Australia

Will Pucovski has taken an indefinite leave of absence from cricket for personal reasons that are unrelated to his repeated concussion troubles over the years. Pucovski played in Victoria’s first two Marsh Cup and Sheffield Shield games of the new season earlier this month, but he did not play in the last two Marsh Cup

Australia are negotiating a second Covid-positive case in three days with wicketkeeper Matthew Wade testing positive just 24 hours out from their vital clash with England at the MCG on Friday. Wade did not train at Australia’s optional indoor session at the Junction Oval on Thursday afternoon after testing positive. It follows hot on the

Aaron Finch has conceded there was “no excuse” for his painfully slow innings against Sri Lanka in Perth which heaped the pressure on Australia’s run chase until they were rescued by Marcus Stoinis. Finch could barely contain his frustration as he crawled to 31 not out off 42 balls in Australia’s seven-wicket win on Tuesday

Tim Paine has said he felt “abandoned” by Cricket Australia when the story of an explicit text-message exchange emerged last year and led to him resigning as Test captain shortly before the Ashes. For the first time, in his autobiography which is out on Tuesday, Paine addresses what effectively became the end of his international

Aaron Finch conceded that Australia’s hopes of defending their men’s T20 World Cup title may already be out of their hands because of the huge margin of the loss to New Zealand and its impact on their net run-rate. Although the table is in its most embryonic stage after the first day of the Super

New Zealand 200 for 3 (Conway 92*, Allen 42) beat Australia (Maxwell 28, Southee 3-6, Santner 3-31) by 89 runs Ten years can be a good time to wait for some things – inspiration, lifetime service awards, the right blend of salt and pepper in your hair – but not a win. New Zealand last

Big picture Less than one year after New Zealand were blown away by Australia in the 2021 T20 World Cup final in Dubai , the two teams come together once again, this time to launch the main draw of the 2022 T20 World Cup at what will be a packed SCG. However, with the La

In many ways, Australia’s preparation for their T20 title defence has felt like a contradiction. In all probability the XI that takes the field at the SCG on Saturday (weather permitting) will be the one that has appeared likely for quite some time, with Tim David replacing Steven Smith from the last T20 World Cup.

Adam Zampa has brushed off concerns about Australia’s form leading into their defence of the T20 World Cup title, believing that the extra edge provided by tournament play will bring the best of them. Australia were beaten 2-0 by England in the three-match series, and it would likely have been 3-0 without rain in Canberra,

Australia have suffered an injury scare two days out from their opening Men’s T20 World Cup match after back-up wicketkeeper Josh Inglis suffered a cut right hand in a golfing accident in Sydney. The incident was first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, and a team spokesperson confirmed that Inglis was being assessed in hospital

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has offered an inventive solution to tackle the problem of non-strikers leaving their crease too early, suggesting that umpires use on-ground cameras to make “short-run” calls if the non-striker tries to gain an advantage. The debate surrounding the spirit of cricket and fairness of such a dismissal was reignited last

Pat Cummins has been named Australia’s new men’s ODI captain, replacing Aaron Finch who stepped down last month. Cummins, who is also the Test captain, will now lead in two formats although it remains to be seen how frequently he takes charge of the one-day side in the lead-in to the 2023 World Cup given

Sean Abbott is eyeing the chance to prove his red-ball game is up to Test standard in a long-awaited stretch of Sheffield Shield as the silver lining to missing Australia’s T20 World Cup squad. Abbott will play his first red-ball game in close to a year on Tuesday, when NSW take on Queensland at Drummoyne.

