Latest news with #AustralianXI
The Age
12-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
West Indies vs Australia LIVE: Konstas survives early chances after Lyon dropped
Go to latest Lyon dropped from Australian XI Big story brewing from Tom Decent in Kingston. Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's XI. Selectors have gone for a five-pronged pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (100th Test), Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, as well as all-rounder Beau Webster. It's the first time since the 2013 Ashes tour that Lyon has been left out of Australia's Test team. Skipper Pat Cummins confirmed the news at the toss. 'We're going to have a bat first,' Cummins said. 'Pink ball, sometimes during the day it's a bit easier than the night so hopefully get a few runs earlier.'Asked about team changes, Cummins said: 'One change, Nathan Lyon misses out and Scotty Boland [with a] pink ball. We think it's a little different to a normal Test.' Cummins flagged the move on Friday, saying 'all options' were on the table. It's a bold call but shows Australia feel their best chance of a quick result is to blast the Windies off the park. '[There are] a few more unknowns, so we just want to have another look at the wicket and give it a bit of time and work out a team later on today,' Cummins told reporters in the build-up to the clash. 'I think mainly pink ball [is a consideration] and trying to get our heads around exactly what it's going to do. 'That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.' West Indies, meanwhile, have dropped their former captain and long-serving opener Kraigg Brathwaite. Only last week, Brathwaite was being lauded across the Caribbean for playing his 100th Test match - no easy feat given how few the West Indies play these days. Teams West Indies: Mikyle Louis, John Campbell, Kevlon Anderson, Brandon King, Roston Chase (capt), Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jomel Warrican, Jayden Seales Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland. 5.16am Selector explains why Lyon was dropped for this game, and how he reacted By Tom Decent Tony Dodemaide, Australia's selector on duty, has just given the touring press pack an explanation on why Lyon was dropped for this match. He says picking Scott Boland ahead of Lyon was purely due to conditions and how they think the pink Dukes ball will play in this match. 'Obviously an unusual selection for us,' Dodemaide said. 'It's not something we generally want to do and it's fair to say it wasn't front of mind when we got to Sabina Park. It was a conditions based decision to go in with four quicks. '[This ball] actually behaves a little differently to the Kookaburra one. It doesn't go as soft. The Kookaburra one tends to have a trough when it doesn't move so much in those middle overs. That's not the case with the Dukes. The history tells us that. 'Based on all of that, we thought that spin would not have a significant part in the game.' Asked how Lyon took the news, Dodemaide said: 'He's disappointed because he wants to play every game. He's a great competitor and he believes he can be effective in any conditions. He's a team man as well and understands the right thing for the team and he'll do his best to support the guys. As I said, it's a one-off. It's not a reflection on performance for Nathan. It's simply the best way we think we can win this game.' 4.58am Konstas survives two chances in as many balls Australia 0-13 Konstas is fortunate not to be run out when he flicks one to square leg and sets off with the shot, only to be sent back by Khawaja. The return from John Campbell misses the stumps with Konstas well out of his ground. Next ball Seales gets another away swinger into the right spot and Konstas edges a drive into the cordon, where Kevlon Anderson dives across and spills it. The West Indies have now dropped 10 catches for the series, but it is hard going for Konstas at present. Alzarri Joseph replaces Seales, and Konstas pulls his first ball to the boundary behind square leg. 4.46am Konstas, Khawaja have an early look Australia 0-6 Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas are each quickly off the mark against Jayden Seales, who gets a bit of swing in the first over of the game. Shamar Joseph's first over is more wayward, starting with a wide and allowing Khawaja to let plenty of deliveries go outside off stump. There's some good carry through to Shai Hope with the pink Dukes ball, however. Seales is having a bit of trouble keeping his front foot behind the crease, but he's also bending the new ball away nicely and beats Konstas as he pushes forward in the third over. Seales does it again with the final ball of the over, taking a bit of trouser on the way through, and there's a strangled appeal. Tom's view: Interesting to note that Usman Khawaja faced the first ball today instead of Konstas. The 19-year-old has faced the first ball of an innings in each of his eight visits to the crease in Tests. After a duck in the second innings in Grenada, clearly Konstas wants to change things up a little. He only had to wait an extra delivery and was off the mark on the third delivery of the Test. Not looking overly convincing at the moment. 