Australia

The hosts are 1-0 down with four matches to play after losing to Australia by two wickets in a dramatic climax to the first Test at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

While skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have emphasised their belief in the team’s approach, with the latter saying the side want to keep “throwing punches”, Sir Geoffrey Boycott has claimed England “have got carried away” with the style nicknamed ‘Bazball’ and “seem to think entertaining is more important than winning.”

Opener Crawley told Times Radio it had been “a great week for cricket” as he made reference to the record Sky Sports viewing and BBC listening figures the match attracted, and added: “That’s what we’re all about – we’re not about results, we always talk about that, we’re not about winning or losing, we’re about entertainment.

“Of course we’re there to win, and it helps our brand and what we’re trying to do if we win, we get more traction if we win.

“But I don’t think we’ve lost anything this week, other than a game of cricket, which is (in) a five-match series. Other than that, we’ve gained a lot of respect and support and I think it’s great for the game.”

A major talking point from the first Test was England’s decision to declare late on day one on 393 for eight.

Vice-captain Ollie Pope said of that call: “I think what we tried to do didn’t pay off at the time, only because we gave ourselves an opportunity of taking two wickets that night, then hopefully rocking up on day two and we only need eight wickets.

“That’s something we spoke about a lot and was a decision we discussed as a group. We had an opportunity to bowl them out on the last day, we had a rain-affected day and we needed to take 10 wickets in 70, 80 odd overs.

“Looking back on that moment, nothing changes, and that’s what we’re about as a team. If we didn’t declare, we might have batted too long, they might have, and we might not have even been able to give ourselves an opportunity of 10 wickets on the last day.

“So I think again, we talk about that mindset, approach – just because it’s an Ashes series and there’s a lot more people watching than there is when we play another team, we want to make the same decisions and we have made those decisions over the last year-and-a-half as a team and we’ve been on the right side of the result a few times.

“That’s the mindset we’re in at the moment. We wouldn’t change a thing about the game, obviously other than the end result.”

Both players backed England to win the second Test that gets under way at Lord’s on Wednesday, with Pope also saying that “if we did go down 2-0, we still believe we can win 3-2 this Ashes series, 100 per cent.”

Writing in the Telegraph, former England batter Boycott said: “England have got carried away with Bazball and seem to think entertaining is more important than winning.

“But England supporters want one thing more than anything else – to win the Ashes. Scoring fast runs, whacking lots of fours and sixes is lovely. It is great. But only if England do not lose sight of the big prize which is to beat Australia.

“If at the end of the series Australia go home with the Ashes we will feel sick, regardless of how much we have been entertained.

“They are in danger of letting hubris be their downfall or, quoting William Shakespeare in Hamlet, being hoist by one’s own petard. They are going to defeat themselves. It would be sad if playing exciting cricket for a year is going to their heads.

“By all means entertain but cricket is like chess. There are moments when you need to defend. Sometimes you need to be patient and accept it. Do not just attack, attack, attack. England need a bit of common sense and pragmatism.”

The opening exchange of this series has frequently gone Australia’s way, from Steve Harmison’s alarming wide in 2006 to Rory Burns being bowled round his legs by Mitchell Starc 18 months ago.

Australia’s decision to omit Starc – with Josh Hazlewood returning to the line-up – led to captain Pat Cummins taking the new ball and he served up a full and wide delivery that was clattered by Crawley.

An expectant crowd roared their approval as the ball raced away to the boundary, with Crawley and Duckett settling quickly to vindicate Ben Stokes’ decision to bat first under gloriously sunny skies.

The first hint of trouble came when Duckett (12) inside edged Hazlewood for his second four but his luck immediately ran out. Hazlewood continued to dangle the carrot, sticking to a fuller and wider line which this time drew a thin outside edge that was gratefully accepted by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Crawley, despite speculation about his place in the side after a lean run of form, and Ollie Pope continued to keep England ticking at more than four an over, prompting Cummins to turn to Nathan Lyon’s off-spin in the 10th over.

After Lyon’s opening foray, England were on 47 for one after Crawley (22 not out) clattered the off-spinner authoritatively just wide of mid-off for his third four.

Crawley crashed and smashed his way to 189 runs from 182 balls as the hosts bullied Australia with a heavy dose of ‘Bazball’ bravado.

After bowling the tourists out for 317 with two early wickets, England wiped out the deficit in just 55 overs and finished 67 ahead on 384 for four.

The speed of their assault was motivated partially by the threat of bad weather over the weekend and Crawley was the ideal man to lead the way. He unloaded 21 fours and three sixes, repaying the rock-solid faith Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have shown him.

The 25-year-old’s inconsistency has attracted criticism and he arrived at the crease with an underpowered Test average of 28.65. But he has a maverick quality that appeals to the current regime and could not have picked a better stage to spread his wings with a fourth ton.

At 2-1 down with two to play England have no option but to win this game, regardless of the coming rain, and Crawley has given them every chance.

Moeen Ali (54) and Joe Root (84) offered lively support, with Harry Brook and Stokes unbeaten overnight.

