As thin as a rake and as strong as an ox, Yashasvi Jaiswal is the most aggressive opener to come out of India since Virender Sehwag and the country’s most exciting batter since Virat Kohli.
‘I felt like an outcast’: Jimmy Anderson on cricket, Bazball and the future
The country’s greatest bowler on why his wife, Daniella, is still mad at England, how the game saved him from loneliness growing up and what could be next
“I’m not getting too dark here,” Jimmy Anderson says quietly as we return to a time when he was a solitary boy in Burnley, “but I remember sitting in my room thinking: ‘I wish I wasn’t me. I wish I was someone else.’ That’s not a great place to be at 14. I didn’t fit in at school or have a group of mates. The biggest thing for me then was the feeling of being lonely.
“I didn’t have close friends. We didn’t play cricket at school. I was seen as a bit of an odd person who liked cricket. Why would you like cricket when you can play football and these other amazing sports? I did play them, but obviously not to the same level as cricket. I just felt like an outcast.”
Continue reading...Caribbean chaos as star duo inspire team to bonkers WBBL record… with 17 balls to spare
The three-peat hopes of the Adelaide Strikers are in tatters after a pair of West Indian stars went on a batting rampage for the Melbourne Renegades and reeled in a monster score to put the WBBL finals firmly in their sights.
‘Prickly character’: Ponting hits back at under-fire India coach after ugly swipe
India coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday backed “incredibly tough men” Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to prove their critics wrong and find form in Australia.
Big Bash bound speedster’s latest stunning feat, keeper makes history as NZ win T20I nail-biter
Lockie Ferguson unleashed a blistering spell of fast bowling, claiming a hat-trick to power New Zealand to a nail-biting five-run victory over Sri Lanka in the second T20 at Dambulla on Sunday.
West Indies v England: second men’s T20 cricket international – as it happened
Jos Buttler flames West Indies with scintillating innings in Barbados to carry England to a seven-wicket victory
Out come the players, Archer is drying his hands in the dust – and off we go.
Terrance Hinds has just been handed his first West Indies cap at the ripe age of 32. And very pleased he looks too.
Continue reading...Fresh worry over Aussie void as NINE fail; Wild Thing’s return statement: Player ratings
Pakistan has thumped reigning world champions Australia in their own backyard, securing a 2-1 ODI series triumph with a dominant victory at Perth Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
‘Hit him hard’: Cruel scenes as Cooper Connolly’s maiden ODI knock cut short
Cooper Connolly’s maiden ODI knock ended in cruel scenes on Sunday afternoon, with the Australian rising star suffering an injury which will rule him out of the T20 series against Pakistan.
Pakistan cruise to ODI series win after Australia’s latest batting horror show
- 3rd ODI: Pakistan, 143-2, beat Australia, 140-9, by 8 wkts
- Pakistan seal first series win over in Australia in 22 years
Cooper Connolly suffered what could be a fractured hand as Australia surrendered their one-day international series to Pakistan after another disastrous display with the bat.
Australia, missing Test stars Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, finished with a paltry 140 from 31.5 overs on Sunday, with Connolly unable to return after retiring hurt on seven. In reply, Pakistan reached the victory target with 139 balls to spare to wrap up an eight-wicket win and a 2-1 series triumph over the world champions. It marked Pakistan’s first series win over the Aussies in Australia in 22 years.
Continue reading...How ugly defeat exposed cricket’s great ‘shame’; glaring truth behind new Aussie low — Talking Pts
Australia has been left with more questions than answers after sinking to a humbling 2-1 ODI series defeat to Pakistan this week.
World Test Championship is wide open but England remain on outside
New Zealand’s historic series clean sweep has set up an unexpectedly exciting race to the final at Lord’s next year
A week on from New Zealand’s 3-0 triumph in India and the result feels no less seismic. The more you consider the history, the disparity in economics or player pools, India’s 12-year unbroken run of dominance in their own conditions and the absence of Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s all-time great with the bat, the harder it is to think of an away victory in modern times to rival it.
India’s fortress had to be breached at some point, not least with flecks of silver creeping into the beards of what could well be their greatest side. But New Zealand as the ones to do it? Their first Test win in India since 1988 to then trigger a cascading clean sweep?
Continue reading...Selectors’ tough love for overlooked stars, Gilchrist flags wildcard from the west: Selection Talking Points.
The auditions are over and Australia has a Test squad, but there is much to dissect from the anointed ones and those who were overlooked for the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Perth beginning next Thursday.
‘Totally outplayed’: Australia sinks to 22-year low after Pakistanis punish woeful hosts
Pakistan has secured its first ODI away series triumph over Australia in 22 years after a dazzling display from the team’s pace cartel during Sunday’s eight-wicket victory at Perth Stadium.
Adam Gilchrist backs Josh Inglis for Test opening role, poses question to selectors over in-form Australian
Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has questioned whether the national selectors backtracked on their policy of picking the country’s six best batters for the Test team, arguing Josh Inglis deserves to make his debut at Perth Stadium against India.
‘My game’s ready’: Inside rising star’s five-year surge… as Aussie superstar passes unwanted baton
Nathan McSweeney knows better than anyone that 18 months is a long time in cricket, let alone five years.