Author: Australian Associated Press

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Australia fall to worst T20 defeat in final World Cup warmup in Pakistan

  • Mitch Marsh’s team spun to record-breaking 111-run loss in Lahore

  • Usman Tariq hits back at Cameron Green over throwing allegation

Australia have been handed the worst possible conclusion to their World Cup warmup, suffering their heaviest T20 international defeat in a third successive morale-sapping capitulation to Pakistan.

Still wounded from a 90-run defeat 24 hours earlier at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium – their worst loss to Pakistan – it only got even more dire for Mitch Marsh’s side on Sunday as they were spun to a record-breaking 111-run loss on the same ground.

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Woeful Australia sent spinning by Pakistan in T20 World Cup warm-up

  • Pakistan 198-5; Australia 108 (15.4 overs) | Pakistan win by 90 runs

  • Australia lose series with 11 days to go before T20 World Cup begins

World Cup-bound Australia have been given a hiding in Lahore, bamboozled by Pakistan’s spinners as they crumbled to a 90-run defeat and a T20I series capitulation.

Just hours after their squad for the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka was announced, Mitch Marsh’s side, featuring nine World Cup players and looking desperately in need of their absent big guns, simply could not cope with the hosts’ five-pronged spin attack on Saturday.

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Pat Cummins ruled out of T20 World Cup as Australia overlook Smith for final squad

  • Fast bowler to miss tournament due to ongoing back injury

  • Renshaw handed late call-up despite Smith’s blazing BBL cameo

Star quick Pat Cummins will miss Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign as he continues to recover from a niggling back injury that has haunted him for more than six months.

Sydney Sixers stalwart Ben Dwarshuis has received a late call-up to Australia’s squad, with selectors opting to give up on having Cummins available for the tournament in Sri Lanka and India.

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Jay Vine recovers from kangaroo crash to win Tour Down Under for second time

  • Australian cycling star holds on to lead the hard way

  • Kangaroo caused Vine and others to crash during final stage

The Australian cycling star Jay Vine has survived a race crash caused by a kangaroo to win the Tour Down Under for the second time.

Despite losing two more UAE Team Emirates colleagues on Sunday’s last stage, Vine’s commanding lead was enough of a buffer. He also won the event in 2023.

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Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis rides emotions to tense win but local hopes fade

  • World No 168 beats German veteran Laura Siegemund in three sets

  • Rinky Hijikata, Dane Sweeny and Taylah Preston lose in second round

Inspired qualifier Maddison Inglis has ridden an emotional rollercoaster in her first grand slam appearance in four years to book a spot in the Australian Open third round.

Inglis has joined big gun Alex de Minaur in the round of 32 after defeating German veteran Laura Siegemund 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-7) in a tense, gruelling and sometimes fiery match that lasted three hours and 20 minutes on ANZ Arena.

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De Minaur weathers storm to outlast Medjedovic and reach third round

  • Big-serving Serbian takes Australian hope to four sets

  • ‘I’m super happy to battle my way through’

Alex de Minaur maintained his perfect record at the Australian Open against lower-ranked opponents by outlasting the big-hitting Hamad Medjedovic over four sets and advancing to the third round.

After being stunned by the world No 90 in the first set, the Australian’s superior fitness and class came to the fore as he prevailed 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in three hours and four minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

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‘I’m back’: Damien Martyn out of hospital after surviving meningitis

  • Former Australia batter given a ‘50/50 chance of surviving’

  • Spent eight days in induced coma

Damien Martyn has said he is back after overcoming a meningitis scare, which he said took his life out of his hands.

In a heartfelt post on his social media accounts, the former Australia batter said he was given a 50% chance to live after battling the disease, which causes an infection and swelling of fluid and membranes around the brain and spinal cord. The 54-year-old was put into an induced coma on 27 December and was fighting for his life in a Gold Coast intensive care unit until he woke eight days later.

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Australia crash out of United Cup tennis after quarter-final loss against Poland

  • Home team eliminated after losing mixed doubles rubber

  • Alex de Minaur had kept hopes alive with battling win

Australia have been knocked out of the United Cup by Poland despite a battling performance by Alex de Minaur that lit up the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.

