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Test Cricket News, England off to a good start thanks to the winning toss & early wickets but Travis Head and Cameron Green saved Australia’s day as of late on Day 1

by Sports Benches

This is top-notch Test Cricket on Day 1 yesterday with both bat and ball from Australia and England at Blundstone Arena in Hobart, England off to a brilliant start having won the toss & bowled first through a earned a couple of early wickets but Australia fought back later on before rain called stumps slightly early for the night.

Australia is still batting in the middle at 241-6 going into Day 2 later this afternoon.

Credit to Ollie Robinson and Stuart Broad with the early wickets that sent the Australian top-order packing early, they bowled a good and fuller bounce plus the read on areas where the opposition struggled to execute and use it as their best strengths through to slip. Speaking of catches Zak Crawley made 3 which is nice from their opener on the field. However, but England just couldn’t hold Travis Head and Cameron Green accountable when these two came in & were punished with plenty of leaked runs, they better bat big in return with Rory Burns back in the side plus two new players in due to finger injury issues.

Australia would be disappointed with their Top 4 after they were dismissed cheaply against the England quicks, Usman Khawaja’s red-hot recall after his pair of centuries last week didn’t continue yesterday when he was moved from the middle-order to Opener with David Warner and so far it’s the complete opposite. While Warner & Steve Smith were booted for a duck, Labuschagne did bat okay on 44 then again his experimentation shot tying to hit leg-side was an error of his judgment when he was clean bowled by Broad.

In the end, it’s not all doom and gloom thanks to Travis Head who saved Australia’s 1st innings spell with another Test 100 at 5 when he come back from iso and batted big which is sensational as Head deserves his long-term spot here. Hats off also to all-rounder Cameron Green where he communicated well with Head before he secured another half-ton on 74, although Alex Carey & Mitchell Starc just came in bat not long before stumps but they can bat some handy runs before Australia bring their bowlers in.

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Test Cricket News, Selecting Australia’s starting XI for the 5th & Final Ashes Test in Hobart on Friday

by Sports Benches

Travis Head will reclaim his spot at 5 after he was tested positive to COVID which saw him sit out the last test in Sydney, Usman Khawaja played an unreal spell in his place off the bat even though he usually comes in at top-order with two centuries made in an Ashes match.

It will be tough to leave Usman out who is playing his best cricket at Test level especially when he’s 35 right now, but there’s one man he should replace and that is Marcus Harris as an Opener with David Warner. Yes, Harris did score a half-ton at his home ground during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, however, he didn’t provide the consistency the selectors expected through chance after chance without success.

So let Usman take his place & try to prolong that good start with Warner as he still has some energy left in the tank, then the rest of their batting line-up such as Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green & Keeper Alex Carey looks spot on before we turn attention to the bowlers. While Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc remains undroppable, there’s some injury doubt from Scott Boland on his right thumb off England’s Ben Stokes fast-bowling while batting at the tail end last week in Sydney.

If Boland recovers on time & is fit to play for the final Test then no problem, otherwise bring back Jhye Richardson who entertained the crowd not just with the ball but also a bit from the bat during the 2nd Test in Adelaide last month and that was under a day-nighter.

How good would it be if Jhye plays again for another Day-Night Test in Hobart and knocks down England both through the stumps and downtown, his experience in those areas would give Australia the extra dimension to hopefully finish this Ashes Series 4-1 on home soil.

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Test Cricket News, Selecting England’s starting XI for the 5th & Final Ashes Test in Hobart on Friday

by Sports Benches

The England Opening Batsmen slots may be a huge mess and still needs fixing, but Zak Crawley played well during England’s 2nd innings spell on 77 a few days ago in Sydney as he deserves to keep his spot for Hobart and go from there to make up regular numbers like this one. However, Haseeb Hameed is the ultimate disappointment after he was given so many chances through four Test matches down under and was taken down too easily by the Australian bowlers which clearly shows he has to go.

I would have liked to gamble on Jos Buttler in his place by giving the gloves away as he knows how to get off the mark with a few blocks + range of dynamic strikes, but he had to go home over a broken finger. Rory Burns will take over Hameed where he also didn’t do well in the first two Tests, but he did score 34 in England’s 2nd innings at Adelaide Oval just before he was dropped & deserves a recall with Crawley that would hopefully turn out well than the previous opening pairs.

