Australia

Ben Stokes has requested “fast, flat” wickets for the Ashes this summer and revealed he has an XI in mind for the first Test at Edgbaston on June 16. Since taking over as Test captain at the start of last summer, Stokes’ team, under the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum, has adopted a quicker

In what will be a first if nothing changes in the next few months, not a single captain from the previous edition of the men’s ODI World Cup will lead a team at the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup later this year in India. There have been retirements and changes at the top in the

After his impressive debut series in India, where he started with a seven-wicket haul in Nagpur, Murphy was one of the new names on this year’s list. Partly he may have benefited from the additional four deals that could be handed out under the new MoU, but it was also acknowledgment for answering one of

Offspinner Todd Murphy has also been offered a contract after his outstanding start to Test cricket in India. Legpsinner Mitchell Swepson is the one active international player to lose his deal alongside the retired Aaron Finch. Perhaps surprisingly, opening batter Marcus Harris has earned a place on the list despite not playing Test cricket since

It remains unclear whether David Warner will be able to chart his own end in Test cricket or if the selectors will make the decision for him over the next few months. He appears locked in to line up in the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval in early June, but how

New Zealand A 224 (McConchie 74, Johnson 4-53, Agar 4-56) and 365 for 7 (Foxcroft 97, Bruce 64, Fletcher 56*, Cooper 52, Bartlett 3-78, Swepson 3-121) beat Australia A 370 for 6 dec (Renshaw 112, Ward 75, McSweeney 50, Kuggeleijn 3-94) and 218 for 2 dec (Renshaw 78, McSweeney 69*, Ward 67*) by three wickets

New Zealand A 224 (McConchie 74, Johnson 4-53, Agar 4-56) and 31 for 0 need 334 more runs to beat Australia A 370 for 6 and 218 for 2 dec (Renshaw 78, McSweeney 69*, Ward 67*) Matt Renshaw gave his Ashes hopes a boost with yet another big score for Australia A in their tour

Northamptonshire have announced the twin signings of Australian seamers Chris Tremain and Lance Morris for the start of the County Championship campaign. Tremain, who has been capped four times in ODIs by Australia, will be available for Northamptonshire’s first three games of the season, starting with a trip to Canterbury to face Kent later this

Cricket Australia (CA) has poured money into the BBL and the WBBL under the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed on Monday to try and ensure both leagues remain competitive in the changing global landscape. In a deal where the women’s game was the huge financial winner, the WBBL salary cap has

New Zealand A 109 for 3 trail Australia A 370 for 6 dec (Renshaw 112, Ward 75, McSweeney 50, Kuggeleijn 3-94) by 261 runs Wes Agar and Spencer Johnson made early inroads for Australia A on the second day in Lincoln before the New Zealand A middle order fought back. It did not take long

Cricket is poised to become the first sport in Australia to break the six-figure wage mark for the vast majority of its domestic female athletes, with players on state and WBBL contracts to earn an average of AU$151,000 from next season. Cricket Australia and the players’ union are closing in on finalising the sport’s new

Australia A 155 for 1 (Renshaw 92*) vs New Zealand A Matt Renshaw made a bid for a place in Australia’s Ashes squad as he dominated a shortened opening day of the first four-day match against New Zealand A in Lincoln with an unbeaten 92. Renshaw, the most experienced batter in the Australia A squad,

The Australia A squad that faces their New Zealand counterparts over two four-day games in Lincoln – using the Dukes ball to replicate Ashes conditions in the UK – is a combination of players close or recently in the Test team, some with a realistic chance of pushing for a place in the near future,

Royal Challengers have suffered a spate of injuries even before the season has begun. Earlier, England batter Will Jacks has been ruled out of the season, with New Zealand allrounder Michael Bracewell named his replacement. Rajat Patidar, who was the team’s breakout star last season, is set to miss at least the first half of

Durham have signed Matthew Kuhnemann, the Australia slow left-arm spinner, for their LV= Insurance County Championship campaign, after a planned deal for Kuhnemann’s Test team-mate Todd Murphy fell through. Durham had hoped to bring in Murphy for the first part of the summer but the offspinner’s availability was blocked by Cricket Australia, with the expectation