The Australian men’s No 1 repelled everything Hubert Hurkacz could fire at him before sealing a pulsating 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory over the power-serving former Wimbledon semi-finalist on Friday night.

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Kyrgios and Kokkinakis go down fighting in Brisbane thriller

  • Special Ks lose topsy-turvy match 6-0 1-6 (10-6)

  • Performance bodes well for Kyrgios’s wild card hopes

Nick Kyrgios was a motivational speaker, a part-time masseur and a dancer on the way to an entertaining doubles loss in Brisbane, with the defeat unlikely to harm his Australian Open wildcard hopes.

Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis looked set for an embarrassing Brisbane International loss after copping a first-set “bagel” in their round-of-16 doubles match against No 6 seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.

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Cricket Australia boycotts player interviews with ABC after Stuart Clark criticises team setup

Former fast bowler called head of cricket James Allsopp a ‘grade coach’ and said selector George Bailey lacks gravitas

Cricket Australia has boycotted player interviews with the ABC, furious with the national broadcaster over former Test quick Stuart Clark’s criticism of selector George Bailey and head of cricket James Allsopp.

Clark created headlines on Monday when he criticised the Australian setup in his role as an ABC commentator, labelling Allsopp a “grade coach” and suggesting Bailey was just a yes-man without gravitas to stand up to players and coaches.

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Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios make emotional doubles comeback with win in Brisbane

  • ‘Special Ks’ reunite for 5-7 6-4 10-8 defeat of Matt Ebden and Rajeev Ram

  • Kokkinakis had donor achilles tendon attached to shoulder in radical surgery

Thanasi Kokkinakis’s tears after a doubles match told the story as the injury-plagued Australian won in his latest and most dramatic return to the sport alongside old friend Nick Kyrgios.

The 29-year-old hadn’t played in almost a year, after groundbreaking pectoral surgery that involved attaching a donor’s achilles tendon to his shoulder.

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Cameron Green not guaranteed spot as Australia remain coy on XI for fifth Ashes Test

  • Steve Smith defends allrounder but refuses to confirm his place in side

  • Beau Webster and Todd Murphy in the mix to face England at the SCG

Steve Smith has launched an impassioned defence of Cameron Green but can’t guarantee the out-of-form allrounder’s place in the XI for the Ashes series finale.

Australia’s stand-in captain insists all options are on the selection table for the fifth Test, including using both allrounders Green and Beau Webster at the SCG and leaving out spin for the third time in four starts.

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Police step in at Roar v Mariners after half-time clash in A-League Men game

  • Brisbane coach’s red card ignites drama on New Year’s Eve

  • Central Coast coach Warren Moon calls opposition disgraceful

Central Coast interim coach Warren Moon has labelled the conduct of Brisbane’s staff an embarrassment and a disgrace, revealing even police had to get involved at half-time of the Roar’s drama-filled 2-1 win.

Brisbane forward Justin Vidic headed home a 92nd-minute winner to spark wild celebrations, but it was the drama earlier in the A-League Men match that stole all the headlines.

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Usman Khawaja locked in for fifth Ashes Test with ‘no indication’ of retirement plans

  • Australia coach Andrew McDonald guarantees veteran will play at SCG

  • 39-year-old’s future beyond series finale against England still in doubt

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has guaranteed Usman Khawaja will play at the SCG, but is unsure if it will be the veteran’s last Test.

After turning 39 earlier in December, Khawaja’s future will continue to be a talking point until he announces his retirement.

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Pat Cummins could join Nathan Lyon on sidelines for rest of Ashes series

  • Australian captain: ‘I doubt I’ll be playing in Melbourne’

  • Spinner set to miss final two Tests with hamstring injury

Australia captain Pat Cummins could join spinner Nathan Lyon on the sidelines for the rest of the Ashes.

Lyon is expected to be ruled out for the last two Tests against England after suffering a hamstring injury in Adelaide on Sunday. And Cummins is unlikely to feature in the fourth Test in Melbourne from Boxing Day, while he is also doubtful for the Sydney finale from 3 January.

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