4.29am A big milestone for Starc, a big session for the openers Mitchell Starc, who strove for so long to be viewed as a top class Test match bowler, has joined the legendary Glenn McGrath as the only two Australian pacemen to play 100 Tests. McGrath, of course, was a byword for economy of method and durability. Starc's left-arm speed and hostility is another thing altogether, and ti is an enormous credit to the 35-year-old that he has made it this far. You can read Tom Decent's appreciation of Starc here. Before Starc takes the field, however, it is a highly significant opening session for openers Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja. Though Australia's selectors are resolved to show patience with their top order in what have been difficult batting conditions a partnership of worth and a pair of big scores would go a fair way towards calming the conversation around 19-year-old Konstas and 38-year-old Khawaja. It's a long time before the Ashes start in November, so the runs they make - or don't make - in Jamaica will hang in the air for quite a while. 4.05am Why this could be Australia's final Test tour of the West Indies By Tom Decent Australian cricket tours of the West Indies are steeped in nostalgia – long viewed as the dream trip for players and spectators alike. But heading into this third Test in Jamaica, the venue of Australia's famous series win in 1995, a sobering question hangs in the air: could this be Australia's last visit to the Caribbean for a Test series? That might sound alarmist, but it reflects genuine concern amid confidential discussions between global cricket's powerbrokers about the future of the longest format. The International Cricket Council's Future Tours Program – the blueprint that maps out bilateral series – is still being finalised. But according to well-placed sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, there are currently no Tests locked in between Australia and the West Indies in the Caribbean from 2027 onwards. 4.05am Good morning Hello, and good morning (well, it's a very early good morning from Australia anyway). I'm Daniel Brettig and I'll be taking you through day one of the pink-ball, day-night Test in Jamaica between the West Indies and an Australian side looking to clinch a clean sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy. Sabina Park has been the scene of many indelible moments in the history of Test cricket, not least Steve Waugh's 200 in 1995, which formed the backbone of the victory that helped Mark Taylor's team become the first to beat the West Indies in a Test series for 15 years. In doing so, they claimed global supremacy for Australia, and began the start of 30 years of sad, protracted decline for the Caribbean side. That said, the following series in 1999 was one of the greatest ever played, as Bria Lara's own Sabina Park double century was the catalyst for the West Indies to rebound from being bowled out for 51 in the opening game in Trinidad and set up a breathless 2-2 drawn series. That was the last time Australia lost on his ground. Play is set to begin at 4.30am AEST. 4.05am Lyon dropped from Australian XI Big story brewing from Tom Decent in Kingston. Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's XI. Selectors have gone for a five-pronged pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (100th Test), Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, as well as all-rounder Beau Webster. It's the first time since the 2013 Ashes tour that Lyon has been left out of Australia's Test team. Skipper Pat Cummins confirmed the news at the toss. 'We're going to have a bat first,' Cummins said. 'Pink ball, sometimes during the day it's a bit easier than the night so hopefully get a few runs earlier.'Asked about team changes, Cummins said: 'One change, Nathan Lyon misses out and Scotty Boland [with a] pink ball. We think it's a little different to a normal Test.' Cummins flagged the move on Friday, saying 'all options' were on the table. It's a bold call but shows Australia feel their best chance of a quick result is to blast the Windies off the park. '[There are] a few more unknowns, so we just want to have another look at the wicket and give it a bit of time and work out a team later on today,' Cummins told reporters in the build-up to the clash. 'I think mainly pink ball [is a consideration] and trying to get our heads around exactly what it's going to do. 'That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.' West Indies, meanwhile, have dropped their former captain and long-serving opener Kraigg Brathwaite. Only last week, Brathwaite was being lauded across the Caribbean for playing his 100th Test match - no easy feat given how few the West Indies play these days.
