Tue, 21-Oct-2025

Root should step down as England captain, Vaughan says

joe root

LONDON: Joe Root should step down as England Test captain following his side’s series loss to the West Indies, former skipper Michael Vaughan told the BBC. Root’s position is under the spotlight after a 1-0 series defeat which came on the back of a woeful 4-0 Ashes thrashing by Australia. That extended England’s poor run … Read more

Root’s future as a captain in peril after WI rout

joe root

England, under the captaincy of Joe Root, suffered a huge blow after a Test series defeat against West Indies. Root is eager to continue his tenure as a skipper of the English cricket team. However, he may have to step down after huge losses against the West Indies, and against Australia last year. At the … Read more

England drops Anderson, Broad for West Indies Test series

anderson

As part of a significant shake-up of the struggling team, England has dropped James Anderson and Stuart Broad, the country’s two all-time leading Test wicket-takers, for their trip to the West Indies. Anderson, who has 640 Test wickets, and Broad, who has 537, are two of the eight players dropped from England’s disastrous Ashes series … Read more

Joe Root named men’s Test player of the year

International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the England skipper Joe Root as the men’s Test player of the year with 1,708 runs in 15 matches during the calendar year 2021. The England and Wales Cricket Board, on their official Twitter handle, tweeted’ “The winner of the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year for … Read more

Injury-hit England fighting to turn corner in Ashes climax

england

HOBART: A patched-up England head to an Ashes finale against Australia under lights in Hobart on Friday buoyed by a fighting draw in Sydney, but consumed by injury worries and selection dilemmas. The tourists finally stopped the rot on a gruelling tour last week with their nail-biting last-wicket hold-out at the Sydney Cricket Ground to prevent a … Read more

Stokes defies injury with fighting half-century in Ashes Test

stokes

SYDNEY: Wincing Ben Stokes produced a counter-punching half-century to help England recover from a collapse of early wickets against Australia in the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney on Friday. The star all-rounder, in pain from a side strain picked up while bowling on Thursday, seized the initiative to post his highest score of the series … Read more

Broad snares ‘bunny’ Warner again as rain hits 4th Ashes Test

Broad

SYDNEY: England paceman Stuart Broad again proved David Warner’s nemesis as rain dogged the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. Broad provided the only relief for beleaguered England as rain restricted the two opening sessions to just 21.4 overs. After a third rain delay, an early tea was taken … Read more

Boland keeps place, Khawaja only change for Australia in 4th Test

Boland

SYDNEY: Melbourne Test hero Scott Boland held his place as Australia made only one change to their winning side for the fourth Ashes Test against England in Sydney which begins on Wednesday. Batsman Usman Khawaja was confirmed in the team announced Tuesday as a replacement for Covid victim Travis Head. Khawaja last played for Australia in the … Read more

Root to assess future after Ashes as Stokes says no wish to be captain

Root

SYDNEY: Joe Root said Monday that he has “questions to answer” and will assess his future as England captain after the losing Ashes tour, as Ben Stokes insisted he has no ambition to take over. Root will become his country’s longest-serving Test skipper at the fourth Test in Sydney on Wednesday, surpassing predecessor Alastair Cook’s 59 matches in … Read more

Under-pressure England coach to miss Sydney Test after virus case in family

coach

SYDNEY: England’s beleaguered Ashes tour went from bad to worse Thursday with under-pressure coach Chris Silverwood to miss the fourth Test in Sydney after a family member tested positive for the coronavirus. Silverwood and his family have to isolate in Melbourne for 10 days while the rest of the team head to Sydney for the … Read more

Australia’s Warner eyes one more crack at England in 2023

Warner

MELBOURNE: David Warner has hinted he is keen for one last Ashes tour in 2023 to make amends for his failed campaign in England two years ago, drawing inspiration from veteran seamer Jimmy Anderson. The explosive Australian opener would be approaching 37 should he retain his place that long and in all likelihood would have … Read more

Root ends 2021 with third-most calendar-year Test runs in history

Root

MELBOURNE: England lost the Ashes in humiliating style on Tuesday but for Joe Root, it has been an incredible 2021 with the bat, the skipper ending the calendar year with the third-most Test runs in history. His dismissal on day three of the third Test in Melbourne for 28 left him with 1,708 runs for … Read more

Cummins warns even more to come as Australia retain Ashes

Cummins

MELBOURNE: Skipper Pat Cummins said the way his team ripped England apart to retain the Ashes on Tuesday showed the strength of Australian cricket — and warned they were only just getting started. The Australian attack destroyed tourists England for 68 in their second innings of the third Test, with Scott Boland taking an incredible 6-7 off … Read more

Skipper Root confident of ‘banging out a hundred’ in Ashes

Root

MELBOURNE: Joe Root has backed himself to “bang out a hundred” as England face a must-win Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and says he expects a response from his team after successive Ashes defeats. The England captain has never reached three figures in Australia but he went close in the nine wicket-defeat in the first … Read more

