Latest news with #BoxingDay
IOL News
17 hours ago
- Sport
- IOL News
DSG reappoints Lance Klusener despite dismal SA20 season
LANCE Klusener, coach of Durban's Super Giants has come under scrutiny due to his tactics of shifting some players from their natural positions. | Sportzpics However, Klusener, a respected figure in global cricket and one of South Africa's most celebrated all-rounders, did take the side to the final of the SA20 in the second season despite going on to lose to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape at Newlands. The Durban-based franchise reappointed Klusener despite having led the team to six losses in the third and previous edition of the tournament, as they finished at the bottom of the standings with only two victories to their name. TO the surprise of many, Durban's Super Giants delightedly announced on Tuesday that Lance Klusener will return as the franchise's head coach for the upcoming 2025/26 SA20 season, marking his fourth consecutive year leading the franchise. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬. 👊 Lance Klusener continues to lead the charge as our Head Coach 💙🤝 Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. The 53-year-old is also involved in the RPSG Group in the Indian Premier League under the Lucknow Super Giants as assistant coach and thus understands the vision of the franchise, a feat that makes him a perfect fit for the DSG. 'It's a privilege to continue this journey with the Durban's Super Giants and the RPSG Group. The support and belief shown in me are deeply appreciated. I look forward to building something even more special this season,' Klusener said. 'We've laid the foundation over the past three years. Now, it's time to build a team that can consistently challenge for the title and make Durban proud. "Durban is my home. Coaching this franchise is more than a job, it's a mission to build something enduring with our fans and players.' With the SA20 auction set for September 9, Klusener will be hoping to bolster his squad for what is a highly anticipated fourth season. 'We've done a deep review of our past season and have identified key areas for improvement. This auction gives us a crucial opportunity to strengthen our squad and return to our best.' The Super Giants will play the tournament opener at the picturesque Newlands against defending champions MI Cape Town on Boxing Day before they host them at Kingsmead on December 28. They will then host the Joburg Super Kings before they go back on the road on January 1.
The Star
a day ago
- Sport
- The Star
Cricket-Future uncertain for Australia's Konstas after Windies wipeout
FILE PHOTO: Cricket - World Test Championship Final - Australia Practice - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 9, 2025 Australia's Sam Konstas during practice Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo (Reuters) -Amid the back slaps and banter in a victorious Australian dressing room, teen opener Sam Konstas's celebrations may feel bittersweet at the end of his forgettable test series in the West Indies. Australia completed a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies on Monday with a 176-run rout in the pink-ball test in Kingston. But Konstas can claim little credit. A five-ball duck in the second innings at Sabina Park saw the 19-year-old, who has been touted as the "future of Australian batting", finish with 50 runs from his six innings at an average of 8.33. Only Jayden Seales, the West Indies fast bowler and tailender, had fewer runs among players who competed in all three matches. With England's Jofra Archer and the first Ashes test looming in four months, alarm bells are ringing in Australia. "The prospect of Konstas facing Jofra Archer with the first ball of the Ashes on November 21 – potentially delivered at 155km/h – doesn't feel like a fair fight," the Sydney Morning Herald said. Konstas also grassed two slips catches off Mitchell Starc's bowling on the final day at Sabina Park as Australia bowled out the hosts for 27, the second-lowest test innings score after New Zealand's 26 against England in 1955. Last December, Konstas took the cricket world by storm when he scored 60 on debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day, repeatedly ramping India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. He has not passed 25 runs in an innings since, holding an average of 16.30 from five tests. Australia have discarded plenty of players for lesser batting crimes but selectors are desperate for Konstas to make the grade and fill the void at opener which has lingered since David Warner's retirement. The West Indies pitches were surprisingly tough and Konstas was not alone in his struggles. His opening partner Usman Khawaja also had a poor series, averaging 19.50, while Travis Head was the top performer with a modest average of 37.33. Australia captain Pat Cummins was loath to criticise his batting teammates in the conditions. "It's really hard to judge, I think," he told reporters. "There'll be a few of the guys who of course wish they could have done better and if they had another crack at it maybe did a few things differently. "No doubt it was tough." Konstas will look forward to returning to home pitches where last year he racked up centuries for fun in the Sheffield Shield. Still only a teenager, he has plenty of time to develop as a player, but only a handful of Shield matches to convince he belongs in Australia's Ashes lineup. (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Future uncertain for Australia's Konstas after Windies wipeout
