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Test Cricket News, Australia wraps up the 5th Test within three days as they win by 146 runs & completed 4-0 clean sweep in the 2021-22 Ashes Series v England

by Sports Benches

It’s over and done within three days of the 5th and final Ashes Test at Blundstone Arena in Hobart, Australia began Day 3 still on their 3rd innings spell on 37-3 where Keeper Alex Carey extended their lead to 270 after being all out for 155.

England then have to respond the 271 target to win not long after lunch, Unfortunately, they weren’t up to the task despite a good opening partnership as they are bowled out for 124 & Australia win by 146 runs + wrap up 4-0 in the series.

England disappointed once again when they showed some fight especially with the ball on hand, Stuart Broad can still be a threat to the opposition at age 35 alongside Mark Wood, who is outstanding, where he collected 3 wickets in the 1st & six in the 3rd innings.

Credit to Sam Billings filling-in the gloves for Jos Buttler as well as Zak Crawley with his numerous catches & 2nd innings spell as Opener on 36, however, the rest just couldn’t face up to the standard set by Australia which is where they were eaten up this quick before it was too late.

And Australia, how good is it to wrap up a 4-0 clean sweep with their 150th Test victory v England. Although there’s still some room for improvement from their Top 4 batsmen, but there’s a few that stood out amongst the Starting XI where they turned the tide and made their way towards the homestretch.

The fast bowling cartel is always in great hands with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins & Scott Boland, the same goes to Travis Head with the bat who saved their day in Australia’s 1st innings spell and played extraordinary in the middle-order at 5 & Cameron Green can not only bat handy runs but also take wickets where he will be a long-term fixture here at No.6.

The Ashes is done for now here as the next edition will take place in England mid-2023, bring on the Australian Open Tennis over the next two weeks to round off the summer of sport starting today.

#Cricket #Ashes #BlundstoneArena #Australia #England #MarkWood #StuartBroad #TravisHead #CameronGreen #PatCummins #ScottBoland #MitchellStarc #ZakCrawley #SamBillings #AlexCarey #AUSvENG

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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 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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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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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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Test Cricket News, Australia out in front with four early wickets late in Day 2 while both openers’ horror show & Dawid Malan first ball LBW dismissal from England

by Sports Benches

How good is it to end Day 2 with four early wickets on hand from the Aussies at the MCG where Mitchell Starc bowled two stunning back to back wickets, he produced a brilliant straight line that executed well with speed which made Zak Crawley hesitate with the edge before he strapped Dawid Malan first ball LBW. We also saw Scott Boland pick up two wickets as well having targeted a great area off Haseeb Hameed without that off-stump protection including a peach of a delivery two balls later which punished Jack Leach straight into the stumps. And hats off to Alex Carey with two stunning catches off both England’s openers behind the gloves as these fielders gotta be on their toes tomorrow & not make up dropped/unlucky catches.

Meanwhile, England have lost it when they lost both openers, Malan out first ball at 3 & a nightwatchman (Jack Leach) got sent back really quickly despite a brilliant 1st innings spell with the ball for the majority of Day 2 today. Crawley and Hameed just couldn’t kick on before they were held accountable by the Australian quicks as it’s probably the last time we’ve seen Hameed at Test level for now before the 4th Test in Sydney, it’s best if Jos Buttler hands over the keeping gloves to Jonny Bairstow or Ben Foakes and be a makeshift opener with Crawley who knows how to defend & take his time.

Stumps at Day 2: England 31-4 and trails by 51 runs.

Australia gotta keep that strong start and inflict more damage on Joe Root (12) & Ben Stokes (2) before they can finish up the job on the middle and lower end & retain the Series Urn once again for the third straight time that goes back from their last Ashes tour at home in 2017-18, while England needs Root & Stokes to build a huge partnership that could determine their stance towards the next three days of this test or else it’s too late.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #TestCricket #Australia #England #MelbourneCricketGround #ScottBoland #MitchellStarc #ZakCrawley #HaseebHameed #DawidMalan #JoeRoot #BenStokes #JackLeach #AlexCarey

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Test Cricket News, Jimmy Anderson still thriving with the ball at 39 as Australia all out for 267 with a 82 run lead

by Sports Benches

Great to see Marcus Harris secure his Test 50 after, but disappointed not to turn into a 100 especially when batting in front of his home crowd after he was caught by Joe Root on 76. Although Australia just overtook England for the lead a while ago, it’s just the middle and tail end who weren’t up to the chase against the England bowlers after they were all out for 267 but it’s still okay when Australia are ahead by 82 runs.

