By Huzaifa Yousafzai from Lords
Manchester Originals stumbled over the line against London Spirit as the bottom of the table clash produced a poor contest with both teams now eliminated from the competition.
The Originals got their first win of the season when they defended 135 at Lords despite dropping several catches and faltering at the back end of their innings.
Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikander Raza spoke about how the Originals were heavily affected by the absence of their leader and England captain Jos Buttler.
“Jos is a big miss and although I think the squad is still good enough, you just cannot replace a guy like Jos and that’s the truth. We find ourselves in a position where we could have won two more games, so in the end it’s been an ifs and butts’ campaign.”
London Spirit fast bowler Richard Gleeson explained how his side’s batting performances against the new ball were at fault for the team’s shortcomings this season.
“We have maybe stuttered a little bit with the bat, I think in most games we have struggled early on, and we have not found a way against the swinging ball. It has obviously been harder against the new ball up top, so I think that’s where teams have struggled to find the balance with attacking and defending against the swinging ball and moving ball.”
Gleeson then went into further detail as he described the reasons and possible theories behind why the new ball has been so challenging for batters in this year’s competition.
“It does feel like there’s an extra bit of lacquer on (the ball) and there’s been some talk about the ‘H’ stamp changing the aerodynamics. Maybe the seam is a little bit sharper and that is changing the aerodynamics. I’m not quite sure but (the ball) definitely seems to be swinging a lot more than usual.”
However, Gleeson also admitted that it wasn’t only because of the nature of the ball but that pitch conditions throughout the tournament have created problems for the batters.
“I know here at Lords the guys are talking about the wicket not being the easiest to play on so maybe that’s affected the batter’s confidence, but that’s cricket and have got to find a way to win. It has been a wet start to the summer so maybe the pitches are a little bit behind where they need to be in terms of being flat, creating big scores and getting hype around the game.”
