Latest news with #MaryleboneCricketClub
News18
9 hours ago
- Sport
- News18
ICC WTC Final, SA Vs AUS: Three Key Battles To Watch Out For
Last Updated: Defending champions Australia take on South Africa in the final of the ICC World Test Championship. Reigning champions Australia will face South Africa in the World Test Championship final at Lord's, starting on Wednesday. Here are three key contests that could shape the outcome of this significant game: Batsmen from both teams will face a stern test against high-quality fast bowlers. Australia's captain, Pat Cummins, is on the verge of reaching 300 Test wickets, with 294 wickets in 67 matches at an average of just 22. He will be joined by left-arm quick Mitchell Starc, who has 382 Test wickets at 27. Australia's main decision will be whether to recall the experienced Josh Hazlewood, who has struggled with injuries, or opt for Scott Boland. They faced a similar choice two years ago when Boland was picked over Hazlewood for the successful WTC final against India. Regardless of Australia's decision, South African openers Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton will have a tough task ahead as they aim to build a solid foundation. South Africa coach Shukri Conrad mentioned: 'I think there's a quiet confidence among the batting group… While there might not be superstar names among them, I think as a collective we're pretty confident." Australia has had difficulties filling the gap at the top of their order since David Warner's retirement 17 months ago. Four batsmen have attempted to partner Usman Khawaja, with Marnus Labuschagne expected to be the fifth if he plays his first Test at the top of the order this week. Kagiso Rabada, returning from a one-month ban for recreational drug use, will lead South Africa's attack, aiming to add to his impressive Test record of 327 wickets at 22 each, with the support of the formidable Marco Jansen. South African left-armer Keshav Maharaj, who is just two wickets shy of 200 Test wickets, should not be underestimated. Both Cummins and South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma will want their spinners to control the game to avoid overbowling their fast bowlers, as well as to take wickets. Australia's star batsman Steve Smith noted: 'I think spin will play a big part, particularly as the game wears on. It does look like quite a dry surface and I think the footmarks will definitely come into play as the game wears on." Wicketkeepers to Set the Tone Lord's can be challenging for overseas wicketkeepers due to the significant swing after the ball pitches. Standing further back to counter the swing increases the risk of edges not carrying to the slip cordon. These technical challenges were the least of Alex Carey's concerns two years ago when his controversial stumping of England's Jonny Bairstow led to a major row between Australian players and Marylebone Cricket Club members. Carey, who scored his maiden Test hundred against South Africa in December 2022, has been a consistent performer with both bat and gloves. Similarly, South Africa's Kyle Verreynne has already scored four hundreds in 24 Tests and has 77 dismissals to his name. With AFP Inputs
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
A forgotten cricketing bond between India and Pakistan
Considering the current dire relations between India and Pakistan, it's hard to believe that not too long back — 1996 to be precise — a combined India-Pakistan cricket XI faced Sri Lanka in Colombo in a show of Asian sporting and diplomatic solidarity. And even more surprisingly, 70 years before that, a combined Hindu-Muslim team took on the mighty MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) in Bombay (now Mumbai) during a historical tour of India. The possibility now of a bilateral cricket series in the near or distant future in any of the three formats is well-nigh impossible. But it was not always like that. The first major step back was after the terror attack on Mumbai in November 2008, which resulted in 178 fatalities. Just months earlier, in the inaugural season of the IPL (Indian Premier League), a number of Pakistani cricketers had been warmly received by their franchise fans across the length and breadth of India. The horrors of 26/11, however, meant that they would never again be seen in the world's most popular T20 franchise league. The last time India and Pakistan met in a Test match was at Bengaluru in December 2007. But it was the combined administrative and financial clout of the Indian and Pakistani cricket boards in 1987 — now at loggerheads — and 1996 (plus Sri Lanka that year) that pulled the rug from under the feet of the 'Big Two' of world cricket: England and Australia. After hosting the first three World Cups in England (1975, 1979, 1983), the power centre had moved to the sub-continent, and subsequently, exclusively to India. That the Indian and Pakistan cricket boards joined hands to host the 1987 (Reliance) World Cup and the 1996 (Wills) World Cup, with Sri Lanka as well, was a triumph of cricket diplomacy. There was another twist in 1996. On the eve of the World Cup, Sri Lankan capital Colombo, which was to host many matches, was hit by a massive bomb blast, which killed over 80 people. This spooked the Australian and West Indian teams, who boycotted their matches in Colombo and forfeited their points. As a counter and to show that the Sri Lankan capital was safe, the PILCOM (Pak-Indo-Lanka Joint Management Committee) organised a match in Colombo against the hosts. But the team was no ordinary one. It was a joint India-Pakistan team (named Wills XI after the sponsors) captained by India's Mohammad Azharuddin and including Sachin Tendulkar and Wasim Akram. It contained six Pakistanis and five Indians, with Anil Kumble winning the Man of the Match award for his match-winning spell of 4 for 12. The team was met with great enthusiasm not only by Sri Lankan fans who warmly appreciated the gesture of South Asian solidarity, but also by the cricket fraternities of both India and Pakistan. But there was a similar match 70 years earlier in pre-Partition India, staged at the Bombay Gymkhana, between the MCC, which toured India in the 1926-27 