Playthrough: Australia

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The Ashes: Test 1 (Edgbaston)
Lineup
The only really interesting call is Marcus Harris at six rather than Handscomb or Wade.
Marnus was injured btw
David Warner
Joe Burns
Usman Khawaja
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Marcus Harris
Tim Paine
Pat Cummins
Mitch Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

England have recalled Dawid Malan and picked Joe Denly as number eight. Odd...

Day 1
England collapsed to 4/65 within the first session. Root and Buttler came together and played well, but the partnership was broken immediately after the interval and England slumped again to 8/165. Joe Denly played well for 25 and Broad for 23 but England collapsed to all out 197

England all out 197 (Root 46, Buttler 45, Lyon 5/85).

Australia lost David Warner for 20 but are otherwise unbroken at stumps.

Day 2
Australia were bowled out an hour before stumps for 262, giving them a 65 run lead. Joe Burns and Travis Head starred with the bat, putting on a big partnership together after failures for Smith and Khawaja while Mark Wood took 6/77.

Australia all out 262 (Burns 86, Head 75, Wood 6/77).

England reached 30 in the hour after this, for the loss of Sibley.

Day 3
England batted through thanks to a brilliant Burns century. He scored 146 and with help from Root (66) and Stokes (47), they are unbeaten on 319.

Day 4
England are on top but Australia could still steal it. Their first job was to bowl out England and they succeeded.
England all out 348 (Burns 146, Root 66, Starc 3/77)

Then they tore through the top order, leaving the Aussies 6/97. However, Paine (43 (177)) and Cummins (40 (122)) have bedded in. Much more from that and the Poms will be concerned.

Day 5
Australia fell just short despite the efforts of Paine (59 (241)), Cummins (53 (174)), and Starc (23* (60)).
Australia all out 241 (Paine 59, Cummins 53, Anderson 4/49)

Honestly screw Edgbaston

 

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The Ashes: Test 2 (Lord's)
Lineup
No changes but it may be last chance saloon for a few...
David Warner
Joe Burns
Usman Khawaja
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Marcus Harris
Tim Paine
Pat Cummins
Mitch Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

England continue to confuse... William Fraine is given his Test debut in place of Dominic Sibley

Day 1
Australia batted first after winning the toss and generally impressed. Warner played well for 61 before chipping to Test debutant Fraine, and Burns and Paine made just under 50. The real star was Head who ends the day on 87*, with Australia 6/276. Can they keep going?

Day 2
Head fell agonisingly short of a Test ton, and it looked like the Aussies would get under 300. But Cummins and Lyon made the tail wag.

Australia all out 352 (Head 93, Warner 61, Cummins 51).

England had one over before Lunch to weather and they did. Unfortunately, the second session wasn't as good. They were 4/65 at one point, with only Fraine labouring to 14 and Root getting past 10. But Root went on to 75, and then Stokes and Denly made fifties- unbeaten at close.

Day 3
England lost their last 4 wickets for 30 runs in the opening hour. Denly nicked one then Cummins took a hattrick to close the innings- Stokes LBW, Broad edging and Andreson LBW.

England all out 274 (Root 75, Stokes 66, Denly 61, Cummins 4/90)

Australia batted cautiously after the early loss of Burns; Warner had a SR of just 36 at tea. And that was it for the day as rain curtailed play.

Day 4
Australia declared for 6/299. Smith stood out with 99, before nicking as the Aussies sought to up the run rate due to another 90 minutes of lost play. Harris also found much needed form. England had to score 353 or survive 101 overs.

Australia declared 6/299 (Smith 99, Harris 66*, Warner 50, Broad 3/46)

England survived the three overs Australia had at them.

Day 5
Australia took two early wickets but then were thwarted until lunch by a vigil from Fraine and a counterattack from Root. Unfortunately, both were dismissed just after lunch. Then there was another partnership- Stokes stonewalling and Bairstow counterattacking. Again, this was broken. Denly tried to hold on with the tail. Starc removed Wood and Broad with successive balls; Broad's king pair was greeted with delight by the Aussies in the crowd. Anderson hung around. Denly nicked one. The game was over and Australia had won.

