Latest news with #Cricketers
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Australia get too clever and pay the price for batting order jumble
At a little before 1pm on a Saturday afternoon in London, a group of Australian cricketers stood around blinking in the sunlight, looking confused, like they had just popped up from a green tube in an unexpectedly bright part of the Koopa Kingdom. Less than a day earlier they had been right on top, happily on their way to a second consecutive World Test Championship title. In less than three sessions of stubbornness and brilliance, South Africa had taken that away. Sport is about creating an arena for the unexpected and some participants get hung up on the idea that acknowledging differences between participants is a form of disrespect. But the resource disparity should have made this contest one-sided. It was a triumph over politics and economics as much as over a rival group of players. In Australia, Test cricket's popularity brings about broadcast deals and ticket sales worth dozens of times the revenue their opponent brings in and underpins regular five-match outings against heavy hitters India and England. In South Africa, administrators have spent the past few years consciously shoving Tests to the margins, abandoning genuine series in favour of two-match coincidences, scheduling those as rarely as possible, and to all appearances quietly hoping for the format's early death so that they can stop bothering with it. An equation of small crowds at long matches versus lucrative ones for three hours means the problem is self-evident, but there is no appetite to influence that rather than it accept it as immutable. So for Australia, this was almost a formality in a long few years of achievement. From late 2021, there was a home Ashes win, the first trip to Pakistan in decades for a series win, a creditable comeback in India after being belted in two matches, their first World Test Championship just before their one-day World Cup, bringing the Ashes home from England, then a hefty home win to end India's recent Australian success. Soon comes the next home Ashes, then taking stock of which players might try to push on to another England trip and World Cup in 2027 and which might call it a day. This WTC was another box to tick on the way through. That they have bungled it will make this game more desirable in retrospect, for the public and the players. People who would have greeted a win with a shrug will be incensed by the loss. But when you do not achieve what you comfortably should, examination follows. Australia went in with a discombobulated top order, picking players out of position, after a couple of years of shifting and shuffling more than Shivnarine Chanderpaul. It s important to acknowledge that picking a team for a one-off match is a lottery. All batters fail several times for each success, so with two innings available, you could select the most in-form player in the world and be rewarded with a pair. Success needs someone to buck the statistical likelihood, like Aiden Markram did with the innings of his life. Nor is it an acid-soaked delusion to ask the player batting three to open or the player at four to move to three. But equally, it is not perverse to question whether a cascade of unconventional choices might have influenced underperformance. 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 For Australia, that started with picking Sam Konstas in Australia but not being willing to pick him afterwards. Thinking that it was too outlandish here meant Marnus Labuschagne was moved up and Cameron Green went into that vacated spot. Green had only recently gone from six to four and batting three against a moving ball was evidently too much. Only 22 teams have won a Test in which their first drop batted twice and made as few as four runs. Labuschagne was not the worst, batting an hour and a half in each innings, but his two dismissals chasing width opened up paths for South Africa. Usman Khawaja made his career-best score recently in Sri Lanka against spin, but has noticeably struggled against pace for the past year or more. With those three scoring 49 between them, and a double failure from Travis Head, Australia did not have enough runs by the time the pitch flattened out on day three, needing another hundred to defend. South Africa played the chase to perfection, dynamic early and calm late. The bowling quartet of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon is prolific, with Hazlewood soon to join the others in excess of 300 wickets, but they are not invincible in batting conditions. This is their 33rd Test together, miles more than any other quartet, but nine of those Tests have been lost. The setup's willingness to back its core players can be a strength, but when it fails like this, it can suggest cockiness. The batting order jumble may only be solved short term against West Indies by Steve Smith's finger injury, allowing Green to resume at four and Labuschagne at three, freeing Konstas to open. By the time Smith returns, Labuschagne should either have found runs or found the bench and Green should either be an all-rounder again or making way for someone who is. It will not solve the week just gone, though, when Australia got a little too clever and South Africa outdid them by simply playing smart.
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Smith INJURED after cruel slips drop
Cricket: Steve Smith has suffered a sickening finger injury which could require surgery during day three of the World Test Championship final.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
CONTROVERSY! Should this have been out?
Cricket: South Africa batsman David Bedingham might have got away with one after handling the ball before Alex Carey could catch it.
