Latest news with #TestCareer
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gus Atkinson interview: Oval Invincibles bowler targets Hundred impact before Ashes shot
Looking back at the year that Gus Atkinson made a stunning start to his Test career, it is unsurprising that a solitary appearance in the Hundred does not immediately spring to mind. The England seamer earned a Test debut against West Indies a year ago. By the end of the match he had 12 wickets to his name. Fast forward to the end of 2024 and he had taken 52 scalps, more than any other England players in the calendar year. There was also a Test hundred at Lord's for good measure. In amongst that, Atkinson's Oval Invincibles team-mates defended their Hundred title. The 27-year-old's contribution amounted to ten balls bowled in the final group-stage match, but the international calendar this year offers a window for a more significant role. 'Last year I only got to play one game, which was a shame," Atkinson tells Standard Sport. 'Obviously this year I've been injured for two months. Things might have been different if I'd played all five Tests, there might have been a chance that England pulled me out of the Hundred. 'But playing the one Test and then some white-ball cricket is exciting. 'Getting the chance to play for the two-time winners and trying to win that third one on the bounce will be good.' Atkinson's opening Hundred match will be his first white-ball appearance since an ODI against India in February. He was named in the England squad for the subsequent Champions Trophy but did not feature in a disastrous campaign. 'I felt like I wasn't really prepared well for that series, I hadn't played much white-ball cricket at all," Atkinson said. 'Red ball has been my priority in the last year or so." That will change over the coming weeks when Atkinson lines up for the Oval Invincibles. It is once again an incredibly strong side, with Rashid Khan a "very cool" addition to a squad already containing the likes of Sam Curran, Sam Billings and Will Jacks. Atkinson is ready to play his part after returning to fitness. His flying start to life in the Test arena was halted by a hamstring injury picked up against Zimbabwe this summer. England have been cautious over his recovery and Atkinson had to wait until the fifth and final Test of the India series to make his return. Eight wickets on his home ground, including 5/33 in the first innings, was a swift reminder of what he brings to the attack. 'It was frustrating," Atkinson says of the hamstring injury. "I had the India series very much on my mind leading into the summer. 'I've never really had a muscle injury like that before. It came as a bit of a surprise. I was out fielding with my injury and it was definitely worse than we thought it was going to be. 'We thought it might be a few days of resting. We didn't think it would be this long. 'It's been quite frustrating, especially because I've been able to bowl. I bowled in Leeds for the first Test off a full run-up but not quite at 100 per cent." Efforts to build up his match fitness involved an outing for club side Spencer in Surrey Cricket Championship Premier Division. What did he sense the Sunbury batters were feeling as he marked out his run-up? Atkinson graciously points out his figures of 0/36 from his eight overs. 'I didn't take any wickets or anything! 'They're still good players. Cricket is one of those sports where it's small margins between being right at the top and a club player." Following the epic drawn Test series against India, England have white-ball fixtures against South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand before the spotlight shifts firmly to the Ashes at the end of the year. Despite having now taken 63 Test wickets at 22.01, Atkinson still feels he has something to prove when asked how much of a target being in the side for that first Test in Perth in November is. After a lengthy pause, he responds: 'It's difficult. People on the outside would say I haven't been tested much in Test cricket. 'You've got Australia and you've got India as the two big series. That's why it's disappointing to miss so much of the series this summer. 'I think if I can get a good block of cricket now leading up to Australia - there's no red-ball cricket now before that series so it's important that I play a lot of white-ball games." Atkinson spent a season in Australia playing grade cricket when he finished school but is set for a slightly more high-profile experience this winter. He could have a crucial role in a series that will define the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, and Atkinson is determined to play his part in ensuring the history books are kind. 'I love playing under Stokesy as a captain," he says. "I don't know what it is, but he just makes you want to do well and put in big performances. He gets that out of players. You want to run through a brick wall for him basically.' This will be the first time since the 2002/03 Ashes series that England have travelled to Australia without James Anderson or Stuart Broad in their ranks. There is a largely settled top seven in the batting line-up but the bowling attack is far more uncertain. England will hope to have Jofra Archer and Mark Wood fit, while the likes of Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue have featured prominently this summer. Atkinson could not have done more to push his case over the past 12 months and is confident England's seamers, whoever they are, can take the wickets to secure only a second series win in Australia in nearly 40 years. 'You could say we've got inexperienced bowlers, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all," Atkinson says. "Going out there with no expectations, we're all really excited and looking forward to the challenge. 'Different sorts of bowlers to Jimmy and Broad. Slightly more hit-the-deck bowlers, which has worked in Australia in the past. 'It will be a challenge but I think we've got a good group of lads who are eager to go out there and impress.'