England on the other hand are still blessed to have Jimmy Anderson firing up with the ball, who picked up four wickets including Harris plus two key men off David Warner & Steve Smith which is incredible figures from such a ripe age of 39 while most others retire from the game.

We also want to give a shoutout to skipper Joe Root when he made a couple of decent catches that not cleared up Australia’s Top 6 arsenal ASAP it became a big part of England’s brilliant Day 2 on the field today.

England has a huge chance now to turn it around and build a big total with the bat, while Australia hopes to deliver a few early wickets towards the end of this session ahead of stumps & come back to finish the job on Day 3 tomorrow.

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Test Cricket News, Australia on a roll after Day 1 on 61-1 at the MCG having bowled England all out for 185 in the 3rd Test

by Sports Benches

Well done to Australia on Day 1 at the MCG when they successfully done the damage after tea that ended England’s 1st innings total of 185 as they are on 61-1 at stumps with a 124 run trail behind them ahead of Day 2 tomorrow.

It’s great to see Scott Boland secure his maiden Test wicket in addition to two brilliant catches down at the rope, while Mitchell Starc scared off Bairstow that scooped straight to Cameron Green’s hands at gully before Nathan Lyon completed the remaining England tail-enders of Jack Leach & Ollie Robinson.

Looking at the bat now & it’s nice to see David Warner scoring quickfire runs but disappointed not to continue on 38 when he was caught by Zak Crawley off Jimmy Anderson, Marcus Harris is also making good progress despite having yet to score big in this Ashes Series as he hopes to prove selectors that he deserves to stay by scoring a ton tomorrow in front of his home crowd. And we’ll see what their nightwatchmen Nathan Lyon has something to offer with the bat before the top-order options come in & help Australia produce a big innings total than England.

Meanwhile at the England camp, Jonny Bairstow did his best to stay in there on 35 before he was so vulnerable by Starc that sent him back upstairs. We also saw Ollie Robinson & Jack Leach score some handy runs while it lasted, but England were already in a bad state anyway as they need their bowlers to produce the magic tomorrow like Jimmy Anderson did with Warner not long before stumps.

Getting rid of these dangermen early like Labuschagne, Steve Smith, etc could mean a lifeline for their Top 6 batsmen to rebound in the 2nd innings especially with a few changes at Opening & Middle-Order spots that will be tested once again to handle the Australian bowlers.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #Australia #England #MelbourneCricketGround #MarcusHarris #DavidWarner #ScottBoland #NathanLyon #MitchellStarc #JimmyAnderson #JonnyBairstow #OllieRobinson #JackLeach

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Test Cricket News, England make four changes to their XI in the 3rd Ashes Test of 2021-22 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

by Sports Benches

England made four changes to their XI ahead of the third test today at the Melbourne Cricket Ground v Australia.

Happy to see Rory Burns replaced by Zak Crawley after an unfortunate first two tests, it’s not just the mediocre batting numbers but he also paid the price for poor fielding too. Meanwhile, Haseeb Hameed stayed on despite plenty of fans suggesting that he should be joining Burns towards the chop, but at least Hameed scored a couple of okay double-digit scores & deserves to be tested with a different opening partnership of Crawley.

No need to change the top-order pair that worked so well in skipper Joe Root & Dawid Malan as they hope to make up damage to the Aussies, but hopefully the promotion of Ben Stokes at 5 would help England at least deliver them a century or two in order to stay in contention.

Jonny Bairstow in for Ollie Pope at 6, who hopes to be an upgrade to help stretch England’s run chase as Pope may have fired off well in the 1st Test at The Gabba but couldn’t keep it consistent ever since which saw him walk out the door. And let’s hope that Jos Buttler continues where he left off from the 2nd innings in Adelaide last week by hanging in there & blocking out these good balls but he’s also under pressure to improve his catching behind the keeping gloves too.

Ollie Robinson stays at No.8 who continues to shine with the ball and can bat a bit, while Stuart Broad’s return last week in Adelaide didn’t help much for England despite a fantastic 1st innings v Australia’s batting so they got Mark Wood back in his place at 9. Now it’s kinda harsh to pull the plug on Chris Woakes on this one when he too showed some late form with the bat on 44 & should’ve replaced Robinson at 8 but he hasn’t done much with the ball though as England opted for a frontline spinner in Jack Leach & James Anderson retains his spot at No.11.

Both openers are unfortunately gone early just a while ago with Root & Malan up to the task to turn England’s poor start around as they are 35-2.

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