As said earlier, Buttler had to go home over a broken finger that gives Ollie Pope a recall this time in his place as the Wicket Keeper. He made a whopping four catches behind the stumps even though he was a sub fielder for Buttler last week in Sydney, now the runs may still be required but at least Pope will have the other half responsibilities and try to get the Aussies out with his gloves on.

And the rest remains unchanged with David Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes & Jonny Bairstow in the batting department; The same goes with the bowling through Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and James Anderson plus Stokes included as a fast-bowling all-rounder.

It’s only the final Test to just stick with the full squad England sent out to Australia beforehand, then come back home and look out for not just a couple of opening batsmen but also frontline seamers to back Broad and Anderson up.

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England finally got an thriving opener in Zak Crawley while Ben Stokes’s half-ton & the tail enders numerous blocks prevented Australia from winning with one wicket left as both settled a draw on Day 5 in Sydney

by Sports Benches

Australia were very close with just one wicket left to win but England did a great job blocking as many balls as possible until the very end on Day 5 at 270-9 as both teams settled for a draw at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but how good is Test Cricket when it’s unique, finest and most competitive longest format that creates moments like this one in the history of the game.

England left off from Day 4 at 30-0 with 358 runs left to try & meet the 388 run target where they finally got an opener who stood up against the Australian bowling attack in Zak Crawley, he used his near 2-meter build & read well that translated into some brilliant shots down the ground plus the overcast conditions as an advantage which was key to his fantastic knock today of 77. We also gave a shoutout to Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow once again for their dynamic batting approach in the middle-order having communicated well & cashed in the opposition’s missed catches at the other end with more runs for England, their influence successfully passed onto the tail-enders to make up the remaining time once the middle-order options were gone during the last session and it turned out to be a success by just stay in there & defend.

And Australia would be disappointed not to finish up today with a win as their 150th victory in Test level would have to wait until at least after next weekend in Hobart, Scott Boland once again unstoppable on his 2nd Test match with the ball of 7 wickets in an Ashes Test while skipper Pat Cummins nearly became their hero after he dismissed Jos Buttler and Mark Wood that made way for England tail-enders a while ago. However, they just bottled a couple of catches on the field that cost them untapped wickets and make their way closer towards the finish line, it would’ve been nice if Australia listened to this mantra from commentator Pommie Mbangwa “catches win matches” and manned themselves up to get the job done sooner rather than later.

Australia still leads the five-match 2021-22 Ashes Series 3-0 after Game 4 with the 5th and final one left at Blundstone Arena in Hobart, it will be a Day-Nighter once again like Adelaide earlier on Game 2 from early December as it begins on Friday afternoon.

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Mark Wood, Jack Leach & sub keeper Ollie Pope starred on Day 4 of the 4th Test for England but Usman Khawaja & Cameron Green extended Australia’s lead tally that sets them 388 runs to win

by Sports Benches

An Unbelievable fightback from Australia on Day 4 when they lost their opening and top-order early before Usman Khawaja turned around with another Test Match 100, Australia declared 265-6 that includes a 387 run lead as England are on 30-0 right now going into Day 5 with 358 more runs to meet the 388 run target & win the 4th Test.

There’s one word to describe Usman Khawaja’s batting spell at the Sydney Cricket Ground and that is outstanding to see with both hundreds made in an Ashes Test, he’s a proper red-ball batsman who knows how to get off the mark alongside a mix of strikes downtown & safe to say that Usman learned a lot while being away from the Australian Test team by returning there as a better player. And hats off to Cameron Green on his 2nd Test 50 (74) since India last year at the same venue, not only he did well to back Usman up but he played some nice shots along the way when he came on at six which shows he’s more than capable of being a long-term all-rounder option alongside some backup as a fast bowler for Australia at Test level.

Meanwhile at the England camp, credit to Mark Wood who not only came off from a brilliant quickfire 39 yesterday in the tail end at 8 but he did a great job removing David Warner & Marnus Labuschagne early with the ball. We also want to give a shoutout to spinner Jack Leach who got out Marcus Harris & clean bowled Steve Smith through the gate at the same time, and hats off to sub keeper Ollie Pope with four catches during Australia’s 2nd innings run.

Although England have let themselves down on occasions while Khawaja & Green extended Australia’s lead run tally, but they’ve got three sessions left to meet the 388 run target with patience, communication and reading to make up the maximum runs is key towards winning. Australia on the other hand only needs 10 wickets to win to finish up the job ASAP tomorrow & go 4-0 up with one Test match left in Hobart beginning on Friday.

