Cricket News
Root also among 14 players committed to national team
Bethell and Archer among the other notable inclusions
Ben Stokes has signalled his desire to play in the 2027 Ashes at home after signing a new two-year central contract with England.
Aged 34, and having sustained hamstring and shoulder injuries in the past 12 months, there was a school of thought that this winter’s Ashes – less than three weeks away – could be the Test captain’s swansong.
Continue reading...Fast bowler says England have confidence and belief as he prepares for what could be his final series against the old foe
“My dad would be Australia and I’d be England,” Mark Wood says with a wry smile when remembering his first Ashes Tests as a boy in his back garden in Ashington, Northumberland. “I’d try to copy Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Matthew Hoggard and, later, Jimmy Anderson, who I’d go on and play with. My dad, who didn’t do the actions so well, had to be Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne. He was most proud of his Gillespie but his Warne wasn’t great.”
Wood snorts at the idea that his dad, Derek, might have let him win most of those matches. “No, no, no. It was proper cricket. You had to give each other lbw and every time I hit my dad in the leg he’d be going: ‘No, that’s going over’ or ‘That’s down the leg side.’ I was like: ‘Dad, that was plumb.’ I had to get my DRS right.”
Continue reading...Hosts miss frontline bowlers as Sundar steers tourists to win
India have levelled the Twenty20 series against Australia, sharing the blows with the bat for a five-wicket win with nine balls to spare in Hobart.
The hosts posted 186-6 on Sunday night on the back of an explosive 74 from 38 balls from Tim David batting at No 4 and a Marcus Stoinis half-century.
Continue reading...England need to turn volume up and lean into tone of exceptionalism that continues to annoy their rivals
A few weeks ago there was a wave of newspaper interviews with the stepson of the king, Tom Parker-Bowles. These seemed at first glance to be about absolutely nothing at all, froth and chatter, a wincing man in a tweed hat talking about how he makes Sunday lunch. Why was this happening? Scanning the text for meaning, the clouds finally cleared. He was launching a cordial.
You might say, do we need … a cordial? What is a cordial? A way of ruining water. A drink that isn’t actually a drink. But this is to miss the point, and in way that is frankly embarrassing and I feel sorry for you. Because this is not any old cordial. It’s not the kind of really crappy cordial you might launch. As Parker-Bowles puts it, devastatingly: “Look, we have Belvoir and Bottlegreen. But they use concentrates. Why can’t we make a really high-end British cordial?”
Continue reading...All-rounder helps hosts into 1-0 series lead in Melbourne
MCG holds minute’s silence for teenager Ben Austin
A lethal spell from Josh Hazlewood has propelled Australia to an emphatic four-wicket Twenty20 win over India in front of 82,438 fans at the MCG.
After the opening game of the five-match series in Canberra was washed out on Wednesday night, Australia went 1-0 up with a commanding performance.
Continue reading...Have you been following the big stories in football, cricket, rugby, boxing, darts, baseball and swimming?
Continue reading...Vice-captain fell awkwardly while taking a catch against Australia
Iyer to remain in Sydney hospital ‘to evaluate his day-to-day progress’
India batter Shreyas Iyer suffered a lacerated spleen and was admitted to hospital in Sydney after falling awkwardly while taking catch in the third one-day international against Australia, the country’s cricket board (BCCI) says.
Iyer was injured on Saturday while taking a catch to dismiss Alex Carey, the 30-year-old clutching his side and grimacing in pain after tumbling to the SCG turf.
Continue reading...In his candid new book, the former England fast bowler talks about the lasting mental turmoil that ended his 2013-14 Ashes tour
“I couldn’t get the words out because I was crying,” Steven Finn says as he remembers how, hunched over a microphone, he stared at the last lines he was meant to read aloud for the audio version of his raw and revealing new book. Emotion clogged his throat after he had belonged to three Ashes-winning England squads, while never feeling he fulfilled his immense wicket-taking talent, and having ended up lost and broken on the 2013-14 tour of Australia.
Finn tried again but stifled crying choked his reading. He looked up and nodded at the encouraging producer. His mouth almost crumpled but, this time, he got through it.
Continue reading...Bowler resumes running but will not make series opener in Perth
32-year-old says he ‘expects to return to bowling shortly’
Pat Cummins is officially out of the first Ashes Test as he continues his recovery from a stress injury in his back, with Steve Smith to reassume the captaincy of Australia in the series opener against England next month.
Cummins has not bowled since Australia’s 3-0 series defeat of West Indies in July and had been in serious doubt for the match in Perth on 21 November. After months of speculation over whether he would recover in time, Cricket Australia on Monday finally confirmed that the quick would have to sit out the game at Optus Stadium.
Continue reading...Kohli (74*): ‘We’ve played some of our best cricket here’
Rohit Sharma hit a century and Virat Kohli 74 to drive India to a nine-wicket win in the third one-day international in what will almost certainly be the pair’s final appearances in Australia in their country’s colours.
Australia secured series honours with victories in the first two matches in Perth and Adelaide but India’s bowlers skittled the home side for 236 and the two former captains got the tourists over the line with a partnership of 168 runs.
Continue reading...Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby, gymnastics, boxing, cricket and motor sport?
Continue reading...Victory hands hosts unassailable 2-0 series lead
Connolly’s unbeaten 61 steers Australia to target of 265
Novice batsmen Cooper Connolly, Matt Short and Mitch Owen have produced career-best ODI knocks to steer Australia to a tense two-wicket win against India.
Australia claimed a series victory after the win at Adelaide Oval on Thursday gave them a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Continue reading...England’s T20 series against New Zealand finishes on a rather damp note but the tourists claim 1-0 win
Here we go! That’s tough on the two Tims, who had made a rollicking start.
After three balls: NZ 8-0 (Seifert 8, Robinson 0) Wood’s first ball is an inswinger that swings all the way to the square-leg boundary, with an easy nudge from Tim Seifert. The second ball is a dot, and the third is another four – a full toss, thumped through the covers. But then …
Continue reading...England ran riot with the bat in Christchurch, smashing 236 for four to set up an impressive 65-run victory
2nd over: England 24-1 (Salt 20, Bethell 0) Duffy dug that wicket ball in short, which meant it hit high on the bat as Buttler came charging at him. Nicely bowled if he meant it.
This Hagley Oval pitch looks better for batting than on Saturday. Salt climbs into a wide ball from Jacob Duffy, blasting it square on the off side for four, then top-edges a pull over the keeper’s head for another boundary.
Continue reading...Marsh hits unbeaten 46 as Virat Kohli is out for a duck
Mitchell Marsh hit an unbeaten 46 off 52 balls while Virat Kohli was out for an eight-ball duck as Australia crushed India by seven wickets to spare in a rain-affected ODI series opener in Perth.
Four rain delays totalling three hours and 40 minutes caused havoc as India stuttered to nine for 136 off a reduced 26 overs at Optus Stadium. Under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, Australia required just 131 for victory from their 26 overs, with Marsh and Josh Philippe (37 runs off 29 balls) ensuring the hosts made light work of it.
Continue reading...