Big Picture: Pakistan search for inspiration All we want for Christmas is a contest, right? Well, Pakistan will hope for a miracle. If they topple Australia at the MCG it would come close to that. After just about holding their own, to a degree, across the first three days in Perth, things unravelled quickly on

Australia captain Pat Cummins says there is no difference between Usman Khawaja displaying a dove logo on his shoe and bat to raise awareness of humanitarian issues and teammate Marnus Labuschagne displaying an eagle on his bat which signifies a personal religious message, after the ICC denied Khawaja’s application to display the logo during the

The ICC has denied Usman Khawaja‘s latest attempt to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by knocking back his application to display the image of a dove and an olive branch on his bat and shoes. Khawaja displayed the logo on his right shoe and the back of his bat during Australia’s main

India 406 (Deepti 78, Mandhana 74, Gardner 4-100) and 75 for 2 (Mandhana 38*) beat Australia 219 (McGrath 50, Vastrakar 4-53, Rana 3-56) and 261 (McGrath 73, Rana 4-63) by eight wickets A drama-filled first 75 minutes on the fourth morning ended with Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad spinning Australia out of the only Test

Australia 219 and 233 for 5 (McGrath 73, Perry 45, Harmanpreet 2-23, Rana 2-54) lead India 406 (Deepti 78, Mandhana 74, Rodrigues 73, Ghosh 52, Gardner 4-100, Sutherland 2-41) by 46 runs After dominating the Test for a good part of two days, India were finally put under the pump, largely through Tahlia McGrath, who

Sydney Thunder 176 for 5 (Hales 40, Bancroft 30, Webster 4-29) beat Melbourne Stars 172 (Webster 59, Maxwell 30, Sams 4-33, Zaman 3-24) by five wickets Daniel Sams produced fireworks in the latter stages of both innings to propel Sydney Thunder to a five-wicket BBL win over Melbourne Stars despite a historic all-round effort from

Marcus Harris, who is among those pushing to replace David Warner in Australia’s Test side, made the most of an extra red-ball innings with a brisk century on the second day of Pakistan’s warm-up match against a Victoria XI. Harris struck 126 off 131 balls at Junction Oval, the innings including 22 fours and six,

It’s been quite the year for Alex Carey. He began 2023 fresh from the high of a maiden Test century at the MCG, then a short while later was confronted with challenges in front of and behind the stumps in India, where his glovework went to a new level. Then there was a telling contribution

India Women 376 for 7 (Mandhana 74, Rodrigues 73, Deepti 70*, Ghosh 52, Gardner 4-100) lead Australia Women 219 by 157 runs India overcame eight bowlers and batted 100 overs on an enthralling second day to lead Australia by 157 runs in the one-off Test in Mumbai. Determined fifties from Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, debutant

Steven Smith had a few words to say about his second-innings lbw as he walked off at Optus Stadium, while the evening before Marnus Labuschagne had needed a trip to hospital to get his hand checked after a vicious blow on an increasingly spiteful surface. Neither moment proved significant for Australia; they won by 360

Perth Scorchers have suffered a significant blow to their BBL title defence with captain Ashton Turner ruled out for the remainder of the tournament following surgery on his knee. Turner limped off the field after bowling one delivery against Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday, but initially the prognosis had sounded reasonably hopeful. However, he underwent surgery

Toss Australia chose to bat vs India On what was a quite cold 23-degree morning in Mumbai, Australia captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to bat first in the only Test against India. There were debuts on both ends, with India handing a cap to wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and Australia bringing in left-arm

A year ago, Spencer Johnson hadn’t played a professional T20 match and it wasn’t long since he had been working as a landscape gardener. He still only has 20 official games under his belt and 17 wickets. But on Tuesday he became an IPL millionaire. While Mitchell Starc took the headlines for his record-setting price

Big picture – A tough challenge for India It’s been almost 40 years. Australia Women played a four-Test series in India in 1984, all of which ended in draws, with the last at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. On Thursday, India and Australia will start a one-off Test match, again at Wankhede, to kick off their multi-format

First Pat Cummins, and then Mitchell Starc, broke the IPL auction record for top bid prices, going to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively for a combined INR 45.25 crore (US$ 5.45 million approx.). Cummins was sold for INR 20.50 crore (US$ 2,470,000 approx.), and Starc INR 24.75 crore (US$ 2,982,000 approx.). “It’s obviously

