4 d. ago Amateur stuns pros to win One Point Slam and A$1m in boost for Australian Open

TikTokification of the sport brings in crowds with Tennis Australia as big a winner as new millionaireA 29-year-old tennis coach from Sydney won the inaugural One Point Slam at the Australian Open and its A$1m prize on Wednesday, after upstaging a field which included Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.It is Tennis Australia, however, which won the jackpot, after the new concept – despite its near three-hour duration, often confusing format and awkward exchanges between players – attracted a full house to Rod Laver Arena during opening week as organisers look at non-traditional ways to attract fans to Melbourne Park. Continue reading...

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1 week ago How do I build a sense of worth that isn’t constantly slipping through my fingers?

We often peg our self-esteem on short-term goals and generic standards, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes – but it’s what makes you you that others truly valueI keep waiting to feel that I’m finally enough. I’ve worked hard, am in the process of changing careers to be more of service to others, gone to therapy. I go to the gym, eat the right food, have built things I’m proud of. And yet nothing sticks. Every time I hit a goal, there’s this tiny burst of pride, then it’s gone.Lately, I’ve noticed how tangled this has become with how I see my body. I’ve been training and eating well for ages, but I still feel ashamed when I look in the mirror, as though I’ve failed some invisible test. People tell me I look great but it doesn’t land. There’s this constant hum of “not good enough” running underneath everything, no matter what I do. Continue reading...

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1 week ago England’s Ashes humbling was more a series of letdowns than ‘series of our lives’ | Ali Martin

They landed in Perth expecting to challenge Australia but after a 4-1 defeat and more off-field revelations, the laid-back approach of McCullum’s regime is in the ECB’s sightsIt was billed as “the series of our lives” by Brendon McCullum but as he and Ben Stokes looked over towards the podium to watch Steve Smith and Pat Cummins lift the crystal Ashes trophy under an azure sky, the optimism that preceded this failed campaign felt a lifetime ago.They landed in Perth two months ago with what they and many thought was an aggressive, dynamic England side, finally set to challenge Australia’s ageing champions after three miserable tours. Cue a 4-1 humbling, offset by one maelstrom win in Melbourne but with the Ashes already lost in 11 days. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Australia back injured stars as squad for T20 World Cup revealed

Cummins, Hazlewood and David named for India and Sri Lanka eventMatt Kuhnemann included in spin-heavy 15-player teamMatthew Kuhnemann is in line for a World Cup debut after being included as the biggest surprise selection in Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup.As expected, Australia have named superstar pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, as well as swashbuckling Tim David, despite injury concerns. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Ashes LIVE: Nightmare start for England in response to Australia's 152 as 20 wickets tumble on day one of the Boxing Day Test

The hosts are trying to roll to a 4-0 lead in the series without skipper Pat Cummins and spin king Nathan Lyon.

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3 w. ago Ashes LIVE: Nightmare start for England in response to Australia's 152 as wickets tumble in Boxing Day Test

The hosts are trying to roll to a 4-0 lead in the series without skipper Pat Cummins and spin king Nathan Lyon.

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3 w. ago Ashes LIVE: Five wicket haul from Tongue has Aussies licked for 152 as wickets tumble AGAIN just before tea in the Boxing Day Test

The hosts are trying to roll to a 4-0 lead in the series without skipper Pat Cummins and spin king Nathan Lyon.

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3 w. ago Ashes LIVE: Australia cops a Tongue lashing with four wickets tumbling before lunch as England roars to life in Boxing Day Test

The hosts are trying to roll to a 4-0 lead in the series without skipper Pat Cummins and spin king Nathan Lyon.