season, and 'Hindus and Muslims', which ended in a draw in December 1926. While motley English teams had been touring India since 1889-90, this was the first which had an official stamp, MCC being the custodians of the game in England and a huge voice in world cricket too. Captained by Arthur Gilligan, the idea behind the tour was to gauge India's eligibility for Test status, which was duly granted in 1929 (India played its first Test match at Lord's in 1932). The joint team had seven Hindus and four Muslims, and was captained by Palwankar Vithal, the brother of the celebrated left-arm spinner Palwankar Baloo, who had been the lone bright spot with 100 wickets on the disastrous 1911 All-India tour of England. The failure of that 1911 team set back by many years India's chances of gaining official Test status, but Baloo's inclusion was remarkable in that he was a Dalit and one of the early heroes of Babasaheb Ambedkar. His younger brother Vithal (one of four cricket-playing siblings) captaining the joint team against the MCC was another sign that Indian cricket was able to rise above caste and religious considerations. There had been two earlier matches played by the combined Hindus and Muslims team, in 1917 and 1922, both at the Bombay Gymkhana and both against a joint Europeans and Parsis team, the latter being the first community to take to cricket in India. But neither was as high-profile as the 1926 match. Long before the IPL captured the imagination of Indian cricket fans, it was the cricket tournament held in Bombay between 1892-93 to 1945-46 that had a huge following. What was unusual about this tournament, which grew from a match-up between the Europeans and the Parsis to the Pentangular with five teams competing, was that it was fought between the various religious communities of India — Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Europeans and the Rest (consisting of Indian Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and the occasional Jew). Such tournaments on religious grounds were also held in Sind and Lahore, pre-Partition. But it was the 'Bombay Tournament' which had the biggest names and drew huge crowds first at the Bombay Gymkhana and then at the Brabourne Stadium from the late 1930s. It was this high-profile tournament that attracted the attention and ire of Mahatma Gandhi, who led a campaign for its abolishment as he felt a sporting event held on communal grounds sent the wrong signals to the British Raj when he had launched his Quit India movement. Though his campaign was ultimately successful, players from both sides and spectators too always attested to the fact that there was never any ill-feeling between the players and the fans on opposing sides. If anything, it brought the communities closer together. Such a sporting event has never been staged before or after. The writer's latest book, What If…? Indian Cricket's Counter-Factual History was released last month
Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Steve Smith not thinking about Ashes as Australia prepare for World Test final
England have been vocal about their long-term planning being geared towards building a team capable of wresting the urn from Australia for the first time in a decade ahead of the 2025-26 series Down Under. However, Smith is zoned in on this week's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, starting on Wednesday, before Australia head to the Caribbean for three Tests and five T20s. Steve Smith trains at Lord's ahead of the World Test Championship final (Ben Whitley/PA) 'The Ashes is a big series but you also can't look too far ahead,' said Smith, winner of the Compton–Miller Medal for player of the Ashes series in 2017-18 and 2019. 'You've got to keep playing each game as it comes, every game is important with the World Test Championship on the line. 'That's the reason it came in: to make every Test more relevant. We go to the West Indies next week and we've got a series there, that'll be the next focus after this game.' Australia's last Test visit to Lord's in the 2023 Ashes saw an extraordinary bust-up between a couple of players and Marylebone Cricket Club members, one of whom was expelled and two others suspended. Asked about sort of reception he is anticipating from the members this time, Smith replied: 'Unsure, and I'm actually not fussed either way.' Australia defeated India in the 2023 final and are overwhelming favourites to see off the Proteas, whose place at the showpiece has been questioned, including by former England captain Michael Vaughan. Vaughan said they got there 'on the back of beating pretty much nobody', while ex-Australia spinner Kerry O'Keeffe likened their run to 'making the Wimbledon final without playing a seed along the way'. South Africa played only a dozen Tests in the 2023-25 edition and did not have to face either England or Australia, although six successive wins saw them book their spot in the final with a match to spare. Head coach Shukri Conrad said: 'I'm tired of speaking about it, we're here and that's all that matters. We get a chance to walk away World Test champions. 'Playing Australia, it doesn't get any bigger than that. What's gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute. We're quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them. 'We still hold Test cricket very dearly, our fixture list might not speak to that, but this is the biggest final all of our players have ever been involved in and their biggest match.' Stuart Broad joined South Africa as a consultant on Monday (Ben Whitley/PA) Conrad and his coaching staff had dinner on Sunday evening with former England seamer Stuart Broad, who took 113 of his 604 Test wickets at Lord's and has more dismissals against Australia than anyone else. Broad joined South Africa as a consultant at practice on Monday to pass on tips to the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen about dealing with the notorious slope at the home of cricket. 'It was just a casual chat and if I didn't call time at 10:30pm, I think he'd still be there chatting to us,' Conrad said. 'It was really enlightening, really casual and everybody walked away thinking 'that was great', Broady included.'
