in future I am going to play more cricket. And then management, I think the old Trafford test was the one that surprised me, was that he was left out. And England obviously need a spare batter there just in case someone gets injured on the morning of the game. But others left to go and play for their counties, maybe a day after the county games had started.

22:36Whether he could have gone then, whether England wanted him part of the setup because they like people to be involved in and around the team. I thought that could have been an occasion before the Oval Test to go off and play one round of county championship games. If I was him, I would probably be looking to play county championship cricket for Warwickshire at the end of the season just to get in the rhythm. And I know there's a T20 World Cup coming up and the white ball stuff is hugely important, but he seems to have lost the rhythm of batting and the best way to get the rhythm of batting, even for the modern cricketer is to go and get, you know, he hasn't got a professional 100 yet.

23:18Go and get a professional 100. I think Warwick should play Surrey as well. That will be a real good opportunity against a good bowling attack. So that's my personal thing. Rob Key, selectors, they often get criticized for not focusing in on white ball stuff. You know, they may say, right, we've got a World Cup. You need to play more white ball stuff. So, you know, that will

23:40Nasser Hussain:It's just a more complex world, isn't it? It is. The extra format and the way the schedules is just make it a more complex world than when we played. It was very straightforward, wasn't it? You played first-class cricket, you tried to get into the test team, and that was that, and it was a bit easier in a way. Liam Livingstone last night, he'd give it some welly. He took Rashid Khan for 26 in and over, which I think, well, Rashid Khan, it was his most expensive figures in T20, most expensive figures in the 100 last night. And Livy was mic'd up. The game was on the beep as well. And I think he got in a bit of a spat with Tom Curran, didn't he?

24:23Nasser Hussain:Who sledged him a bit. And then he gave it some welly and a bit back at the end of the game. But there was some incredible hitting. He does hit it ferociously hard. He doesn't stroke the ball. He's not a stroker of the ball He's not somebody who's gently just working it away But honestly, when you watch him in full flow like last night He hits it as hard as anybody He said he doesn't pick Rashid Khan And I think that was the pitch again Because he doesn't pick Rashid Khan, he says But because there was that bounce He just in the end could get down on one knee And kind of hit it with the bounce as it were because, as you know, Rashid Khan is quick and into the pitch.

25:09Sorry, what about that shot of Rashid Khan? I mean, we might get him trying to do a demo where he stood on a stump and he just put his head down and just sort of flicked it over square leg for six. I mean, that was just an incredible cricket shot. How you can get so much power with a flick. Yeah, amazing.

25:30Nasser Hussain:It struck me as the kind of shot that maybe Rishabh Pant could play, You know, just almost no back lift and then just iron wrists helping it on its way. But, yeah, he hit some amazing, amazing shots at the end. But went the distance.

26:03Sky Sports can do this radio ad.

26:05Nasser Hussain:Yeah, but have you seen how many matches they've got this season? They're just all too busy. Fine, I'll do it myself. Sky Sports is going up from 128 to 215 Premier League matches this season. Search Get Sky Sports to upgrade today. It's not bad, you know. Do you want to get me on the telly? No, no, no, I don't. Yeah.

26:26Can I talk to you about the tournament in general and the 100 in general? And I know you've been speaking to the tech titans and various owners that are coming in. And at the end of this year, it's going to obviously have massive changes in the direction of travel. I noticed you did a piece about the tech titans. And I just picked up on a couple of comments from your readers underneath, actually. And I thought it sort of summed up where we are with the 100 and not necessarily how we see the 100, but how the public see the 100. And underneath was a comment, as Chris Stocks puts it, and Chris Stocks obviously writes for the iPaper, going from the test series to the 100 is like having read a literary masterpiece and then being offered a Mr.

27:15Men book. The razzmatazz cannot conceal the vacuity of it all. Now, there'll be people who have watched that magnificent test series that put the hundred on the TV and go, what is this? Made up teams. What's this all about? So that's one angle. And then an answer to that was I read or was read Mr. Men books as a kid. That was my path to learning to read. And now I love reading and often revisit the classics and love them. Conversely, if my first book was War and Peace, it may have put me off reading for life. and that is the thing I have sensed in grounds and his point this from Richard and underneath your article was that is the gateway into the game for a lot of young people is through the hundred when we turn up I don't know what it was like at Edgbaston yesterday the crowds were down a bit Edgbaston yesterday but every single hundred game I've turned up to has a completely different feel to it.