The Age
12-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
West Indies vs Australia LIVE: Lyon dropped for Boland as Cummins wins toss and bats in Jamaica
Go to latest Lyon dropped from Australian XI Big story brewing from Tom Decent in Kingston. Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's XI. Selectors have gone for a five-pronged pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (100th Test), Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, as well as all-rounder Beau Webster. Cummins flagged the move on Friday, saying 'all options' were on the table. It's a bold call but shows Australia feel their best chance of a quick result is to blast the Windies off the park. '[There are] a few more unknowns, so we just want to have another look at the wicket and give it a bit of time and work out a team later on today,' Cummins told reporters in the build-up to the clash. 'I think mainly pink ball [is a consideration] and trying to get our heads around exactly what it's going to do. 'That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.' 4.05am Why this could be Australia's final Test tour of the West Indies By Tom Decent Australian cricket tours of the West Indies are steeped in nostalgia – long viewed as the dream trip for players and spectators alike. But heading into this third Test in Jamaica, the venue of Australia's famous series win in 1995, a sobering question hangs in the air: could this be Australia's last visit to the Caribbean for a Test series? That might sound alarmist, but it reflects genuine concern amid confidential discussions between global cricket's powerbrokers about the future of the longest format. The International Cricket Council's Future Tours Program – the blueprint that maps out bilateral series – is still being finalised. But according to well-placed sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, there are currently no Tests locked in between Australia and the West Indies in the Caribbean from 2027 onwards. 4.05am Good morning Hello, and good morning (well, it's a very early good morning from Australia anyway). I'm Daniel Brettig and I'll be taking you through day one of the pink-ball, day-night Test in Jamaica between the West Indies and an Australian side looking to clinch a clean sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy. Sabina Park has been the scene of many indelible moments in the history of Test cricket, not least Steve Waugh's 200 in 1995, which formed the backbone of the victory that helped Mark Taylor's team become the first to beat the West Indies in a Test series for 15 years. In doing so, they claimed global supremacy for Australia, and began the start of 30 years of sad, protracted decline for the Caribbean side. That said, the following series in 1999 was one of the greatest ever played, as Bria Lara's own Sabina Park double century was the catalyst for the West Indies to rebound from being bowled out for 51 in the opening game in Trinidad and set up a breathless 2-2 drawn series. That was the last time Australia lost on his ground. Play is set to begin at 4.30am AEST. 4.05am Lyon dropped from Australian XI Big story brewing from Tom Decent in Kingston. Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's XI. Selectors have gone for a five-pronged pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (100th Test), Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, as well as all-rounder Beau Webster. Cummins flagged the move on Friday, saying 'all options' were on the table. It's a bold call but shows Australia feel their best chance of a quick result is to blast the Windies off the park. '[There are] a few more unknowns, so we just want to have another look at the wicket and give it a bit of time and work out a team later on today,' Cummins told reporters in the build-up to the clash. 'I think mainly pink ball [is a consideration] and trying to get our heads around exactly what it's going to do. 'That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.'
