19 h. ago Joe Root rejects ‘silly’ talk over England management after highlighting positive trend

Head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key both face questions after an Ashes defeat, but a consolation win in Melbourne has raised spirits

Politics

20 h. ago Joe Root insists players fully committed to England management

Head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key both face questions.

Sport

46 h. ago ‘Finally we’ve won one’: Stokes delighted by Ashes Test win but pitch was ‘not ideal’

England captain and Joe Root revel in rarest of victories‘Narrative that we haven’t won goes back to zero now’Ben Stokes shared a hug with Joe Root and spoke of an “awesome feeling” after watching his England side claw back some respectability on this failed Ashes tour with a rollercoaster two-day victory in Melbourne.Of the England squad, none had felt the pain of an 18-match winless streak more than the captain and his predecessor. Stokes had played in 13 Tests here without ever tasting a victory, while for Root the number was 17. With both men aged 34, this tour may well have been their last chance. Continue reading...

Economics

56 h. ago Boxing Day Test 2025: Australia v England fourth Ashes Test, day two – live updates

Australia edge England in wild opening to Boxing Day Test Over-by-over updates from Melbourne Cricket Ground Live scorecard | Geoff Lemon on Australia’s bowlers“Dear Rob,” writes Robert Wilson. “I’ve got skin in the game as I am trying to arrange an all-night viewing sesh for day (night) three in an unexpectedly swish Aussie backpacker hostel near Stalingrad (in Paris). Logistically, it’s quite a lot of ducks to get in a row and punters fagging all the way in from below-zero Versailles or somesuch only to catch four overs while nursing a lukewarm Newky Brown might have views.“But seeing the highlights, I didn’t feel the pitch was as mega-jalapeno as some claimed. Yesterday’s turnstile innings seemed a perfect mix of often tack-sharp bowling, tasty pitch and Ballymena Academy Third Eleven batting (I watched the Duckett dismissal frame-by-frame and I still don’t even understand). Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Australia edge wild Boxing Day with England as 20 wickets fall in fourth Ashes Test

Fourth Test, day one: Australia 152 & 4-0; England 110Bowlers feast on green-tinged pitch on day one at MCGA record 94,199 spectators turned up to the MCG on Boxing Day and none will forget what they witnessed. An extraordinary 20 wickets tumbled on a pitch offering lavish movement and Cricket Australia were left fearing what would be a second multi-million dollar loss in this Ashes series.The first came in Perth, when that two-day series opener triggered the refunds and left visiting supporters scrambling for sightseeing trips. This fourth Test had the ingredients for a repeat, not just a surface with 10mm of grass but also a touring side in England who, having lost the Ashes and with criticism flying, looked broken before the coin even went up. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Australia edge England as 20 wickets fall on wild day one of Boxing Day Test

Fourth Test, day one: Australia 152 & 4-0; England 110Bowlers feast on green-tinged pitch on day one at MCGA record 94,199 spectators turned up to the MCG on Boxing Day and none will forget what they witnessed. An extraordinary 20 wickets tumbled on a pitch offering lavish movement and Cricket Australia were left fearing what would be a second multi-million dollar loss in this Ashes series.The first came in Perth, when that two-day series opener triggered the refunds and left visiting supporters scrambling for sightseeing trips. This fourth Test had the ingredients for a repeat, not just a surface with 10mm of grass but also a touring side in England who, having lost the Ashes and with criticism flying, looked broken before the coin even went up. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Car bombing prompts police evacuation of rabbi and young family

A rabbi and his young family were evacuated from their home in the early hours of Christmas morning after a firebomb attack, as the world and Australia remain on edge following the Bondi Beach terror shootings.

Events

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 Zak Crawley and Joe Root show fight as England battle to avoid Adelaide defeat

The tourists face a monumental target of 435 to achieve an almost unthinkable comeback.