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Amid the back slaps and banter in a victorious Australian dressing room, teen opener Sam Konstas's celebrations may feel bittersweet at the end of his forgettable test series in the West Indies. Australia completed a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies on Monday with a 176-run rout in the pink-ball test in Kingston. But Konstas can claim little credit. A five-ball duck in the second innings at Sabina Park saw the 19-year-old, who has been touted as the "future of Australian batting", finish with 50 runs from his six innings at an average of 8.33. Only Jayden Seales, the West Indies fast bowler and tailender, had fewer runs among players who competed in all three matches. With England's Jofra Archer and the first Ashes test looming in four months, alarm bells are ringing in Australia. "The prospect of Konstas facing Jofra Archer with the first ball of the Ashes on November 21 – potentially delivered at 155km/h – doesn't feel like a fair fight," the Sydney Morning Herald said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw acts against 4 law firms, 1 lawyer over seized properties Singapore Air India crash: SIA, Scoot find no issues with Boeing 787 fuel switches after precautionary checks Opinion What we can do to fight the insidious threat of 'zombie vapes' Singapore $230,000 in fines issued after MOM checks safety at over 500 workplaces from April to June Business 'Some cannot source outside China': S'pore firms' challenges and support needed amid US tariffs Opinion Sumiko at 61: Everything goes south when you age, changing your face from a triangle to a rectangle Multimedia From local to global: What made top news in Singapore over the last 180 years? Singapore 'Nobody deserves to be alone': Why Mummy and Acha have fostered over 20 children in the past 22 years Konstas also grassed two slips catches off Mitchell Starc's bowling on the final day at Sabina Park as Australia bowled out the hosts for 27, the second-lowest test innings score after New Zealand's 26 against England in 1955. Last December, Konstas took the cricket world by storm when he scored 60 on debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day, repeatedly ramping India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. He has not passed 25 runs in an innings since, holding an average of 16.30 from five tests. Australia have discarded plenty of players for lesser batting crimes but selectors are desperate for Konstas to make the grade and fill the void at opener which has lingered since David Warner's retirement. The West Indies pitches were surprisingly tough and Konstas was not alone in his struggles. His opening partner Usman Khawaja also had a poor series, averaging 19.50, while Travis Head was the top performer with a modest average of 37.33. Australia captain Pat Cummins was loath to criticise his batting teammates in the conditions. "It's really hard to judge, I think," he told reporters. "There'll be a few of the guys who of course wish they could have done better and if they had another crack at it maybe did a few things differently. "No doubt it was tough." Konstas will look forward to returning to home pitches where last year he racked up centuries for fun in the Sheffield Shield. Still only a teenager, he has plenty of time to develop as a player, but only a handful of Shield matches to convince he belongs in Australia's Ashes lineup. REUTERS
Perth Now
a day ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Boland the best in 100 years, but remains unlucky man
Scott Boland could lay claim to being Australia's unluckiest ever cricketer, after adding a Test hat-trick to a magical late-career surge since his famous 2021 Boxing Day debut. Statistically the best Test bowler in more than 100 years, Boland became just the 10th Australian man to take a hat-trick on Monday (Tuesday AEST) in Jamaica. His haul came on a record-breaking day for the tourists, who bowled West Indies out for just 27 to wrap up a 176-run win and 3-0 sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy. Starc was the chief destroyer with 6-9 up front, but Boland again vindicated the selectors' call to go with four quicks and leave out a fit Nathan Lyon for the first time in 12 years. Boland's inclusion also allowed him to join Glenn McGrath as the only paceman to play for Australia after his 36th birthday in the last 60 years. In Australia's 39 Tests since his 2021 debut, Boland has played just 14 of them for a hat-trick, 6-7 on debut in 2021 and 10-wicket match haul in Sydney last summer. All of it prompting Starc to label the seamer one of the unluckiest men to ever wear the Baggy Green. "He would have played so many more Test matches in another team," Starc said. "But every time he comes in he is on the money, like we