Month: December 2018

Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner stand for the national anthems with the rest of their team  3:00 AM ET Big picture Sri Lanka fight at the strangest times. They had several opportunities to dig themselves out of holes against England, at home, on turning tracks specifically prepared to suit them, and yet, what defiances they could muster in that series were insufficient to prevent a whitewash. Somehow, in…

4:22 AM ET New Zealand have trounced West Indies 2-0, squeezed past England 1-0, snatched a series away from Pakistan 2-1 in the UAE, and now the series against Sri Lanka comes down to one Test in Christchurch. With the chance to go 4-0 in terms of Test series in the last year, this is the opportunity to move up one spot to third in the Test rankings – reward…

3:58 AM ET There was a time when everybody used to be surprised when a spinner did well against India, leave alone a humble offspinner. However, there is no surprise right now who the highest wicket-taker in this series is. He is Australia’s most successful bowler against India, and the world’s second-most successful spinner against the same opposition, known for their batsmanship against spin. Nobody has dismissed Virat Kohli as…

3:00 AM ET Hobart Hurricanes 4 for 156 (Wade 52, Lamichhane 3-24) beat Melbourne Stars 5 for 155 (Maxwell 47, Larkin 45, Archer 3-25) by six wickets A pair of dominant Powerplays by Hobart Hurricanes set them up for a comfortable victory over the Melbourne Stars at Bellerive Oval on Christmas Eve, the hosts’ second win in as many starts while the visitors were forced to swallow a second consecutive…

Play 02:06 ‘Won’t be like Perth, but will have pace’ – MCG curator Australia coach Justin Langer is hopeful the MCG pitch will provide a genuine contest between bat and ball, something he believes could secure the future of Test cricket. The nature of the MCG pitch is under intense scrutiny ahead of the Boxing Day Test, with a distinctly green tinge two days out, giving some hope but no…

Langer hints at Mitchell Marsh’s inclusion for MCG Test (4:46) The Australia coach says the allrounder could be an “attractive commodity” at the MCG (4:46) 1:57 AM ET Australia’s Christmas Eve training shaped up as a No. 6 nets shootout between Mitchell Marsh and Peter Handscomb, with Marsh firming as the most likely option for the Boxing Day Test. The nature of the MCG pitch has been a huge talking…

12:05 AM ET Justin Langer has termed Steven Smith the ‘Virat Kohli of the Australian team’ and can’t wait to have him back from his year-long ban as he firmed up the possibility of him and David Warner being rushed in for the ODI series against Pakistan, which is now likely to begin shortly after the bans are completed. ESPNcricinfo previously revealed that discussions over the schedule for the ODIs…

Carlos Brathwaite protests with Masudur Rahman about a controversial no-ball call by umpire Tanvir Ahmed (right)  1:44 PM ET Umpire Tanvir Ahmed, whose erroneous no-ball calls during the third T20I between Bangladesh and West Indies had caused an eight-minute halt in play, has admitted that he had made a mistake. Off what was supposed to be the final ball of the fourth over of Bangladesh’s chase of 191, Tanvir wrongly…

3:00 AM ET Melbourne Renegades 5 for 176 for (Christian 49*, Nabi 48*, Rashid 2-13) beat Adelaide Strikers 5 for 174 (Short 65, Wells 42) by five wickets Melbourne Renegades avoided being derailed by Rashid Khan – not that the legspinner didn’t try his best – as his Afghanistan team-team-mate Mohammad Nabi was able to take the bragging rights although victory was largely sealed by a magnificent display of coolness…