28:19It has a real young audience. The amount of autographs and photographs from young kids and families with the hundreds, surely, surely that is a good thing. Now, I know your argument that it's been given prime time, school holidays, best weather, cheaper ticket prices. Why wouldn't families turn up? But does that matter when young people are being sort of shown the game of cricket and excited by the game of cricket?

28:50Nasser Hussain:Well, you put cricket on in August and encourage people to come. People will come. Cricket's a great game. No, I mean, put cricket on in August in school holidays. That seems to me obvious. That's nothing to do with the format per se. I mean, whatever. If you put the blast on in August, people will come and watch as they used to do. The problem with the blast was that it did end up getting a bit rowdy and a bit, you know, the alcohol consumed and things like that. And this tournament is a little bit more family friendly. I definitely get the sense in the ground. And now you may say, OK, that's fine.

29:35But I want to know the direction of Travelath. Where do you think this tournament's going? Because people are coming in with big money. I think eventually, I don't know what you think, it's going to have to become a T20 competition. I think there's too many formats. I think they may want it to align with all their other franchises and become a T20 competition. And then money is coming in and these big owners will want to get the most out of this window as possible.

30:04Nasser Hussain:So, yeah, I mean, you know, my, as you know, my view was that the setting up of the separate entities was to get money in. Because people like the Tech Titans, we can talk about the conversation I had with them in a minute, but they're not going to pump money into members-owned counties. They're just not going to do that because you don't have any control in members-owned clubs. So you set up separate entities, which was done, and investment eventually comes in five years later. That was the rationale for setting up the tournament to get, and 500 million will go into the game. I think, you know, whatever they've sold it for, the enterprise value of the tournament was of 900 million and more.

30:47Nasser Hussain:So, and in fact, you know, one of the tech guys that we, I chatted, I was there, I went to Lords about three hours after the last ball of the India series to chat to a couple of the owners of the London franchise. One, Nick Esherora has been on our podcast. And, you know, they talk about that the ECB have incubated this tournament. They see it very much as a kind of start-up. They've kind of bought into it. And this year is very much a holding year, and they're going to be taking a lot more responsibility and control on it from here on in. So they have three and a half weeks in August, and then they will decide how that tournament starts to look and be shaped in future.

31:33We've already seen that some of the names are going to change.

31:37Nasser Hussain:The Manchester Originals, they're going to go to the Super Giants, aren't they? They don't know whether it's Manchester Originals Super Giants or Manchester Super Giants. I suspect the latter. And, you know, a couple of the players in that team, Joss Butler and Heinrich Klassen, are going to be in their franchises around the world. So there's very much a sense there of that franchise having a global look at things, of which Manchester is part of their overall thing. So that's how it's going to be. I mean, I don't think that it'll immediately go T20. maybe in the medium term that will change but there are if you if you change it to t20 and you lengthen it there are some knock-on consequences because what do you do then about the double headers then it becomes a a much longer day the double headers have been the outstanding success story of the tournament haven't they that the what it's done for the women's game obviously has been fantastic and i suspect if you decouple it you know it's not going to be the feel of it which is very much a kind of all-in feel, that's going to change.

32:45Nasser Hussain:So I don't sense that they're going to change that immediately, but I might be wrong. My issue is not so much about balls and pitches and money and all these sort of things. My issue is when do we get that emotional attachment to a team? That was my issue when I turned up with the first game. Having been at the Test Match Series for 25 days and seen the importance and the attachment and the eyes and the passion and what it must have meant to Indian people in India watching that and willing their side, willing Siraj to get that last wicket. There was a real attachment to the game, the team, the individual.

33:31same with England can Chris Wokes walking down those stairs for his team for his country and the whole of England watching going come on let's do this to turning up on the Tuesday where you've got four new teams new players trying to work out who plays for who when are we going to get that emotional attachment because it's different you can't say well it works in India in the IPL will just follow that model because it's different in India. A completely cricket mad nation that will watch till midnight and follow it forever and have as many games as you want. But also they are attached to the individual.

34:11So before this year, last couple of years, RCB women won it as well. RCB was the most successful franchise as far as viewership and following, but they'd won nothing. But why were they the most successful as far as digital clicks and following? was because they had Virat Kohli, Chris Gale, A.B. Davilius. They had the biggest names. In India, there's an attachment to the name, the biggest names. In England, I still see the attachment in sport is to the club, the football, Manchester United, you know, Lancashire County Cricket Club, Essex County Cricket Club. When are we going to get the attachment to the London spirit?

