The Ashes roadshow rolls into Old Trafford this week and while it will stoke memories of the late Shane Warne’s ball of the century, pundit Isa Guha holds more poignant recollections of the inspiration leg-spinner.
Warne announced himself to the world with a wickedly spinning leg-break to bowl England’s Mike Gatting in Manchester during the 1993 Ashes series and never looked back, finishing with 708 Test scalps and a trophy-laden CV before he was equally mesmerising in the commentary box.
Many tales will be shared about Warne – who died in March 2022 -during the fourth Ashes Test, which begins on Wednesday, but former England bowler Guha has reflected on the role the Australian had in installing belief in herself that she belonged in a male-dominated environment.
Guha, the first woman of South Asian origin to represent England, continued to be a trailblazer after retirement by working for ITV as co-presenter of its Indian Premier League coverage in 2012 before she turned her arm to commentary with Triple M radio team in Australia in 2016.
Work with Fox, Sky Sports and BBC has followed with Guha widely viewed as a role model in the broadcasting world, but it was Warne’s backing early on that played a key role.
“Shane was big for my commentary because I didn’t believe I could commentate. I knew I could present but he was massive for me believing in myself as a commentator,” Guha told the PA news agency.
“I started working at Triple M, then at Sky with Shane, then Fox and the way he would ask me questions about cricket, that made a huge difference.
“Not that I wasn’t respected by other male broadcasters and I always had support from others, but for some reason when I felt I had Shane’s respect, I felt I had everyone else’s. That was massive for me.
“Shane had always felt out of reach for me. I never imagined I would even have a conversation with him because I was so blown away by that 2005 series.
“Then I got the opportunity to work with him, become his friend and he was so good to me and my husband. He was such a huge influence on my commentary and my broadcasting.”
Guha and Warne would regularly talk cricket strategy and the 38-year-old can draw parallels between the Australian and England captain Ben Stokes, aiming this week to level the Ashes series at 2-2 with victory at Old Trafford.
World Cup-winner Guha added: “I loved talking cricket with Shane and he was a badger. He loved the game.
“I liked the way he used to gamble and the way he would create magic around him to take wickets.
“It was his aura, his personality and a bit like I see now with Ben actually in the decisions he takes on the field. Sometimes it looks like it is off the cuff but actually there is thought behind it.”
This thrill-a-minute Ashes has occurred against the backdrop of cricket’s struggle to rid the game of discrimination, after a report last month confirmed the sport was entrenched with racism, sexism and elitism.
The long-awaited Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket report contained 44 recommendations that the England and Wales Cricket Board will look to bring in, with its chair Richard Thompson pledging to use this moment to “reset” cricket.
Guha, whose parents immigrated to the UK from Calcutta, was not shocked by the ICEC findings, but feels only acceptance and collaboration will bring about change.
She said: “No, it didn’t come as a surprise to me. I think a lot of the issues cricket faces, society faces. It is a reflection of society and it is really important to uncover these things so people can see them in the cold light of day.
“Acceptance is really important. Denial will be a block for progress and once we can get past that, then that is where the real work will begin and action will be taken so we can create a better future for our sport.
“There is a lot of really powerful, amazing initiatives out there doing some positive work and taking action.
“We have some amazing leaders in our game, who I think will be really important to help guide us through this but collaboration, everyone working together, will be absolutely essential.”
While Guha was not always aware of her significance in being an Asian women part of a successful England team in the early 2000s, she knows what her presence as a broadcaster could do for the next generation.
She is not just content with being a role model though and last year launched Take Her Lead, which on Sunday gave young children the chance to play at the Ageas Bowl during the innings break of the second ODI between England and Australia.
View this post on Instagram“It is going well and we’re focused on mentoring,” Sage ambassador Guha reflected with the non-for-profit organisation set up in memory of her late mother Roma.
“It was born on the back of me wanting to do something in my mum’s honour.
“There were probably times when I might have left the game if it wasn’t for her backing and support. She was very encouraging and she was a teacher, so she used to encourage young people and help them build confidence.
“So, that is what we are trying to do, we are trying to ensure women and girls have the best possible experience in cricket.
“We are working with regional players on the pathway, we’ve set up a forward drive network for women and girls who are working or volunteering in cricket and on the back of the ICEC, we are reaching out to clubs to say we can help you support your women and girls programmes.
“Only I guess in the last few years have I understood the importance of representation and visibility and understanding my role with the platform I have to use my voice.
“It is amazing how far the journey has come and where women’s cricket is at but there is also still a way to go to achieve true equality.”
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IPL: Kohli shines as RCB maintain winning run against Kings
Virat Kohli's superb knock of 92 helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a fourth straight win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday as they kept their playoff hopes alive with a 60-run triumph over Punjab Kings.
Kohli smashed seven fours and six sixes in his 47 balls faced as the Challengers set the Kings a daunting target of 241, with Rajat Patidar also bringing up his half-century and Cameron Green (46 off 27) falling just short of doing so.