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Test Cricket News, Ben Stokes & Jonny Bairstow’s stole the show for England on Day 3 but Australia still ahead in the 4th Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground

by Sports Benches

It’s been a competitive Day 3 of the 4th Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground where England fought back as of late thanks to Ben Stokes who scored 66 while they got a finally century for the first time so far this tour from Jonny Bairstow on 103*, but England are still behind by 158 runs on 258-7 after they lost a couple of wickets earlier in the day to Australia.

It’s a shame that England’s top-order pair of Joe Root & Dawid Malan didn’t stay that long but the opening slot looks way worse as it still needs to be resolved urgently after Haseeb Hameed got exposed by Mitchell Starc yet again for another low-figure score on 6 while Zak Crawley haven’t found a decent score since his recall last week, there are some upsides though in the middle-order with Bairstow and Stokes batting dynamically in the middle with much-needed runs on the board. We also want to credit Mark Wood down in the tail end at 8 who did a great job backing Bairstow up, he also executed some nice shots downtown like a smashing T20 player & although we would love to see Wood get his quickfire 50 but just unlucky not to continue on 39.

And great to see Australia still holding on top spot with Scott Boland always up and running having taken two wickets after a unreal Test debut last week in Melbourne, Skipper Pat Cummins also picked up the same amount of wickets as Boland when Australia had to make up lost time on the field while Bairstow & Stokes were there which is disappointing but they’re in a good position now to finish the job ASAP tomorrow.

As just said right now, Australia needs to finish up England’s 1st innings batting spell quickly before they bat again since there’s no longer a follow-on option and increase the lead to another 200-250, then declare going into the 5th & final Day on Sunday & win 4-0.

And England needs Bairstow badly to stay as well as some backup from the other end if they can, otherwise it’ll take a miracle to make up a huge Australian batting collapse with the ball or it’s one step closer towards a 5-0 whitewash the wrong way by Hobart next weekend.

#Ashes #Cricket #Australia #England #BenStokes #JonnyBairstow #MarkWood #ScottBoland #PatCummins #AUSvENG

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Test Cricket News, Usman Khawaja’s return to Test Cricket with a huge ton has helped Australia on Day 2 of the 4th 2021-22 Test in Sydney

by Sports Benches

What a day for the Aussies on Day 2 of the 4th Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground thanks to the returning Usman Khawaja as they scored 416/8 before the declaration while England are on 13/0 with a trail of 403 runs, Khawaja scored a whopping 133 before he was bowled out by Stuart Broad who just got his 5fer but his sensational knock of 137 today outsmarted the whole England side where he came in at five in place for Travis Head after he was tested positive to COVID rather than the usual opening/top-order role.

Usman is just a proper test player having scored countless of runs before in red ball cricket especially via the domestic format both in Australia & England, yes it’s true that he was not a regular in the Australian Test team whether it’s through injuries or loss of form but at age 35 he still has the ability and determination to play Test for another few years before retiring.

Without Usman it wouldn’t be possible for Australia to reach 400 with Steve Smith also piling the runs on 67 as well as a brilliant quickfire spell from Mitchell Starc at the tail end on 34, regardless of the weather conditions tomorrow they need their bowlers to get the job done ASAP then think about following on or bat a bit more.

Meanwhile, it’s great to see Stuart Broad secure his 5fer for England which is incredible especially when he dismissed plenty of key opposition players with the ball, but unfortunately the rest have let him down while Smith & Khawaja prolonged Australia’s 1st innings batting spell past 400 that left England a very difficult task to catch up tomorrow before their opening pair (Haseeb Hameed & Zak Crawley) gets exposed cheaply yet again.

Leaving Broad out at the start of the Ashes in Brisbane even though he still has the pace to burn at 35 like a fine wine alongside another experienced ageless star in Jimmy Anderson (age 39) is a huge mistake, yes England’s bowling has been okay so far after three tests but not on par as Australia’s if you leave out Broad and Anderson.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #Australia #England #UsmanKhawaja #StuartBroad #SteveSmith #SydneyCricketGround #MitchellStarc

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Test Cricket News, Rain halted most of play during Day 1 at the Sydney Cricket Ground but England ahead with three wickets as Australia 126-3

by Sports Benches

Mother Nature may have interrupted for most of today but at least we’ve seen some of the action at the Sydney Cricket Ground where Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, they are on 126-3 right now at stumps after Day 1 but it’s England who took up the early wickets especially at the expense of both of Australia’s openers (David Warner & Marcus Harris) plus Marnus Labuschagne.

