Stick To Cricket: With special guest Sam Billings on the IPL and MS Dhonii

Betfair and The Overlap proudly present "Stick to Cricket," a captivating show featuring renowned England cricket legends Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, David 'Bumble' Lloyd, and Phil 'Tuffers' Tufnell.

The weekly show offers insights and discussions, with special guests joining the cricket icons to delve into the sport's hottest topics.

Ahead of the 2026 IPL season that kicks off on Saturday, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders wicket-keeper/batsman Sam Billings discusses franchise cricket.

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Sam Billings: The best player I played with in the IPL was MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni is the best player I have played with in the IPL. He has to be. In terms of his captaincy, his aura. He's fantastic. He's so incredibly calm and cool. There aren't many cool people nowadays but he's just a lovely guy, especially considering how much of a superstar he is. 

He's also a Man United fan like me so we'd watch every Man United game together because he couldn't leave the hotel or go down to the bar. He has a man within his entourage whose sole job is to look after his shisha pipe!

All the great players we've played against have got something special.

The crowds and how you get treated as a player in India is special. You get treated like a king and it's an absolutely incredible place to play cricket.

Sam: The IPL has fast-tracked Jacob Bethell's progression

It's a completely different era for cricketers these days and an incredible opportunity for everyone involved. Someone said to me the other day, it'd be great if you were starting your career now but the way to look at it is, we're incredibly lucky to have the last ten years. It's moved so rapidly and I think every generation is going to benefit more and more from those opportunities.

The greatest example that we've got is Jacob Bethell. The pressure that he's been under in the IPL has fast-tracked his progression. The IPL does improve cricketers rapidly but that is case and point.

It's more than noise. When you go as an England team, there's a different type of pressure compared to when you're playing as one of their players for their city essentially. 

When you're exposed to big crowds, and The Hundred has done just that for this country, younger players are playing in front of 25,000 people every week as opposed to Chelmsford or Canterbury.

Sam: The IPL is the best tournament by a mile

I was the first English player to win the Indian Premier League, over in Chennai. The owners completely trust Stephen Fleming and it's his team and he runs it. We had an incredible team with all of these superstars and MS Dohni, wherever he went there were just thousands of people. He had a cordoned off section in the airport on his own and that really opened my eyes to what it's like to be an Indian cricketer and play cricket out there. 

I remember a practice game we had at Delhi vividly. I'm keeping wicket in this practice game while Rahul Dravid was coach, and Rishabh just starts obliterating the ball everywhere. 70 off 30. I was thinking 'who is this small, tubby genius?' 

Then the likes of Sanju Samson came in and if you compare what they're exposed to at that young age to what we are at home, it's a completely different mindset and how they develop. They have to be robust and go there with a huge amount of self-confidence to survive. 

It's the best tournament by a mile. I played for free in my first one as I had to pay back my Kent contract! 

Sam: Jordan Cox is an incredible talent and if the ECB don't give him an opportunity he will sign with an IPL franchise

With the current way the regime works, you've probably got a better opportunity by going to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and being front and centre with Andy Flower. Jordan Cox is an incredible talent. He's one of the very best young players, hence why we put all our eggs in that basket at Kent.

He decided to move over the river, but he has the potential to play all three formats, but it just depends how the ECB keep him wanting to play for England. If he doesn't get an opportunity, he could easily sign with a franchise who will take him all over the world. That's not right or wrong, it's just the reality. 

50-over cricket is the best way to develop bowling and batting, and it just eases into the rest of the summer. I'd give a pot of money from the ECB to encourage Indian players to come over and play the Championship when The Hundred is on and play two or three rounds of Championship cricket to mirror The Hundred. 

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