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Stuart MacGill spills beans on Shane Warne myth as cricketer breaks silence
Stuart MacGill has debunked the theory Shane Warne blocked him from having a full Test career. In a tell-all interview on the Howie Games podcast, MacGill has broken his silence after his life fell apart following a very public fall from grace. MacGill in May walked free from court after he was spared jail over his role in facilitating a $330,000 drug deal. Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. The 54-year-old has now shared the highs and lows of his rollercoaster career as he attempts to rebuild his once high-flying life. One of his most note-worthy admissions surrounds his relationship with Spin King Warne. He told host Mark Howard his own talents were only recognised because Warne put leg spin bowling on the map after decades of fast-bowling dominance. 'Shane was so incredibly effective, he just didn't bowl bad balls — I did,' MacGill said on The Howie Games. 'He worked on trapping the batsmen in the crease. I worked on getting them to try and score from me. 'I had lunch with Ian Chappell recently and he said if ever there were two wrist spinners who could play together it was you two because you tried to do different things.'' MacGill went on to joke: 'I was feeding off him. I'm like a little parasite'. MacGill had previously opened up about his relationship with Warne in an emotional column for Code Sports where he honoured his former teammate following his death at the age of 52. MacGill wrote it had been an 'absolute pleasure' to live his own career in Warne's shadow. One of his few regrets is that he was only able to play alongside Warne 16 times during his career of 44 Tests and 208 wickets. He holds no grudges or even second thoughts about constantly being asked what he believes his career could have been if not for Warne taking centre stage. 'Whether or not I was effective during my time in the Test team is irrelevant, in my opinion,' he said. 'What is most significant is that fact that the opportunity in the first place only came about because of Shane's effectiveness.' MacGill re-building life after drug deal According to NSW Police, MacGill was allegedly abducted and held at gun point when a drug deal went south. MacGill was earlier this year found guilty by a jury of helping to set up, and being present at, a meeting between his partner's brother and a street-level drug dealer underneath his Neutral Bay restaurant in April 2021. MacGill had claimed he simply introduced the drug dealer, who can only be known as Person A, and his brother-in-law and played no part in a later drug deal. However, that version of events was rejected by the jury during his eight-day trial. Judge Nicole Noman sentenced MacGill to a one-year-and-10-month intensive corrections order – to be served in the community – and ordered him to perform 495 hours of community service. MacGill was in March found guilty by a jury of one count of taking part in the supply of a prohibited drug. He was found not guilty of the more serious charge of taking part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug. Noman said in sentencing: 'The offender's colossal lapse of judgment has been causative of a very public fall from grace'. Speaking on the podcast, MacGill admits he hit rock bottom and has days where he 'doesn't want to open the curtains'. 'If you hit rock bottom there is sunshine ahead,' MacGill said. 'If anything particularly bothers me I just don't think about it. I learned that through playing Test cricket. 'If you have a bad day don't buy a paper. If you have a good day buy every paper in the stand.''
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Raised a few eyebrows': Konstas' 'personal' addition for Windies tour backfires
Sam Konstas has already shown in his five-Test career he's a player who is going to buck traditional cricket conventions. From his Boxing Day ramping blitz against Jasprit Bumrah to charging Scott Boland from the opening overs of a Shield match, the 19-year-old is doing things his way. And while he's pulled back on the attack-at-all-costs policy that underlined his introduction to international cricket, Konstas continues to forge his own path. It was revealed during the first session of the third Test against the West Indies that the teenager had his personal batting coach with him in Jamaica to work on his game. Tahmid Islam has been by Konstas' side since the pair linked up during the opener's high school years. Islam, a former first-class cricketer, was the batting consultant at prestigious Sydney school Cranbrook and speaks to former pupil Konstas on an almost daily basis. The pair is known to meet for 6am net sessions when the right-hander feels he needs to work on something in his game. And while such attention to detail speaks to Konstas' dedication and thoroughness, it's unusual for a Test player to have a personal batting coach on tour. While it may be commonplace for a coach to travel with a player in individual sports like golf and tennis, in teams sports the head coach and his assistants traditionally take control once a side is in camp. Konstas presumably ticked Islam's involvement off with Australian team management and Australia's batting coach Michael Di Venuto, but the arrangement has raised a few eyebrows. Former Australia batsman Greg Blewett, who is commentating on the West Indies series, hinted having coaches inside and outside the system while in the middle of an overseas tour could lead to mixed messaging. After Konstas again failed in the first innings in Jamaica – trapped lbw on 17 – Blewett said: "I am told Sam Konstas's batting coach is over here. "The batting coaches need to get together at the start of the series and maybe after each game. They need to confer and have the same strategy, I suppose." Konstas was fortunate to survive a runout attempt and a dropped catch in successive deliveries while on 1, before falling to Justin Greaves as Australia were bowled out for just 225 on day one. The 19-year-old was then dismissed for a duck on day two to bring his nightmare tour with the bat to an end. It follows a lean run of scores since the Sydneysider exploded onto the Test scene at the MCG. After making a debut 60, Konstas has now scored 8, 23, 22, 3, 5, 25, 0, 17 and 0. While not guaranteed a spot in next year's Ashes series, the general consensus is Konstas will be given all the time he needs to find his feet at international level. Blewett said: "We've got to remember he's still very young and finding his way in Test cricket. He's a work in progress." Australia skittled the Windies for just 143 on Sunday night (local time), taking a lead of 82 runs into the second dig. But the Aussies' second innings began in disastrous fashion when they lost Konstas (0), Usman Khawaja (14) and Steve Smith (5) in quick fashion. Boland had early vindicated his selection, taking 3-34 after getting the nod over Nathan Lyon for the day-night Test.
