This World Test Championship final is Australia’s 20th Test match in the two-year cycle. Four of their players have appeared in all the games. Travis Head has been part of 18 of them. One of his absences was due to Covid in Sydney during the 2021-22 Ashes, but the other was when he was dropped.
Cricket
Did India fall into the trap of picking an attack that works only for the first innings at the WTC final? Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, certainly thinks so. Ponting said on television commentary that the dryness underneath the surface, which had more than just a sprinkling of live grass, would have brought him
Yorkshire 156 for 7 (Wiese 50*, Rehan 3-21) beat Leicestershire 126 (Mulder 46, Thompson 5-21) by 30 runs Beaten in their opening three North Group fixtures, Yorkshire Vikings extended the turnaround in their Vitality Blast campaign to four wins from four, defeating Leicestershire Foxes by 30 runs after the home side were bowled out for
Hampshire Hawks 164 for 6 (McDermott 47, Hollman 2-12) beat Middlesex 159 for 7 (Holden 53, Higgins 43, Turner 3-30) by five runs Hampshire seamer John Turner starred with three wickets on his Vitality Blast debut as the defending champions recorded their third straight win, holding off rock-bottom Middlesex at Radlett. The 22-year-old captured the
There were times when Pat Cummins thought playing one more Test was beyond him, but as he prepares for his 50th game, the Australia captain hopes he can double that tally before his career finishes and aims to feature in all six on this tour of England. In the World Test Championship final against India,
Moeen Ali is considering a return to Test cricket for the Ashes. The offspinning allrounder, who retired from the format at the end of the 2021 summer, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he has been approached by the England management to answer a mayday call after Jack Leach was ruled out of the five-match series with
“The hype not being there might be a good thing.” With that comment, India head coach Rahul Dravid ended his media conference on Monday. The relative absence of the hype, Dravid felt, could be an advantage for India as they get ready to contest their second World Test Championship final, starting on Wednesday, against Australia.
Fourteen out of the 15 India players who feature in the World Test Championship (WTC) final were active in the IPL, which coursed through April and May at high intensity. Only two of the Australians – David Warner and Cameron Green – featured in the IPL, while Michael Neser, Steven Smith, Marcus Harris and Marnus
The shock news that Jack Leach has been ruled out of the Ashes is a significant blow to England’s preparations, depriving them of a spinner who has flourished under Ben Stokes’ leadership, and who has bought into the so-called “Bazball” ethos with his willingness to bowl to attacking fields, and accept the risk of some
England spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out of the men’s Ashes after scans revealed he had suffered a lumbar stress fracture. Leach developed “low back symptoms” during the Test victory over Ireland at Lord’s and he will now miss the entire series against Australia. Leach was among in the 16-man squad for the first