The Kings pulled off the biggest run chase in IPL history less than two weeks ago, but their hopes of another comeback were dealt a huge blow when Faf du Plessis took a wonderful over-the-shoulder catch to send Jonny Bairstow packing with Punjab at 71-1.
Kohli's contribution wasn't only limited to the bat, as he produced a stunning run out of Shashank Singh, haring onto the scene to send wickets flying with an underarm throw as Shashank failed to make it back by mere inches.
It was then up to Mohammed Siraj to polish off the Punjab tail, finishing with figures of 3-43 as the Kings fell to back-to-back defeats, keeping them ninth in the standings.
Data Debrief: Kohli leads the way
Having previously claimed the honour in 2016, Kohli leads the way in the race for the 2024 Orange Cap, another impressive innings taking him to 634 runs for the campaign.
Averaging 70.44 with a strike rate of 153.51, Kohli put further distance between himself and Chennai Super Kings' Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose 541 runs put him second in the standings.
Tape ball programme can help England find unorthodox talent – Richard Gould
The England and Wales Cricket Board hopes to unearth a new seam of talent beyond the game’s traditional league structure with a national tape ball scheme that allows players to thrive without “whites, willow and leather”.
The practice of using a soft ball wrapped in electrical tape to aid swing and variable bounce is a common one in Asia, where it has helped produce express pace bowlers like Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and spinners such as Rashid Khan and Shakib-al-Hasan, but has been slow to enter the mainstream conversation in the United Kingdom.
The Chance to Shine charity has long pioneered tape ball cricket as part of its engagement hubs and now, with the ECB keen to live up to its lofty aspiration of becoming the most inclusive team sport in the country, it is at the heart of a new core cities programme designed to engage ‘diverse communities in urban areas’.
Speaking at a launch event where games were hosted in a warehouse space in Birmingham, ECB chief executive Richard Gould was optimistic about reaching out to those with an interest in cricket but limited access to the pavilions and prepared pitches in the club setup.
“We talk about clubs with picket fences around them. In the past that has been seen as the preserve of the ECB. We’ve missed a complete trick on that,” he said.
“When we talk about the recreational game we’re not just talking about Premier League clubs and village cricket clubs now. We’re talking about all forms of cricket that take place.
“You can play the game anywhere, any time, with anybody, in any environment you want. You don’t have to have whites, willow and leather to do it. You can just pick up a bat and a ball and have some fun.”
As well as fulfilling its remit of reaching out to all comers at a grassroots level, Gould also believes there are benefits to finding cricketers with different styles who have learned the game outside the traditional, private-school heavy pathways.
“Without doubt there are,” he said. “We have to get out and try to find the talent. More to the point, we have to try and find talent in areas that we haven’t normally looked for it.
“I do think county pathways will be looking to make sure they don’t miss out on this talent. It’s just about punching through all of our normal procedures and finding ways to both get people in the game and unearthing that talent which may be unorthodox and great.”
Meg Lanning: Exercise obsession and not enough fuel led to Australia retirement
Former Australia captain Meg Lanning revealed her “obsession” with exercise and not eating enough precipitated her surprise international retirement late last year.
Lanning was at the helm of one of the most dominant eras the sport has ever seen but she missed last year’s Ashes for medical reasons and pulled the plug on her Australia career in November.
She opened up about her hidden health issues on the Howie Games podcast, explaining that running up to 90 kilometres a week coupled with eating two small meals a day led to her dropping from 64kg to 57kg.
View this post on Instagram“I was over-exercising and under-fuelling,” the 32-year-old said. “It wasn’t a physical thing. I’ve always been really physically active and liked that side of it, but it became a bit of an obsession.
“I’d maybe eat a couple of meals a day if I was lucky but they weren’t significant. Initially it didn’t start off as a deliberate thing, it just became a bit of a new normal.
“But it slowly crept into conscious decisions because essentially I felt good.
“I wasn’t getting injured like everybody was telling me I was going to do. It sort of just spiralled and I was in denial, even though everybody kept telling me something wasn’t quite right.
“I was not in a place to be able to go on tour and play cricket and give the commitment levels that were required for that Ashes series, mentally and physically.”
Lanning, who led Australia to five World Cup titles in total and Commonwealth Games glory in 2022, said her struggle was not officially diagnosed as an eating disorder.
“It wasn’t labelled as that but I was exercising a lot and I wasn’t eating enough to fuel that – it was a bit out of whack,” Lanning said.
“It was a bit of control because I felt very out of control with what my future looked like. I felt like I was in control of that and that made me feel better.”
Lanning sought help from medical professionals after also struggling with insomnia and continues to play domestically, while she has been signed for London Spirit for The Hundred this year.
“I dreaded night time because I knew I would go to bed and not be able to sleep,” she said. “That would make me so mad. I would just get more angry with myself. If you can’t sleep, you can’t do anything.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot now. Cricket is still part of what I do. But I wasn’t cut out for the international touring schedule and what came with all of that.”
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