England all out 201 (Bairstow 42, Root 40, Starc 4/55)

Ashes 1 all.

 

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The Ashes: Test 3 (Leeds)
Lineup
Australia shuffle their batting around; the out of form Khawaja is dropped, Harris moves to 3 and Handscomb comes in.
David Warner
Joe Burns
Marcus Harris
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Peter Handscomb
Tim Paine
Pat Cummins
Mitch Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

England make two changes: Pope and Bess in for Malan and Denly.

Day 1
Australia batted first, after losing the toss this time, and generally impressed. They ended up just 11 runs behind where they were at the end of Day 1 in the Lords test, with Burns (75) and Warner (58) the batting stars.

Day 2
A frustrating day. 4.5 hours were lost to rain. Australia didn't lose anything though and Handscomb finished 68*.

Day 3
Australia scored 50 runs quickly then fell in a heap.

Australia all out 373 (Burns 75, Handscomb 73, Burns 58, Anderson 4/95)

England couldn't survive the day. Burns played a great hand, scoring 80 to get himself into form, but nobody else really stood up.

England all out 245 (Burns 80, Stokes 43, Cummins 3/34)

Australia made 29 in the 50 minutes, for the loss of Burns.

Day 4
Australia declared again, this time for 304. Steve Smith made a century, Warner 94 and some solid team contributions.

Australia declared 5/304 (Smith 110, Warner 94)

England survived the five overs Australia had at them.

Day 5
Unfortunately for Australia, rain took 90 minutes out of this day, and with England finishing on 7/196, they may have won otherwise.

England 7/196 (Pope 45*, Starc 3/43)

 

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The Ashes: Test 4 (Old Trafford)
Lineup
Australia unchanged.
David Warner
Joe Burns
Marcus Harris
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Peter Handscomb
Tim Paine
Pat Cummins
Mitch Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

England make two changes again, and it's even more confusing. They change openers for the third time this series, with Keaton Jennings recalled despite some good efforts from Fraine, but even more odd is Sam Hain replacing Joe Bess. A specialist batsman, on England debut, at 8. What?

Day 1
Having sent England in, Australia will be frustrated. England's bold choice to recall Jennings paid off as he scored 139, and with Burns 38 and Buttler 106, two century partnerships. England did slightly collapse, losing Buttler, Root and Bairstow within two overs of each other, but finished on 6/367.

Day 2
Pope (67) and Mark Wood (40) gave England a formidable 447.

England all out 447 (Jennings 139, Buttler 106, Pope 67, Cummins 4/100)

Australia were 3/34, but Smith (50) and Head (88*) did great to get them to 4/196 at the end of the day.

Day 3
Australia did not lose a wicket for two sessions. Head made 185 and Handscomb 98, and they put on 250 between them. At the interval Australia were ahead although a win for either team was now unlikely.

Day 4
Paine ran out of partners just short of his ton. That meant Australia had a lead of nearly 100.

Australia all out 525 (Head 185, Handscomb 98, Paine 97*, Broad 5/108)

England suffered from issues. Burns this time was the lone hand, reaching the break undefeated on 88. Pope was also playing a big hand, 12 not out from 73. But with only a 130 run lead they needed massive survival the next day to draw.

Day 5
England played well. Hain accelerated when he got in and Burns made a great 147. They declared halfway through the afternoon session.

England declared 9/344 (Burns 147, Cummins 5/52)

Warner went in the first over but Burns and Harris were unbeaten.

Australia 1/152 (Harris 72*, Burns 70*)

Match drawn

 

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The Ashes: Test 5 (The Oval)
Lineup
Australia make one change: a tired Hazlewood replaced by Siddle.
David Warner
Joe Burns
Marcus Harris
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Peter Handscomb
Tim Paine
Pat Cummins
Mitch Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

England swap Hain and Sam Curran. What was the point of picking him?

