Australia Cricket News
Right-hander hits second straight Sheffield Shield ton for Queensland
Place in Australia’s Ashes team all but assured with knock of 159
Marnus Labuschagne appears certain to return to Australia’s team for the Ashes, his fourth century in five innings making a compelling case to selectors.
Fresh off posting 160 in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield, Labuschagne struck 159 for Queensland at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Continue reading...England duo trained in nets on injury comeback trail
Carse insists he’s looking forward to Australia fan verbals
Ben Stokes and Mark Wood are expected to be “raring to go” for the start of the Ashes next month, offering England a timely boost that sits in contrast to Australia’s ongoing concerns over the fitness of Pat Cummins.
As the two seamers with prior experience of playing Test cricket in Australia, Stokes and Wood are central to England’s plans this winter. Stokes missed the fifth Test against India with a shoulder injury, however, while Wood sat out the entire English summer following knee surgery back in March.
Continue reading...Australia captain to learn this week whether he will be fit for opener
Star quick says he is ‘less likely than likely’ to face England in Perth
Pat Cummins has admitted he is unlikely to play in the Ashes opener, conceding a return to proper bowling is still some time away.
Cummins is expected to learn this week whether he will be able to feature in Perth on 21 November, with officials conceding the quick is facing a narrow timeline.
Continue reading...Australian batter, an evangelical Christian who believes this is all written out in advance, may force his way back for the Ashes
Marnus Labuschagne carefully spreads butter on both sides of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he tells the camera as he brings down the lid of his sandwich grill. “Boom. Then you get it crisp on both sides.” He lifts the lid to reveal a golden square of pure toasted goodness, the melted cheese happily bubbling away inside. “So this is the trick of the trade,” he announces. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.
Already, I sense, a glaze of ennui is beginning to form across your eyes. The red lights of sportswriting pretension are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes.
Continue reading...Australia’s injured captain may not be in all five Tests starting November
Konstas and Labuschagne score centuries in bid for selection
Australia’s injured captain Pat Cummins will play a “significant” part in the Ashes but may not feature in all five Tests, coach Andrew McDonald says.
McDonald concedes uncertainty remains around Cummins amid the skipper’s back injury. But he dismissed speculation Cummins could miss the highly anticipated Test series against England starting on 21 November in Perth.
Continue reading...Australia captain to miss home white-ball series against India
Mitchell Starc retires from T20Is as squad named to tour New Zealand
Australia still expect Pat Cummins to be available for the first Ashes Test, even as the captain deals with stress in his back.
The star quick will miss the upcoming T20 tour of New Zealand and back-to-back home white-ball series against India due to lumbar bone stress.
Ahead of finals sign up for our free weekly AFL newsletter
Continue reading...3rd ODI: Australia, 2-431, bt South Africa, 155, by 276 runs
Travis Head hits 142, one of three home centurions
Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green smashed blistering hundreds as Australia steamrollered South Africa by 276 runs in the third and final one-day international of the series in Mackay.
South Africa had already clinched the series, leaving the 50-over world champions to play for pride in the last match. Australia’s opening pair set the tone with a 250-run partnership between player-of-the-match Head (142) and Marsh (100), before an incendiary unbeaten 118 from Green powered Australia to a mammoth 2-431.
Continue reading...South Africa 277; Australia 193 | SA win by 84 runs
Josh Inglis knock can’t mask another batting failure
Australia have slumped to a seventh defeat from their last eight ODIs, suffering a 84-run loss against South Africa in Mackay that allowed the Proteas to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
After being crushed by 98 runs in Cairns on Tuesday night, Australia again struggled batting under lights as the recent 50-over retirements of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were laid bare.
Continue reading...First ODI: South Africa 296-8; Australia 198 | SA win by 98 runs
Hosts lose six wickets for 29 in Cairns collapse
A career-best haul from veteran spinner Keshav Maharaj has inspired South Africa to a crushing 98-run win over Australia in the first ODI in Cairns.
With Australia cruising at 0-60 chasing the Proteas’ 8-296, Maharaj wreaked havoc during a stunning spell as the hosts lost 6-29 in 55 balls at Cazaly’s Stadium.
Continue reading...Third T20i: Australia, 173-8, bt SA, 172-7, by two wkts
Maxwell’s 62 gets hosts home with one ball to spare
Australia’s Glenn Maxwell produced an unbeaten half-century in a tense chase to help the hosts edge out South Africa by two wickets in the third and final T20 international in Cairns on Saturday. Maxwell’s unbeaten 62 off 36 balls helped Australia chase down 173 with one ball to spare at the Cazalys Stadium, completing a 2-1 series victory in style.
After 18 overs, it was a run-a-ball target for Australia with Maxwell in the middle. The South African bowler Corbin Bosch (three for 26) claimed two wickets and kept Maxwell away from the strike. Needing 10 off the last over from Lungi Ngidi, Maxwell took six from the first four balls before reverse-sweeping for four to seal Australia’s dramatic victory.
Continue reading...Simpson played 62 Tests over more than two decades
Australia’s first full-time coach helped guide team’s re-emergence
The former Australia cricket captain and coach Bob Simpson has died in Sydney aged 89. He was an influential figure in Australian cricket for more than four decades as a player, captain and coach. He also made his mark on the game as a law-maker, referee and commentator.
Simpson first pulled on the baggy green cap of the Australian Test cricket team in 1957, and made a comeback to captain Australia aged 41 after the game was thrown into crisis by World Series Cricket in 1977.
Continue reading...Todd Greenberg sees a future with fewer Test nations
Winter Tests in Darwin and Cairns could be revived
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has warned some nations will go “bankrupt” if they continue to play the longest format of the game, stressing he sees a future with fewer Test nations.
Admitting he has become a “little unpopular” since taking over from Nick Hockley in March, the former Australian Cricketers’ Association boss believes “scarcity in Test cricket is our friend, not our foe”.
Continue reading...Batsman hit 12 fours and eight sixes in unbeaten 125
Hosts made 165 in vain chase of 219 in Darwin
Dewald Brevis lit up Darwin’s Marrara Oval with a blazing century to help South Africa to an imposing 53-run victory over Australia in the second Twenty20 match.
The 22-year-old Brevis scored an unbeaten 125 from 56 balls with 12 fours and eight sixes, propelling South Africa to 7-218 before Australia struggled to 165 in front of another noisy near-capacity crowd on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...An explosive century from Dewald Brevis was too much for Australia as South Africa level the series 1-1 in Darwin
Maxwell to continue, the young Pretorius top edges a sweep, it swirls over fine leg… and dropped! Zampa was circling under it like a puzzled shark, never looked set, and as it comes down he’s craning his neck to work out the angle of the drop. His head isn’t in position, and he spills it. Maxwell is not happy, with two runs conceded as well, and he’s even less happy next ball when Pretorius puts him on the roof. Huge sweep shot, bounces off the corrugated tin. But Maxwell’s mood improves after a single, as Markram skips down, laces an off drive, but hits it flat and straight at mid off. Owen takes the catch.
4th over: South Africa 35-1 (Markram 18, Pretorius 1) Ben Dwarshuis finishes the over tightly, only one run from it along with the wicket.
Continue reading...Australia 178; South Africa 161-9 | Australia win by 17 runs
David scores 83 to lead Australia to win in Darwin
Australia have dominated South Africa’s largely unknown batting lineup to secure an unlikely victory in the first match of a three-game Twenty20 series in Darwin.
South Africa lost by 17 runs in at Marrara Oval on Sunday, bowled out for 161 after Australia were dismissed for a disappointing 178 from the final ball of an innings rescued by Tim David’s 83.
Continue reading...