Australia Cricket News

'If only I'd known this was going to happen, I'd have had a word with Donald Trump,' says the owner of the company that makes Dukes balls. 'Please don't attack anybody before the cricket season starts!'

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Tribe, 21, stood out during the Lions' tour Down Under over the winter, and is now expected to provide competition for both Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett this summer.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: If Brendon McCullum may not enjoy spending the Test summer on probation, then he should console himself with the thought that he's lucky still to be in the role.

Earlier this week at the Twenty20 World Cup, Harry Brook sauntered into a press conference, clocked the facial expressions of those present and suggested a smile wouldn't go amiss.

Despite Ben Stokes' plea to halt the Aussie influx to the County Championship ahead of next year's ashes, a number of players are closing in on deals with English sides for this season.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RICHARD GIBSON: As Yuvraj Singh plonked him all over Durban on one of cricket's most iconic nights, Broad would have welcomed a 10-4 cutting the flow of six sixes.

Such is their strength in depth that India could pool their resources over two squads and still have a chance of lifting the trophy. And I reckon there is only one team that can stop them: England.

One fortunate Australian Openfan can thank Cricket Australia for leaving star player Steve Smithat home, with the Test superstar saving them from a potentially dangerous fall at the tennis

Wood, who turned 36 on Sunday, hobbled out of the 4-1 defeat to Australia after sending down just 11 overs having spent seven months of rehabilitation to line up for the first Test in Perth.

Despite turning 39 in June, Moeen's arrival is a coup, not least because Yorkshire have lost experienced campaigners Dawid Malan and Jordan Thompson from their squad for next season.

Members of the Aussie cricket side are set to bank a huge bonus after besting England 4-1.

Last week, the ABC was barred from speaking to Aussie Ashes stars due to remarks from a commentator. Now one of the broadcaster's most famous voices has slammed CA.

The stunning decision to prevent the ABC from interviewing any team members was made in response to strident criticism of some of the sport's top brass in Australia.

SIR JAMES ANDERSON: The first thing I would insist upon is players going back into county cricket to prove they are good enough to face New Zealand at Lord's in June.

Let's face it, cricket and alcohol have history. In fact, they are intrinsically linked, dating back to Victorian times when village green contests were followed by post-match pints in the local.

There was a time, on a very flat track in Rawalpindi not so many winters back, when Harry Brook telegraphed the very distinct sense that he would become a tornado in Test cricket.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: Brendon McCullum has insisted he wants to carry on as England head coach after his side's chastening 4-1 Ashes defeat but has sent a warning.

Daily Mail Sport's LAWRENCE BOOTH was at all five Tests as England succumbed to another battering Down Under - here are his Ashes series player ratings.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: Australia completed an action-packed five-wicket win on the final afternoon at the SCG to wrap up a well-deserved 4-1 series triumph.

Until the bitter end, we have been confronted with the cool indifference of Brendon McCullum, a man more absorbed with his own image than the catastrophe he has visited upon English cricket.

Tomorrow, thank God, the Ashes will come to an end, bringing the curtain down on a series of unforgivable crimes against cricket.

David Warner has rallied to the defence of Australia selector George Bailey and head coach Andrew McDonald in the wake of the ABC controversy that has engulfed the final Ashes Test.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: Cause for celebration, then, at the end of a long, humiliating tour, but also cause for regret. This ought to have been Bethell's 14th Test, not his sixth.

Cricket Australia(CA) has sensationally banned the ABC from speaking with players in post-match radio interviews.

As the ball hung in the air, you almost knew what was coming. Travis Head had been the key wicket all series, and England desperately needed to see the back of him. So Will Jacks dropped it.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY - ASHES BREAKFAST: Centuries from Travis Head, his third of a dominant series, and Steve Smith, his first, combined to grind England into the SCG dirt.

As the clouds gathered around The Sydney Cricket Ground on day one of the final Ashes Test, glum fans trudged their way out of the venue, feeling short-changed at having missed an afternoon of cricket.

It takes a lot for a painting-by-numbers 46 to overshadow a masterpiece 160, but Jamie Smith gave it a go on a wildly oscillating second day at the SCG

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: A superlative 160 from Joe Root laid the foundation for England's first-innings 384 - only for some of the gloss to be removed when he left the field clutching his back.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: A superb 160 from Joe Root lifted England to 384 on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test - their highest total in Australia since making 491 in 2017.

When stumps is called on the last day of the Ashes series finale, it's the loudest cheer of the day will have been for a small group of people on neither team.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: After joining forces at a perilous 57 for three, Root and Brook set about compiling England's largest stand of the series - and only their third above 100.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN SYDNEY: England reached a position of strength on 211 for three on the first day of the fifth Test at Sydney before bad light and rain cut short their progress

Usman Khawaja is expected to make a call on his future as early as Friday, with the Test veteran to front a media conference at the SCG before training.

As ECB bosses rake over these Ashes the make-up of the dressing-room will figure high on the agenda

Ahead of the final Test in Sydney and before a review of what went wrong takes shape, these are the players that can help win back the urn in 18 months' time.

Jamie Smith being left out of England's new year white-ball plans completes a difficult few weeks for a player who is struggling to keep his head above water 18 months after making waves

The SydneyAshes Test is facing renewed fears of a shortened finish after the Boxing Day debacle at the Melbourne Cricket Ground reportedly left Australian cricket staring at losses of around $25million

The Melbourne Cricket Club is reportedly bracing for major losses of around $25million (£12.39m) in the wake of the Boxing Day Test pitch debacle. 