Day 1
England finish on 264 for 5. Burns (80) and Bairstow (65) score 50s with Pope not out on 32 at the end of the day.

Day 2
England collapsed, losing 5/24 in 45 minutes.

England 288 all out (Burns 80, Bairstow 65, Cummins 5/67)

Australia put together a good partnership with Burns and Harris but unfortunately they both got out in two overs. They finished the day with 4/227.

Day 3
Australia also had a big collapse but did enough to lead by 44.

Australia 332 all out (Burns 60, Head 52, Harris 50, Anderson 5/70)

England didn't lose a wicket; Burns held in while Jennings attacked. 39* and 75* at the break for each.

Day 4
8 of England's bats did little. The other three tonned up. Australia's advantage was that they only needed to not lose.

England 439 all out (Bairstow 134*, Burns 106, Jennings 101, Cummins 5/124)

Australia got to 50 in the 9 overs before stumps, losing Joe Burns in the process.

Day 5
AUSTRALIA HAVE DONE IT! By surviving the last day they retain the Ashes! It was a series they deserved to win outright (only rain at Leeds robbed that) and they get their reward! Warner getting a hundred, Steve Smith 98* and Starc surviving 52 balls the key players.

Australia 7/320 (Warner 107, Smith 98*, Starc 9*, Broad 5/109)

Player of the Series: Patty Cummins

 

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Bangladesh Squad Announced; Starc, Hazlewood Rested
Australian head coach Draper has announced the squad for the Bangladesh T20s in October. The biggest surprise is D'Arcy Short and Chris Lynn missing the squad in favour of the in form Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, and Starc and Hazlewood being rested. Peter Siddle, after impressing in last year's BBL, gets a shot.
Squad:
Aaron Finch (C)
Nathan Coulter-Nile
Pat Cummins
Peter Handscomb
Travis Head
Usman Khawaja
Glenn Maxwell
Matt Renshaw
Jhye Richardson
Peter Siddle
Steve Smith
Billy Stanlake
Andrew Tye
Matt Wade
David Warner

 

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T20 vs Bangladesh
First Match
Australia chose to hand a debut to Matt Renshaw. No other shocks
Lineup: Warner, Finch, Head, Smith, Renshaw, Wade, Maxwell, Cummins, Coulternile, Tye, Siddle

Bangladesh 8/183 (Mosaddek 83*, Cummins 4/23) beat Australia 5/136 (Smith 47, Shakib 3/31)
This was a result that occurred for two reasons. First a middle order collapse, then pedestrian batting from Wade who made 37 from 38.

Second Match
Two changes for Australia- NCN and Renshaw out for Handscomb and Jhye Richardson
Lineup: Warner, Finch, Head, Smith, Handscomb, Wade, Maxwell, Cummins, J Richardson, Tye, Siddle

Australia 4/140 (Head 63, Musti 2/29) lost to Bangladesh 0/141 (Soumya 89*)
Somehow Bangladesh got 141 from 68 balls.

Third Match
Khawaja and Stanlake replaced Siddle and Steve Smith
Lineup: Warner, Finch, Head, Khawaja, Handscomb, Wade, Maxwell, Cummins, J Richardson, Tye, Stanlake

Australia 8/151 (Finch 35, Musti 3/25) lost to Bangladesh 1/155 (Soumya 82*, Stanlake 1/25)

This was a disaster. We couldn't formulate a plan for Soumya Sarkar or Mosaddek Hossain, and I used the wrong squad to base selection, meaning several players that shouldn't have been in were (e.g. Siddle). One find was Billy Stanlake who played his first game under me and got 1/25 from his four.

 

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Australia Announce Squad for Sri Lanka T20s; Six Changes
Six players have been changed by Australian T20 coach Draper for the upcoming Sri Lanka series. Siddle, Jhye Richardson, Handscomb, Khawaja, Renshaw and Head fail to make the squad with Short, Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Turner, Laughlin and Starc replacing them.