saw this week. He is never far from the perfect length. "He is preparing all the time to play, and this week he got his opportunity and showed what a wonderful Test bowler he is." When Boland's next Test will come remains unclear. Selectors have repeatedly shown that Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins maintain top billing in Australia's squad, with Boland only picked ahead of any of them once. The final three Tests of this summer's Ashes will be played over a 23-day window, potentially opening door for the Victorian to come in if one of the big three are rested. Otherwise he could be forced to wait again, despite having the seventh-best bowling average in Test history with 16.53, and the best of any bowler in the past 100 years. Boland has been close to hat-tricks before, but nailed his execution in Kingston when he took the top of Jomel Warrican's off stump. He had previously discarded Justin Greaves and Shamar Joseph, edging the former off before having Joseph trapped lbw on review. "Today was three classic Scotty Boland wickets," Cummins said. "Three right at the stumps or not far away. Really happy for him. "He has spent a lot of time running the drinks in the past year or two when the other guys are fit, but he is always quality when he comes in." LIST OF TEST HAT-TRICKS BY AUSTRALIANS: * Fred Spofforth v England, Melbourne 1878-79 * Hugh Trumble v England, Melbourne 1901-02 * Hugh Trumble v England, Melbourne 1903-04 * Jimmy Matthews v South Africa, Manchester 1912 (1st innings) * Jimmy Matthews v South Africa, Manchester 1912 (2nd innings) * Lindsay Kline v South Africa, Cape Town 1957-58 * Merv Hughes v West Indies, Perth 1988-89 * Damien Fleming v Pakistan, Rawalpindi 1994-95 * Shane Warne v England, Melbourne 1994-95 * Glenn McGrath v West Indies, Perth 2000-01 * Peter Siddle v England, Brisbane 2010-11 * Scott Boland v West Indies, Kingston 2025
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Worst in 41 years: Konstas makes another duck in latest nightmare ahead of Ashes
Right now, Konstas isn't just a walking wicket – he's a walking headline. This was meant to be his coming-of-age tour, the way India 2004 was for Michael Clarke. But all the talk of flat West Indian pitches never materialised. This has been a bizarre Test, with 15 wickets falling on day two. Australia scraped their way to 6-99 in their second innings, to lead the West Indies by 181 runs after Scott Boland's three-wicket haul helped the visitors roll the home side for 143. Another three-day match beckons. Australian wickets fell like flies under lights as Konstas (0), Khawaja (14), Steve Smith (5), Travis Head (16) and Beau Webster (13) perished cheaply. Cam Green's unbeaten 42 was the equivalent of a hundred on a flat pitch. The biggest story of the day, however, has already been written five times in this series. As soon as Konstas edged to Roston Chase in the gully, off Shamar Joseph, there was stunned silence among Australian fans who'd flown to the other side of the world to see a player hailed as a generational talent. From six innings in the Caribbean, Konstas has made 50 runs at 8.33 – and was dropped three times. He also should have been run out on day one here. Not since 1984 – when Steve Smith (41 runs at 8.2) and Wayne Phillips (45 runs at 7.5) endured lean runs at the top of the order – has an Australian opener made fewer runs across three Tests in a series. The fall from Boxing Day glory has been profound for a cricketer who now looks lost at Test level. Since that late Christmas present – a sparkling 60 from 65 balls that helped the nation fall in love with Konstas – he has managed 103 Test runs from nine innings at an average of 11.44. His overall Test average is 16.3. In the Sheffield Shield, Konstas then made scores of 3, 22, 10, 17, 6, 50, 5 and 68. It is there he must now stake his claim to remain at the top of the order for the Ashes. The prospect of Konstas facing Jofra Archer with the first ball of the Ashes on November 21 – potentially delivered at 155km/h – doesn't feel like a fair fight. Within half an hour of Konstas walking off Sabina Park, Cricket Australia released its domestic schedule. There will be four rounds of Sheffield Shield before the Ashes opener, with Konstas' NSW side set to play Western Australia (October 4-7), Victoria (October 15-18), Queensland (October 28 to 31) and another match against Victoria at the SCG (November 10 to 13). For all of Konstas' struggles, there's not much those around him can do. His father and brother have been on tour offering support, while his batting coach Tahmid Islam was in Barbados. Australian skipper Pat Cummins has fostered a strong environment for Konstas and insists he'll be given time to prosper. Loading Cummins and McDonald were seated together in the Australian viewing area when Konstas registered his fifth single-digit score from 10 innings. Selector Tony Dodemaide wasn't far away. Usman Khawaja also has Konstas to thank. If not for the teenager's troubles, more heat would be on the 38-year-old. Aside from a score of 47, it's been a poor series: 117 runs at 19.5, with his latest innings of 14 again unconvincing. That is a conversation for another day.
