Australia's Zampa hopes match-winners emerge to cover big-name losses
MELBOURNE : Adam Zampa wants new heroes to emerge from the Australian squad at the Champions Trophy to cover the "big loss" of the team's champion pace trio.
Adam Zampa Sport News
Depleted Australia Face Uphill Battle At Champions Trophy
An Australia team struggling for confidence and missing the wealth of experience that has long been the backbone of their success face a daunting task to win a first Champions Trophy title since 2009. The World Cup holders are without their "Big Three" pacemen -- Pat Cummins (ankle), Josh Hazlewood (hip) and Mitchell Starc, who has opted out for personal reasons. It is a giant hole to fill with the trio sharing 525 ODI wickets across a combined 308 games. Add in the absence of all-rounders Mitchell Marsh (back) and Marcus Stoinis (retired), and half of their regular team is missing.
Australia SWOT Analysis, Champions Trophy: Battered By injuries, World Champions Can't Be Ignored
Two-time winners Australia will be on a quest to regain the Champions Trophy title after a gap of 15 years. They had won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2009 but have failed to reach the finals in the 2013 and 2017 editions, after which the event was discontinued. For the 2025 edition, the reigning 50-over World Cup winners are placed in the four-team Group B which also includes England, South Africa, and Afghanistan. Australia will open their campaign with a clash with arch-rivals England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 22.
Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2025 Full Schedule: SRH Fixtures, Dates, Timings, Venues
SRH Schedule IPL 2025: Sunrisers Hyderabad will be entering the new Indian Premier League season hoping to go one better, after finishing runners-up in IPL 2024. Led by Pat Cummins, the men in orange and black looked rejuvenated in 2024, with the opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma proving to be the deadliest opening pair in the tournament. Those three, alongside Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy, form a strong core retained by SRH. They also boosted their roster in the IPL 2025 mega auction with the acquistions of Mohammed Shami and Ishan Kishan among others.
Travis Head, David Miller, Pat Cummins Not Retained Ahead Of Major League Cricket Season 3 Draft
Major League Cricket (MLC) franchises have announced their retained players ahead of the third season's draft, set to take place on February 19. Several star players, including Australia's Travis Head and Pat Cummins, along with South Africa's Kagiso Rabada and David Miller, were not retained, ESPNCricinfo reported. Defending champions Washington Freedom retained 15 players, the most by any team, but let go of Head, their joint-highest run-getter alongside captain Steve Smith with 336 runs each. The franchise also let go of bowlers Akeal Hosein and Andrew Tye, who took two and five wickets each last season, as per ESPNCricinfo.
Sri Lanka vs Australia 1st ODI, Live Score Updates
Sri Lanka vs Australia 1st ODI, Live Updates: Sri Lanka will be taking on Australia in the first ODI of the two-match series on Wednesday in Colombo. This series will be the last practice for Australia for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka did not qualify for the Champions Trophy after a dismal ninth-place finish at the World Cup in India in 2023. The Champions Trophy begins on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai, and 50-over world champions Australia are in a group with England, South Africa and Afghanistan. Australia face Sri Lanka in Colombo on Wednesday and Friday, fresh from a dominant 2-0 Test series sweep. (Live Scorecard)
Huge Pat Cummins Surprise As Australia Announce ICC Champions Trophy Squad
Pat Cummins returns for Australia's ICC Champions Trophy campaign in Pakistan next month after skipping their Sri Lanka Test tour, with injured paceman Josh Hazlewood also in the squad announced Monday. Australian captain Cummins opted out of the Sri Lanka series starting later this month for the birth of his second child. He is also reportedly carrying a knee injury. Hazlewood was included in the two-time tournament winners' preliminary 15-man line-up after calf and side strains restricted him to just two Tests against India over the summer.
Rohit Sharma To Open, India To Make Big Playing XI Change For 4th Australia Test: Report
Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma is all set to open the innings while KL Rahul will bat at No. 3 against Australia in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, according to Times Of India. The report claimed that Rohit will return as an opener after batting at No. 6 in the past two matches. However, no clarity was provided regarding Shubman Gill's position in the batting order. The report further claimed that India are considering playing two spinners with Washington Sundar partnering Ravindra Jadeja. In that case, Nitish Kumar Reddy will miss out despite doing well in the bat in the ongoing five-match Test series.