While Smith is in a fine nick heading into the home Ashes, Root has a massive burden of expectations on his shoulders to keep the 'Bazball' powered English line-up stable and give them a platform to perform their batting pyrotechnics. Having looted runs everywhere, a century in Australia sti
Jake Weatherald enjoyed his first training hit in Aussie colours ahead of the first Ashes Test against England, scheduled to begin on Friday at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Australia's Test players have inspected the Optus Stadium pitch for the first time ahead of the first Ashes Test against England, scheduled to begin on Friday in Perth.
The horror show by Smith-led New South Wales was the major highlight, as despite the presence of Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood, NSW registered a poor outing, which slid them to third place in the table.
With the Ashes set to commence from November 21 at Perth, plenty of Australian stars have found rhythm and got game time heading into the all-important rivalry, a massive series in their chase for the ICC World Test Championship Mace.
Steve Smith, who is captaining NSW in the Sheffield Shield 2025-26 season and will also lead Australia against England in the upcoming Ashes series, was the lone half-centurian in the entire NSW batting lineup against Victoria.
England opening batter Ben Duckett, ahead of the opening Ashes fixture, stated that England's approach during the series will be to understand the match situation better and react accordingly.
Starc struck early, dismissing four of Victoria's top six batsmen, while his Australia teammate Nathan Lyon chipped in with 2-65, removing the other two top-order batsmen.
Australia captain Pat Cummins has said he is eager to play as much cricket as possible in the upcoming Test summer but admitted he may have to manage his workload carefully depending on the demands of each match.
Opener Sam Konstas misses out, whereas Marnus Labuschagne earns a recall, and Jake Weatherald is also included in the squad as Australia announces their squad for the first Test of the Ashes 2025-26 series against England starting from November 21.
Following last two years of indifferent form in international cricket, especially Tests, Australia's second-most premier batter after Steve Smith continues to be hell-bent on proving that his class is permanent and runs would soon flow, as he smashed 101 in 111 balls, with six fours and a si