England were into their work swiftly, James Anderson removing Pat Cummins with the first ball of the morning and Chris Woakes completing a well-deserved five-for to end the innings.

Crawley started as he meant to go on, brushing the first ball of the innings off his hip for four, and refused to let Ben Duckett’s third-over dismissal knock him off course.

He weathered a couple of early scares, edging inches in front of slip on 12 and given out lbw on 20 before successfully calling for DRS, but held his nerve to reach the lunch break intact.

Moeen’s promotion to number three came with low expectations – not least from himself – but he proved a perfect ally, sharing the burden with a flurry of four boundaries in eight deliveries.

From a promising foundation of 61 for one, England proceeded to play two outrageous hours of adrenaline-fuelled cricket in the afternoon session. In the space of 25 overs they scored 178 runs, with a run-rate of 7.12 that would not have been unacceptable in a T20.

Crawley was a conundrum Australia simply could not crack. A couple of inside edges skated dangerously close to his stumps and more than one thick outside edge climbed over the cordon, but even his errors raced through to the ropes.

When he did find his timing, he looked imperious. He showed Cameron Green the full face of his bat as he stroked elegantly down the ground, walked across his stumps to open up fine-leg and drove through cover with style.

He even made sure to hammer home Australia’s folly in leaving out a specialist spinner. When part-timer Travis Head took a turn, Crawley reverse swept his first ball for four and then stooped to launch the follow-up into the stands.

Moeen fell for 54, well caught at midwicket by Usman Khawaja to give Mitchell Starc a second success, but a partnership of 121 represented a job well done.

Crawley and Root ensured the momentum did not go with him, the latter immediately negating Australia short-ball tactics with some expertly judged hooks.

A delicious cover drive took Crawley within one blow his hundred and he got there off just 93 balls with a lobbed cut shot that is unlikely to be found in any coaching manual. The crowd roared him on, but the reaction on the balcony, from team-mates who have repeatedly rallied to his defence in the lean times, was even more telling.

Root ensured the fun kept coming, dipping into his bag of tricks to reverse ramp Mitchell Marsh over for six. The tea interval did little to revive the away side’s flagging spirits, Cummins unable to rouse his side by word or deed.

He gave himself a four-over burst at the start of the evening and shipped 30 including back-to-back straight fours that took Crawley to 150. At one stage Cummins attempted to review an lbw appeal that had hit Root’s bat, making the signal with comic timing as the umpire signalled no-ball. When England picked up three overthrows for some sloppy backing up at the bowler’s end, it was no surprise to find the captain was the culprit.

England took the lead in fitting style, Crawley stepping inside the line and blazing Marsh high over wide long-on for six. The quickest double hundred in Ashes history was beckoning when Crawley came to an abrupt end, dragging a short ball from Green back into his stumps.

He walked off to a well-earned ovation, having restated the mercurial skills which have made him a mainstay of the Bazball era.

Root was well placed to follow him to a ton but found himself bowled by one that shot through low from Josh Hazlewood. Brook and Stokes put on a calm 33 before stumps but more fireworks are likely as England look to move things forward on day three.

A depleted Australia batted first in Lahore, and their total of 313-7 proved beyond Pakistan's reach, despite Imam-ul-Haq making 103.

Head was the main Australian aggressor with a brilliant 101 from 72 deliveries that propelled the tourists to 171 by the time he was dismissed in the 25th over, with captain Aaron Finch (23) having played a supporting role in an opening partnership of 110.

Ben McDermott provided support with his maiden ODI half-century, though Australia lost three wickets for 21 runs in the space of seven overs as McDermott (55), Marnus Labuschagne (25) and Alex Carey (four) fell.

A flurry from Cameron Green, who hit four boundaries in a knock of 40 not out from 30 balls, gave Australia a competitive total to defend.

Fakhar Zaman was dismissed for 18 in the fifth over of Pakistan's reply, but Imam and skipper Babar Azam steadied the innings before the latter was trapped lbw by Mitchell Swepson.

Babar's steady 57 from 72 balls summed up Pakistan's issues, though, with the hosts unable to match the required run rate early in the innings.

Quick losses of Saud Shakeel (3), Mohammad Rizwan (10) and Iftikhar Ahmed (2) further damaged Pakistan's chances, despite Imam's fine work in reaching his eighth ODI century.

Imam's ton included nine boundaries, but he was then bowled by Nathan Ellis, shortly after Pakistan passed 200 with just five wickets down.

Zampa bowled Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim to bring up 100 ODI wickets and then moved onto 101 when Khushdil Shah lofted to Carey, with Swepson rounding things off.

Travis makes headway

It took Head just 70 deliveries to reach his second century in a 50-over match, which is the eighth-quickest in the format by an Australian batter, and the fastest against Pakistan by an Australian in an ODI.

His stay came to an end when he hit Shah to Iftikhar, while he also contributed to the bowling attack with figures of 2-35.

Zampa gets his ton

Dropped in and out of the attack by Finch, Zampa bowled superbly to finish with four wickets for 38 runs, becoming the 18th Australian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets.