This is my sixth Ashes tour, and the previous five had encouraged a hypothesis: even if Australians aren't always gracious winners, they can be magnanimous in defeat.

The MCG has been handed one demerit point after the ICC deemed the Boxing Day Test match pitch 'unsatisfactory'. 

Morgan didn't hold back in the wake of England's win in Melbourne, with the victory coming amid high drama over the state of the wicket.

Travis Head has said there was 'no chance' he was going to put his pads back on for a proposed exhibition match at the MCG on Sunday, after the Boxing Day Test ended in two days.

Australian cricket is being accused of 'hypocrisy' in the wake of the Boxing Day Test pitch fiasco.

The 49-year-old had a rough start to his cricketing life but went on to become one of the fastest and most feared bowlers in the history of the sport.

The end of the Boxing Day match at the MCG on Saturday was the first time the same series has had multiple two-day Tests in 129 years.

The premier sporting event of the Aussie summer lasted just two days thanks to an awful failure with the preparation of the wicket, leaving fans furious and the game out of pocket by millions of dollars.

Nasser Hussain has claimed that Australian spin king Shane Warne would have described the MCG's pitch as 'unacceptable'.

Cricket Australia are reportedly set to lose a jaw-dropping sum of money after England snapped their 14-year wait to win a Test match Down Under inside two days at the MCG.

Fans, players and cricket greats all paused for a brief moment during day one of the Boxing Day Test to pay a heartfelt tribute to Australian spin king Shane Warne. 

England's cricketers began their Christmas Day yesterday at the MCG practising for the penultimate match of an increasingly sobering tour of Australia.

When members of the legendary 2005 Ashes squad got together this summer to reminisce 20 years on, Collingwood was conspicuous by his absence.

COUNTY CRICKET TRANSFERS: Bashir, released by Somerset on November 1 and now snubbed by England Down Under, has agreed a move after months of seeking a new county home.

On a triumphant Ashes tour, a beery four-day break at a holiday resort becomes an example of camaraderie, another of the one-percenters (or four-and-a-halfs) that add up to sporting glory.

Australia will be hoping they're marking a 5-0 series sweep at stumps on the last day of the Sydney Test next month.

Comparing England's cricketers socialising between matches to a stag do is completely over the top and, as someone who has lost Test series in Australia myself, I have sympathy for them.

The Australian Cricket Awards are reportedly set to be canned in 2025.

Yes, you read it right: in the immediate aftermath of losing the Ashes in 11 days, McCullum had the brass neck to say that he wants to still be England coach as 'it's a pretty good gig and good fun'.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Set a near-impossible 435 to prevent Australia from going 3-0 with two to play, and retaining the urn that has been theirs since 2017-18, England closed on 207 for six.

OLIVER HOLT IN ADELAIDE: England have not let the Urn fall from their fading grasp just yet but Australia appear to be edging slowly closer to victory in the Third Test.

Head has become a symbol of England's failure and Australia's spirit. He plunged England into misery in Perth and now he wants to finish the job before we even get to Melbourne and Sydney.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN ADELAIDE: On the day England needed a miracle, they got the off-spin of Will Jacks and Joe Root. Australian minds will know that the tourists are not serious about winning.

OLIVER HOLT IN ADELAIDE: England's day started well but got worse. A hundred partnership between Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer helped bring England close to Australia's total.

Ashes RECAP: Re-live all of the action from day three of the third Test at Adelaide Oval with Daily Mail's live coverage with the urn on the line in South Australia.

None of England's previous Ashes tours began with the optimism surrounding this one. But after eight days' cricket, that optimism, and that Bazball template, has been destroyed.

The Ashes are almost gone for another two years. Thursday in Adelaide felt like witnessing a lot more than the turning point in a match. It felt like watching the end of an idea.

Among the many brickbats hurled England's way has been the absence of an attack leader. But on the first day of the third Test, that role fell on the shoulders of Jofra Archer. And he responded in style.

It's embarrassing that a series of this magnitude, with careers on the line, should tolerate even the possibility of inaccuracy, when the UltraEdge used in England is far more precise.

Alex Carey has become a quite exceptional player. If it weren't for Mitchell Starc, he could be the player of the series. For all that, he discovered what it felt like to be a villain to the English again.

England's disregard for the evidence of the past has empowered multiple record-breaking Test wins under Brendon McCullum. But now might just be the right time to look to the history books.

Shoaib Bashir's Test career is far from over - but it is certainly on hold. England's No 1 spinner has been cast adrift in the very series for which he was groomed. It is every bit as bad as it looks.

Cricket Australia have confirmed how they plan to acknowledge the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.

The vocabulary of the alpha male prevails as England look to stop the Ashes pain. Ben Stokes is looking for 'dog' in his players. No discussion of such nuanced qualities as intelligence and attrition.

Skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have come in for heavy criticism as the Three Lions gave up a 2-0 lead to Australia.

These are the hot-take Ashes, with podcasts sprouting like heads on the Hydra. But on one question most pundits can agree: how do you solve a problem like Harry Brook?

England's hapless Ashes tour was again in the headlines after footage emerged of a member of their security team involved in an altercation with a cameraman.

When Joe Root, wide-eyed and 19, touched down at Adelaide airport one October evening in 2010, he was not quite the slip of a lad you might remember now.

It won't be much consolation to Ben Stokes or the England team that lost the second Test at the Gabba, but when it comes to tours going wrong in Australia, I have been in worse situations than this.

It pains Matt Prior to say it, but say it he does. England's former wicketkeeper is ticking about the performance that left Ben Stokes's side two down in the Ashes with three to play.