Month: January 2025

Sometimes it spins. At other times it goes straight. Be ready for both. This is stand-in captain Steven Smith‘s advice to Australia’s less-experienced batters, as he prepares to lead them in a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle. Of Australia’s batters on tour, Smith understands the challenge ahead more than most – he has two hundreds in Sri Lanka, and averages 49.75 on the island. “We have spoken about…

India internationals Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer are going to miss the next round of the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai in the lead up to the England ODI series that follows early next month. While the likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will feature in the next round that begins on January 30, the Mumbai trio had already played the previous round, which Kohli and Rahul didn’t,…

Australia captain Alyssa Healy is making a bold bid to play in the historic day-night Ashes Test at the MCG starting on Thursday after completing a full training session two days out despite battling a stress injury in her foot that saw her miss the entire T20I series while wearing a moon boot. Healy participated fully in Australia’s first main session at the MCG and looked impressive with no signs…

Big Picture: The Warne-Muralidaran trophy is back Australia’s Test series in Sri Lanka often seem to have a touch of the dramatic about them. Last time Australia were in Galle, Sri Lanka saw the greatest mass protests in the country’s history, while the teams battled out a 1-1 series. In 2016, Australia had nosedived spectacularly against spin, Rangana Herath gobbling up their top order en masse. Over the years there…

Bangladesh ended their Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup campaign by defeating West Indies in their last Super Six game. They finished third on the Group 1 table, behind semi-finalists India and Australia, by wrapping up a ten-wicket win in a rain-hit contest. Nishita Akter Nishi led with 3 for 11 to restrict West Indies to 54 for 6 in 13 overs. Her new-ball burst removed the top-three inside five overs….

A day before the BBL started, Mitch Owen said he wasn’t sure where he’d be batting – or at all – for Hobart Hurricanes this season. After a record-breaking knock to win the competition for his home-town side, Owen, also the top run-scorer for the league, can start to lift his sights higher. The 23-year-old is set to earn life-changing amounts of money in franchise cricket, but the riches of…

Travis Head will replace Sam Konstas at the top of Australia’s batting order for the first Sri Lanka Test despite the teenager’s heroics in the triumphant India series. Captain Steven Smith would not rule out finding a place for Konstas elsewhere in the order for the match that begins in Galle on Wednesday, with a vacancy now open at No. 5. Konstas impressed in his first two Tests to help…

Durban’s Super Giants (DSG), last season’s SA20 losing finalists, have been eliminated from playoff contention after a sixth loss and all-round disappointing campaign. They sit at the bottom of the points table, with one game left to play, and have only won one of nine matches so far (two were no results). Captain Keshav Maharaj put their woes down to “losing every powerplay whether batting or bowling,” and their lack…

Jason Behrendorff has become the first major free agent signing in the BBL’s new player movement window with Melbourne Renegades securing the left-arm seamer on a three-year deal after Perth Scorchers were not able to guarantee him a contract. Behrendorff, who turns 35 in April, has won four BBL titles with Scorchers over a 13-year 106-game career. He had an excellent 2024-25 BBL season, making the team of year for…

Will Sutherland, the Australia allrounder, has agreed to join Yorkshire as one of their overseas players for the Vitality Blast. The 25-year-old will also be available for two rounds of the County Championship in June/July. Anthony McGrath, Yorkshire’s new head coach, had previously tried to bring in Sutherland when in charge at Essex, only for a back stress fracture to rule him out of a stint at Chelmsford during 2023….