Category: Australia Cricket

Disciplined bowling and a quickfire 51 by Ben Duckett helped England bounce back to win the third T20 international against India on Tuesday and keep the series alive.

The batting order in Galle looks set – but absence of Cummins and Hazlewood leaves decisions on the variety of spinners

Australian Test teams have had a shift in their relationship with Sri Lanka, a country they tour rarely but for a long time toured with success. In five trips from 1983 to 2011, the visitors only lost one Test, which was enough to decide their only series loss after the second and third matches were heavily washed out.

But in 2016 a pretty handy Australian side got whitewashed 3-0, after first dropping the ascendancy in a remarkable turnaround in Pallekele. Then in a shorter series in 2022, after a sizeable win on a surface that spun big, Australia got pummelled by an innings in the second match, while the country they were visiting was in upheaval with massed crowds on the streets causing the popular overthrow of a broken government.

The political situation and national finances of Sri Lanka have eased a little, but its cricket administrators still make an efficiency by concentrating Tests in Galle. In the series starting this Wednesday, both matches will be played there, as they were the last time Australia visited. It suits the home team: since that Australia loss, they’ve dropped one other game at the ground but have won six. Galle is a not a place for draws anymore; the most recent was in 2013, which was 25 matches ago.

Prabath Jayasuriya, a left-arm spinner who stepped up to Tests from a humble Colombo club cricket pedigree at the age of 31, has enjoyed his trips down the coast more than anyone. Eight matches there, eight five-wicket bags, twice going on to take ten in the match. That’s eight matches out of a career totalling 18, while 71 of his 107 wickets have come at that ground. Four or five more matches at his rate and he would catch Rangana Herath and Muttiah Muralitharan to be Sri Lanka’s premier Galle specialist.

That should give an indication that it’s a handy ground for spin. Sri Lanka’s squad also has Jeffrey Vandersay’s leg-breaks, off-breaks from Nishan Pereis and Dhananjaya da Silva, left-arm spin from Sonal Dinusha, and potentially finger spin from either hand via Kamindu Mendis. But with four seamers plus Angelo Mathews also available, they have options for all conditions.

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Australian captain Alyssa Healy has confirmed her availability for the Ashes Test at the MCG after overcoming a foot injury.

• Experienced batter gets nod to open alongside Usman Khawaja
• Konstas, Nathan McSweeney and Josh Inglis contenders at No 5

Travis Head will replace Sam Konstas at the top of Australia’s batting order for the first Sri Lanka Test despite the teenager’s heroics in the triumphant India series.

Stand-in captain Steve Smith would not rule out finding a place for Konstas elsewhere in the order for the match that begins in Galle on Wednesday, with a vacancy now open at No 5.

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The disappointment of the T20 World Cup “fired up” the Aussies ahead of their Ashes demolition of England, according to star spinner Sophie Molineux, with a historic whitewash within the home team’s reach going into Thursday’s series-ending Test.

The Big Bash League’s inaugural free agency frenzy has fired up with the title winning Hobart Hurricanes luring Test player Beau Webster back home.

Big Bash final hero Mitch Owen need only look at Hobart Hurricanes teammate Riley Meredith to know the potential for million-dollar Indian Premier League contracts to come his way after his unforgettable 39-ball century delivered his team a first-ever title.

Australian vice-captain Travis Head will open in the First Test against Sri Lanka tomorrow - but where does that leave rising star Sam Konstas?

Sydney Thunder’s Big Bash League campaign finished with a brutal loss on the big stage to a history-making Hobart Hurricanes outfit, but their skipper David Warner was still able to win over the rival crowd with some classy words post-match.

The Australian batter will enter the 10,000 Club for Test runs to less fanfare in Sri Lanka but with a career record that is as unique as his style

When Steve Smith started the recent Test series against India not far from 10,000 career runs, there was no guarantee that he would make 315 more across five Tests. Centuries in Brisbane and Melbourne narrowed the gap to 38 for the Sydney Test. Broadcasters ran recorded interviews with teammates reflecting on his career in the context of the milestone that hadn’t yet arrived. The other Australian members of the club – Ricky Ponting, Allan Border, Steve Waugh – were all on hand in Sydney with a presentation planned. Until Smith nicked off for 4 in the second innings, stuck on 9,999.

Assuming he can score a single across four potential innings in Sri Lanka, the moment will soon arrive in far quieter environs, with a small crowd and no hall-of-famers on hand. But there he will be, alongside the aforementioned countrymen, along with 10 other greats: Younis Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Mahela Jayawardene, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara, Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, and Sachin Tendulkar.

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Emotional Hobart skipper Nathan Ellis has fought back tears as he described just how much the Hurricanes’ maiden Big Bash League title meant to him and Tasmanian cricket.

Hurricanes and Thunder keepers Matthew Wade and Sam Billings have shared an on-field verbal war of words as the former Australian representative steered his franchise to a maiden BBL title.

Mitch Owen has been the find of BBL|14 — and he saved his best until last, delivering a season and potentially career-defining century for the Hurricanes as the Hobart-based club secured a maiden franchise title on Monday evening.

Third time’s the charm.

Usman Khawaja has again suggested that the final Test of next summer’s Ashes series at the SCG would be an ideal end date to his international career, but the 38-year-old is aware that a tap on the shoulder may come sooner.