Tag: Ashes

  • Australia stuns England with thrilling Ashes victory at Edgbaston

    Australia stuns England with thrilling Ashes victory at Edgbaston

    In a gripping Ashes encounter at Edgbaston, Australia claimed a thrilling two-wicket triumph, taking a 1-0 lead in the series with a remarkable display by skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.

    The final day was packed with tension, culminating in an extraordinary performance by Cummins and Lyon, who formed an unyielding ninth-wicket partnership. Against a boisterous crowd, they defied all odds and successfully chased down a target of 281, adding an unbeaten 55 runs to their team’s tally.

    This victory held significant meaning for Australia as it avenged their heartbreaking two-run defeat on the same ground 18 years ago, when they narrowly missed reaching a target of 282. Cummins, unbeaten with a crucial 44 runs, and Lyon, undefeated on 16, propelled Australia to their closest Ashes victory in terms of wickets since 1907.

    Initially, England seemed to be on the verge of victory as captain Ben Stokes bowled Usman Khawaja with a mesmerising slower ball, while Joe Root showcased exceptional skills with a return catch off Alex Carey. However, in the final hour of the match, Cummins and Lyon skillfully countered England’s short-ball strategy, thwarting their plans.

    The tension reached its peak when Stokes nearly pulled off a sensational flying catch to dismiss Lyon, but unfortunately lost control of the ball. With less than five overs remaining and three runs required, Cummins guided Ollie Robinson towards the third man, where a diving Harry Brook fumbled, ultimately securing an incredible win for Australia.

    The Edgbaston clash lived up to its reputation as an Ashes classic, captivating fans with its high stakes and enthralling cricket. The series now moves on to the second Test at Lord’s on June 28, promising further excitement and intensity for cricket enthusiasts worldwide.

  • Babar Azam is bigger diamond than Kohinoor: Shahdab Khan

    Babar Azam is bigger diamond than Kohinoor: Shahdab Khan

    Pakistan cricket team has failed to win a single test at home under Babar Azam’s captaincy however all-rounder Shahdab Khan has said that the nation is being unjust to Babar Azam.

    Babar Azam has been criticized in the past few months by former cricketers and fans for his captaincy.

    Shadab, in a recent interview with a local TV channel, defended his captain, asking Pakistanis to realize how valuable Babar is and desist from unnecessarily criticizing him.

    “I think we are doing injustice with such a diamond. Pakistan has been blessed with such a big diamond. He [Babar] is a bigger diamond than Kohinoor,” Shadab said.

    “As a nation, we are not valuing Babar for what he is worth and are pressurizing him. At the end of the day, he is human. We should respect him the way the world respects him,” he added.
    The all-rounder was also surprised by the criticism of Babar’s leadership qualities by former cricketers.

    “I am surprised when people doubt him as a captain or a leader. He is Pakistan’s biggest player. Our nation should respect him the way we respect him in the team,” he concluded.

    The Pakistan captain recently received the ICC Cricketer of the year award for his performances in the year 2022.

  • Pat Cummins’ respect for Usman Khawaja’s religion during Ashes trophy celebration wins hearts

    Pat Cummins’ respect for Usman Khawaja’s religion during Ashes trophy celebration wins hearts

    Australian Test Captain Pat Cummins has won heart of several fans around the world after a great gesture with Muslim batter Usman Khawaja during the Ashes trophy celebration.

    Australia defeated England 4-0 under the captaincy of fast bowler Cummins and successfully retained the Ashes.

    Spraying champagne all around the place and chugging is quite common during the trophy celebrations of Australian cricket team. But the moment which caught everyone’s attention was when Cummins could be seen calling back Khawaja to join the trophy celebrations and told his teammates to keep the champagne bottles away. Besides his on-field captaincy during the Ashes, the 28-year-old was praised for his incredible off-field gesture too.

    Several people lauded the pacer for his brilliant gesture on Twitter. Have a look:

    “Usman is obviously Muslim, so he doesn’t like champagne being thrown. I just made sure he got up there and no champagne was thrown,” Cummins told reporters after the match.