34:52Well, how do you get that attachment? that people watching on TV, when I watch on TV, Friday night I'm going to watch Liverpool play Bournemouth and I'll want one side to win and one side to lose. I want Bournemouth to win because Liverpool will be a threat to Arsenal. When I watch a game of the 100, it's just like I'm watching two teams. It's when do we get that sort of I really want this team to win sort of feeling?

35:18Nasser Hussain:I mean, that was a question right at the start of the tournament, and people questioning whether you could get that connection to a newly enfranchised team. I mean, I've said this to you before, because they talk about tribal connections, the tribal loyalties, and that's what they want to try and create. There are some ready-made connections in cricket, and I do not see why Joe Root can't be playing for the Northern Superchargers alongside Johnny Bairstow and the famous players who've been through and come through the Yorkshire production programme. My view would be that their ready-made connections build on them.

35:59Nasser Hussain:And obviously they wanted to do something completely different. And there were issues with how this tournament evolved right at the start. Some of the language from the organisers that this is not for you or whatever. It became a very divisive tournament, partly for that reason. So there were mistakes made there. But I also think that, you know, if you've got a franchise like the Northern Superchargers, it can be connected to Yorkshire and Durham and maybe Derbyshire. And then you get your overseas players. So then you have your ready-made connections with Bairstow, Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes.

36:36Nasser Hussain:They're all going to play for that franchise. Now, that seems to me a win-win, isn't it? Because then you're attracting traditional supporters who've got those connections with your homegrown players or locally produced players. And you're transporting that loyalty through. Now, that's not the way that modern franchise cricket goes because you're having an auction or whatever at the start to try and create that competitive balance. But because of your point about the traditional kind of connections and loyalties here, I would build on those rather than just ignoring those. But that's not the way that they've done it.

37:17and if you do already have now get a connection, like now it's too late for Johnny Bairstow. I say Johnny Bairstow now, when I see Johnny, if I picture Johnny Bairstow in the hundred now, I picture him in that red Welsh fire outfit. So there's now a connection. Don't next year, I don't want to turn up and see him playing for, you know, Birmingham Phoenix. I do feel in the men's game, the women's not as much, the men's game. I do feel there's just a bit too much, you know, like Lewis Gregory, suddenly he's captained really well at Trent Rockets. and suddenly he's moved on. And then you're like, you know, like the first game, I left, did my prep at the Oval for the test match.

37:54We all do our prep. We don't just rock up to a game, right, who's playing today. I could probably name about 13, 14 of the 44 players and where they were going to play because there is so much chopping and changing. I would personally like to get to a stage now where you rock up to 100 games, two games, And out of the 44, you have maybe 30 players that you know are in those four teams or squads. And then there will always be chopping and changes. Premier League, look at the amount of chopping and changing that's still going on in transfer windows. IPL, there's always going to be players that move around.

38:31There has been in the history of sport. But I do want to see a little bit more. This is who this player plays for, men and women. and then you sort of rock up and know that that's the team. And that team means a lot to them. It's just not, I'll go and play for someone else next season. That's just my opinion. I'd like to see a bit more emotional attachment to a side in all directions.

38:57Nasser Hussain:Well, yeah, and how you do that is the key thing. And my point would be that it's already there. Therefore, build on it. It's just there. You know, Johnny Bairstow, Yorkshire, Northern Superchargers. build on that that's obvious anyway that's not what they've done um who's taken your eye obviously we both i think like watching sonny baker the other night at old trafford he um he gave david warner the hurry up i mean you know that that in itself is a is a good sign he's he's quite lively isn't he and skiddy and sharp and i know they were very impressed with him in the lions when who went down to australia last year so he could be a bit of a bolter for the for the winter yeah Yeah, I mean, we were WhatsAppping each other, weren't we, about that?

39:42And anyone that's got David Warner jumping around, when David Warner has that smirky smile at the end of a five, it's not because he likes you. He's like, crikey, that was pretty good, to be honest, smirk and smile he gave Sonny Baker. It was hostile stuff. And the speed gun, and he may say 86, 87, but sometimes bowlers just feel a bit quicker, and he does seem to feel a bit quicker. My only issue is I've not seen him enough in long-form cricket to know what will his third, fourth spell be like come back the next day. But as you say, the reports from the Lions was that he was excellent. So absolutely with him.

