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Relaxed, but sharp as ever: Starc explains how Smith’s changed Brendan Doggett and Jake Weatherald will receive men’s Baggy Green cap numbers 472 and 473 respectively after Steve Smith confirmed the pair would debut in the NRMA Insurance Ashes series opener at Perth Stadium. Australia will field multiple debutants in an Ashes Test for the first time since the 2010-11 New Year’s Test when Usman Khawaja and Michael Beer played their first games. Australia XI for first Test: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett,…
Openers key for England Ponting believes the opening partnership of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will be crucial for England as he thinks Australia’s bowlers can dominate the tourists’ middle-order should early inroads be made. Ponting thinks England’s openers must attack Australia’s quicks to try and obtain the upper hand early in their innings. “I have had a bit of a look back through the last couple of years when England have played really good Test cricket and it’s been on the back of some really good, fast, positive starts from their openers,” Ponting noted. “Because of the way that…
When it comes to mentors, they don’t come much better than Meg Lanning Rhys McKenna is soaking up the chance to learn from the best in the business in her new role at the top of the order for Melbourne Stars. The 21-year-old allrounder, who has batted in the middle-to-lower order in previous Big Bash seasons, has been handed the responsibility of opening the batting alongside former Australia captain Meg Lanning in WBBL|11.The new partnership was trialled during the T20 Spring Challenge, with the Stars looking to lock in a consistent pair after using six different openers during WBBL|10. While…
Steve Smith’s “different approach” to captaincy is bringing out the best in him and his Australia teammates, star quick Mitchell Starc says Still a “competitive beast”, Steve Smith’s captaincy is far more relaxed these days, according to long-time Australia teammate Mitchell Starc. Smith will lead Australia for the third time this year when the Ashes gets underway in Perth on Friday, due to Pat Cummins still recovering from a back injury. The 36-year-old also filled in as skipper the last time England toured Australia in 2021-22, after Cummins was forced to isolate for the Adelaide Test during the COVID-19 pandemic.…
Bowling coach Andy Bichel and a few of the Queensland players were milling around the heavy roller ahead of the first ball of this year’s Sheffield Shield final, when the Karen Rolton Oval big screen sparked into life. “The Bulls Masters had put together a package of our past players talking about Queensland’s Shield wins over the years,” Bichel tells cricket.com.au. “And we were lucky – somehow we’d managed to get it up on the big screen. “We’re all standing in the middle of the field, watching this little recording that had been sent to us. It was really nice.”Moments later,…
Tournament schedule: 15 January, USA v India, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 15 January, Zimbabwe v Scotland, Takashinga Sports Club, Harare 15 January, Tanzania v West Indies, HP Oval, Windhoek 16 January, Pakistan v England, Takashinga Sports Club, Harare 16 January, Australia v Ireland, Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek 16 January, Afghanistan v South Africa, HP Oval, Windhoek 17 January, India v Bangladesh, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 17 January, Japan v Sri Lanka, Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek 18 January, New Zealand v USA, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo 18 January, England v Zimbabwe, Takashinga Sports Club, Harare 18 January, West Indies v Afghanistan,…
Half-centuries from Phoebe Litchfield and Tahlia Wilson have helped the Thunder to their first win of the WBBL season Sydney Thunder v Perth Scorchers | WBBL11 Sydney Thunder have breathed life back into their WBBL season, recording their first win of the summer with a convincing nine-wicket victory over Perth. Set 151 to win at Sydney’s Drummoyne Oval, Tahlia Wilson’s unbeaten 55 from 44 balls helped the Thunder cruise to victory with 10 balls to spare. Phoebe Litchfield then finished the game with a big six to bring up her 35-ball half-century, while Georgia Voll hit 43 from 31 at…
England captain Ben Stokes is fully embracing the magnitude of The Ashes series and expects to play in all five Tests against Australia over the next two months.Head coach Brendon McCullum insisted this winter’s contest represented “the biggest series of all our lives” while speaking in September and the England skipper agrees, saying “we’d be lying to ourselves” to suggest otherwise. Speaking to Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton ahead of Friday’s opener in Perth, Stokes said his side have a “great chance” to win a series in Australia for the first time since 2011, with the team losing 13 and drawing…
Mitchell Starc has vowed to push himself to his physical limits in the Ashes series opener despite a pace-bowling injury outbreak that has left him as the only ‘Big Three’ quick left standing. Australia will this week name an XI without either Pat Cummins (back stress) and Josh Hazlewood (hamstring strain) in it for just the third time on home soil this decade. It leaves Starc to lead a seam attack likely featuring Scott Boland, debutant Brendan Doggett, as well as allrounder Cameron Green, for the Perth contest.Continuing a restrained build-up to the series from both teams, the softly-spoken left-armer…
England have named fast bowler Mark Wood in a 12-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia from Friday, raising the prospect of an all-seam frontline attack in Perth.Wood has been given the all-clear after suffering a tight hamstring on day one of England’s sole warm-up against the Lions last week and bowled at impressive speeds in nets on Tuesday. The 35-year-old is joined in an enlarged group by fellow quicks Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson and captain Ben Stokes, with Shoaib Bashir a spin option. England squad for first Ashes Test Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben…