Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed he has chatted with Usman Khawaja about his upcoming autobiography but said he is not concerned about any revelations his former teammate will make about the infamous Sandpapergate series.
Aussies dodge big RSA threat but worrying pitch sight backed up by surprise XI call
Australia has dodged the menacing threat posed by Kagiso Rabada for the opening Test against South Africa beginning in Durban on Friday after he failed in a late bid to prove his fitness.
Just five days made Australia want to wait 1,964 more. Pat Cummins was simply unforgettable
South Africa and Australian Test debutants have been a match made in heaven in the 21st century.
Unexploded grenades remain buried from Sandpapergate. Australia has the right man to dodge them — Whateley
In its simplest form this series sells itself: reigning world Test champion meets long-term No.1 ranked nation.
Australia stick to familiar formula in South Africa as they seek to bury demons of 2018 | Geoff Lemon
The Test series shapes as one of unforced errors and modest scores with both sides unconvincing with the bat and relying on their bowling attack
Lost among the looking back to Australia’s Test tour of South Africa in 2018, there lies a similarity to the team about to take on that challenge in 2026. The previous side relied on a primo bowling quartet of Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, along with David Warner’s power as opener and the middle-order ballast of Steve Smith. The rest of the batting was makeshift: Cameron Bancroft the recently added opener, Usman Khawaja with at that stage a parlous record away from home, and the Marsh brothers an entirely unknowable quantity at five and six.
This time around, the same four bowlers have burnished their careers by a further 998 Test wickets, the proven batting still consists of one aggressive left-handed opener plus Smith, and Australia otherwise remain makeshift.
Continue reading...Axed Test opener’s brutal Shield setback as bizarre incident further sours nightmare return
Jake Weatherald’s horror return to Sheffield Shield action has gone from bad to worse, with the discarded Australian opener ruled out of South Australia’s season opener with Victoria due to concussion.
Travis Head hits back at Australia greats for firing a ‘bullet through’ current Test players
Opener said it is unfair for ex-players to criticise modern batting lineup
Australia’s vice-captain eager to open in Tests against South Africa
Travis Head has accused Australia’s golden generation of being unfair in “putting a bullet through” current players, saying the game has changed significantly since they played.
Just a day after Matthew Hayden slammed selectors and accused them of promoting “the greatest pile of mediocrity” after calling up Nic Maddinson, Head took his own stand in South Africa.
Continue reading...A hidden act had saved Australia from its deepest shame… then came a sickening snub
Australian great Allan Border held his head in his hands, in complete disbelief at what he had just seen shared on the big screen at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.
‘Put the bullet through’: Head rips Aussie legends after ‘dog s***’ call-up criticism ahead of first Test
Travis Head has issued a stinging broadside at former Australian greats for being too eager to “put the bullet” through representatives of the current Test team ahead of the highly-anticipated series against South Africa beginning on Friday.
Unexpected Aussie Test squad inclusion takes surprise net session role as Durban preparations underway
Watching Nic Maddinson middling the ball against Mitchell Starc in Durban on Wednesday, he looked a batsman at peace in his surroundings.
What’s left to say about Australia’s ball-tampering? The answer is everything | Geoff Lemon
The story from the 2018 Test in South Africa will stay alive for years more, unless it is finally put to sleep with the truth of what happened
Add it to the immeasurable list of things that you can blame Covid for. Without the pandemic, Australia’s Test team would have headed to South Africa in February 2021, less than three years after the 2018 sandpaper scandal saw them come home from Johannesburg in disarray. With memories fresh, the attention would have been intense on the returning players: headlined by sacked captain Steve Smith, his replacement Tim Paine, and principal antagonist David Warner, with a support act of bowlers Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
At least, though, that prompt rematch would have lanced the boil of Australian cricket’s great modern humiliation, after Cameron Bancroft was caught sandpapering the match ball in the third Test at Cape Town. Instead, a lack of appetite for pandemic-era touring saw Cricket Australia cancel the 2021 tour before kicking a replacement years down the road, and while there have been white-ball trips in the interim, it has now taken eight years for an Australian Test return to supersede their ill-starred previous visit.
Continue reading...‘What did you f***ing say?’ How guns, scandal and toxic ultimatum lit Sandpapergate fuse
Allan Border was never a shrinking violet but at the end of a decorated career the former Australian captain learned just how important it was to pick your targets in a battle.
Fallen Test opener’s horror Shield return as young gun’s blunder spurns golden chance
Jake Weatherald has made a disastrous start to the Sheffield Shield season, with the former Test opener falling for a duck as Victorian debutant Harry Hoekstra rescued the hosts on a dramatic first day.
Fallen opener’s horror Test audition as young gun’s blunder spurns golden chance — Shield Wrap
Jake Weatherald has made a disastrous start to the Sheffield Shield season, with the former Test opener falling for a duck as Victorian debutant Harry Hoekstra rescued the hosts on a dramatic first day.
Snubbed Test prospect’s statement Aus A ton as exciting young quick goes ballistic in fiery spell
Nathan McSweeney shrugged off the disappointment of missing out on a call-up to Australia’s Test squad by hitting a match-winning century for Australia A in the first one-day game against India A in Puducherry.