40:24Another thing I just want to touch on, actually, because I know you've been away, in the women's game, I think in the women's side, some of the tactical stuff needs keeping an eye on. We just spoke about Alice Capsie and everyone now looks at it and analyzes. I think we could analyze some of the decision-making as well. There have been games where I've sort of shook my head in disbelief. There was a game at the Oval when Manchester Originals, there were like 15, 20 balls to go. And Sophie Eccleston has a strike rate of 145 in the competition. and Alice Monaghan was sent in next. And she has a strike rate of something like 80 or 85 with 15 or 20 balls to go.

41:10It's just a no-brainer to send Sophie Eccleston. And there was another game I did at Trent Rockets when Nat Siverbrunt, who is constantly left with the tail, and there was 25 balls to go and 20 balls to go and they needed 40 to win or something. And Nat Siverbrunt took a single off the first of the 10 and should have taken all of the 10. And then the next game, Nat Silverbrun came in at number four with Ash Gardner at number five. Your two best players were like coming in with balls used up. So I do think there can be a little bit... I really like the women's comp and I think it's gone really well again.

41:50But I do think there can be some better decisions made tactically in that women's competition.

41:58Nasser Hussain:Before we move on to just one or two issues beyond the 100 Because there's been some movement in the domestic structure this week I just wanted to quickly talk about one player in the men's tournament Rayan Ahmed, who's actually having a good season all round He's having a brilliant season for Leicestershire And he's talked of as an obvious candidate or pick for the Ashes I just wondered how you saw that, because if you said to me, are there better batters than Ray and Ahmed in England, I would say yes. And if you said to me, is there a better wrist spinner, I'd probably say yes as well in Kelvin Harrison.

42:41Nasser Hussain:But if you put the two together with what Ray and Ahmed's been doing with bat and ball, he makes a very strong case for selection. but I'm just not quite sure how I see him, you know, whether batting, bowling, you know, how he gets in, other than by saying, you know, he's had a really good season and he's already played test cricket and he's a very young and exciting player and therefore will take him. Well, I think he's a hugely exciting player. And all you can ask of a young player is, are they improving? And he is absolutely improving, you know, with bat and with ball. the runs he's got at the top of the order batting at three for Leicestershire has been phenomenal the wickets with a cooker brawl he's been taking wickets so he's absolutely improving the problem is is that England don't quite know what type of cricketer he is and how they fit in on the back of the exact point you're making so the problem is is I think Bashir should and will start as your front line spinner if bashir is not producing the goods it won't be because of his batting it'll be because he's not bowling particularly well and looking ineffective with the ball and hence you'll want to change him for a better spinner now they are not convinced you know rayon got got fifa on debut and in pakistan but they are still not convinced that he is a better Spinner than Shoaib Bashir and some of the other names.

44:14So that is there. The issue is not with Rayan. I think Rayan is improving beyond sight. And even in white ball cricket, you can see the Trent Rockets. Andy Flower doesn't get many wrong. Andy Flower's batting him at three ahead of some very fine players. And he's producing already a small sample size. So he has got something. The problem's not with Rayan. It's the problem is how England see him and how they play him. And you know what, white ball cricket may be the way to go with Rayan Ahmed. They're looking constantly for future after Adil Rashid. Often, again, we talked about Jacob Bethel and Sam Billings and Bibb carrying and carrying the drinks.

44:54I often seen Rayan Ahmed selected in squads but not playing. I think they may have to just go, right, we're going to play him in white ball stuff and help his future that way.

45:08Nasser Hussain:They've decided on the structure of the Blast this week They've announced that it's going to be down in the men's comp Down to 12 games And that's going to be played and completed before the 100 starts Which has to be a good thing, doesn't it? It's a no-brainer, that Yeah, you can't have tournaments that are just separated by months on end The only thing I'd say, and I think they still haven't made a decision, have they? There's still arguments about the county championship. And I think it's a point you've made in the past. You've got to feel for your spectator a little bit. If every year you're making changes, even I was rushing to my phone this morning to text Benedict because obviously the women's are changing now.

