Denied a decisive triumph at the Gabba by miserable weather, Australia will endure an anxious wait regarding star batter Travis Head’s fitness leading into the Boxing Day Test.
Keely Hodgkinson wins BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2024 – as it happened
The Olympic 800m champion took the big prize in the BBC’s annual jamboree, with darts star Luke Littler second and Joe Root third
Root has a live chat from his hotel in New Zealand. It’s just gone 8am there, the morning after the Test series ended, and he’s looking a little bleary-eyed. Only once, in 2021, has he scored more runs than he has this year. “It’s been a hell of a journey, but it seems to get more and more enjoyable,” he says.
Jimmy Anderson on Root. You won’t get many better quotes than this.
I can’t think of a better role model for the game of cricket. I’ve got children, I’d love for them to grow up and be that sort of person.
Continue reading...‘Made it difficult’: Aussie coach grilled over shock declaration call as India reality sinks in
Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori has defended the team’s decision not to declare after India likely put a result out of reach in the third Test at the Gabba.
Australia frustrated as India avoid follow-on on quirky day four of Brisbane Test
- Third Test, day four: Australia 445; India 252-9
- Australia checked by resilient batting and rain
It’s that time again. Not the time when the cricket enthusiasts are paying attention, because we always are – June in Barbados, August in Galle, whatever you’ve got. No, it’s the brief time either side of Christmas when the cricket is high profile enough that everybody outside our odd community also becomes vaguely aware it exists. “Who’s winning?” I’ve been asked twice this week, that dreaded question that gets lobbed from hallways over the backs of couches to torment those of us who know that nobody is ever winning a Test match, they have either won it or not won it. All we have to comfort us is our smug superiority; which is, granted, a consolation.
On the fourth day of Australia’s Test against India at Brisbane, there was a further delight: the game within a game. For the uninitiate, this contest would have looked dead. Australia on 445, India resuming in the morning 394 runs behind and four wickets down. Soon to be five, the captain Rohit Sharma an early departure. Combine the gulf in scores with the rain that had taken the match into its fourth day without completing its second innings, and there was no chance for India to get towards parity and stay in the contest.
Continue reading...Sad image exposes awkward Indian dilemma; staggering reality amid selection gamble: Talking Pts
The third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is edging closer towards a stalemate after a courageous tenth-wicket partnership between Indian tailender Akash Deep and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah frustrated the Australians on day four of the Gabba.
Josh Hazlewood’s Test series likely over after suffering calf strain against India
- Australian quick sent for scans after bowling just one over on Tuesday
- Scott Boland likely replacement for Melbourne and Sydney Tests
Josh Hazlewood’s home Test summer is feared over after the quick suffered a calf strain that is expected to rule him out of both Melbourne and Sydney. Hazlewood was sent for scans on Tuesday after sending down just one over at the Gabba, after hurting his right calf in the warm up before play.
Scans have since confirmed a strain, leaving Australia with just two frontline quicks for the rest of the Brisbane Test. “He is likely to miss the remainder of the Test series. A squad replacement will be made in due course,” Cricket Australia confirmed in a statement.
Continue reading...‘Can of worms’: Sixers star stumped on solution to void as concerns grow for gun veteran
Sixers skipper Moises Henriques says Daniel Hughes’ latest injury setback is “very concerning”, but the veteran batter isn’t entirely sold on the idea of introducing a replacement system that would allow teams to sub on like-for-like players.
New Zealand thrash England by 423 runs: third men’s cricket Test, day four – as it happened
Jacob Bethell’s 76 and a frightening spell for Will O’Rourke enriched an otherwise predictable final day
12th over: England 49-2 (Bethell 20, Root 16) O’Rourke is again hitting 90mph, which turns him from a very awkward bowler into a mildly terrifying one. Even Root is struggling to find the middle of the bat and almost falls when a gloved pull beats the diving Blundell and goes for four.
Meanwhile, this email is spot on. “There’s something about Will O’Rourke’s put-upon demeanour that reminds me of Angus Fraser,” writes Matt Emerson. “Even when he was on a hat-trick he looked like someone had stolen his lunch money. He’s a bit quicker than the great man, mind…”
Continue reading...‘Wants to be Superman’: Stokes slammed for ‘senseless’ injury as glaring Ashes problem laid bare
Visibly distressed England captain Ben Stokes suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury on Monday while bowling during the third Test against New Zealand in Hamilton.
Brave Indian tail, series-long injury shock put Aussies’ Gabba hopes on the brink
Australia’s hopes of seizing control of the Border-Gavaskar Series in Brisbane were dealt a significant blow after India avoided the follow-on on a gripping day at the Gabba.
Superstars called out over ‘minutes of madness’ as big Kohli flaw exposed — Indian View
The Indian media has urged champion paceman Jasprit Bumrah to start holding his underperforming batters accountable, as they threaten to put his exceptional performances in Australia to waste.
Familiar problem surfaces with Virat Kohli closest of fading Fab Four to the end | Geoff Lemon
The once dominant batter is experiencing a Groundhog Day which suggests a mind that is tired of finding solutions
A little over a decade ago, cricket writing became all about the Fab Four. Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, each starting to flourish as Test batters, each clearly the future for their respective national teams. We said they would all go on to captain their countries, and they did, as they kept racking up the hundreds, piling up runs, a kind of transnational pact in relentless quality. Always playing against one another, they were nevertheless joined in their own smaller team, urging one another on, opponents to mediocrity.
These days none is captain any more, with a range of endings to their tenures that span civility to acrimony to scandal. They are all still playing though, elder statesmen in teams that enjoy their presence. Each of them is still the biggest name, the one greeted by most applause when walking to the middle and prompting most excitement from opponents sending them back. None is the team’s best player any longer, but their reputations make it feel as though they are.
Continue reading...Spoty 2024 is Murray and Anderson’s final farewell and I may sue for severe distress | Emma John
Do you have the Kleenex at the ready? Because the retirement of two British sporting greats is a powerful memento mori
It’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday, so ask yourself: are you prepared for montage season? It’s dangerous to go into these things cold. You never know which clips are going to hijack your limbic system and leave you a gulping, snot-strewn mess. It could be Keely Hodgkinson crossing the line, or Ollie Watkins’ goal in the Euros semi-final, but it may equally be pommel horse guy hugging a Kazakh you’ve never heard of, or Luke Littler eating a squashie. Either way, it’s worth quietly sliding the box of Kleenex within reach of the sofa.
Having spent the last six months therapeutically processing the retirements of Andy Murray and Jimmy Anderson, I know exactly what my triggers are going to be, and if the BBC replay that “Thank you, Andy” video from Wimbledon, I may sue for emotional distress. It’s pretty rare for anyone’s two favourite sportspeople to make their final exits within weeks of each other, but no one consulted me about the scheduling and, as a result, July was a pretty rocky month, thanks for asking.
Continue reading...Rain delays slow rampant Australia after India lose four early wickets in third Test
- Third Test, day three at the Gabba: Australia 445; India 51-4
- Play interrupted throughout day as Australia press for victory
Brisbane’s big wet looms as India’s best chance of saving the third Test against Australia, after the tourists slumped to 51-4 after a miserable day three for them at the Gabba.
In between seven rain delays, one aborted start and an early finish due to bad light, Australia were all out for 445 before Mitchell Starc stamped his authority with the ball.
Continue reading...Forgotten weapon hurting India; skipper’s baffling call as revolving door exposed: Talking Points
Australia is in a dominant position in the Third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Brisbane but faces a task to beat the weather as well as India after another rain-marred day at the Gabba.