Australia did fire off for a start having formed two 50-run partnerships but just pressed the panic button when they were caught behind the keepers’ gloves or the slips & couldn’t have the opportunity to make up big numbers of their own. There’s still time to turn it around though with Steve Smith in there on 6* as well as the returning Usman Khawaja at 5 in place of Travis Head on 4*.

And England credits the wet weather to their strong start with the ball, they read the off-stump well alongside a full length that saw the opposition edged straight into their hands & now they want to get Smith & Khawaja out early + the remaining tail tomorrow then they hope to produce a big total in return if England want to be closer to the box seat which hasn’t happened so far in this Ashes tour even though they already lost another series here 3-0.

#Ashes #Cricket #SydneyCricketGround #Australia #England #MarkWood #StuartBroad #JamesAnderson #DavidWarner #MarcusHarris #MarnusLabuschagne #SteveSmith #UsmanKhawaja #TestCricket

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Swimming back on Nine with the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan this May alongside some UEFA Champions League soccer finals

by Sports Benches

I’ve just seen the 2022 Nine’s Wide World of Sports promo and it’s great to have swimming back on the network in a long time since 2008, although they did show a bit of that sport when they had the rights to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London a decade ago but this time it’s only the FINA World Swimming Championships that will be held in Fukuoka, Japan in mid-late May this year.

It’ll be interesting to see if they will go with the World Feed commentary or use their own voices but with Ray Warren, who was their last play-by-play voice for swimming during the 1990-2000s, also called the London Olympics there & now at age 78, I reckon Nine will only have a studio panel with world feed commentary for this event especially when Rabs prefers to call on-site & has a fear of flying as COVID is still impacting all of us for two years.

And thanks to their own paid streaming partner Stan Sport, who covered exclusive UEFA Champions League content so far this season in the first of a three-year deal, nice to see the soccer back on Nine/9Gem in simulcast with Stan ahead of this competition’s finals stage as the last time European Football aired on Free TV was back in 2017-18 with SBS.

Exciting times ahead this May for the typical sports fan fix in Australia on TV and streaming.

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Test Cricket News, Australia wraps the 3rd Test up in 2 1/2 days at the MCG as they won by an innings & 14 runs + retain the Urn in 3-0 Ashes Series win with 2 to go

by Sports Benches

Unreal stuff from Scott Boland with his maiden 5fer at six wickets for seven runs during England’s 2nd innings spell & did that on test debut at age 32 which is incredible, Australia bowled England all out for 68 in the 3rd innings as they won by an innings and 14 runs that was enough to win the five-match Ashes Series 3-0 as well as retain the famous Urn.

Love the way Boland dismissed Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Mark Wood & Ollie Robinson all done this morning where he bowled a super good line & bounce that punished them under their skin, we can’t forget the moment he got out Haseeb Hameed & clean bowled Jack Leach towards the end of Day 2. Credit to Mitchell Starc who dismissed Ben Stokes that quick for 11 straight from a well-earned rest from last night including Zak Crawley (5) & a first ball LBW to Dawid Malan yesterday afternoon and Cameron Green finished off the game for Australia with a peach clean bowl delivery to James Anderson.

What Australia can do now is win two more games to wrap up 5-0 as their fast bowling arsenal may be modified a bit to accommodate Josh Hazlewood’s return from injury, they should still give Marcus Harris a bit more time as opener before we can fairly judge him to make up a pattern of consistent big scores after his half-ton on 76 yesterday.

Meanwhile, I don’t have a lot of good things to say right now for England when they still have yet to win a game so far in this series as well as no Urn that was taken away by Australia since 2017-18.

We’ll start at the Opening pair who still failed miserably with Hameed out & Jos Buttler promoted up first with Crawley by handing over the gloves to Bairstow, while Chris Woakes should’ve stayed in place of Ollie Robinson which didn’t happen & it’s best if they swapped Stokes & Bairstow in the middle-order at 5 & 6 respectively with the rest okay through Root, Malan, Wood & Anderson.

Although England should give Dom Bess an chance in Leach’s place as spinner since the surface there in Sydney suits these types of bowlers.

Game 3 is done, Happy New Year & can’t wait for the New Year’s Sydney Test.

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