Events

1 week ago Travis Head piles more misery on England as Australia edge closer to Ashes win

Head struck a match-winning hundred in the first Test and another vital ton put his side in sight of an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Politics

1 week ago Alex Carey’s sparkling century helps Australia recover from early England Ashes onslaught

Third Test, day one: Australia 326-8Usman Khawaja digs in for 82 while Archer has 3-29After the pandemonium of Perth and Brisbane’s pink-ball palooza came an outbreak of more familiar looking Test cricket at Adelaide Oval. For the locals it was one to savour as their boy, Alex Carey, delivered a sparkling century at his home ground on an opening day that Australia edged.Not that England, 2-0 down and clinging on in this series, could be too downbeat. Ben Stokes had lost what appeared an ominous toss and, though far from perfect, his bowlers kept plugging away in 35c heat. At stumps Australia were 326 for eight from 83 overs – runs on the board but surely short of ambitions when Pat Cummins got the choice first thing. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Ben Stokes looks to past experience to spark Ashes fightback

England head into the third Test in Adelaide 2-0 down after facing similar position in previous series.

Politics

3 w. ago Ashes player ratings: Joe Root's century not enough as England crumble vs Australia at the Gabba

England were thrashed by eight wickets inside four days in the second Ashes Test as Australia took a 2-0 series lead

Sport

3 w. ago Joe Root backs England to bounce back after costly ‘mistakes’ hand Ashes advantage to Australia

England dropped five catches on day two of the second Test in Brisbane

Politics

3 w. ago ‘We’re all human’: Joe Root defends England over costly dropped catches on day two

Drops not down to poor preparation, says Root‘Not great visuals’ at Gabba, says Australia’s WeatheraldJoe Root has insisted that human error rather than poor preparation lay behind a string of dropped catches during a day of toil in the field for ­England. Travis Head, Alex Carey – twice – Josh Inglis and Michael Neser all got lifelines as Australia ended day two of the second Test on 378 for six, a lead of 44.“We worked as hard as we could in the lead-up to this, we had five days of prep and we did a huge amount of catching,” Root said. “We made sure we utilised those two [training] sessions under lights well. You can’t replicate that surface, the bounce, the way the nicks come. It’s never going to be exactly the same, it’s never going to be perfect. All you can do is give yourself the best possible chance and I think we’ve done that. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Joe Root wants England to respond after fielding errors give Australia edge

The Baggy Greens will resume their innings 44 in front after England dropped a number of catches in Brisbane.

Politics

3 w. ago England Ashes player ratings as Joe Root shines but bowlers hammered

Joe Root scored a brilliant 138 not out as England's talisman put in another masterclass following his century in Adelaide, only for Australia to end day two of the Ashes finale at the Gabba on top

Sport

3 w. ago England rue five dropped catches as Australia build lead in second Ashes Test

Second Test, day two: England 334; Australia 378-6Late wickets offer tourists hope amid string of spillsThe ball may be pink and the meal breaks off-kilter, but for so much of the second day in this pivotal day-night Test match, the atmosphere inside the Gabba was an all-too-familiar one for England’s supporters.Gone was the triumphalism that met Joe Root’s first Test century on these shores 24 hours earlier and in its place the sight of Australia taking control. England’s attack had been in the madhouse, sending down a feast of wide long hops and half-volleys to make Jackson Pollock look positively precise. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Joe Root is finally a wizard in Aus after Harry Brook’s Bazball scarecrow act | Barney Ronay

A tale of two Yorkshiremen, one keeping England in the series, the other batting without a brainIn the end even the celebration was perfect, out there under that strange deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the game-state – manic Baz energy, England’s lower order scything away death cult-style at the other end, the way even the grass seems lacquered and glazed by the lights.So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle of this Joe Root guided the ball away through fine leg to complete his first Test hundred in Australia, then marked it with a gentle smile and a wave of the bat, no fist-punching, no monkeys off backs, no angsty and pointed messaging. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Majestic Root basks in Australian glory at last but Brook’s folly could be costly | Barney Ronay

A tale of two Yorkshiremen, one keeping England in the series, the other a scarecrow batting without a brainIn the end even the celebration was perfect, out there under that strange deep-blue southern sky, in the frenzy of the game-state – manic Baz energy, England’s lower order scything away death cult-style at the other end, the way even the grass seems lacquered and glazed by the lights.So yeah. All that stuff. In the middle of this Joe Root guided the ball away through point to complete his first Test hundred in Australia, then marked it with a gentle smile and a wave of the bat, no fist-punching, no monkeys off backs, no angsty and pointed messaging. Continue reading...

Politics