45:50There's another tier one team in Yorkshire. They're changing from 14 to 12, 14 to 16 in 50 overs. And you can't have change every year. And that's my point about, that's why I asked you and I gave you the quote from below your piece about the hundred, about it. I think this is a great opportunity with money coming into the English game. I think this summer and the end of this summer was and is a great opportunity to look at where everything is at. And there's a bit of finances around. So make cricketing decisions as opposed to just purely finance. And I know finances are important. Just look where English cricket is because of finances compared to some countries that don't have it.

46:33So it is important, but also cricketing decision and decisions for spectators. I mean, the Metro Bank 50, I don't know if you've been following it, but the crowds have been phenomenal, haven't they? York yesterday was a sellout. They've been brilliant.

46:49Nasser Hussain:York sellout yesterday. I actually went to Lourdes on, I can't remember what day it was. I took my daughter down to Lourdes to watch three hours of the Middlesex-Sussex game. Not that we saw our family member get very many, but anyway, we turned up and it was a beautiful afternoon. And there was a good crowd on and it was a lovely afternoon, even at Lourdes, which is a massive ground. Obviously, it looks sometimes odd at Lourdes, doesn't it, when you have a county game and there's not a huge crowd. But I would say there was a good few thousand on, a very pleasant afternoon. But because of the fact that 100 is taking up the main grounds, the Metro Bank, the one-day cup is often at outgrounds.

47:31Nasser Hussain:And they're often perfect venues, actually. Because if you get 5 ,000, 6 ,000 on or whatever it is, it looks fantastic, as it did. I just saw a couple of aerial shots of York, which used to be a first-class venue. I think they actually played, returned to first-class cricket there in the last year or two, but historically it was a first-class game. Langs play at Sedbra and various places, you know, lots of outgrounds being used. I think rugby school is being used today for a game, I think. Yeah, middle-sex play. I think that's one thing you've learned. Yeah, Radler. Yeah. So, yeah, good crowds and a good day out.

48:07Nasser Hussain:And, you know, that's fine. I've often in the past argued that you should play a couple of rounds of county championship cricket under the 100 because it's a completely almost different audience and you can just say, well, you know, those who like to go to outgrounds and watch a full day's cricket go there. And those who want to, you know, go for the Razzmatazz or the 100 go there. And the Metro Bank, the One Day Cup offers, you know, that alternative. And crowds have been very good. The good thing about the comp, although, I mean, I think there are going to be problems down the line, because if you just degrade your 50 over comp to an effective second 11 comp developmental competition and England don't do well in 50 over World Cups, then there's going to be questions asked.

48:48Nasser Hussain:But what you do see is a lot of young players coming through. And that's probably, you know, for all the best will in the world, seeing somebody like David Warner playing the 100, you know, he's had his career almost and he's at the back end of it. And the great thrill in cricket is to see good young players coming through. And obviously that's what you see a lot in the 50 overcom. Where are you going next? Are we going to catch up? I'm at the Oval on Saturday, I think. Are you there then? You're doing your second game two weeks into the competition At the Oval on Saturday You're only doing your fourth You make it sound like you've worked every day that God has sent You've done three games, well done I'm going to have to put the car in for a service The amount of miles I've done I've got three games in five days I'm at the, I'm at Lords tomorrow And then the Oval And then Utilita Bowl as well So looking forward to those As am I, so we'll catch up So I've got the Oval, Southampton and Lourdes, three in five days, and then a northern weekend next weekend up at my old hall, Old Trafford, where I saw the cameras panned into Paul Allard and David Lloyd.

49:57Nasser Hussain:They were looking like Sadler and Waldorf on the balcony, gloomily kind of peering down at whatever was happening in front of them. But there's a few things happening at Lancashire, I think. I've got to go. Anyway. Daughter needs breakfast. The kitchen needs to be evacuated for breakfast for daughter. I've got to fix my Wi-Fi issues as well. Good to catch you. I'll see you at the Oval this weekend. See you at the Oval. Goodbye.

50:32Fantasy Premier League is back, and so is the Sky Sports Fantasy Podcast. We're here to give you all the tips and advice you need to beat your mini league rivals? Are you struggling to find the best budget options or wondering whether to pick Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland or both? Don't worry, we've got the answers to all of those questions. I'm James Savandra and every week I'll be joined by one of the best FPL managers in the business. They'll be on hand to answer your dilemmas, so don't hesitate to get in touch. Every week our expert will also reveal their transfer plans and tell you the best captaincy options.

51:07So what are you waiting for? make sure you tune in to the Sky Sports Fantasy Podcast. It's available now on skysports.com or wherever you get your podcasts.