Sam Billings Archives

Sam Billings hails Babar Azam as ‘king’ ahead of BBL debut

England wicketkeeper batter Sam Billings has heaped high praise on Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam, calling him ‘king’ ahead of the much-awaited Big Bash League (BBL) 15.

While speaking on the tournament’s official page, Sam Billings called Babar Azam the king while emphasising the importance of his addition to the league.

“He is King Babar Azam, as they call him. He’s been such a world-class performer for such a long time. Any competition featuring a player like Babar Azam benefits not only the Sixers, as you said, but the tournament as a whole,” Sam Billings said.

“I’ve played a lot against him, and I’d much rather have him on my side than against me. I’m definitely looking forward to those Sydney derbies again,” Sam Billings added.

For the unversed, Pakistan’s batting superstar Babar Azam was signed by the Sydney Sixers a few days earlier. The franchise called the signing ‘one of the biggest acquisitions in the league’s history’.

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Following the announcement of the signing, Babar expressed his gratitude for joining the Sydney Sixers franchise.

“I’m very proud to be joining the Sydney Sixers for the upcoming season,” Babar said.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to play in one of the world’s best T20 leagues and to be a part of such a successful and respected franchise,” he added.

The right-handed batter also expressed his joy at sharing the dressing room with the biggest names in world cricket.

“I’m very excited to share the dressing room with world-class players like Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood,” he remarked.

Babar Azam stated that he is eagerly waiting for BBL 15.

“I’ve played a lot of cricket in Australia, but I’ve been eagerly waiting for a chance to feature in the BBL,” he concluded.

READ: Pakistan batter signs with Yorkshire for County Championship, Vitality Blast

Sam Billings hails Lahore Qalandars’ Clinical Execution in Consecutive PSL Wins

Karachi: Lahore Qalandars middle-order batter Sam Billings has credited the team’s clinical execution for their consecutive wins in Pakistan Super League (PSL) 10, following the defeat in the tournament opener.

The former champions did not have the best of starts as they lost their opening match against Islamabad United by 8 wickets.

However, Qalandars bounced back in the next two matches, beating Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi in a dominant display.

While speaking in a post-match press conference, Billings emphasized the learnings following the defeat in the PSL opening match.

“Obviously we took the learnings from the first game. We knew we weren’t upto the mark and we did not execute our game plan, said Billings.

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“In the last two games, we have played beautifully. As a batting unit it is understood we need partnerships especially on these kind of grounds, you just can’t go on from the ball one,” he explained.

The wicket-keeping batter highlighted partnership as crucial, emphasizing the consecutive scores of two-hundreds in the last two games.

“You need to bat in partnerships, because it’s very hard to stop two batters who are batting really well.”

“From a bowling point of view we have identified that we bowled too full and I think if you look around the world if you bowl 8 to 9 meters length and you are nice and consistent with your lines it’s very hard to get you away,” he remarked.

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Sam Billings heaped high praise on Rishad Hossain’s bowling, noting that wrist spin plays a vital role in the T20 format.

“As a young boy to come in and bowl the way he has, it’s incredible, ” said Billings of Bangladesh’s young spinner.

“Wrist spin plays a vital role in this [T20] format because it’s a wicket-taking option throughout the middle of the innings,” he concluded.

READ: Hasan Ali Vows Improvement After Karachi Kings’ defeat against Lahore Qalandars

Sam Billings defends decision of prioritizing PSL over national duty

KARACHI: England’s wicketkeeper batter Sam Billings, who represented Lahore Qalandars in the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight, defended his decision of preferring the franchise league over national duty.

Billings was among the few English players, including Alex Hales and Liam Dawson to prioritize lucrative PSL contracts rather than play for the national side in Bangladesh.

The wicketkeeper batter, who made his England debut in 2015 urged the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to review their white-ball contracts.

According to the details, English cricketers, without central contracts, can earn around £5,000 for a one-day international, and £2,500 for T20 internationals, which is considerably less than the value of franchise contracts.

“Personally, the central contract situation has to resolve itself because we’re seeing it more and more where opportunities if you’re not centrally contracted…(are not significant),” the Independent quoted Billing.

“And I think it’s been said by numerous people at the ECB as well – they completely agree with what the decision we made was.

“For me, you balance these situations, you look at it from all the different angles and I think it (playing in the PSL) was the best decision for me.

“I’d feel hard done by if people say I haven’t put England cricket first over the last eight years, running the drinks instead of passing up these opportunities.

Billings then also highlighted the need of reviewing the contract systems for the betterment of the players.

“I felt when I didn’t get picked for the ODI’s in South Africa, after not doing too badly in Australia, that I would do what I like to do – it probably took a little while to get to that point,” Billings said.

“But I think the fundamental issue is the contract situation and the opportunities now that most of the players can get, it’s a really tough ask.

“But in world cricket at the moment we’ve got way too much cricket going on and there needs to be that levelling out period where everyone can benefit – but there has to be a timescale for it to work,” he concluded.