Labuschagne knocks Root off top spot in Test batting rankings

Marnus Labuschagne

LONDON: Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne has replaced England captain Joe Root at the top of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test batting rankings. The 27-year-old’s maiden Ashes century at Adelaide helped Australia go 2-0 up in the five-match series against England ahead of the third Test in Melbourne starting on Sunday, December 26. Read More: Marnus Labuschagne overtakes … Read more

Babar Azam tops T20I rankings

Babar

The International Cricket Council has released the rankings of Test and T20I players in which Babar Azam has once again grabbed the number one spot in the ICC MRF Batsman ranking in the T20. Babar has moved up a notch in the ICC T20I Players Rankings, after which he has again become the number one … Read more

Root joins elite group with 1,600 Test runs in calendar year

Root

ADELAIDE: Joe Root became just the fourth player in history to chalk up 1,600 Test runs in a calendar year Saturday — and the first since 2008 — but a maiden century in Australia again eluded him. The England captain has been in brilliant form in 2021, arriving for the Ashes with 1,455 runs from 12 Tests, … Read more

Anderson in England squad for second Ashes Test

Anderson

ADELAIDE: Bowling great Jimmy Anderson said Wednesday he wants to play all four remaining Ashes Tests after being included in England’s 12-man squad for the second Test against Australia this week. Test cricket’s most prolific quick with 632 wickets was controversially left out of the visitors’ team for the series opener at Brisbane, where they crashed … Read more

Warner passed fit, Richardson replaces Hazlewood for Adelaide Test

Warner

ADELAIDE: Dynamic opener David Warner will play through the pain in the second Ashes Test against England, Australia captain Pat Cummins said Wednesday, as Jhye Richardson got the nod to replace Josh Hazlewood. Warner scored 94 in the first innings at the opening Test in Brisbane but didn’t field or bat in Australia’s second innings … Read more

England captain Root backs Ashes flops Leach and Burns

England

ADELAIDE: England captain Joe Root on Tuesday backed Jack Leach and Rory Burns to bounce back from dismal Ashes performances, as star all-rounder Ben Stokes declared himself fit to carry the fight to Australia. Root refused to rule out selecting spinner Leach in Thursday’s pink-ball Test in Adelaide, even though he conceded 102-1 from 13 overs as … Read more

Wounded England face pink-ball challenge in second Ashes Test

England

ADELAIDE: England head into the day-night second Ashes Test in Adelaide on Thursday under pressure and facing an ominous task against an Australian team who have won all of their eight pink-ball matches. The tourists’ capitulation by nine wickets in the opening Test in Brisbane exposed their batting and fielding frailties, exacerbated by rain-hit preparations and … Read more

Australia’s ‘proud’ Lyon says 400-wicket feat yet to sink in

Lyon

BRISBANE: Australia’s Nathan Lyon said reaching the milestone of 400 Test wickets in Saturday’s big Ashes win and joining cricket’s greats had not yet sunk in. A classical off-spinner, the 34-year-old removed Dawid Malan for 82 on the fourth day of the first Test against England to write his name in Australian sporting history. Speaking immediately … Read more

Root says beaten England must not feel sorry for themselves

Root

BRISBANE: England captain Joe Root said Saturday his team must fix their fielding and batting to get back into the Ashes series, while defending the decision to leave Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad out of the first Test. A dominant Australia humbled England by nine wickets to win the opener convincingly at Brisbane inside four … Read more

Stokes struggles, Root’s bad call: What we learned from first Ashes Test

Ashes

BRISBANE: Australia overwhelmed England by nine wickets to win the first Ashes Test at Brisbane on Saturday. Read more: Ruthless Australia crush England in first Ashes Test AFP Sport looks at what we learned from the opening match in a five-Test clash: Tactical blunder England’s decision to go into the opening Test without their two … Read more

Ruthless Australia crush England in first Ashes Test

Australia

BRISBANE: A ruthless Australia crushed England by nine wickets to win the first Ashes Test in style just after lunch on day four at the Gabba on Saturday. Needing just 20 runs after bowling England out for 297 in their second innings — with Nathan Lyon taking his 400th Test scalp — Australia cruised to … Read more

Root and Malan lead England fightback in first Ashes Test

Root

BRISBANE: Joe Root and Dawid Malan put on a defiant unbeaten partnership of 159 to give England hope of salvaging a draw in the opening Ashes Test at the Gabba on Friday. A rejuvenated England were 220-2 at the close of play, with skipper Root on 86 and Malan 80, only 58 runs behind Australia. … Read more

Malan admits he thought Test cricket had passed him by

Malan

BRISBANE: England number three Dawid Malan admitted Friday that he thought his Test cricket career was over before his recall to the team earlier this year. The 34-year-old South African-born Malan was speaking after his gritty 80 not out in England’s second innings against Australia in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. Malan and England captain … Read more