Sydney Morning Herald
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
West Indies vs Australia LIVE: Lyon dropped for Boland as Cummins wins toss and bats in Jamaica
Go to latest Lyon dropped from Australian XI Big story brewing from Tom Decent in Kingston. Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's XI. Selectors have gone for a five-pronged pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (100th Test), Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, as well as all-rounder Beau Webster. Cummins flagged the move on Friday, saying 'all options' were on the table. It's a bold call but shows Australia feel their best chance of a quick result is to blast the Windies off the park. '[There are] a few more unknowns, so we just want to have another look at the wicket and give it a bit of time and work out a team later on today,' Cummins told reporters in the build-up to the clash. 'I think mainly pink ball [is a consideration] and trying to get our heads around exactly what it's going to do. 'That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.' 4.05am Why this could be Australia's final Test tour of the West Indies By Tom Decent Australian cricket tours of the West Indies are steeped in nostalgia – long viewed as the dream trip for players and spectators alike. But heading into this third Test in Jamaica, the venue of Australia's famous series win in 1995, a sobering question hangs in the air: could this be Australia's last visit to the Caribbean for a Test series? That might sound alarmist, but it reflects genuine concern amid confidential discussions between global cricket's powerbrokers about the future of the longest format. The International Cricket Council's Future Tours Program – the blueprint that maps out bilateral series – is still being finalised. But according to well-placed sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, there are currently no Tests locked in between Australia and the West Indies in the Caribbean from 2027 onwards. 4.05am Good morning Hello, and good morning (well, it's a very early good morning from Australia anyway). I'm Daniel Brettig and I'll be taking you through day one of the pink-ball, day-night Test in Jamaica between the West Indies and an Australian side looking to clinch a clean sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy. Sabina Park has been the scene of many indelible moments in the history of Test cricket, not least Steve Waugh's 200 in 1995, which formed the backbone of the victory that helped Mark Taylor's team become the first to beat the West Indies in a Test series for 15 years. In doing so, they claimed global supremacy for Australia, and began the start of 30 years of sad, protracted decline for the Caribbean side. That said, the following series in 1999 was one of the greatest ever played, as Bria Lara's own Sabina Park double century was the catalyst for the West Indies to rebound from being bowled out for 51 in the opening game in Trinidad and set up a breathless 2-2 drawn series. That was the last time Australia lost on his ground. Play is set to begin at 4.30am AEST. 4.05am Lyon dropped from Australian XI Big story brewing from Tom Decent in Kingston. Nathan Lyon has been dropped from Australia's XI. Selectors have gone for a five-pronged pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (100th Test), Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, as well as all-rounder Beau Webster. Cummins flagged the move on Friday, saying 'all options' were on the table. It's a bold call but shows Australia feel their best chance of a quick result is to blast the Windies off the park. '[There are] a few more unknowns, so we just want to have another look at the wicket and give it a bit of time and work out a team later on today,' Cummins told reporters in the build-up to the clash. 'I think mainly pink ball [is a consideration] and trying to get our heads around exactly what it's going to do. 'That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.'
Perth Now
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Smith backs coaches call for patience over new top order
Steve Smith is certain both Sam Konstas and Cam Green can find success at the top of the order, despite their poor returns in the first Test against the West Indies. Konstas returned to open for the first time since the Border-Gavaskar series but fell for single-digit scores in both innings, while Green has failed to justify his selection at number three with a highest score of 15 from his last four innings. More concerning is the pattern of his dismissals caught in the slips all four times as he struggled to find a method to combat the newer ball. As Smith prepares to return to the Australian XI after recovering from a broken finger, he believes both players will settle into their roles. 'I think for them it's just about being patient,' Smith said on SEN. 'Cam's done it before in Test cricket, he scored runs, so he's not foreign to that. Maybe batting at number three, but I've always said it, even when I went up to open the batting, it's just a number. 'Sometimes you feel more comfortable in a certain position, but it's also just a number. You can come in at any time when the ball's new or whatever, when you lose a few early wickets. Australia's Sam Konstas is bowled by West Indies' Shamar Joseph. Credit: Ricardo Mazalan / AP 'I think we've just got to be patient with them, they're talented players, they've got good skills, and I'm sure they'll come good.' It echoes similar sentiments expressed by coach Andrew McDonald, who hinted players would be given an extended run. 'We've had some conversations around, 'potentially if you're in that situation again, what does that look like?' and that's what experience is,' McDonald told reporters in Barbados. 'It's learning from previous events and trying to implement a way through that. It's really that balance and tempo ... that's a step up to Test cricket.' It means Marnus Labuschagne will have to break his way back into the best XI, having been dropped for the first time in 53 Test matches after a poor run of form. However, Smith believes his Test career is not over. 'He's actually in a pretty good place. I think I said it after the last game - I thought he batted really well in the World Test Championship Final without going on to make a big score,' Smith said. 'I thought his movements, the positions he was getting himself into and the way he was in particular clipping the ball through mid-wicket (was great). 'He's obviously not played the last Test match, and he's got an opportunity to work on a few things that he probably wants to work on without the pressures of playing in the game as well. 'At his best, he's as good as anyone in the world and I've no doubt he'll get back there.'
