SYDNEY: Pat Cummins is widely regarded as an all-round nice guy with an excellent cricketing brain, doggedly overcoming early-career injuries to reach the pinnacle of the game. A decade after making his international debut, he is not only the world’s premier bowler but Australia’s 47th Test skipper, elevated to one of the nation’s highest-profile roles … Read more
SYDNEY: Australia named paceman Pat Cummins as their Test cricket captain and Steve Smith as vice-captain Friday after a sexting scandal led Tim Paine to resign last week, just ahead of the Ashes. “Pat is an outstanding player and leader — he has earned enormous respect from his teammates and from all corners of the game for … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani pacer Wahab Riaz believes Pakistan would need to rely on specialized cricketers instead of all-rounders in the next Twenty20 Cricket World Cup to be played in Australia. “In Australia, Pakistan will need specialized batsmen and specialized bowlers. When it comes to all-rounders, you have to be good enough like Jacques Kallis who used … Read more
SYDNEY: Nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic won’t want to risk missing out on winning a record 21st Grand Slam title, tournament chief Craig Tiley predicted Thursday as a bumper series of lead-up events was announced. All players heading to Australia for the opening major of the year in January must be vaccinated against Covid, … Read more
BRISBANE: Australia’s bowlers want Tim Paine behind the stumps for the first Ashes Test against England because he is “the best keeper in the world”, spin king Nathan Lyon said Thursday. Paine quit as Test captain in disgrace last week over a historical text message scandal but is keen to keep playing. Read more: Tim … Read more
ICC announced the road map for its upcoming mega-events from 2024-31 and Pakistan was given the host rights for the ICC Champions Trophy scheduled in 2025. Read More: Pakistan to host ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Days after the announcement, the Indian government showed concern about their participation in the ICC event. Last week, Anurag Thakur, … Read more
BRISBANE: Tim Paine has the full support of the Australian team and deserves to keep his place for the first Ashes Test against England, opener Marcus Harris said Wednesday. Paine suddenly quit as Test captain last week over a series of lewd text messages with a female colleague in 2017 that were about to be … Read more
SYDNEY: Cricket Tasmania launched a scathing attack on the sport’s Australian governing body Tuesday over its “appalling” treatment of former Test skipper Tim Paine, saying anger in the community was “palpable”. Paine, who was born and bred in Tasmania, tearfully quit as captain on Friday ahead of the Ashes against England over a series of … Read more
PARIS: Spain’s Garbine Muguruza jumped two places to number three in the WTA rankings released Monday after her victory in the season-ending WTA Finals in Guadalajara last week. Beaten finalist Anett Kontaveit of Estonia gained one spot to go seventh. The 28-year-old Muguruza was previously ranked third back in July 2018, while her compatriot Paula … Read more
SYDNEY: Chief selector George Bailey said Tuesday he will step aside from voting on whether Tim Paine should remain in the Australian Test cricket side if there is a split decision, given their personal and business relationship. Paine abruptly quit as skipper on Friday ahead of the Ashes series against England over a series of lewd text … Read more
SYDNEY: Big Bash League club Sydney Thunder plan to stick with Alex Hales despite a photo of the English batsman with his face painted black and claims he called his pet dog ‘Kevin’ as part of a racially derogatory joke. The picture emerged last week in the wake of former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq’s revelations … Read more
Tens of thousands took to the streets in cities across Europe and Australia Saturday as anger mounted over fresh Covid restrictions imposed against a resurgent pandemic. And Dutch police faced a second night of rioting — this time in The Hague — after the previous night’s violence in the port city of Rotterdam. Clashes erupted … Read more
MELBOURNE: Tim Paine Sunday said Australian coach Justin Langer wanted him to remain as Test skipper, as he spoke of his “distress” and “embarrassment” over a sexting scandal that cost him his job. The 36-year-old abruptly quit on Friday ahead of the Ashes series against England over a series of lewd text messages with a … Read more
SYDNEY: Pat Cummins shaped up as the frontrunner Saturday to take over from disgraced former Australia Test skipper Tim Paine, with the likes of Mark Taylor, Dennis Lillie, and Steve Waugh all singing his praises. The 28-year-old, who has served as vice-captain in both Test and white-ball formats since 2019, is widely seen as being … Read more
SYDNEY: Tim Paine, who quit Friday as Test skipper, was hailed as Australian cricket’s saviour when he took over the captaincy in 2018 after a ball-tampering scandal left the team’s reputation in tatters. A journeyman wicketkeeper-batsman, Paine was 33 at the time and considering retirement before being unexpectedly appointed to the most scrutinised role in Australian … Read more
SYDNEY: Tim Paine abruptly quit as Australian Test cricket captain Friday over an explicit “private text exchange” with a female colleague — a bombshell announcement just weeks before the Ashes series begins against arch-rivals England. “Today, I’m announcing my decision to stand down as the captain of the Australian men’s Test team,” said an emotional Paine, failing … Read more
Josh Adams and Aaron Wainwright have been named in the Wales side that takes on Australia on Saturday in a boost for coach Wayne Pivac, who has had to juggle an injury-hit squad. Dan Biggar links up with Tomos Williams at half-back. Adams is selected on the wing after pulling out with a calf injury … Read more
MELBOURNE: Australia’s Boxing Day Test against arch-rivals England and next year’s Australian Open tennis will be played before a full house, Melbourne authorities said Thursday as they removed more pandemic restrictions. Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said that the state was about to hit 90 per cent vaccination, allowing long-standing restrictions to be swept aside, including … Read more