Aaron Finch (C)
Nathan Coulter-Nile
Pat Cummins
Ben Laughlin
Chris Lynn
Shaun Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Darcy Short
Steve Smith
Billy Stanlake
Mitch Starc
Ashton Turner
AJ Tye
Matt Wade
David Warner

 

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SL vs AUS
First T20, Brisbane:
Australia lineup: Warner, Finch, Lynn, Smith, Turner, Wade, Maxwell, NCN, Cummins, Tye, Stanlake

SL ao 179 (Tharanga 110*, Tye 5/18 (HT)) beat AUS 5/173 (Lynn 86, Ambuldeniya 2/32)
A hundred for Tharanga was SL's only batting resistance but Lynn fell short in achieving the same goal, with SL holding on to win by 6 runs.

Second T20, Adelaide:
Australia Lineup: Warner, Finch, Lynn, Turner, Maxwell, Short, Wade, NCN, Cummins, Tye, Stanlake

AUS ao 132 (Warner 47, Jayasuriya 3/27) lost to SL 2/133 (Fernando 70, Cummins 1/22)
A crap pitch, but unfortunately two overs of absolute pies from Short meant this game was SL's. The pacers all finished with economy under 6.

Third T20, Perth:
Australia Lineup: Warner, Finch, Lynn, Turner, Smith, Maxwell, Wade, NCN, Cummins, Tye, Stanlake

SL 4/211 (Mathews 94*) beat Australia (Embuldineya 5/32)

We have issues with spin. Should have won at Adelaide or Brisbane but were outplayed.

 

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13 Man Squad for Pakistan Test 1
Tim Paine (C)
Pat Cummins
Cal Ferguson
Peter Handscomb
Marcus Harris
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Nathan Lyon
Tim Paine
Jhye Richardson
Steve Smith
Mitch Starc
Matt Wade
David Warner

Marnus and Joe Burns both miss with injury.

Lineup: Warner, Harris, Head, Smith, Ferguson, Handscomb, Paine, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood

Day 1
Pakistan showed good fight to be 7/367. Shafiq (90), Babar (79) and Rizwan (51*) all reached 50.

Day 2
The tail wagged for an hour after Rizwan went immediately, but Pakistan were bowled out for 432.

Pakistan all out 432 (Shafiq 90, Babar 79, Rizwan 60, Cummins 6/118)

Australia got through with 3/195, Head and Harris making fifties.

Day 3
Australia batted through the day with five fifties in their lineup.

Day 4
Australia got a 2 run lead.

Australia all out 434 (Head 78, Harris 67, Smith 65, Cummins 64, Paine 56, Hasan 3/92)

Pakistan got to 5/260 at play's end thanks to a Babar 85.

Day 5
Pakistan declared an hour into the day.

Pakistan 5/313 dec (Baba 85, Rizwan 58*)

Australia played well but there wasn't a real chance of victory.

Australia 2/247 (Warner 81, Head 78*)

 

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13 Man Squad for Pakistan Test 1
Domestic leading run scorer Marnus Labuschagne and leading wicket taker Simon Mackin get a callup.
Tim Paine (C)
Pat Cummins
Cal Ferguson
Peter Handscomb
Marcus Harris
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Marnus Labuschagne
Nathan Lyon
Simon Mackin
Tim Paine
Steve Smith
Mitch Starc
David Warner

Lineup: Warner, Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Handscomb, Paine, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood

Day 1
Thanks to several half centuries, Pakistan were 7/321 at stumps, but if one could have gone on they would be in command.

Day 2
Australia finished them off quickly.

Pakistan all out 354 (Shadab 62, Sami 56, Azhar 52, Babar 50, Cummins 4/78)

While there was a middle order collapse, 92 runs each from Warner and Marnus got Australia to within 100 by stumps.

Day 3
Australia passed the target and got a slender first innings lead thanks to a really big one from Marnus.

