Australia

Almost two days after he’d played the T20I innings of a lifetime, Dasun Shanaka revealed his thinking going into the last three overs of that chase. Australia having set 177 for a target, Sri Lanka needed a highly improbable 59 for victory, with the last recognised batting pair at the crease. Shanaka, who had lumbered

Unsurprisingly, Labuschagne has had an impressive start to his ODI career after making his debut in early 2020. He has a century and four fifties in his 15 innings with a healthy strike-rate of 91.51 – that latter figure important in a batting order that Aaron Finch wants to “push the boundaries” of the totals

Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch revealed that Pat Cummins had been carrying his hip problem for more than a year as the injury list among his squad in Sri Lanka continued to grow. Cummins, who was rested from the T20I series, left the IPL early to recover and is primed to return in the opening

Australia captain Meg Lanning and the late Shane Warne have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Lanning, who has led Australia to consecutive T20 World Cup titles and most recently the ODI World Cup, has been awarded Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to women’s cricket at the elite level.

Not much has gone wrong for Australia’s T20I side since the start of last year’s World Cup, but Saturday night’s heady scenes in Pallekele – as Sri Lanka pummelled a record-breaking 59 from the last three overs – put the spotlight on an area of their game that will need some refinement ahead of their

Australia have plenty of all-round options to choose from for the ODI series in Pallekele and Colombo with Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Green, all in the squad. Green made a spectacular century for Australia A against Sri Lanka A on Tuesday and even opened the bowling in the Pakistan series. He did not bowl

Australia won the toss for the third time in the series, but have chosen to bat first on this occasion. Perhaps, because the surface at Pallekele could be better for the spinners in the second innings. Or, maybe because they want to challenge themselves in a different direction. They had won both the T20Is in

Sri Lanka A 315 for 6 (Dickwella 83, Bandara 73*, Kuhnemann 3-43) beat Australia A 312 (Head 110, Hardie 58, Pramod 4-50) by four wickets Travis Head picked up his one-day form from the series against Pakistan with a blistering hundred for Australia A, but it was Sri Lanka A who came out on top

Big Picture The tour has moved to the hill country of Kandy for the final T20I and opening games of the ODI series. Australia wrapped up their first trophy of the trip in barely 24 hours with back-to-back wins in Colombo, although the second one came in an untidy chase that was a reminder of

Toss Australia won the toss and chose to field against Sri Lanka Australia have won the toss and chosen to bowl first again, with the second T20I between these teams to be played on the same pitch as that on which Australia romped to a 10-wicket victory on Tuesday. Although Mitchell Starc was excellent during

Finch entered the tour with his form again under scrutiny after four low scores in five innings at the IPL and unconvincing returns for Australia for much of the last 12 months. Former team-mate Shane Watson had even gone as far as to say that Finch’s form could be a “liability” for Australia heading into

Bowling allrounder Sean Abbott has been ruled out of the rest of the Sri Lanka tour after fracturing his finger in the nets, while Peter Handscomb has also left the Australia A squad to be with his pregnant partner in Melbourne. Abbott was part of Australia’s T20I squad that was preparing for the first T20I

Toss England chose to bowl vs Australia Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first on a green-tinged Khettarama surface that is expected to have a little in it for the seam bowlers, particularly early on. Both sides had named their XIs ahead of time. Sri Lanka, who appear to be attempting to build

When Australia play the first of three T20 internationals against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Tuesday, the man who hit the winning runs in their most recent game will be more than 5000 miles away in the Hertfordshire village of Radlett, playing for Hampshire in the Vitality Blast. Ben McDermott flicked Haris Rauf off his

The ongoing political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka has meant the build-up to Australia’s first three-format tour to the island nation in six years has been quieter than it might have been otherwise. But the arrival of the reigning T20 world champions is a welcome sight for Sri Lankan cricket fans who are hoping