News.com.au
11-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Australian cricket mourns the death of Bob Cowper, dead at 84
Bob Cowper will always be remembered for one of Australia's finest Test innings – and the colourful quote which followed it. Victorian batsman Cowper, who died in Melbourne on Saturday after a lengthy battle with cancer at age 84, produced one of Australia's most remarkable Test innings when he made 307 against England at the MCG in 1966. An intelligent, engaging man with strong opinions which stretched well beyond the cricket field, he was well liked by cricket journalists of that era who, only a few days before that innings, had a quiet word in his ear. They told him, after he had been made 12th man earlier in that series in Adelaide, his career would go up another level if he 'got fit'' and worked harder off the field. Bob Cowper pictured batting for Australia during his decorated career After his 12-hour 307 the same journalists were walking into the dressing room to interview Cowper when he emerged from the shower and called out to them from across the room 'hey boys, how f----- fit am I now?'' Boom. Boom. It was a sharp quote from a sharp man. 'Wallaby'' Bob Cowper's Test record was outstanding – 2061 runs 27 matches at 46 including five centuries – but he shocked teammates by retiring at age 28 to move into the world of stock broking and merchant banking. He could have made a fine Australian captain but, dollar wise, it proved a master stroke for he became Australia's most wealthy former Test cricketer, a multi-millionaire when that was a jaw-dropping achievement. Bob Cowper (second from right), wih Victorian teammates Alan Connolly, Bill Lawry Cowper and Ian Redpath. It was estimated way back in 1987 his total worth was just over $100 million and he lived a significant portion of his life in the tax haven of Monaco. No Australian cricketer did better post cricket than Cowper who later became an International Cricket Council official. Always his own man, Cowper stayed in Monaco when Australia had a mass baggy green cap presentation to its former players in 2003. 'Cricket is a past chapter for me,' Cowper told Fairfax media at the time. 'I'm proud of what I achieved. It was totally different in those days . . . everyone had another career running alongside cricket. It would have been a great honour to be there but, as you can imagine, it's a little far to go.'' Originally published as Cricket world mourns the death of Bob Cowper, Australia's $100m batting legend
SBS Australia
09-05-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Evening News Bulletin 9 May 2025
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with . TRANSCRIPT: New faces welcomed at Labor's first post-election caucus meeting; A group of young men arrested over alleged dating app attacks; Australian cricketers looking to fly home amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan. New faces have been welcomed to the fold at Labor's first Caucus meeting since their emphatic victory at the federal election. More than a dozen new MPs have joined the ranks after Labor increased its seats from 77 to at least 90 as the count continues. A record number of women will also be taking their seats in parliament, with at least 46 seats to be held by women in the Labor government out of a total of 150 in the House of Representatives. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told the party room he's proud of Labor's diversity. "On that first caucus, there were 22 people, and guess what they had in common? They were all blokes, every one of them, and it was a very narrow picture, even then, of what Australia was. I look around this room and I see a representative group. A majority of women." More than thirty people have been charged in Victoria over dating app attacks on men. Investigators allege that several groups of offenders, mostly young males aged between 13 and 20, are responsible for assaulting, robbing, threatening and harassing other men with homophobic comments, men they allegedly met after posing as legitimate users on platforms to arrange meetings. Division Acting Superintendent Carolyn Deer has described the offending as concerning, saying it would not be tolerated. The US says it is close to a solution on how to deliver aid into Gaza, two months after an Israeli blockade began. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce has given few details about the new mechanism, but a document seen by some aid organisations is understood to be proposing four secure distribution sites, each built to serve 300,000 people, where pre-packaged rations, hygiene kits and medical supplies would be distributed through tightly controlled corridors. Israel's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance has forced a leading aid group to shut its community soup kitchens as it faces empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave. But government spokesman David Mencer says the situation is not Israel's fault. "The story of the hunger which currently exists in Gaza, this is hunger which is engineered by Hamas. It's very, very important to remember that... They have repeatedly taken control of the aid... Now, Israel is actively exploring mechanisms to ensure the future aid reaches only those in need and not the Hamas terrorist regime." Pakistan has declared the responsibility to de-escalate tensions lies with India, after days of strikes and conflict that have killed over 40 people. Pakistan's ambassador to the US Rizwan Saeed Sheikh has made the remarks in an interview with CNN. Pakistan and India have accused each other of launching drone attacks in the last few days, with Islamabad's defence minister calling further retaliation "increasingly certain". European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas is among the global leaders to urge New Delhi and Islamabad to find a resolution. "Nobody wins from this war. So it is clear that they have to really exercise restraint... And it is important that the channels of communication remain open and will be opened by the military commanders." Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has confirmed she will be heading to China later this year. The Premier says the September visit will involve discussions on the state's newly developed China economic strategy. But Ms Allan says the visit will also represent a new era of respect for Victorians from the Chinese community. She says she wants to make the case – in an era of Trump-style rhetoric – that Victorians from overseas are a proud part of the state's story to the world. 'We have bonds of friendships, strong cultural ties that go back – go back to the gold rush era… Beautiful buildings like this one that were built on the back of that gold rush era is how our relationship with China started. And to this day it is an incredibly strong one.' Julie Fragar has won this year's Archibald Prize with a portrait of artist Justene Williams. The winning work is titled Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene), and is painted in monochrome with touches of colour, showing the artist floating among the stars above the materials of making art. Brisbane-based Fragar is a four-time Archibald Prize finalist. She is also the 13th woman to win since the prize's inception in 1921. Australian cricketers playing in India and Pakistan's T20 competitions are facing an uncertain time as conflict increases between the two countries. A number of cricket stars are understood to be on the verge of flying home, or to Dubai, as the rising tensions threaten to postpone the IPL. Some players based in India could fly back to Australia as soon as Saturday to escape the conflict, which has already forced organisers to abandon the Ricky Ponting-coached Punjab Kings' match against Mitchell Starc's Delhi in Dharamsala.