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3 w. ago Australia captain Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon ruled out of rest of Ashes

Cummins is being rested after his decisive role in the third Test while Lyon is out with a hamstring injury

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3 w. ago Steve Smith captains Australia in Boxing Day Test as Pat Cummins plays no further part in Ashes

Fast bowler takes precautionary decision after back problems

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3 w. ago Six balls in Perth to Harry Brook’s drop: 10 moments that decided the Ashes

Lilac Hill warmup, Alex Carey’s glovework and Pat Cummins’ control of Joe Root are key parts of the storyIt’s not a complete exaggeration to say that Australia won the 2025-26 Ashes on 15 October 2024. That was when Cricket Australia announced the schedule for the series: Perth first, Brisbane second. Starting the series on the bounciest, most Kryptonicious pitches in Australia – and the only major venues where England haven’t won a Test since 1986-87 – was a masterstroke, especially as Australia also had a day-night advantage at the Gabba. By the time England reached more batting-friendly climes, many of their batters already had scrambled brains. Continue reading...

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4 w. ago Pat Cummins feels Ashes winners Australia have knocked stuffing out of ‘Bazball’

Cummins missed his side’s wins at Perth and Brisbane with back problems but returned to apply the finishing touches as the hosts secured the urn.

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4 w. ago Pat Cummins is in rare air as an Ashes captain. Can his Dad's Army go around again? | Geoff Lemon

He’s achieved an Ashes feat that few others have. But he’s still missing an outright win in EnglandStarc breaks England hearts again as Australia retain the AshesWhile it took longer than expected on the fifth day in Adelaide, eventually it was done. A series won, the Ashes retained for another year and a half until they next go up for grabs in England. For Pat Cummins, this makes three consecutive Ashes series captained without giving up the urn. The feat leaves him in sparse but fine company: the others to do it are Joe Darling, Don Bradman, Richie Benaud, Mike Brearley, Allan Border and Mark Taylor.It made things neater that Steve Smith missed this third Test, having captained the first two wins in Cummins’ absence, so that it didn’t feel like the full-time captain was swooping in to hoover up the stand-in’s lunch. Those situations can be odd, like Adam Gilchrist filling in to lead what was very much Ricky Ponting’s team, captaining two wins in India in 2004 before Ponting return...

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4 w. ago Starc breaks England hearts again as Australia retain the Ashes in tense third Test

Third Test, D5: Australia, 371 & 349?, bt England, 286 & 352 by 82 runsEngland show grit in Adelaide but fall short as hosts wins series 3-0The England supporters on the hill in front of the heritage-listed scoreboard never gave up and, to their credit, neither did their team. But in the end, despite losing Nathan Lyon to a hamstring injury, it was Australia who prevailed by 82 runs to win this Ashes series with two Tests to spare.Needing just 11 days of play to claim an unassailable 3-0 lead, Pat Cummins and his men equalled Steve Waugh’s sides in 2001 and 2002/03 for the fastest Ashes wins. This one, sealed after England’s attempt to chase down a record 435 ended at 352 all out, comes with an extra dollop of relish. Continue reading...

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4 w. ago Pat Cummins primed to pop the corks after bursting England’s fragile bubble | Geoff Lemon

Australia’s captain marvel, the ultimate flat-wicket operator, stormed into this third Ashes Test like he had never been awayOn a redundancy scale, attending the Adelaide Test and noting that Pat Cummins was good is in the realm of noting that the Torrens was wet or the cathedral was spiky. Still, on day four, any one of those obvious things might justifiably have caught an observer’s eye. Perhaps it’s more notable just how natural, how inevitable, it felt that Cummins was indeed bowling at his best in his first match back after a nascent stress fracture cost him the first two Tests of this Ashes series and any match preparation before that.England observers will spend four years until their team’s next visit pondering explanations for this year’s poor showing, inevitably including much examination of the lack of chances for their bowlers to adjust to Australian conditions. Cummins spent five months in the gym and the nets without once seeing the middle of a ground, latterly powerin...

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4 w. 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

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4 w. 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.

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4 w. ago Ben Duckett falls before lunch as Australia progress towards Ashes victory

The tourists were left chasing a world record 435 to avoid going 3-0 down in just 10 days of cricket.

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