Category: Cricket

Rising star Sam Konstas admits he got “caught in the moment” of his whirlwind Test debut against India, as he made his return to Shield cricket on Saturday.

Stand-in captain Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey have smacked classy hundreds in Galle to put Australia one step closer towards a series whitewash over Sri Lanka in the Warne–Muralitharan Trophy.

Shubman Gill led India to a four-wicket victory over England in the first one-day international on Thursday after a strong bowling performance from the hosts in Nagpur.

• Hosts reach 229-9 in Galle after surviving mini-collapse
• Paceman just misses hat-trick on see-sawing first day

Australia may have a fight on their hands to seal a rare subcontinent series win against Sri Lanka after a see-sawing first day of the second Test in Galle.

Nathan Lyon (three for 78) and Mitch Starc (three for 37) were Australia’s key men on a hot Thursday, the former orchestrating a Sri Lankan collapse before tea and the latter coming just short of a hat-trick after it. But the hosts showed improvement from their dismal series opener, finally able to piece together partnerships on a dusty wicket already offering plenty of turn. They finished the day at 229 for nine, with the deck likely to become very tricky for batters as the Test goes on. Kusal Mendis (59) and Lahiru Kumara (0) were unbeaten at the crease, the former batting with the kind of tenacity rarely seen from Sri Lanka in the first Test.

After a day of swinging momentum, Sri Lanka has reached stumps in Galle on the first night of the Second Test of the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy still batting but having conceded the ascendancy to Australia after winning the toss.

All-rounder Marcus Stoinis has announced his retirement from ODIs, leaving the Australians with another vacancy to fill ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy.

Kurtis Patterson tells people his lofty Test batting average is one he would happily see come down.

The jam-packed itinerary for Australia’s first tour of the West Indies in a decade has been finalised and it includes a world first for the Aussies.

India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday insisted his recent Test struggles were just part of the “ups and downs” of a long career as he looks to rediscover his form in three one-day internationals against England.

Sri Lanka’s lower-order resurgence has given the hosts a glimmer of hope in the second Test of the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, with Kusal Mendis’ half-century frustrating the Australians on day one in Galle.

After one dominant performance in Galle the tourists cannot rely on Sri Lanka bringing about their own downfall again in the second Test

What to do after an exercise in perfection? Australia’s men ran last week’s Test match in Galle as brutally as their counterpart women did in Melbourne, both teams completing a win by an innings and plenty within 90 seconds of one another last Saturday.

The ticked boxes for the men’s side can fill a page: rack up more than 600 batting first; blazing fifty for your pinch-hit opener who was picked to blaze fifties; huge hundred for your other opener who had been a long time without one; third hundred in four Tests for your resurgent talisman, the same guy who is temporary captain and pulls the reins as well as ever; ton on debut for your No 5 who was a conditions pick ahead of others already capped; comfortable not out for your keeper who might otherwise be threatened by the debutant; bowl the opposition out twice following on in barely 100 overs across the two innings; wickets for your sole quick in a ram-raid at the top; wickets for your veteran spinner conducting the middle; and nine in the match for your left-arm spinner who almost missed with a broken thumb.

Cooper Connolly is on the brink of an Australian Test debut with the tourists considering a surprise change for the series finale in Sri Lanka.

World Cup winning former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has called for Big Bash final hero Mitch Owen to be parachuted into Australia’s Champions Trophy squad as a replacement for injured all-rounder Mitch Marsh, while Pat Cummins is considered “highly unlikely”.