India is the place to be for Australia allrounder Tahlia McGrath. She was the interim vice-captain for the women’s T20I series in Mumbai last year and led Australia for the first time in internationals in the final game of the tour after Alyssa Healy was out injured. The pair was appointed to the roles on

Adelaide Strikers 205 for 4 (M Short 82, D Short 66) beat Sydney Thunder 200 for 7 (Bancroft 74, Ross 46) by six wickets Matt Short‘s masterclass and Adam Hose‘s clutch hitting at the death lifted Adelaide Strikers to a thrilling six-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder at Adelaide Oval. After Cameron Bancroft (74) anchored

IPL 2024 is likely to be played between March 22 and the end of May, with the final schedule to be announced once the polling dates for India’s general elections have been finalised by the Election Commission. On the eve of the 2024 auction, the IPL also notified franchises about the availability of players in

Australia are keeping an open mind about what conditions they could face in their Test against India at Wankhede Stadium but are ready to embrace anything that is thrown at them. Shelley Nitschke, Australia’s coach, noted the “challenging” pitch that was on offer for the England game at DY Patil Stadium last week where the

Cleared of a serious finger injury, Marnus Labuschagne declared himself fit and ready for the Boxing Day Test after Australia’s 360-run series-opening victory over Pakistan on a “brutal” Optus Stadium surface. Labuschagne was one of a number of Australia batters roughed up in their second innings as the wicket deteriorated on days three and four.

Lance Morris has been released from the Australia Test squad to play in the BBL following the first Test against Pakistan in Perth with the group being cut to 13 for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. There was excitement around Morris potentially making his Test debut in Perth but with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins

Lyon had been stalled on 496 wickets after his Ashes-ending calf injury earlier this year, but continued his fine record at the Optus Stadium. He moved to 499 wickets in Pakistan’s first innings when he claimed Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq and Aamer Jamal. For a little while it appeared he may run out of wickets as

Lunch Australia 487 and 186 for 4 (Khawaja 68*, Marsh 42*) lead Pakistan 271 by 402 runs Opener Usman Khawaja bravely battled through the first session after surviving hostile Pakistan pace bowling on a tough Optus Stadium surface as Australia built a strong lead on the fourth day of the series-opening Test. Khawaja overcame a

Australia No.3 Marnus Labuschagne will undergo a scan after copping a blow to his finger during a withering short-ball assault from Pakistan’s quicks late on day three of the first Test in Perth. During the sixth over of Australia’s second innings, Labuschagne was whacked on the little finger of his right hand from a rearing

Lunch Pakistan 203 for 6 (Shakeel 12*, Salman 4*) trail Australia 487 by 284 runs Babar Azam overcame Pat Cummins in a riveting battle to start day three before falling to allrounder Mitchell Marsh as Australia regained a stranglehold of the first Test against Pakistan at Optus Stadium. In response to Australia’s massive first innings

Warner made his 26th Test century and finished with 164 as no other Australian passed fifty in their opening day total of 346 for 5 on a surface that had something in it for the bowlers. Warner had been the subject of a lot of talk in the lead-up to the Test match after Johnson

Australia allrounder Cameron Green has revealed he was born with chronic kidney disease and at one stage had a life expectancy of just 12 but has been able to manage the issues throughout his professional cricketing career. Green, 24, was left out of Australia’s XI for the opening Test of the summer against Pakistan in

Australia’s World Test Championship final and ODI World Cup hero Travis Head has formally been elevated to co-vice-captain in Australia’s Test team alongside Steven Smith, with current captain Pat Cummins saying that he has all the makings of a future Test leader as they try to future-proof the leadership stocks within Australian cricket. Head, 29,

Perth Scorchers 102 for 3 beat Melbourne Stars 101 (Behrendorff 3-28) by seven wickets Two-time defending champions Perth Scorchers remained the BBL benchmark, overpowering Melbourne Stars by seven wickets at the MCG. After skittling Stars’ top order on Wednesday night and dismissing them for 101 in 19.1 overs, the five-time winners extended their winning streak

Usman Khawaja has vowed to fight the ICC for his right to express humanitarian views on the field, after it was confirmed that he will not wear any written messages on his shoes in the first Test against Pakistan starting on Thursday in Perth due to ICC regulations. Khawaja had “all lives are equal” and