Marnus Labuschagne will be aiming to copy Joe Root’s playbook in Sri Lanka as he prepares for what he expects will be his toughest challenge yet against spin. Labuschagne completed his latest county stint with Glamorgan on Sunday in an abandoned T20 clash against Surrey, but not before he had taken 2 for 27 from

If a year or so ago, Australia had embarked on a multi-format tour and Josh Hazlewood was more certain of his place in the T20I side – than the Test team – there may have some quizzical looks. Yet, that is how things are playing out for one of Australia’s premier quick bowlers, where Hazlewood

For the first time in his career, Mitchell Marsh has the belief he can match it with the world’s best. And after 10 years of international cricket, the difference is notable. Border closures and an injury in Pakistan have denied him international cricket since, while starring in the BBL and IPL. But he has no

Australia quick Jhye Richardson is fully fit as he heads to Sri Lanka and is raring to bounce back from the disappointment of losing his Cricket Australia contract, according to his Western Australia coach Adam Voges. Richardson was arguably the unluckiest player to lose his Cricket Australia contract for the coming 12 months having taken

Every T20 team in the world right now wants Tim David. Every team it seems, except Australia. To be fair to Australia’s selectors, the world’s most in-form power-hitter is front and centre on their radar and chair George Bailey has been in contact with him. But they are wrangling with how and when to fit

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the opening week of the Sri Lanka tour. McDonald was unable to fly out as scheduled and will isolate for seven days before joining up with the squad. He is expected to be with the side before the second T20I on June

Australia’s T20 players flew out to Sri Lanka on Wednesday with an eye on their World Cup title defence in October. There are no significant changes expected to the squad for that tournament but there is still time – and plenty of matches – for things to be different. For a number of players, this

Australia’s selectors and new coach Andrew McDonald are adamant T20I skipper Aaron Finch is under no pressure for his place in the T20 World Cup title defence later this year but he is eager to quieten the public debate about his form. Australia’s white-ball team heads back on the road on Wednesday for three T20Is

There were jokes, laughs, sombre moments and a poem titled ‘You ripper Roy’ as Andrew Symonds was farewelled in style on Friday. Family, friends, cricketing team-mates and fans gathered at Townsville’s Riverway Stadium for the public memorial service, following a private funeral on Friday morning. Poet Rupert McCall remembered the times he’d receive telephone calls

Justin Langer has hit out at the “bull**** politics” within Cricket Australia, taking particular aim at interim Cricket Australia chairman Richard Freudenstein. A rumoured breakdown in the relationship between Langer and a core of senior players led to CA’s move to push the 51-year-old towards the exit. A host of Australia’s greatest Test players, including

Andrew Symonds‘ life will be celebrated by former teammates with a no-jacket, no-tie memorial service in Townsville on Friday, almost two weeks after the cricket star’s death. Symonds family confirmed on Monday that a public memorial would take place for the former Test and limited-overs star close to his home in North Queensland. Ian Healy, Adam

Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has been appointed an assistant coach of the Australia men’s team alongside Andre Borovec as head coach Andrew McDonald builds his new team. The duo will take up their roles for the Test series against Sri Lanka which starts at the end of June with Borovec, who has worked

Marcus Stoinis was involved in an over that summed up the madness of T20 and the fine line between being a hero or villain. With 21 to defend, he watched his first three deliveries against Rinku Singh disappear for four, six, six. That suddenly made Kolkata Knight Riders favourites as they aimed to keep their

Peter Handscomb, Middlesex’s club captain, is standing down from his role, and will not return to complete the 2022 season following his involvement with next month’s Australia A tour of Sri Lanka. A statement from the club confirmed that Handscomb would be returning to Australia after the Sri Lanka tour for family reasons, and that

Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson has put the spotlight back on Aaron Finch‘s struggles with the bat saying that his poor form could make him a “liability” at the T20 World Cup later this year and he should not be assured of a place just because he is captain. Finch’s batting has been under microscope