Category Sports News

Steve Smith will take the starting Ashes Test in his absence, and Australia have confirmed that captain Pat Cummins won’t be fit.

Cummins, a talismanic fast bowler, has been out for a while and earlier this month declared he was “less than likely” to play in the first Test against Perth on November 21.

Cummins will return to the nets this week after “running out of time” for the series opener, and head coach Andrew McDonald expressed his “really optimistic” that he would be able to play for the second Test in Brisbane starting on December 4.

The nature of the injury is that you grapple with it day by day, McDonald said. “We’ve grappled with it for a while.

“We’re very optimistic and optimistic about our second Test match.” This week, he’ll be back bowling, which is a significant improvement.

Australia’s renowned fast bowler and captain are losing a significant amount of money.

Cummins was initially ruled out of the white-ball series against India and New Zealand because of reports of a lumbar stress fracture.

Cummins claimed time was starting to get “tight” for the first Test because he needed at least a month to practice for the match-fit test two weeks prior.

Cummins was named captain just before the final Ashes series against Australia in 2021-22. Despite having to miss the second Test due to a Covid scare, the home side won 4-0.

Smith is a more than capable replacement for the captaincy.

The 36-year-old is the Ashes-winning skipper, and the “sandpapergate” ball-tampering scandal cost him the captaincy in 2018. He only lost the captaincy in 2018 as a result.

The batter, who has been a top Ashes run-scorer all-time, has six previous starts in place of Cummins as captain.

Scott Boland, who has a peerless average of 12.63 in Test matches in Australia, is likely to take Cummins’ place in the bowling attack.

In a seam attack for the exhausting five-Test series that was squeezed into just over seven weeks, Boland, 36, is likely to join Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, both of whom are in their mid-30s.

Losing your captain isn’t ideal, but when you’re enlisting Scott Boland as a potential replacement, McDonald said.

Australia are likely to need to use some untested or inexperienced reserves like Michael Neser, Brendan Doggett, or Fergus O’Neill, despite McDonald’s not excluding a Mitchell Marsh Test return.

The white-ball captain of Australia won his most recent of his 46 caps in December, winning 28.5 with the bat and 40.4 with the ball in Tests.

If we thought it would be beneficial to the Test team, McDonald said, “We would be comfortable choosing someone, and if you want to put a name to it Mitch Marsh, out of white-ball cricket.”

The question of Cummins’ potential involvement and the bowlers Australia might employ aggravates the perception that pace bowling will determine the Ashes’ eventual winners.

The most hostile squad England have sent down under since 1970 has been named a battery of quick bowlers.

Some of the attackers’ identities are being investigated. Jofra Archer has a long injury history, while Mark Wood hasn’t played a test since August of last year, and Josh Tongue has been among the players who have been let down in the past year.

England’s Ashes squad is slowly getting better, with many players going after New Zealand’s first one-day international on Sunday.

Others, like Wood and Tongue, are already there as part of their preparations, not the New Zealand series.

After playing for England’s rugby league team for the first time before their first Ashes Test against Australia on Saturday, captain Ben Stokes is one of the players who will be traveling later.

Stokes hasn’t played since July because of a shoulder injury, but he’s reportedly prepared for the first Ashes Test. On November 13 in Perth, England plays their only warm-up game against an England Lions team.

Due to a variety of injuries, all-rounder Stokes has not featured in any of England’s previous four Test matches.

Tottenham are tracking Samu Aghehowa, while Bournemouth rejected two offers for Antoine Semenyo last summer, and Dominic Solanke may be leaving.

Dominic Solanke, 28, may be subject to a sale by Tottenham boss Thomas Frank because of his lack of positive traits. Football Insider

Tottenham and Manchester United made a £50 million summer transfer offer to Ghana’s Antoine Semenyo, but Bournemouth rejected it. (Telegraph)

Samu Aghehowa, 21, is a porto’s age 21, but Tottenham is competing with Arsenal, Newcastle, and Nottingham Forest for the Spain international. (Caught Offside)

Fabio Carvalho, 23, could leave Brentford on loan in January to pursue playing time, with a potential return to the Bundesliga in the offing. (Florian Plettenberg)

Joshua Zirkzee, 24, is currently on a loan at Manchester United, with Roma and other clubs interested in the Netherlands international. (TBR Football)

Morgan Rogers, 23, is currently in advanced negotiations with Aston Villa regarding a new contract. Football Insider

Colombia’s 29-year-old right-back Daniel Munoz and Crystal Palace‘s Daniel Munoz have received a 30 million euro (£26.2) offer from Barcelona. (Fichajes – Spanish)

Chelsea’s Malo Gusto, 22, is being watched closely by Juventus as they look into a January move for the French right-back. (Calciomercarto – Italian)

Robert Lewandowski, a 37-year-old Poland striker, will be out of contract at Barcelona next summer, according to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is the co-owner of Manchester United. (Mirror)