Could Afghanistan’s cricketers become unlikely ambassadors for their country and bring relief to it in its current state of volatility?
Afghanistan Cricket Board
Sport has emerged as an unlikely hero for one nation that continues to deal with violent internal conflicts. Afghanistan beat Australia at last month’s under-19 Cricket World Cup in Abu Dhabi, while the…
England retained the Ashes in 2014. That’s not a wistful statement from a parallel universe, it’s a fact. A fact relating to women’s cricket, though, not men’s. As crestfallen fans will know, the men lost…
India will be regarded more than ever with suspicion in the cricket world if proposed changes to the game’s governance are put in place.
EPA/Jagadeesh NV
Just two years after the International Cricket Council (ICC) received wide-ranging recommendations for reform of its governance arrangements – which India promptly rejected – cricket’s global governing…
Australia regained the treasured Ashes urn after whitewashing England five-nil. What are the key cultural lessons from the latest series?
AAP/Paul Miller
When the end came to the Ashes, it came quickly on the third day at the Sydney Cricket Ground – five-nil to Australia. After ten Ashes tests in seven months, 2015 will be well advanced before Australia…
Hawk-Eye is a device used to reconstruct the track of the ball for LBW decisions in cricket and for line calls in tennis. It will be much in evidence during the remaining Ashes tests and is now being used…
What chance the ICC will act to clean up cricket, which continues to be dogged by corruption scandals?
EPA/Rahat Dar
Amidst crowded match schedules that are as much about finance as play, cricket’s off-field governance and probity problems have reappeared to raise further questions about its future. News broke last week…
Australia’s cricketing mojo has returned in this Ashes series. While effective, their methods have not always been pretty.
AAP/Dave Hunt
After losing three Ashes series on the bounce and following much soul-searching about the decline of its national sporting prowess, Australia is giving England a pounding in the cricket. For many, all…
Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke became involved in a sledging imbroglio after stump microphones picked up a comment aimed at Englishman Jimmy Anderson.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Picture this scene: you and a colleague sit down for a meeting with your counterparts from another organisation. Before discussions begin, one employee leans over and questions whether you know what you…
By developing effective concentration and cognitive strategies, athletes can learn to ignore or reframe comments by their opposition.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
In cricket it’s known as sledging; in basketball, it’s trash talk; in ice hockey, chirping. Whatever you prefer to call it, the banter that occurs between players, whether it is on the field, court, or…
Trott has been open about why he left the Ashes.
Travis Hayto/AP
Cricketer Jonathan Trott went home early from the Ashes last week citing a stress-related condition. While the Australian team said they would not use his illness as a sledging opportunity, Trott’s illness…
Gentlemanly pursuit … also played by Australians.
Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.
“Bring it on” says Thommo my Brisbane host, “your WG Grace started it. And if hurting people is the issue remember there was Bodyline”. The self-styled Ugly Australian is back and revelling both in a first…
Spice boys: the English cricket team’s leaked dietary requirements while on tour caused much mirth in Australian press.
AAP/Dave Hunt
An Ashes series – the latest set to commence in Brisbane – symbolically ushers in the Australian summer in a manner akin to the loud soundtrack of thrumming cicadas. The media will cover the sporting exploits…
The man touted as the next Socceroos coach, Angle Postecoglou, meets Australian soccer’s greatest export Craig Johnston. Should we have local coaches for our national teams?
AAP/Hamish Blair
Another foreign coach of an Australian national sports team has been ushered to the overseas departure terminal. Having overseen the team’s qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Socceroos…
We’re about to reach intermission in the ten-part Ashes series. What have we learnt about the way we consume the sport of cricket as a social and cultural construct?
EPA/Peter Powell
The end of the English summer beckons, and Act One of the current Ashes drama is reaching its appointed denouement across the Thames from London’s Theatreland at The Oval. The interval will last until…
The Ashes series is already plagued by controversy over technology’s role in cricket. The latest allegations of equipment tampering haven’t helped. Australian TV station Channel Nine has reported some…
The science of spin bowling yields some interesting – and practical – results.
Wallula Junction
After the first day of the third Ashes test cricket match between England and Australia it may be a good time to consider how spin bowling might affect the outcome of the series - and how science can be…
If the current Ashes series tells us anything, it’s that the roles of Australian triumphalism and British despondence when it comes to sport have finally been reversed.
EPA/Tom Hevezi
The caravan tour of the England-Australia Ashes series, spanning two hemispheres and ten Tests in the space of six months, now rolls on to Manchester’s Old Trafford ground. The current series has so far…
Australia fell just short in the first Ashes Test.
EPA/David Jones
The first Ashes Test was indeed a veritable thriller. England edged Australia by a mere 14 runs, after an absorbing four-and-a-half days of action to go one-up in the best-of-five series. For those not…
Did playing against his brothers in the proverbial great Australian backyard help Ashton Agar to his stunning Ashes debut?
EPA/David Jones
Cricket fans worldwide are in awe of the talented teenager that threw Australia back into the ring to contest the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. Melbourne cricketer Ashton Agar chalked up 98 runs in…
Cricket commentators like Richie Benaud attract cult followings and satirical impersonations.
AAP/Dean Lewins
The Ashes are now upon us, and both sets of players are in the midst of the first Test at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground. As we sit down to watch the Test on television, it is worth reflecting on the…