2 w. ago Aiden Markram helps South Africa beat Australia in World Test Championship final

Set 282 to win, 70 more than had been scored in any of the first three innings at Lord’s, Markram scored 136 runs.

Sport

2 w. ago South Africa v Australia: World Test Championship final cricket, day three – live

Updates from the third day of the WTC final at Lord’sRead the latest edition of The Spin | And email GeoffThis is mine, with the Australian perspective on Pat Cummins’ remarkable day, and what influence a certain member of the nouveau landed gentry might have had.Here’s Simon Burnton with the press conference reporting, where David ‘Bedding In’ Bedingham is upbeat about knocking off the Aussies. Continue reading...

Sport

3 w. ago Cummins and Rabada lead from the front on a breathless second day at Lord’s | Geoff Lemon

Australia and South Africa had plenty of reasons to be grateful to their respective spearheads as the WTC final progressed at a rapid paceYou would have to call the combination incongruous. In one of the clips doing the digital rounds before the World Test Championship, there was Pat Cummins on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm programme, having apparently just raided the activewear section, the men around him wearing those vests that help rich people believe themselves to be rugged outdoor types. It’s hard to imagine much affinity between the two, sitting presumably at a wooden farmhouse table over Clarkson’s rustic bean soup and a heel of crusty bread, talking their way to a cordial entente about carbon emissions. But there was the Australian captain nonetheless, affably rolling an arm over while a farm type plonked a rubber ball on to a nearby shed, the bowler smiling in that way that suggests a shrug as Clarkson sledged him in a most British fashion.By the second day of the World Test Cham...

Politics

3 w. ago South Africa have ‘massive belief’ they can stun Australia, insists David Bedingham

Batter confident despite 218-run deficit in WTC finalPat Cummins hails ‘brilliant’ Alex Carey for rescue actThe destiny of the mace may still be in the balance but David Bedingham admitted Australia’s bowlers had already “shown they’re the best in the world” in bowling South Africa out for 138 on the second day of the World Test Championship final. Pat Cummins claimed six wickets to put his team in the ascendancy but on a whirligig day of constantly oscillating fortunes, the Proteas promptly bowled themselves back into contention, with Australia reaching stumps on 144 for eight, nursing a lead of 218.“It’s an amazing chance, and we’re all excited about the opportunity to win,” said Bedingham. “It could go either way but us as a team are very, very excited and there’s a lot of belief in the dressing room. We’re very confident. When they started batting in their second innings we would definitely have taken this score. So very confident, there’s massive belief in this team.” Continue ...

Politics

3 w. ago Australia and South Africa wickets tumble to leave WTC final on a knife

Day two: Australia 212 & 144-8; South Africa 138Proteas battle back after Pat Cummins’ early blitzThis final has been dubbed “The Ultimate Test” and though almost certainly the product of a W1A-style ideas splurge back in Dubai, this tagline scarcely felt more appropriate watching the wickets tumble for a second successive day.It had looked for all money like Pat Cummins had sealed the fate of the World Test Championship mace. Thundering in from the Nursery End, a four-wicket burst after lunch had seen him claim six for 28 and with South Africa all out for 138 in 57.1 overs – 74 behind – all it needed was a further top-up of runs. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Captain Pat Cummins answers Australia’s call before South Africa roar back in rollercoaster final

Cummins took six wickets to put Australia in the ascendancy before a late collapse kept South Africa’s hopes much alive

Politics

3 w. ago England v West Indies: third men’s T20 cricket international – live

T20 updates from Southampton; start 6.30pm BSTWTC final news | Sign up for The Spin | Email James We’ll be underway in less than ten minutes. Just enough time to dig into Don McRae’s wide reaching interview with Pat Cummins on the eve of the WTC Final. Some topics were still off-limits though But the ball-tampering saga remains an awkward topic. He listens quietly while I tell him about my 2021 interview with Cameron Bancroft who, as a callow opening batter trying to find his way in Test cricket, followed instructions to use sandpaper to rough up the ball. His captain, Steve Smith, David Warner and Bancroft were banned and the batter, when pressed on whether any of the bowlers had known of the plan, told me that “it’s probably self-explanatory”.Cummins took seven wickets in that Test, which Australia lost heavily, and I ask if he really had no idea what was being done to the ball. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says bluntly.” Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Pat Cummins: ‘We want to play hard and fair, and I think we’ve got it right’

The Australia captain talks about leading the side against South Africa and not getting too big for his boots – but plays a dead bat regarding the Bairstow dismissal at Lord’sAs Pat Cummins opens up at the pavilion end, while gazing across the vast empty space of Lord’s a few days before Australia face South Africa in the World Test Championship final, it’s clear that the unexpected opponents this week have helped to frame his remarkable career.On Wednesday morning, while towering a foot over Temba Bavuma, his 5ft 3in South African counterpart, Cummins will lead Australia for the 34th time, in his 68th Test. The fast bowler stands at the summit of world cricket, his grizzled matinee idol charm allied to the grit which has helped him to become such a successful captain. Australia have won almost everything during his tenure of three and a half years and they are expected to retain their Test title. Continue reading...

Politics