3 h. ago Australia coach Andrew McDonald says Ashes ‘done’ ahead of SCG Test

The teams reconvene for the final time at the SCG on Sunday with the hosts seeking an emphatic 4-1 win.

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68 h. ago England implode as 20 wickets fall on chaotic opening day of the Boxing Day Test

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Twenty wickets fell on a helter-skelter first day's play in the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG, as England staggered their way to 110 in response to Australia's 152.

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4 d. ago Australia mull over spin question as Todd Murphy enters mix with plenty to play for

Off-spinner not guaranteed spot in XI but may have key role against a side that will try to clear the boundaryIt would really be something. A Victorian spin bowler – one from St Kilda Cricket Club, no less – walking out on Boxing Day to play an Ashes Test in the shadow of the Shane Warne Stand at the MCG. Todd Murphy is not much like Warne in most respects: quiet, modest, thoughtful, bespectacled, a student of the even tempered practice of off-spin bowling rather than the lavish excess of leg-spin. But still. The links that do exist are too appealing to ignore.Not that Murphy is guaranteed to play the fourth Test in place of the injured Nathan Lyon, with Australia’s coach, Andrew McDonald, prevaricating about whether to pick four frontline fast bowlers plus an all-round seamer in Cameron Green or Beau Webster. But in picking him as the lone option in the squad, Australia have already given their spinner more positive feedback than Shoaib Bashir has received from England, who have re...

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6 d. ago Michael Vaughan's dad dies after England cricket legend rushed home from Ashes

Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan flew home from Adelaide in Australia, where he was covering the Ashes as a pundit, to see his father Graham before he passed away

Events

7 d. ago Ben Stokes makes England captaincy decision after brutal Ashes defeat

England captain Ben Stokes addressed the media after Australia secured victory in Adelaide to wrap up victory in their home Ashes series with two tests to spare

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7 d. ago Arrogant England’s cricket machine collapses like a castle of dust in 11 days | Barney Ronay

So this is Christmas. And what have we done? The Ashes is over. With two Tests still to comeWhen the moment finally came the visuals were perfect: clean lines, neat angles, figures picked out in crisp afternoon sun against the almost satirical splendour of Adelaide Oval.Scott Boland took the final wicket to seal Australia’s unassailable 3-0 Ashes series lead, the 74th time this moment has been played out down the centuries, and immediately the white shapes converged to form a bobbing huddle. England’s batters stood in an attitude of formal deflation. The umpires began their priestly last-things walk, framed against that huge, empty, lime-green field. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Stokes vows to remain England captain as McCullum admits regret over Ashes preparations

Tourists’ skipper ‘absolutely’ has energy to stay in roleHead coach after defeat: ‘Sitting here 3-0, it didn’t work’As Ben Stokes stressed his commitment to leading England after losing the Ashes inside 11 days, Brendon McCullum gave his first admission of regret. Poor preparation has been widely blamed for this failed tour of Australia and, in that regard, the head coach was prepared to hold his hand up.Speaking after the 82-run defeat at Adelaide Oval that sees Australia 3-0 up with two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney to come, Stokes offered a simple “absolutely” when asked if he had the energy to continue as captain but played down England’s threadbare warmup period. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Australia WIN the Ashes after just 11 days of cricket as England's fightback is too little, too late

England staged a brave fightback that gave them a glimpse of what would have been a record victory - but it was too little, too late to keep the fight for the urn alive.

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8 d. ago Zak Crawley admits outclassed England are ‘staring down the barrel’

A series defeat looms inside three Tests despite opener Crawley ditching his typical expansiveness in a dogged 85 in Adelaide.

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8 d. ago England Ashes hopes suffer major blow as Australia on brink of another Test win

England trail by 227 runs heading into Day Five of the third Ashes Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval

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8 d. ago Ashes LIVE: England facing quickest Ashes defeat since 1921 as Nathan Lyon removes Ben Stokes and Zak Crawley to help Australia close on series win

Ashes RECAP: Re-live all of the action from day four of the third Test at Adelaide Oval with Daily Mail's live coverage as Australia rapidly close in on retaining the urn.

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8 d. ago England require Ashes miracle but avoid further humiliation as Australia on verge of victory

England were left on 207 for 6, needing a 228-run miracle on day five in Adelaide, while Australia require four more wickets to seal a 3-0 lead

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8 d. ago Australia close on Ashes victory over England on day four of third Test – live reaction

Australia are four wickets away from retaining the urn after Nathan Lyon strikes late at Adelaide Oval68th over: Australia 276-4 (Head 142, Carey 57) Carse’s first ball is short and wide and thumped to the boundary by Carey. A diving stop by Smith saves any further blushes and that’s all Australia can milk from the over.67th over: Australia 272-4 (Head 142, Carey 53) Stokes has the ball. Hair swept back and regal. Running in to the strains of the Barmy Army’s Jerusalem. On the ball. Just one single from it. Continue reading...

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9 d. ago Ashes LIVE: Pat Cummins breaks vital partnership with the crucial wicket of Joe Root, as England's hopes of rescuing Ashes series begin to slide out of view

Ashes LIVE: Australia take a commanding 356-run lead into day four of the third Test in Adelaide, after a Travis Head clinic. With six wickets in hand, the Aussies will be hard to stop

Events

9 d. ago England on the brink of humiliating Ashes record as Australia's emergency plan comes off

England are staring down the barrel of another Ashes series defeat after Travis Head and Australia piled on the runs in Adelaide

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9 d. ago Ashes LIVE: Terrific Travis Head puts England to the sword with his second ton of the series in front of packed home ground in Adelaide

Ashes LIVE: Follow 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

Society

1 week ago Ashes LIVE: Forget Bazball, TRAVBALL is on display again as Travis Head and Usman Khawaja rip all hope away from England

Ashes LIVE: Follow 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

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1 week ago Ashes LIVE: Australia hoping to end the rearguard resistance from Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer as England's tour hangs by a thread

Ashes LIVE: Follow 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

Society

1 week ago England in talks to replace controversial Snicko with new technology for fourth Ashes Test

ECB and Cricket Australia could bring in UltraEdgeSnicko hit by more bad decisions on day two in AdelaideThe England and Wales Cricket Board has held talks with Cricket Australia about the possibility of replacing the decision review system (DRS) technology Snicko with an alternative UltraEdge for the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne after controversy on the opening two days of the Adelaide Test.In bilateral series, DRS technology is the responsibility of the home board, which in practice is passed on to the main domestic broadcast rights holder, in this case Fox Sports. However, the Guardian has learned that Cricket Australia’s free-to-air rights holder, Channel 7, has a DRS contract with Hawk-Eye Innovations, the company behind UltraEdge, so there is an alternative available should the hosts seek to make a change amid unhappiness from players on both sides. Continue reading...

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1 week ago There are only two things wrong with this England team. They can’t Baz. And they can’t ball | Barney Ronay

Even losing seems to involve doing so without the qualities that were supposed to make England winIt’s a cruel, cruel summer. By the close of play in Adelaide, on the kind of superheated afternoon when just going outside basically involves setting fire to your own hair, it was clear this was the day the music finally died for England’s Ashes tour; even if that music has long since faded, like the tinkle of a haunted pianola in an empty house.The start of day two had presented a familiar challenge. Here was another occasion where it was necessary to bat properly. And yes, it is always this day. The bat properly day. Do it. Do the batting. The proper batting. By now this seems to raise some very basic existential questions. Continue reading...

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