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
Steve Smith not thinking about Ashes as Australia prepare for World Test final
England have been vocal about their long-term planning being geared towards building a team capable of wresting the urn from Australia for the first time in a decade ahead of the 2025-26 series Down Under. However, Smith is zoned in on this week's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, starting on Wednesday, before Australia head to the Caribbean for three Tests and five T20s. 'The Ashes is a big series but you also can't look too far ahead,' said Smith, winner of the Compton–Miller Medal for player of the Ashes series in 2017-18 and 2019. 'You've got to keep playing each game as it comes, every game is important with the World Test Championship on the line. 'That's the reason it came in: to make every Test more relevant. We go to the West Indies next week and we've got a series there, that'll be the next focus after this game.' Australia's last Test visit to Lord's in the 2023 Ashes saw an extraordinary bust-up between a couple of players and Marylebone Cricket Club members, one of whom was expelled and two others suspended. Asked about sort of reception he is anticipating from the members this time, Smith replied: 'Unsure, and I'm actually not fussed either way.' Australia defeated India in the 2023 final and are overwhelming favourites to see off the Proteas, whose place at the showpiece has been questioned, including by former England captain Michael Vaughan. Vaughan said they got there 'on the back of beating pretty much nobody', while ex-Australia spinner Kerry O'Keeffe likened their run to 'making the Wimbledon final without playing a seed along the way'. South Africa played only a dozen Tests in the 2023-25 edition and did not have to face either England or Australia, although six successive wins saw them book their spot in the final with a match to spare. Head coach Shukri Conrad said: 'I'm tired of speaking about it, we're here and that's all that matters. We get a chance to walk away World Test champions. 'Playing Australia, it doesn't get any bigger than that. What's gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute. We're quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them. 'We still hold Test cricket very dearly, our fixture list might not speak to that, but this is the biggest final all of our players have ever been involved in and their biggest match.' Conrad and his coaching staff had dinner on Sunday evening with former England seamer Stuart Broad, who took 113 of his 604 Test wickets at Lord's and has more dismissals against Australia than anyone else. Broad joined South Africa as a consultant at practice on Monday to pass on tips to the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen about dealing with the notorious slope at the home of cricket. 'It was just a casual chat and if I didn't call time at 10:30pm, I think he'd still be there chatting to us,' Conrad said. 'It was really enlightening, really casual and everybody walked away thinking 'that was great', Broady included.'
Leader Live
a day ago
- Sport
- Leader Live
Steve Smith not thinking about Ashes as Australia prepare for World Test final
England have been vocal about their long-term planning being geared towards building a team capable of wresting the urn from Australia for the first time in a decade ahead of the 2025-26 series Down Under. However, Smith is zoned in on this week's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, starting on Wednesday, before Australia head to the Caribbean for three Tests and five T20s. 'The Ashes is a big series but you also can't look too far ahead,' said Smith, winner of the Compton–Miller Medal for player of the Ashes series in 2017-18 and 2019. 'You've got to keep playing each game as it comes, every game is important with the World Test Championship on the line. 'That's the reason it came in: to make every Test more relevant. We go to the West Indies next week and we've got a series there, that'll be the next focus after this game.' Australia's last Test visit to Lord's in the 2023 Ashes saw an extraordinary bust-up between a couple of players and Marylebone Cricket Club members, one of whom was expelled and two others suspended. Asked about sort of reception he is anticipating from the members this time, Smith replied: 'Unsure, and I'm actually not fussed either way.' Australia defeated India in the 2023 final and are overwhelming favourites to see off the Proteas, whose place at the showpiece has been questioned, including by former England captain Michael Vaughan. Vaughan said they got there 'on the back of beating pretty much nobody', while ex-Australia spinner Kerry O'Keeffe likened their run to 'making the Wimbledon final without playing a seed along the way'. South Africa played only a dozen Tests in the 2023-25 edition and did not have to face either England or Australia, although six successive wins saw them book their spot in the final with a match to spare. Head coach Shukri Conrad said: 'I'm tired of speaking about it, we're here and that's all that matters. We get a chance to walk away World Test champions. 'Playing Australia, it doesn't get any bigger than that. What's gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute. We're quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them. 'We still hold Test cricket very dearly, our fixture list might not speak to that, but this is the biggest final all of our players have ever been involved in and their biggest match.' Conrad and his coaching staff had dinner on Sunday evening with former England seamer Stuart Broad, who took 113 of his 604 Test wickets at Lord's and has more dismissals against Australia than anyone else. Broad joined South Africa as a consultant at practice on Monday to pass on tips to the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen about dealing with the notorious slope at the home of cricket. 'It was just a casual chat and if I didn't call time at 10:30pm, I think he'd still be there chatting to us,' Conrad said. 'It was really enlightening, really casual and everybody walked away thinking 'that was great', Broady included.'