    While taking to Twitter, Usman thanked his teammates for stopping their usual champagne celebration for him. “Inclusivity in the game and our values as a sport are so important,” he wrote.

    Pakistan-born Khawaja is the first-ever Muslim to represent the Australian men’s team. He made a stunning comeback in the fourth Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) where he scored centuries in both innings.

  • Jaffer roasts Vaughan, digs out old ‘India 92 all out’ tweet after England defeat

    Jaffer roasts Vaughan, digs out old ‘India 92 all out’ tweet after England defeat

    Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has teased former English cricketer Michael Vaughan after England’s defeat in the Ashes.

    Jaffer got the opportunity today (Tuesday) to hit back at Michael Vaughan who had mocked Men in Blue in 2019.

    English team was bowled out for 68 on the third day of the Melbourne Test, handing a 3-0 victory to Australia in five-match Ashes series.

    The Joe Root side failed to live up to the expectations in the third Test after losing the first two matches and succumbed to Australian bowling.

    Jaffer got the opportunity today to hit back at Vaughan who had mocked the Men in Blue when they were bowled out for their lowest-ever ODI total (92) in New Zealand in 2019.

    “92 all out India… Can’t believe any team would get bowled out for under a 100 these days !!!” he had tweeted.

    The former Indian batter took to Twitter and said: “England 68 all out @MichaelVaughan [See-no-evil emoji] #Ashes.”

    In the video, Wasim Jaffer can be seen opening the Twitter app and winking towards the camera.

    Vaughan too responded to the tweet and said: “Very good Wasim.”

    Meanwhile, in another tweet, Vaughan lauded the Australian team saying “well done Australia .. Far too good for England.”

  • England captain Joe Root fails to break Mohammad Yousuf’s Test record

    England captain Joe Root fails to break Mohammad Yousuf’s Test record

    England’s skipper Joe Root failed to break Pakistan’s veteran cricketer Mohammad Yousuf’s record of most runs in a calendar year, ending 2021 with the third-most Test runs in history.

    His dismissal on day three of the third Test in Melbourne for 28 left him with 1,708 runs for the year, at an average of 61.00, behind only Mohammad Yousuf (1,788 in 2006) and West Indian legend Viv Richards (1,710 in 1976).

    He moved past the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar to chalk up 1,600 runs at the second Test in Adelaide, and then edged South Africa’s Graeme Smith (1,656 in 2008) in Melbourne.

    Root, however, had far more innings to compile his total — 29 to the 19 of both Yousuf and Richards.

    “I obviously feel like I’m playing really nicely at the minute but I would obviously swap it all for Test match wins,” he said after England’s innings and 14 runs thrashing in Melbourne.

    “Any player will tell you that there’s no better feeling in cricket than winning a Test match.”

    “It’s great that I feel like my game is improving and evolving still as a player, even having played quite a lot of cricket, and I’m desperate to keep doing that,” he added.

    The 31-year old cricketer is still searching for a first Ashes hundred in Australia. He has two more Tests to do it.

    “I think I probably wanted it too much, I was too desperate and it had probably a negative impact on the way I played, I put too much pressure on myself,” he said ahead of the tour of his will to succeed in Australia.

    The extent to which England have relied on Root this year is demonstrated by the numbers.

    Second in the hierarchy is English opener Rory Burns, who scored 530 this year at 27.89, then Jonny Bairstow with 391 at 24.43.

  • Tim Paine resigns ahead of Ashes after sending explicit messages to female co-worker

    Tim Paine resigns ahead of Ashes after sending explicit messages to female co-worker

    Australian cricketer Tim Paine has quit as Test captain less than three weeks before the men’s Ashes after the emergence of an investigation four years ago by Cricket Australia for sending explicit messages to a female co-worker.

    Paine, who had been facing a race against time to be fit for the first Ashes Test on December 8, was named in a News Corp report as being at the centre of the case.

    He faced the media in Hobart on Friday to announce he was resigning but will remain available for selection for the Ashes. The messages date back to 2017, months before Paine was recalled to the Test team after a seven-year absence, and a joint Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania investigation cleared him at the time.

