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Osprey

@cricketosprey.bsky.social

48 followers 89 following 390 posts

Scottish. Writes and talks about cricket (among other sports) a lot. You can read my writings here: https://cricketosprey.substack.com/

cricketosprey.substack.com

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · Jul 2

The final part of my four part series on Cricket's T20 Demographic Crisis. This part looks at workable solutions we can use to address the problem of an aging international player pool.

Cricket's T20 Demographic Crisis : Part 4 - The Frog Keeps Boiling But Can We Save The Tadpoles?

Solving a demographic crisis is not something you can do overnight.

cricketosprey.substack.com

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 6h

Indeed! There are plenty out there, just a lack of opportunities for them. Mlaba was second highest wicket taker at last year's T20 World Cup - never had a franchise deal.

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 18h

She played for Barbados in 2022, so not that. A general lack of spots plus a bias towards available Indians (see TKR this year) are the cause.

If I was running a WCPL franchise I'd be looking to get her, Muneeba Ali, Nigar Sultana and Nonkululeko Mlaba as my overseas players and build around them.

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 1d

She would be a great addition to WCPL if they can expand to four teams.

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 5d

I should have factored in South Africa's long-standing tradition of crumbling under pressure when I made this last comment.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 5d

Namibia are on track but losing wickets too frequently. I think they will run out of steam and fall short here. Doesn't matter though, it's been a good match and the fans in the ground are liking it.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 5d

Big day for Namibian cricket. Once a territory playing in the South African domestic system. Now an independent nation playing their first match against their former administrators as equals.

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 5d

There's Harrison Ruffin Tyler who passed away in May aged 96. His grandfather was John Tyler, the 10th US president between 1841-45 and born in 1790. Three generations of one family with a total lifespan of 235 years - covering almost the entire history of the USA.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriso...

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 8d

It would be harsh to say Pakistan threw away a really good position. I don't think there is a single side in this world cup who has a plan for what to do when you've got Australia 76/7. It's beyond anyone's realistic expectations.

For them it's basically been this today:

a cartoon character from spongebob squarepants is pointing

ALT: a cartoon character from spongebob squarepants is pointing

media.tenor.com

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 8d

Beth Mooney looked at who she was playing today and thought: 'No way we losing to Pakistan. Not on my watch.'

It's been an innings of extreme quality and self-confidence. You love to see it.

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 10d

Do the dungeons at least have good acoustics?

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 14d

Hypothetically, you can host 6000 at Titwood in Glasgow but for this summer's T20 tri-series with NED and NEP got sub-1000 fans for every game.

Also the plans were to host no games in Scotland. That'll bring the fans of Edinburgh and Glasgow in.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 14d

Also why use Dunrobin Castle for your promo materials? It's 320km from the Scottish cities that your franchises are going to be based in. Why not Edinburgh Castle?

Just like every other aspect of this league, these chancers want to cosplay as franchise owners without doing any of the ground work.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 14d

Despite the big fluff piece from Cricexec, the organisers of the European T20 Premier League are still in fantasy land.

200,000 spectators expected in the first season? That's over 6000 per game! For starters, only Malahide can host that many people.

Inside the ETPL’s bold push to make Europe cricket’s next frontier

ETPL, Europe’s first ICC-sanctioned T20 league, will debut in 2026 across Dublin, Amsterdam, and more — backed by top investors, stars, and national boards.

www.cricexec.com

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Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 14d

A really poor choice to have Modi stadium to host WI vs India. There's 10-15K fans in the ground. Mohali would have been better and needed less travel from both teams on packed schedules.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 15d

37 year-old Andre Fletcher going for the highest price of the ILT20 auction so far ($260K) shows these owners/recruitment teams only pick established names based on performances seen from highlights reels.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 15d

This Nepal-WI T20 series very much has the feel of the USA-Bangladesh T20 and not in a good way. The results were almost a full copy-paste of it.

Something is not right here.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 18d

Well done to Nepal for their first win over a full member side but let's speak the realness here. This was a weaker WI team than the A side that toured Nepal last year and won 3-2.

This result should be of no surprise to anyone who looked at the squad WI have picked for this series.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 18d

Beat WI A effectively. Many of the players WI used were not even getting game time in CPL. It is on a par with the UAE win against NZ in 2023. Nothing more.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 22d

It's good to see Wisden finally start to pick up on cricket's demographic crisis.

Yes they are only talking about Australia here (the Ashes is all that matters etc.) but they are getting there. Baby steps and all.

The BIGGEST PROBLEM facing Australian Test cricket right now... Where is the next generation?

YouTube video by Wisden Cricket

www.youtube.com

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 26d

WI head coach Daren Sammy should be questioning SLK’s head coach, Daren Sammy, over his commitment to developing WI talent.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 26d

Tymal Mills plays in the CPL for 2 games and takes 2 wickets for 69 runs from his 8 overs.

Instead of bringing in a 33-year-old from overseas St. Lucia Kings might as well have picked a regional youth player.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 26d

Oman's innings in a nutshell.

a cartoon character from spongebob squarepants says i don t know i never thought i 'd get this far .

ALT: a cartoon character from spongebob squarepants says i don t know i never thought i 'd get this far .

media.tenor.com

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 26d

A reminder that India have not played a bilateral series against an associate nation since 2007. Every other full member has played at least one since 2022.

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 28d

Stat of the WCPL 2025 - Jahzara Claxton's bowling

WI-SA T20 series in June - 3 games, 12 overs, 3 wickets
WCPL 2025 - 4 games, 6 overs, 2 wickets

WI's young bowling talent got half as many overs in her domestic franchise competition as she did in her last series for the WI team. #wcpl

Osprey @cricketosprey.bsky.social · 29d

Second time in this game the players have forgotten there are DRS reviews available to them. #wcpl