Māori edge to hard-fought men’s All Stars triumph over Indigenous team

  • Lowest-scoring game since inception of men’s matches
  • Indigenous team pip Māori in women’s All Stars thriller

The Māori claimed an attritional and gutsy 10-6 men’s All Stars rugby league win over the Indigenous team.

In the lowest-scoring game since the inception of the All Stars match in 2010, tries from Jacob Laban and Jesse Arthars cancelled out Shaquai Mitchell’s four-pointer. Arthars was the winner of the Preston Campbell medal as the best player of Saturday’s game at Commbank Stadium.

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Indigenous All Stars crush Fremantle in AFL pre-season showdown

  • All Stars run out 108-65 winners against the Dockers
  • Record crowd in Perth to witness one-sided clash

Bobby Hill kicked four goals and Jy Simpkin ran rampant in the midfield as the Indigenous All Stars put on a spectacle in a 43-point win over Fremantle at Optus Stadium.

Hill starred with his four majors from 12 disposals in Saturday’s twilight match, while Jason Horne-Francis was equally impressive with three goals from 17 touches as the All Stars ran out 16.12 (108) to 9.11 (65) winners. Simpkin won the Polly Farmer medal as best afield after his 30-disposal, 10-clearance, one-goal effort.

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Sri Lanka thrash Australia by 174 runs to complete first one-day series whitewash

  • Tourists crumble again after being set 282 in Colombo
  • Steve Smith top scored with 29 in dismal reply

Sri Lanka have completed their first whitewash of Australia in a one-day series with a record-breaking 174-run victory at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Set a challenging 282 to win, Australia were bowled out for just 107 in 24.2 overs on Friday to give Sri Lanka a 2-0 series sweep in a dreadful warm-up for the Champions Trophy beginning in Pakistan next week.

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Second-string Australia humbled as Sri Lanka win first ODI by 49 runs

  • Blistering 127 by captain Charith Asalanka sets up win
  • Tourists fold against spin of Maheesh Theekshana

Sri Lanka have embarrassed a second string Australian side with a 49-run victory after an imposing century from captain Charith Asalanka in the opening ODI match in Colombo.

The hosts lost their first five wickets for 55 on Wednesday before Asalanka unleashed to score 127 in 126 balls with 14 fours and five sixes, taking Sri Lanka to 214.

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Australia crush Sri Lanka in second Test to complete rare series sweep

Australia have capped off a brilliant summer with a nine-wicket defeat of Sri Lanka that confirms their first clean sweep of a subcontinent Test series in almost 20 years.

Chasing just 75 runs in sunny Galle on Sunday, Australia (75-1) secured victory in the second Test and two-match series when Marnus Labuschagne (26 not out) hit the winning run to square leg just before lunch on day four.

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Australia close on series triumph after swatting aside Sri Lanka resistance

Australia need only two wickets and a bit of gusto from the top order to defeat Sri Lanka and claim their first series whitewash on the subcontinent in nearly 20 years.

Sri Lanka went to stumps on day three of the second Test only 54 runs ahead of Australia in their second innings, with Kusal Mendis (48 not out) their last recognised batter. Australia could seal the win in the morning session on Sunday, but won’t want the run chase getting out of hand given the tricks the Galle pitch played early on day three.

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Smith and Carey plunder unbeaten tons as Australia take charge of second Test

  • Sri Lankan hopes snuffed out by partnership of 239
  • Tourists are 73 runs ahead with pitch wearing fast

Unbeaten centuries for Steve Smith and Alex Carey have put Australia on course for a series whitewash of Sri Lanka after the second day of the second Test in Galle.

On a dusty wicket tipped to soon become very tricky for the batsmen, Smith (120 not out from 239 balls) and Carey (139 not out from 156) forged a potentially match-winning 239-run stand that ripped momentum back in Australia’s favour.

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Jillaroos coach Brad Donald resigns ahead of historic rugby league Test in Las Vegas

  • Jess Skinner to take charge for international against England
  • Olivia Kernick and Keeley Davis return to Australia squad

Brad Donald has resigned as Jillaroos coach, with his replacement making an immediate statement ahead of the upcoming Test against England in Las Vegas.

AAP reported last month that Donald’s job was under threat as the NRL finalised an investigation into a disparaging comment allegedly made in front of players.

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Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc fire in second Test before Sri Lanka dig in

Australia may have a fight on their hands to seal a rare subcontinent series win against Sri Lanka after a see-sawing first day of the second Test in Galle.

Nathan Lyon (three for 78) and Mitch Starc (three for 37) were Australia’s key men on a hot Thursday, the former orchestrating a Sri Lankan collapse before tea and the latter coming just short of a hat-trick after it. But the hosts showed improvement from their dismal series opener, finally able to piece together partnerships on a dusty wicket already offering plenty of turn. They finished the day at 229 for nine, with the deck likely to become very tricky for batters as the Test goes on. Kusal Mendis (59) and Lahiru Kumara (0) were unbeaten at the crease, the former batting with the kind of tenacity rarely seen from Sri Lanka in the first Test.

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Joe Schmidt to stand down as Wallabies coach after Rugby Championship

  • Huge blow for Rugby Australia before home World Cup
  • New Zealander to face All Blacks for last match in charge

Joe Schmidt will step down as Wallabies coach at the end of this year’s Rugby Championship in a blow to Australia’s hopes in the 2027 World Cup.

The New Zealander confirmed on Thursday he would extend his contract beyond the British and Irish Lions tour, but won’t continue through to the showpiece tournament on home soil. His last Test in charge will be against the All Blacks in Perth on 4 October.

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Sam Konstas leaves Australia’s Sri Lanka tour early to play Sheffield Shield

  • Batter flies home after Travis Head was preferred in first Test
  • Konstas will line up for NSW against Queensland this weekend

Sam Konstas’s Sri Lanka tour is officially over with the teenage batter returning to Australia to play Sheffield Shield for NSW.

Despite an impressive first two Tests, Konstas was replaced at the top of the batting order by the more experienced Travis Head in last week’s series opener in Galle.

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‘Icon and pioneer’: Australia’s ODI great Michael Bevan elevated to Hall of Fame

  • Batter finally inducted after committee reviews selection criteria
  • Bevan acknowledged for revolutionising white-ball game

Michael Bevan has been elevated to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame after a tweak to the criteria governing selection.

Bevan, one of Australia’s greatest white-ball players, scored 6,912 runs at 53.58 from 232 ODIs while routinely steering his side to victory in chases.

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Olympic champions reunite to seal Australia’s Davis Cup win over Sweden

  • Australia defeat Sweden 3-1 to seal home tie in next round
  • Peers-Ebden beat Bergevi-Goransson 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-2

Olympic champions John Peers and Matt Ebden have reunited to seal an emphatic Davis Cup triumph in Sweden and celebrate their Australian team earning a rare tie back on home soil.

With Lleyton Hewitt’s outfit 2-0 overnight in the first-round qualifying tie after the first-day singles in Stockholm, the golden veterans teamed up on Saturday for the first time since their Paris triumph to win the tie-clinching doubles rubber.

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