Australia all out 365 (Marnus 160, Warner 92, Abbas 4/66)

A late collapse left Pakistan in some bother at 4/144.

Day 4
Asad and Azhar combined for 120 runs, and as well as a quick fifty from Shadab, Pakistan set Australia 352.

Pakistan all out 362 (Asad 83, Azhar 79, Shadab 53, Cummins 6/85)

Both openers failed before Marnus and Smith took Australia to stumps with 263 to get.

Day 5
One of the great games of cricket. Australia looked sunk or at least destined to draw but Head, Handscomb and Cummins snuck Australia home with two overs to go.

Australia 7/352 (Handscomb 107, Head 72, Cummins 27*, Abbas 5/69)

Australia win the series!

 

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T20 Squad for Pakistan Series Announced; Finch Out with Injury
Two changes: NCN out of form and Finch broke his finger. They're replaced by Ben McDermott and Adam Zampa.

Squad:
Glenn Maxwell (C)
Pat Cummins
Ben Laughlin
Chris Lynn
Shaun Marsh
Ben McDermott
Darcy Short
Steve Smith
Billy Stanlake
Mitch Starc
Ashton Turner
AJ Tye
Matt Wade
David Warner
Adam Zampa

 

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Match 1 (Brisbane):
Lineup: Warner, Short, McDermott, Smith, Maxwell, Lynn, Wade, Cummins, Zampa, Stanlake, Laughlin

Pakistan 5/204 (Zaman 97, Stanlake 2/31) beat Australia 5/122 (McDermott 57*, Smith 40)
Smith decided 40 (60) was appropriate. I don't think so....

Match 1 (Adelaide):
Lineup: Warner, Short, McDermott, Turner, Maxwell, Lynn, Wade, Cummins, Zampa, Starc, Stanlake

Pak 5/194 (Saad Ali 73, Stanlake 2/33) beat Australia 5/193 (McDermott 72*, Maxwell 61)
12 needed of the last over, and only 11 were got. Unfortunate.

Match 3 (Perth):
Lineup: Warner, Short, McDermott, Turner, Maxwell, Lynn, Wade, Cummins, Zampa, Tye, Stanlake

Pak 5/266 (Akmal 121, Saad 68) beat Aus 5/138 (McDermott 41, Nawaz 1/16)
Again, this time it's Ashton Turner who scores 21 from 30. Why?

 

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13 Man Squad for NZ Boxing Day Test
19yo sensation Cameron Green and Chris Tremain (who has 38 wickets in 6 Shield game) come in for Ferguson and Mackin.
Tim Paine (C)
Pat Cummins
Cameron Green
Peter Handscomb
Marcus Harris
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Marnus Labuschagne
Nathan Lyon
Tim Paine
Steve Smith
Mitch Starc
Chris Tremain
David Warner

 

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Australia vs NZ, Boxing Day Test
Australia lineup: Warner, Harris, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Handscomb, Paine, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Tremain

NZ 1st Innings: 433 (Williamson 203, Taylor 75)
New Zealand's captain stood up big time. Targeting debutant Chris Tremain (although Tremain did get both him and Ross Taylor in the end with brilliant deliveries), he made an imperious double hundred. Good other efforts from Taylor and got them to 433.

AU 1st Innings: 437 (Smith 117, Harris 80, Labuschagne 59)
A team effort gave Australia a lead. Smith's hundred was the highlight but everyone played their part. One area of concern was Tim Paine retiring hurt after being hit on the hand by Henry.

NZ 2nd Innings: 8/356 (Williamson 114, Nicholls 64*, Tremain 3/96)
Another great innings from Williamson got New Zealand a 353 run lead, and they declared overnight on Day 4.

AU 2nd Innings: 5/290 (Labuschagne 82, Handscomb 78*, Boult 4/72)
Handscomb clutches another test! Australia were in severe trouble when Marnus, who had been batting brilliantly, nicked one early in the evening session to leave Australia with Cummins in at 7 (Paine injured) and needing to bat 1h 45m to save it. They did.