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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…
The Bazball renaissance has been led by a pair of Antipodeans, but England believe their lack of familiarity with Australia will benefit a team regarded as having the best chance to win back the Ashes urn on these shores for the first time in 15 years. The visitors today named a 12-man squad for Perth’s series opener with Mark Wood firming to play having bowled some lively spells at practice after experiencing hamstring soreness during England’s tour match last week. Spinner Shoaib Bashir has been included over allrounder Will Jacks, but he is no certainty to play with Brydon Carse…
New Zealand allrounder ruled out of Stars clash as the Sixers look to end their North Sydney Oval drought Sydney Sixers have been dealt a blow ahead of Thursday’s Weber WBBL|11 clash with the Melbourne Stars, with New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr ruled out of the match with a quad injury. Kerr was a late scratching from Saturday’s Sydney Smash after sustaining the injury while warming up, and will remain on the sidelines for at least Thursday’s match.Her absence is a setback for the Sixers, who will be out to end an unwanted streak and reclaim their home ground advantage…
Maitlan Brown is a chance to step into Australia’s national team once Megan Schutt retires – but if history has taught her anything, it’s to not think about it Sydney Sixers quick Maitlan Brown has revealed how focusing on earning an Australian debut left her “deteriorated”, vowing not to let history repeat after a big start to this summer. Brown is one of several quicks on the precipice of Australia’s squad ahead of a transitional period, with pace leader Megan Schutt flagging a likely 2026 retirement date.An Australian squad member back in 2020 and 2021, Brown, now 28, believes she…
After a winless start to WBBL|11, Sydney Thunder have strengthened their roster with the mid-season signing of England allrounder Em Arlott. Arlott’s inclusion will provide much needed depth to the side’s pace line-up that has so far been heavily reliant on spearhead Shabnim Ismail. The 27-year-old had been a consistent performer domestically before earning a long-awaited international debut in May this year. She is the fourth overseas player signed by the Thunder, joining Ismail, Chamari Athapaththu and Heather Knight. The club can only have three internationals on their primary list at any one time, so if Arlott is to play,…
He pointed out that with a fully fit attack, Green’s workload would have been more than manageable after an encouraging Shield outing, where he blazed a brilliant 94 for Western Australia, in addition to picking up a wicket in his fiery spell with the ball in the first innings. “If they had their full strength bowling group, Cameron Green, having got through the Shield game last week, I think they would have been more than comfortable going into a Perth Test with him as the all-rounder that could bowl eight, 10, 12 overs in an innings,” Ponting noted. But the…
A tied game between two old rivals was decided in ‘strange’ fashion in 2006, with medium pacer Julie Hayes emerging as the hero “I’ll be last. It’ll be over by then. But little did I know that everybody else was going to miss.” Julie Hayes thinks back to 18 October 2006. It was a perfect spring day in Brisbane. The shadows continued to lengthen across Allan Border Field as Karen Rolton’s two off the final ball ensured the first ever women’s T20 international between Australia and New Zealand ended in a tie. What now? The Super Over hadn’t yet been…
Star England veteran Joe Root averages a paltry 35.68 across 14 Tests in Australia, and the pressure will be on him to produce an Ashes century in Perth Joe Root isn’t irked by the fact he hasn’t scored a century in Australia, but it will be a welcome “tiny” reward if the star England veteran can finally end that hoodoo during the upcoming Ashes series. Root enters the first Test in Perth, starting Friday, ranked as the No.1 ICC Test batsman and with a mountain of runs under his belt. The 34-year-old has scored 39 Test centuries and boasts an…
Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal delivered a stunning 4-0 victory over India’s Pankaj Advani to advance to the semi-finals of the IBSF Snooker World Cup at the Active Oman Sports and Entertainment Hub in Muscat on Tuesday. Former national champion Asjad was in dominant form in the quarter-final clash, compiling two half-century breaks as he swept the celebrated Indian opponent. The 34-year-old Asjad opened with an 81-break to take the first frame 100-0, won the second 92-37, compiled a 68 break in a 117-16 third-frame victory and sealed the match 83-21. Asjad’s path to the last-four began in the last 32 with…
No James Anderson (retired). No Stuart Broad (retired). No Chris Woakes (retired). No Ollie Robinson (ignored). No Sam Cook (overlooked).That’s who isn’t in England’s Ashes pace-bowling cartel but here’s who is: Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Brydon Carse, Ben Stokes and Matthew Potts. Six of those seven seamers have clocked 90mph or higher in Test cricket – Potts is the only exception – which shows you what England’s mode of attack will be. Quick stuff. That became apparent when the team’s all-time leading wicket-taker Anderson was ushered out earlier than he would have liked in the summer…