Month: January 2025

Big picture The attempt to give this Test series context may ironically have stripped some from this Test match, especially as far as South Africa are concerned. The hosts have already qualified for the World Test Championship final after beating Pakistan by two wickets in Centurion, and as such, don’t necessarily have a bigger picture to play for. However, they have won eight consecutive Test matches at home against Pakistan,…

Adelaide Strikers 143 for 5 (Lynn 88, Zampa 2-29) beat Melbourne Renegades 142 for 9 (Brown 66, Thornton 3-22) by five wickets Chris Lynn unleashed on Melbourne Renegades, powering Adelaide Strikers to their first BBL win in four games. Moved up from No.3, Lynn dominated the 104-run opening stand with D’Arcy Short that ensured Adelaide’s five-wicket win on Thursday night at Marvel Stadium. Lynn belted 88 from just 51 balls,…

Toss Zimbabwe chose to bowl vs Afghanistan After persistent rain and then a wet outfield delayed the toss by close to four hours, Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine had no hesitation in electing to bowl in the second Test against Afghanistan on what looked like a spicy surface in Bulawayo. “Overhead conditions suit the bowling. The wicket has been under covers for a fair amount of time, and we would like…

Jacob Duffy‘s international career has been a stop-start one. Since making his T20I debut in December 2020, he has largely been on the bench, with Tim Southee ahead of him in the pecking order. Till 2023, he did not play more than four T20Is in a calendar year. But in 2024, he was given more chances, and that’s helped him build his rhythm and finally deliver “genuine and match-winning contributions”….

India coach Gautam Gambhir was strong in saying he has “everything under control” in the dressing room but admitted he had “honest” conversations with the team after losing the MCG Test to go 2-1 down in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In the days between that Melbourne defeat and the New Year’s Test in Sydney, there was a report citing Gambhir had lost patience with the way India had played in Australia….

Sam Konstas‘ mentor Shane Watson has admitted the 19-year-old’s audacious start to Test cricket took even him by surprise, both in terms of the strokeplay and the way he carried himself in the field and with the crowd. Konstas scored 60 off 65 balls on the opening morning at the MCG, regularly scooping Jasprit Bumrah, and had a run-in with Virat Kohli who was fined for a shoulder barge. Later…

“The head coach is here. That should be enough,” Gautam Gambhir said to a room full of reporters wondering why India’s captain Rohit Sharma was not at the pre-match press conference in Sydney. Rohit had skipped it before the third Test in Brisbane too – Shubman Gill spoke to the press – but the explanation then was that he had not come for the optional training session at the Gabba…

BCB president Faruque Ahmed has assured the BPL players will receive their payments after it was reported several franchises hadn’t paid the players their first installment on time. The franchises are scheduled to pay half of a player’s payment before the start of the tournament, 25% during the tournament, and the rest after the tournament ends. The seven-team competition began on December 30. Faruque, the former Bangladesh captain who was…

Big picture: SCG showdown to decide Border-Gavaskar Trophy From that first day , when 17 wickets fell in Perth, there has been intrigue in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Even the game ruined by rain in Brisbane threw up something unexpected – a sudden retirement. Now as a hard fought, highly entertaining series comes to an end, Australia have the chance to cement their legacy – the reigning ODI and Test world…

Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s Test coach, has hit back at criticism of his team reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final after a cycle in which they faced neither Australia nor England, and played only 12 Tests. They were the first team to book a spot at Lord’s after they reeled off six successive wins and qualified with a game to spare. “I’m never going to apologise for getting into…