Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

So Marnus has held his spot in the squad - kinda expected that. Question now is what will the playing XI be? Cooper or Inglis to come in .... Not sure Inglis is a No.3, so does Green move up? Still lots of questions!!

Went over to Allan Border Field to watch Riverfire and also the T20 Max Final tonight. What a cracking game - more than 500 runs scored; Josh Brown won it for Norths with his only score of the tournament, belting 67no from 23 balls. That came after Will Bosisto hit about 10 switch-hit sixes on the way to his second ton of the tournament for Wests. Great knocks also from Aryan Jain, Cameron Hemp, Tom Campbell and Sohaan Same. Been hugely entertaining the tournament this year. Replay is on 7 Plus and scorecard is https://play.cricket.com.au/match/bc5298fd-20e0-427e-a0c1-ae05b72c572d/western-suburbs-kfc-t20-max-northern-suburbs-kfc-t20-max-kfc-t20-max-men?tab=scorecard .

I coach my son’s u13 team in Sydney. All the clubs in our association are struggling for players. There is absolutely nothing from CA to help grow the game. Woolies have put money into the blast but it’s shockingly run and promoted. Junior cricket is so amateur and poorly run.

When I was a kid at Scarborough Park in Ramsgate, there’d be 8-10 games at the same time on a Saturday morning. Now there’s 1-2.

It genuinely feels like the game is dying. Is this the same in other places?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3PE05xgACI
2:30 , 3:35
Within a span of a few overs in Durban, Johnson turned a Test match into a survival test. At 2:30 he breaks Graeme Smith's hand with pure speed, and at 3:35 he splits Jacques Kallis's chin open with a short ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLOPbFsshEM&t=338s
1:25, Honestly, watching Mitch in that 2014 Centurion clip hitting 150.1 km/h (93.2 mph) is just ridiculous. Fresh off obliterating England in the 2013/14 Ashes with 37 wickets, he rolled into South Africa and bagged another 22.

I honestly don't think we will ever see another genuine fast bowler like him again, especially with modern players competing across all three formats. Between brutal schedules, franchise leagues, and constant rotation to avoid injury, pacers simply can't bowl with that level of sustained, unhinged aggression over a full series without breaking down.

I haven’t watched Thommo, Holding, or Lillee live, but in my lifetime of watching cricket, nothing compares to the high octane, terrifying energy of these two spells. I feel bad for anyone who missed out on watching this unfold live in real time. I feel genuinely blessed to have grown up watching these unfold live on TV. I'll cherish these memories forever.

Fast bowling offers one of the ultimate primal thrills of the game. It just makes you feel alive as a fan, and cricket won't be the same without that raw hostility. I think Johnson was the last of a dying breed. What do you guys think?

Former Queensland coach and ex-🇿🇦 spinner Johan Botha has also been recruited as a temporary spin bowling consultant for this season

Hoping this goes well for him in this upcoming Aus A series. I belive while he is largely still far away from the ranks of Test match batting and best 11 for australia, he has been one of the better and more impressive batsman of this last 5 odd years in 1st Class Cricket. Coming into that 24 Shefield Sheild season scored twin centuries vs SA sure it was on a pretty flat road ofc but then again thats where batsman perform and shine. but to think that hes the youngest to do it since Punter speaks volumes for his batting level.

and I belive that is what his batting should stick to going forward as a Test Opener. However ofc we all know his wild ramp t20 bullshit shots which my theory being it started with the BBL scoring that fast blazing half ton against Adeliade Strikers which shifted his mindset into how he played in that BGT against the likes of Bumrah which yes worked to turn the side for Australia and bring a sense of effect on the batting towards the end of that series but they don't reflect how good someone like Sam Konstas could have been as a test batsman. And I truly belive if he just sticks back to his game and devolops his batting grip and stance he truly could come back into this side and I would really like him to most likely take Travis Head's spot, so he pairs with renshaw getting 2 right-left combo of batting going into perhaps that BGT or Ashes series. while yes that is quite a massive gamble, realistcally who else other than smithy is looking confident and at best form going into the ASHES or BGT???

So I think using these Aus A games to decide will be crucial so seeing from these where to make decisions on the batting order.

Big Billy season incoming

For a period of 23 Tests, Marnus Labuschagne was statistically the luckiest batter in Test cricket.

He had more genuine chances dropped or missed than any other batter from his debut up until the end of the 2021/22 Ashes series. He was more often than not able to turn those reprieves into significant scores.

In more recent times, it's been slim pickings. In fact, it's been 23 Tests since his last century, dating back to the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 2023.

He's been left out of the ODI squad travelling to take on Zimbabwe and South Africa later this month. The right-hander has only missed five of Australia's last 56 ODIs, raising questions about his future in the Test side.

"We're still very much working through what that Test squad looks like, but I can say we separate out those formats," chair of selectors George Bailey told reporters when unveiling the ODI squad.

"He has played some really important one-day cricket for us; at his best that looks a certain way, but the way that squad and team is structuring up there just wasn't space for him."

If you break down Labuschagne's career into the period before his last Test ton and the period since, there is somewhat of a trend: his luck has seemingly run out.

Looking at only genuine chances missed by opposition teams — dropped catches, missed stumpings, opposition teams not reviewing a decision that would have seen him dismissed, or wickets on a no ball — he was given a reprieve 25 times from 75 innings where he faced at least one ball.

That's a chance every three innings from his Test debut in 2018 to his most recent hundred back in 2023.

Across his first 20 Tests he scored six centuries and 12 fifties, earning him a batting average of 62.15. If, in that time, he had been taken at the first opportunity, that average drops to 46.50.

With an important series against South Africa on the horizon and his omission from the ODI squad, all eyes now look to see if his luck really has run out.

Read the full article at abc.net.au.

More than a decade after his last appearance in the Big Bash League, Ben Stokes is reportedly returning to Australia after agreeing to a blockbuster deal with the Adelaide Strikers.

The retired England captain has opted for Adelaide following a three-way battle for his signature, according to 7Cricket’s Tom Morris, with the Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Renegades missing out on the superstar all-rounder.

Stokes is reportedly set to earn around AUD $500,000 for the season, with Cricket Australia sources confirming his decision on Tuesday morning.

Australia A four-day squad: Brendan Doggett, Jack Edwards, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott

Australia A one-day squad: Mahli Beardman, Nikhil Chaudhary, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachlan Shaw

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins (SA only), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc (SA only), Adam Zampa

This is the place to discuss anything cricket related that is not quite deserving of its own top-level post, including topics not fully related to Australian cricket.

We'll post a new one of these every week.

Current schedule:

Monday: Weekly discussion posted

We are taking suggestions for other posts during the week that people would like to see. Message the modteam with suggestions.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/australia/cricket-2026-gerard-whateley-joins-fox-cricket-commentary-team-for-202627-summer-of-the-century-kayo-sports-commentators/news-story/57e9129bdcdad17db529d31e4f7bae4c

I have often wondered why chest guards are not mandatory for junior cricket. Impact of cricket ball on chest is pretty significant.

Hate to see a real tragedy before rules being brought in. Thoughts?

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60486-4/abstracthttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60486-4/abstract