England's four Ashes wildcards ready to blow Australia away: A 92mph Dale Steyn clone, Hampshire's teenage superstar, a data darling and Jimmy Anderson's pupil
A group of emerging fast bowlers will also be on hand down under to bolster the touring party if reinforcements are deemed necessary for reasons of form or fitness over Christmas and the New Year.
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Reuters
38 minutes ago
- Reuters
Coaches trust Australia's hard-hitters, says David
Aug 11 (Reuters) - Australia's T20 batters are backed by their coaches to go "all guns blazing" and will likely continue their attacking ways, middle order blaster Tim David said. David produced a sparkling 83 off 53 balls to guide Australia to a 17-run win in the series-opener against South Africa on Sunday and a record ninth victory in succession. "We've been playing together as a group now for a while, so there's not a great deal of instruction from the coaches,' said player-of-the-match David in Darwin. "They trust the players. "We trust ourselves to go out there and we understand the game situation. We make decisions on the fly because that's the nature of T20 cricket. "I think if you'd watched our guys bat over the last period, wherever they bat around the world and when they play for the Australian team, it's close to all guns blazing. "You can probably expect to see that a little bit from our team. That's how we think we play best." David has been in top form, racking up 215 runs in his past three T20I innings, which includes a 37-ball century against the West Indies in St Kitts last month. His hot streak has revived queries on whether he might consider reviving an ODI career that lasted only four matches against South Africa in 2023. However, David was not included in the ODI squad for South Africa and poured cold water on the idea of a return in the near future. "That's not part of the plan for me," David said. "To be honest, the things I've been building towards is the T20 World Cup next year and the major tournaments that are leading up to that. "Honestly, I don't operate much further than the next day ahead." Australia will look to seal the three-match T20 series against South Africa with another win in Darwin on Tuesday.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Shane Warne's son reveals the cheeky restaurant move his cricket legend dad pulled - and every Aussie wishes they could do it
The late, great Shane Warne built a career on confusing opposition batters, but his son Jackson has now revealed how he also confused plenty of diners in his time with a very cheeky act. Warne was well-known for having surprisingly simple and childlike food preferences. He often admitted he never ate vegetables and avoided most fruits entirely. His favourite meals were typically fast food staples like pizza, pasta and bacon sandwiches. Warne famously loved spaghetti bolognese, especially when cooked with extra cheese and no greens in sight. He had a notorious sweet tooth, enjoying chocolate, ice cream and lollies over any gourmet dessert. The 'sheikh of tweak' once had baked beans shipped to India because he refused to try the local cuisine during a cricket tour The cricket legend was a big fan of baked beans on toast as a comfort food. Warne even had cans of baked beans shipped in to satisfy his picky tastes when he toured India with the Australian Test team. He admitted he struggled with local cuisine and preferred sticking to his familiar comfort food. Warne avoided seafood altogether, once saying he couldn't stand the smell or texture of fish. The cricket icon's breakfast of choice was often bacon and eggs with white toast - and certainly no avocado or salad. Warne's friends often joked that his diet resembled that of a teenager rather than a sporting giant. Now it can be revealed just how opposed to gourmet cuisine the great leggie was, with his son Jackson exposing how his famous dad used to order takeaway pizzas to Melbourne's finest restaurants. 'You know [Japanese restaurant] Nobu and Rockpool at Crown?' Jackson said on the Life of Brian Podcast. The cricket star would happily sit on a park bench, finishing his pizza with a cigarette in hand, rather than sit inside and eat fine food at eateries like Nobu in Melbourne (pictured) Warne's food habits became part of his larrikin legend, proving he stayed true to himself off the field no matter how famous he became 'There has been multiple times where he would have an important meeting or catching up with people there for dinner. 'He would go to the restaurants - he knew he wasn't going to eat anything - he would be looking at the menu [and saying], "I don't eat steak, these fish and oysters, no thanks, not for me". 'So 40 minutes later, there would be a pizza from Gradi, just around the corner. 'He would be eating a pizza from a different restaurant in one of the restaurants there.' There was even a time when Warnie got kicked out for trying to pull the stunt at a fancy eatery. Daily Mail previously revealed he was at a dinner with media and cricket commentators at one of Melbourne's best restaurants when he waved the waiter away as he took everyone's orders. 'No thanks mate,' he said. 'I'm right.' Sure enough, a pizza delivery person soon arrived and Warnie started tucking into the meal right there at the table. 'I'm very sorry Mr Warne,' the maître d' said. 'But you can't eat that here.' 'Oh, OK, no worries,' Warnie replied. He took his pizza out to a nearby bench, finished it off and had a cigarette for dessert. Aussie pace bowler Brett Lee has also confirmed that Warnie loved ordering pizza to flash restaurants. 'I remember going to that famous Japanese restaurant Nobu, and Warnie ordered in a margherita pizza,' Lee said on the Willow Talk Cricket Podcast. 'Warnie only ever ate his baked beans, cheese on toast, he liked lasagna, spaghetti bolognese and margherita pizzas. 'We were going to one of the best restaurants in the world and Warnie, just being Warnie, decided to order margherita pizza.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Arne Slot says Liverpool ‘need to be better' after Community Shield defeat
After his Liverpool team lost the Community Shield in a penalty shootout to Crystal Palace, their manager, Arne Slot admitted the difficulty of bedding in the summer's new signings. 'Sometimes you need some time to adapt offensively or defensively,' said Slot. Two new arrivals in striker Hugo Ekitiké and right-back Jeremie Frimpong got on the scoresheet but Palace, who might have won the game in normal time during their impressive second-half showing, exposed the Premier League champions' weaknesses. Florian Wirtz in a No 10 role and Milos Kerkez as an overlapping left-back on the opposite side of Frimpong made for a highly attacking Liverpool lineup. 'In the whole pre-season we saw we are able to create more opportunities, chances, we dominate maybe even more,' said Slot. 'Now we are better in creating and getting promising situations than we were in the whole of last season but it is also true that we have conceded two against [Athletic Club] Bilbao and two again today. 'We need to be better defensively,' Slot admitted: 'It is disappointing of course, if you go in front and you are not able to win the game. It was close and there were points where I thought we could win it but it went to penalties and they were better in that moment.' Slot refused to panic before his team's defence of the Premier League title, which kicks off on Friday against Bournemouth. He said: 'We are Liverpool, the pressure is always on. Even if we bring 10 players in, or no players in, there is always pressure when you wear a Liverpool shirt.' He offered measured credit to Wirtz and Ekitiké: 'These are players we have brought in for quite a lot of money so they know how to handle the pressure. Both of them played a good game.' The Palace manager Oliver Glasner was delighted to add further silverware to last season's FA Cup. He said: 'I have to give big credit to the players for this win today, we came back and were able to decide the game on penalties. We were on the same level as Liverpool and it was a big performance.' Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Asked whether he would swap victory at Wembley for the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in Palace's favour on Monday over playing in the Europa League or Conference League, Glasner said: 'No, we will accept this. Tomorrow we have no influence so we will celebrate tonight and then meet for lunch at training. Then we will schedule the rest of August. If we play in the Conference League, we have more games in August.'