Australia are still managing the bowling loads of allrounders Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh to avoid any injury recurrence just a week out from their first match of the T20 World Cup while David Warner could be rested from the final warm-up game against India on Monday due to his neck issue. Stoinis suffered a

Aaron Finch stopped short of confirming if he would endorse one of his bowlers running out a batter backing up, after Mitchell Starc appeared to warn Jos Buttler during the rain-interrupted third T20I in Canberra. After sending down the fourth ball of the over to Dawid Malan, which was jabbed back towards him, Starc turned

David Warner is on the verge of being granted leave to appeal against his lifetime leadership ban, with Cricket Australia proposing a change to its code of conduct. Warner is currently unable to hold a captaincy position in Australian cricket after copping a lifetime ban as a result of 2018’s ball-tampering scandal. The 35-year-old has

Cricket Australia is contemplating lifting David Warner‘s lifetime leadership ban as soon as Friday, with directors looking at rewriting the organisation’s code of ethics. Warner has had a leadership ban hanging over his head since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, with him keen to have the punishment reversed. The 35-year-old has been mentioned as a candidate

England 178 for 7 (Malan 82, Moeen 44, Stoinis 3-34, Zampa 2-26) beat Australia 170 for 6 (Marsh 45, David 40, Curran 3-25) by eight runs Dawid Malan showcased his liking for Australian conditions with a blistering 82 then Sam Curran again held his nerve with the ball, as England wrapped up the T20I series

Australia’s search for a new limited-overs captain has not got any easier with Mitchell Marsh ruling himself out of the job. Marsh, viewed as one of the top contenders to replace Aaron Finch after his retirement from one-day cricket, says he would prefer to focus on his personal game rather than taking the leadership role.

David Warner could learn this week if he stands any chance of overturning his leadership ban as two days of meetings between cricket’s powerbrokers loom. Warner’s ban is likely to be discussed at Thursday’s annual general meeting with the states, and is again expected to be a talking point at a Cricket Australia (CA) board

Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch feel that for ODI cricket to remain interesting, the number of overs should be brought down to 40 for each innings. “I think I’d like one-day cricket more if it was 40 overs,” Khawaja told ABC Sport. “I played Pro40 in England a few years ago when they were playing

Big picture After touching down in Australia for the build-up to their winter’s main event, England duly hit the ground running in a richly entertaining opening T20I in Perth. The narrowness of the eight-run victory perhaps masked the extent of the gains made on a Sunday night that featured a total of 408 runs –

Aaron Finch has confirmed he will return to the top of the order for Wednesday’s clash with England as Australia’s T20 World Cup preparations ramp up. Finch has spent almost his entire T20I career as opener, but he raised eyebrows by batting either at first drop or at No. 4 over the past three matches.

Chicago’s Bulls had Michael Jordan lifting the standard and Jimmy Peirson says there’s two men doing the same for Queensland’s Bulls. The in-form wicketkeeper has also revealed the strategic shift designed to catapult team-mate Matt Renshaw back into a baggy green as he continues his own push for a Test debut. Peirson powered to a

On a balmy Monday night three summers ago, Shafali Verma, the then 16-year-old prodigy, lit up the old warhorse of the WACA with an outrageous 39 off 17 balls during India’s victory over Bangladesh at the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup. The 5000-strong crowd, mostly Indian fans cheering wildly for Shafali’s heroics, hopefully savoured the

Steven Smith knows he needs to show intent now that he’s been shed of the ‘Mr Fix it’ role. “Just having that more attacking mindset rather than when I was playing that kind of role,” Smith said on Thursday. “I was probably in a more defensive frame of mind and almost just trying to get

Late on day two of the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and New South Wales, as the shadows deepened at the WACA Ground, 18-year-old Teague Wyllie flicked a frustrated Nathan Lyon to the boundary. As his team-mates and the sparse smattering of fans collectively rose in the terraces, Wyllie walked slowly towards batting partner

Australia’s frontline attack have all been rested for the first T20I against England in Perth on Sunday as the selectors continue to juggle their resources ahead of the World Cup. “We have a World Cup to win and that is what we have got to peak for,” Cummins said after the opening game against West

Under pressure Marcus Stoinis has declared himself fit and ready for Australia’s opening T20I against England in Perth with the allrounder adamant Cameron Green‘s ascension is not proving a distraction. Stoinis on Thursday was recalled to Australia’s squad to play in the three-match series against England, while spin-bowling allrounder Ashton Agar has also returned from

Tim Paine is in line to play his first first-class match for more than 18 months after being named in Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield squad to face Queensland this week. Paine last played for Tasmania in early 2021 but returned to club cricket at the weekend where he took the keeping gloves and made an unbeaten