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Washout leaves Australia set for last four but potentially short of game time
If you were an Australian supporter of a certain pragmatic bent, you might be quite pleased with a washout against South Africa at the Champions Trophy. With a win already banked, you slide past your most dangerous opponent in Group B without having conceded any advantage to them. It leaves you level with them on three points and guaranteed a semi-final as long as you can beat an Afghanistan team that, despite their recent advancements and the memorably close result last time you played, you should still beat anytime, anywhere across a format as extended as 50 overs. If you're an Australian supporter of the sort of bullishness natural to Australian supporters, including any past or current Australian player, you would say that you always want to play the best teams because you'll beat them while having a grand old time in the process, and that sliding past your most dangerous opponent is just a missed opportunity to bank a second win, go to four points, and all but guarantee your semi-final before the final group game against Afghanistan comes into it. Both calculations are right, it's just a matter of how one prefers to hedge risk. The washout does work to the advantage of England, a team that lost to Australia last weekend after following a huge total with a bowling and fielding performance that was an almost impressive display of absence. The requirement for England from here remains the same: beat Afghanistan and then South Africa, get four points. But had South Africa beaten Australia on Tuesday, there was still the chance of both those teams ending on four points, leaving England out of the top two on net run rate. Now England has a potential path past either of those teams, should Australia or South Africa lose their remaining fixture. Essentially this situation has doubled England's options. Results aside, Australia would have liked another hit-out. The chase of 352 against England went as well as it could have done: finishing with 356 meant that only six international teams have posted a bigger score batting second in a win, across close to 5,000 ODIs. But the chance to build on that confidence would have been useful for this rather makeshift Australian XI as players try to settle in a configuration that will probably last no longer than this brief tournament. Seeing the white-ball wicketkeeper batting at No 5 with the Test keeper at No 6 was a curious one, for instance, where they combined for the game's decisive 146-run stand, not to mention the sight of Alex Carey without gloves or pads taking catches at mid-on. Josh Inglis had previously pushed past Carey with more dynamic scoring options during the 2023 World Cup, but was injured in England last September when Carey batted with impressive coolness and composure. It made sense that Carey's batting was good enough to keep a spot now that he's back in form, though less sense for incumbency to demand that Inglis held the gloves when Carey is the better keeper. Matt Short was able to make a decisive half-century at the top of the order, the mature-age new arrival still finding his feet at this level, while Marnus Labuschagne was able to shake perceptions of stodginess with 47 at faster than a run a ball. Glenn Maxwell shook off any disappointment at missing the recent Sri Lanka tests with a savage burst to ice the game. All of them would still have benefited from more than two matches before a potential trip to Dubai for a semi-final. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion The bowlers though might be grateful to have been spared the task against South Africa's powerful batting, given the entire lineup got smacked around at well over a run a ball by England, bar Nathan Ellis. His variations and decisions about when to use them continue to impress, and while he didn't take wickets, his ability to rein in scoring meant that other bowlers did. Australia's relative bowling weakness means more big scores may need to be chased, and while Inglis and company made it look easy, that's not the kind of task a team wants to be set too often. One game to go for Australia, then – their first in the format against Afghanistan since that fateful day in Mumbai in 2023, when Glenn Maxwell turned 91 for 6 on its head with the most outrageous innings in one-day cricket. His double hundred won't be on this scorecard, but it will doubtless be in the minds of the Afghan players. Whether that makes them focus on comeuppance or lose their focus will be up to them, but if in the meantime they've beaten England on Wednesday as they did in the last World Cup, they will also have semi-finals in their sights.
