Alex Carey hasn’t shut the door on a recall to Australia’s T20 side but concedes he has had plenty of opportunity in the format over the years to nail down a spot.
‘Our generation’s legacy’: Healy’s proudest act as Aussie captain retires with selfless final call
Australian women’s captain Alyssa Healy will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of this summer.
‘Not good enough’: $420k import hooked in stunning BBL move as season left hanging by thread
The Melbourne Renegades’ finals chances are hanging by a thread after the Sydney Thunder stole a remarkable four-wicket victory from the jaws of defeat during Monday’s rain-affected contest at ENGIE Stadium.
Ex-Aussie captain backs forgotten star to end three-year hiatus despite contract snub
Former Australian captain Alex Blackwell has encouraged national selectors to recall Nicola Carey ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup, with the all-rounder making an impressive start in her maiden Women’s Premier League campaign.
England ruthlessly privatised cricket – Australia embraces it with constant public displays of affection | Emma John
If there is one takeaway for England from this Ashes tour it should be how cricket thrives in a nation where it is readily and freely available as the dominant summer pastime
The drive to Bowral in New South Wales takes you through some of Australia’s most English countryside. Pastoral hills roll right up to the roadside and finish in grassy verges, flecked with yellow and white wildflowers. Alliums stand sentinel around vibrant lawns. Even the eucalypts are cosplaying as beech and oaks. You might be in Hampshire, if it weren’t for the dazzling sun.
Just a few roads from the high street – storefronts full of fancy cookware and country casuals – is the Bradman Oval. This small ground, with its pre-loved outfield, has become a pilgrimage stop for the Australian cricketing faithful. Head out to the middle and you’re walking across the sacred turf where Sir Don honed his skills. Stand at the crease, look past the white picket fence, and you can see the family homes where he grew from boy to man, on Shepherd Street and Glebe Street respectively.
Continue reading...Australia 4-1 England: player ratings as the hosts win the Ashes in style
Mitchell Starc and Travis Head were astoundingly good, but plenty of England players will want to look away now
Ben Stokes: 184 runs at 18.4; 15 wickets at 25.1; two catches
A body unable to match his will, a team unable to match his ambition and, surely, a screaming sense that he made mistakes when preparing for this challenging but winnable series all adds up to a horrible seven weeks for the England captain. His personal form inevitably buckled – and you have to feel a little sympathy for a man more guilty of giving too much rather than too little.
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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Damien Martyn showing ‘positive signs’ after being placed in induced coma with meningitis
Adam Gilchrist gives update on friend and Australia teammate
Former cricketer remains in serious but stable condition in hospital
Former Australia Test cricketer Damien Martyn is showing “positive signs” while in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis, according to friend and former teammate Adam Gilchrist.
Martyn was admitted to Gold Coast hospital after falling ill on Boxing Day, where he remains in a serious but stable condition. Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
Continue reading...Australia back injured stars as squad for T20 World Cup revealed
Cummins, Hazlewood and David named for India and Sri Lanka event
Matt Kuhnemann included in spin-heavy 15-player team
Matthew Kuhnemann is in line for a World Cup debut after being included as the biggest surprise selection in Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup.
As expected, Australia have named superstar pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, as well as swashbuckling Tim David, despite injury concerns.
Continue reading...Damien Martyn, former Australian Test cricketer, in induced coma with meningitis
The 54-year-old was admitted to hospital on Boxing Day
Martyn played total of 67 Tests between 1992 and 2006
The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis.
The sporting community is rallying around the 54-year-old, who “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday.
Continue reading...ICC rates MCG pitch ‘unsatisfactory’ after two-day Ashes Test
Match referee says pitch ‘too much in favour of bowlers’
Shortened Test could cost Cricket Australia up to $10m
The MCG pitch where England beat Australia inside two days in the fourth Ashes Test has been rated ‘unsatisfactory’ by the International Cricket Council.
Head curator Matthew Page admitted he was in a “state of shock” at how the penultimate match of the series unfolded on a surface that had 10mm grass left on, producing lavish movement for seam bowlers.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...‘That wicket is a shocker’: former Ashes players question state of MCG pitch
Both teams bowled out on day one in Melbourne
Cook: ‘It’s been too heavily weighted towards the bowlers’
Some of the biggest names in Ashes cricket have attacked the state of the MCG pitch after a record crowd saw 20 wickets fall on a Boxing Day blowout in Melbourne.
An official crowd of 94,199 broke the attendance record at the country’s biggest sporting venue, eclipsing the 2015 World Cup final and setting a new high watermark for this historic rivalry.
Continue reading...Six balls in Perth to Harry Brook’s drop: 10 moments that decided the Ashes
Lilac Hill warmup, Alex Carey’s glovework and Pat Cummins’ control of Joe Root are key parts of the story
It’s not a complete exaggeration to say that Australia won the 2025-26 Ashes on 15 October 2024. That was when Cricket Australia announced the schedule for the series: Perth first, Brisbane second. Starting the series on the bounciest, most Kryptonicious pitches in Australia – and the only major venues where England haven’t won a Test since 1986-87 – was a masterstroke, especially as Australia also had a day-night advantage at the Gabba. By the time England reached more batting-friendly climes, many of their batters already had scrambled brains.
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