Month: December 2024

Australia captain Pat Cummins has defended the output of his top-three batters – particularly makeshift opener Nathan McSweeney – in difficult batting conditions, as Australia’s selectors mull their options for the final two Tests of the series. Australia’s selectors are due to meet on Thursday morning to select the sides for Melbourne and Sydney after a rain-affected draw in Brisbane left the Border-Gavaskar Trophy poised on a knife’s edge at…

Australia have insisted that Travis Head will be fit to take his place in the Boxing Day Test against India after he experienced some discomfort with a tight quad on the final day in Brisbane. Head appeared slightly restricted towards the backend of his second innings and did not take the field for India’s brief chase before rain halted the match for the final time. There was initial speculation that…

India are not going to take a punt on Mohammed Shami unless they are “not 100%, but 200% sure” about his fitness to fly him to Australia, captain Rohit Sharma has said. Rohit has placed the onus of the decision entirely on the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, formerly known as the National Cricket Academy (NCA), for clarity on where Shami’s fitness stands. Shami has returned to domestic cricket since his…

Australia 445 (Head 152, Smith 101, Carey 70, Bumrah 6-76) and 89 for 7 dec (Bumrah 3-18) drew with India 260 (Rahul 84, Jadeja 77, Cummins 4-81, Starc 3-83) and 8 for 0 Rain had the last word at the Gabba, as was widely expected, but only after Australia and India conjured up the most intriguing of what-ifs in the 22 overs that were possible on the fifth day of…

R Ashwin has retired from international cricket with immediate effect, announcing his decision at the end of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Brisbane. Ashwin ends his Test career as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format, with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests, only behind Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets from 132 Tests. He played only one of the first three…

Bangladesh 129 for 7 (Shamim 35*, Mehidy 26, Motie 2-25) beat West Indies 102 (Chase 32, Hosein 31, Taskin 3-16) by 27 runs Bangladesh defended their modest score of 129 to clinch the T20I series with a 2-0 lead, beating West Indies by 27 runs in the second game at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent. It was Bangladesh’s lowest total winning a game while batting first against West…

Mitchell Santner has been named New Zealand’s new white-ball captain, taking over from Kane Williamson who stepped down after the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Santner has previously captained in 24 T20Is and four ODIs and his first series in the full-time role will come against Sri Lanka from late December. The first major event in his tenure will be February’s Champions Trophy before focus turns to building to…

Heather Knight, England’s captain, says that the decision not to use the Decision Review System (DRS) during their historic women’s Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein was a “sign of the status of the game”, after England wrapped up a 286-run victory on the third afternoon to seal their first win in the format for a decade. The absence of DRS was not the deciding factor in England’s comprehensive victory,…

Alex Lees has been appointed club captain at Durham and signed a contract extension that will keep him in the north-east for at least the next three seasons. Lees, who played 10 Tests for England in 2022, captained Durham to the T20 Blast quarter-finals last season and has led their white-ball sides for the last two years. He will now take over in the County Championship too, replacing Scott Borthwick…

Toss West Indies chose to bowl vs India Hayley Matthews, the West Indies captain, elected to bowl in a bid to level the three-match T20I series in Navi Mumbai. Smriti Mandhana was captaining India in place of Harmanpreet Kaur, who sustained a niggle in her knee while batting in the first T20I. Mandhana felt dew could be a massive factor. This means the onus will be on India’s batters to…