Opening batter Phoebe Litchfield has been included in Australia’s squad for the multi-format Women’s Ashes in England later this year alongside Kim Garth while fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck is part of the Australia A group that will tour concurrently. Litchfield, 19, could be in line for a Test debut following the retirement of Rachael Haynes

The determination of Joel Paris to play through the pain barrier in the Sheffield Shield final has been revealed after he was ruled out of the Australia A tour of New Zealand with a back injury. Paris, the left-arm quick who played two T20Is in 2016, took five wickets in the match across 40 overs

Prolific opener Cameron Bancroft, quite fittingly, hit the winning runs to secure Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield title to cap a dominant season which has him poised for selection in Australia’s upcoming Ashes tour. Bancroft made a typically composed 39 not out and combined with teenager Teague Wyllie to ensure WA had no wobbles passing the

Bancroft was due to be Somerset’s overseas player in 2018 but had his contract terminated weeks before the start of the season, and was replaced by his compatriot Matt Renshaw. But he has now signed a deal that will see him play the first four Championship games of the season, filling in as the club’s

Former Australian Test captain Tim Paine says his phone has gone berserk with messages of support since his decision to retire from first-class cricket. Paine skippered Australia in 23 Tests in a tumultuous period following the ball-tampering saga in 2018. He stepped down from the role and away from the sport on the eve of

On the surface, Australia made a surprising choice of batting first in the decider of the three-ODI series, in Chennai. Steven Smith, their captain, said he made the decision looking at a dry surface, which he expected to help the spinners later. Accordingly they made a change to their attack, replacing Nathan Ellis with Ashton

Peter Handscomb will press his case for inclusion in Australia’s squads for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes after signing a deal with Leicestershire to play the first two months of the County Championship season. Handscomb, who missed out on Ashes selection in 2019, was recalled to the Test side after a four-year

Nathan Ellis wasn’t originally in Australia’s ODI squad for the India tour. An injury to Jhye Richardson opened up a spot for him, and now he is relishing every moment of being with the Australia side on tour. Like pinning Virat Kohli lbw in a ten-wicket victory in the second ODI in Visakhapatnam. Like smashing

Big picture: India target series victory The Wankhede Stadium might have thrown a curveball in the first ODI but neither India nor Australia will fret too much over how their batters fared in those seamer-friendly conditions. Both teams have already qualified for the upcoming ODI World Cup and this series, anyway, is not part of

Murphy, with 14 wickets from four Tests, was only behind Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Lyon in the wicket-takers’ list in his maiden Test series. “Nathan Lyon did pick up 20 wickets in this series. However, the pressure was built by other spinners too. Todd Murphy had a sensational debut series,” Ashwin said on his YouTube

Afghanistan, the continuing complexities of India-Pakistan and a new revenue distribution model will all be on the agenda at what is shaping up to be a portentous ICC board meeting this weekend in Dubai. The quarterly meeting, the first of this year, began on Thursday with the women’s cricket committee and the men’s committee on

Former Australia captain Tim Paine has bid a quiet farewell from first-class cricket at the conclusion of Tasmania’s draw with Queensland in the final Sheffield Shield round of the season, drawing to a close a rollercoaster 18-year career. Paine, 38, had not made any public announcement that he was playing his final match but had

Ollie Robinson believes that England could give Australia “a good hiding” in this summer’s Ashes series, and that his team-mates have produced levels of entertainment that are “like nothing we’ve seen in Test cricket before” over the last nine months. Robinson played in all five of England’s Tests this winter, taking 15 wickets across their

Mitchell Marsh did not realise how much he was being hampered by his ankle injury until he made the decision to have surgery and is now feeling rejuvenated as he sets out with twin ambitions for the months ahead. Most immediately is the ODI series against India, a stepping stone to the World Cup later

During a Rolling Stones tour of Australia, legendary drummer and noted cricket enthusiast Charlie Watts followed the well-worn trail of many tourists in Perth. He had his photo taken in front of the WACA ground. “He was on the corner outside of the ground taking a photo because he didn’t think he would be allowed