    “Today, I’m announcing my decision to stand down as the captain of the Australian men’s test team. It’s an incredibly difficult decision, but the right one for me, my family, and cricket,” Paine said as he read out a statement.

    “As a background on my decision, nearly four years ago, I was involved in a text exchange with a then-colleague. At the time, the exchange was the subject of a thorough CA Integrity Unit investigation, throughout which I fully participated in and openly participated in.

    “That investigation and a Cricket Tasmania HR investigation at the same time found that there had been no breach of the Cricket Australia Code of Conduct. Although exonerated, I deeply regretted this incident at the time, and still do today. I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support. We thought this incident was behind us and that I could focus entirely on the team, as I have done for the last three or four years.

    “However, I recently became aware that this private text exchange was going to become public. On reflection, my actions in 2017 do not meet the standard of an Australian cricket captain, or the wider community. I’m deeply sorry for the hurt and pain that I have caused to my wife, my family, and to the other party. I’m sorry for any damage that this does to the reputation of our sport.”

    Read More – Australia announces squad for the Ashes

    He added that he felt resignation was his only option and apologised to team-mates and supporters.

    “I believe that it is the right decision for me to stand down as captain, effective immediately,” he said. “I do not want this to become an unwelcome disruption to the team ahead of what is a huge Ashes series.”

    “It’s been the greatest privilege of my sporting life to lead the Australian men’s test team. I’m grateful for the support of my team-mates and proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together.

    “To them, I ask for their understanding and forgiveness. To Australian cricket fans I’m deeply sorry that my past behaviour has impacted our game on the eve of the Ashes. For the disappointment I have caused to fans and the entire cricket community, I apologise.

    “I will remain a committed member of the Australian cricket team and look forward with anticipation to what is a huge Ashes tour.”

    A subsequent statement by Cricket Tasmania said the allegations had only been brought to their attention when theft charges were laid against the employee in mid-2018 and that no complaint had been made at the time of the messages in November 2017.

    Paine was elevated to the captaincy in March 2018 following the explosive fallout from the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. Fast bowler Pat Cummins is Australia’s current vice-captain and had been tipped to assume the role once Paine retired. If Paine was not to play the series, Alex Carey would be the frontrunner to take the gloves.

    The board accepted Paine’s resignation and has said that process of identifying and appointing a new Test captain will be accelerated.

  • Australia announces squad for the Ashes

    Australia announces squad for the Ashes

    The T20 World Cup winners Australia is set to host the Ashes this winter. Cricket Australia on Tuesday announced the squad for the clash with England at home.

    As per details, the Aussies named a 15-player squad for the first two Tests of this summer’s Men’s Ashes, alongside an extended player list from which an Australia A team will be selected for a tour match against the English Lions.

    Read More – ‘Too old and slow’: David Warner’s wife Candice slams trolls after Australian star helps team lift WC title

    This will be Australia’s first Test series since last summer’s Border-Gavaskar campaign, Usman Khawaja and Jhye Richardson both return to the team.

    Chair of selectors George Bailey indicated Marcus Harris would open the batting with David Warner, retaining his spot as the incumbent.

    Australia:

    Tim Paine (captain), Pat Cummins (vice captain), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

    Additional Australia A players:

    Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Nic Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Matt Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street

    On the other hand, team England’s Test specialists were to fly out to Queensland on November 4, with five players involved in the T20 World Cup – Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Woakes and Wood – will be joining them after completing their quarantine.

    The squad includes10 players who have never played a Test in Australia. Ben Stokes has made himself available for the five-Test series that starts in Brisbane on December 8, giving a massive shot in the arm to the chances of Joe Root’s team regaining the Ashes over the coming weeks.

    England’s 2021-22 Ashes squad

    Joe Root (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

    Men’s Ashes fixtures

    First Test: December 8-12 – The Gabba, Brisbane

    Second Test: December 16-20 – Adelaide Oval

    Third Test: December 26-30 – Melbourne Cricket Ground

    Fourth Test: January 5-9 – Sydney Cricket Ground

    Fifth Test: January 14-18 – Perth Stadium