While the pick of the bunch for Pakistan was Haris Rauf (2-44), Zampa spearheaded Australia as the tourists kept Pakistan's big hitters Imam and Babar – who became the second-fastest Pakistan batter to reach 4,000 ODI runs – scoring at a slow pace.

The hosts made light work of the team at the top of the ICC rankings to get their hands on the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

After rallying in the closing overs to reach 195-9 in their innings, Australia rattled through a New Zealand batting line-up experiencing a collective off-day.

This was the second contest of a three-match series being staged in Cairns, and Australia were in early disarray at 26-4 after Matt Henry and Trent Boult each struck twice with the ball. Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis both departed for ducks, while David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne made five runs each.

Alex Carey followed for 12 as Mitchell Santner got in on the wickets, before Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell put on the first substantial partnership, a cautious alliance of 49 for the sixth wicket.

Maxwell (25), Sean Abbott (7) and Smith, whose 61 was the key contribution, fell in quick succession, and when Boult had Zampa caught on the drive by James Neesham, Australia were tottering on 148-9, with six overs remaining.

Mitchell Starc (38no) and Josh Hazlewood (23no) rescued that dicey situation by adding an unbroken 47 for the final wicket, turning the momentum in Australia's favour, and it had swung decisively when New Zealand made their own dismal start with the bat.

The visitors' top order offered feeble resistance, crumbling to 38-5, with captain Kane Williamson top-scoring among those early victims with 17 before being dismissed lbw by a full toss from spinner Zampa.

It was 46-6 when Neesham clipped Stoinis to Finch at midwicket, and 54-7 when Starc had Michael Bracewell caught by a diving Maxwell at gully. Zampa wiped out the tail to complete figures of 5-35.

Boult efforts go unrewarded again

Boult's bowling in his 98th ODI appearance had Australia tied up in knots again, after he took 4-40 in a losing cause in the first match. This time, figures of 4-38 mean he has taken hauls of four or more wickets in consecutive ODIs for the first time in his career.

Again, it was a performance that went unrewarded, with New Zealand left to seek a consolation win in Sunday's final match of the series.Z

Beating the benchmark

Starc took 2-12, while Abbott remarkably finished with 2-1 from five overs, but it was Zampa who brought home the win, prising out Tim Southee, Henry and Boult to complete his five-for. The 30-year-old Zampa posted ODI career-best figures, having previously managed four four-wicket hauls.

Zampa told Fox: "It was a nice night. I didn't bowl my best to be honest. The full toss to Kane, the ball didn't come out as well as I'd have liked, but sometimes it's like that."

Playing down his own performance, he said he "reaped the rewards" after the likes of Starc and Abbott made early inroads, but considered it a victory worthy of celebration.

"It feels good to win any series, but particularly against the number one team in the world," Zampa said. "They're the benchmark at the moment, so it feels good."

Leg-spinner Zampa took 4-12 to reach a century of wickets in the shortest format, as Namibia were bowled out for just 72 in 17 overs in Antigua.

Australia needed just 34 balls to surpass that total, with Travis Head's unbeaten 34 from 17 deliveries propelling them to a comprehensive win.

David Warner (20) was the only Australian to lose his wicket, with captain Mitchell Marsh (18 not out) hitting the winning runs.

Australia are now top of Group B ahead of facing surprise package Scotland on Sunday. 

Tuesday's other match, between Sri Lanka and Nepal, was called off due to rain without a ball having been bowled.

The abandonment of that match in Florida means that Sri Lanka's hopes of qualifying for the next round are all but over.

Sri Lanka are bottom of Group D with just one match left to play, against the Netherlands on Monday.

Data Debrief: Zampa makes history

Zampa is the first Australian to reach the century landmark for wickets in T20Is, while his 12 runs conceded against Namibia is the joint-lowest total of any player for Australia from a full four overs in a T20 World Cup match.

Gerhard Erasmus was the only player to impress for Namibia. He scored 36 runs, 50 per cent of his team's total. 

That is the highest proportion of any batter in a Namibia T20 World Cup innings.

Leg-spinner Zampa, who turned 28 in March, has played in 55 one-day internationals and 30 Twenty20s since debuting for his country in 2016.

A first Test cap has so far proved elusive, though, with Nathan Lyon established as the five-day team's premier spinner and home conditions rarely calling for a second spin option.

"I think that's still my ultimate goal, to play red-ball cricket, to play Test cricket for Australia," Zampa told reporters.

"I think you'd be silly if you didn't take your chance as a spinner in Australia at the moment. So that's the ultimate goal.

"I'd love to get some more first-class cricket under my belt first, but I think with the way that I've been improving over the last couple of years, particularly at international level, the last 12 months have been a really good test for me and I've come out the other side pretty well.

"I've still got the goal to play Test cricket for sure."

Zampa's case would be helped if he could impress during Australia's domestic competition, the Sheffield Shield, though his international commitments have limited his involvement in the longer format.

Former Australia international Steve O'Keefe recently said it was "a matter of urgency" that the country produced more pitches conducive to spin if they wanted to win a Test series in India, something they have not done since 2004.

"Personally, I'd love to see that obviously as a spin bowler," he added.

"There's a lot said about bowling on flat wickets but I think Nathan does that really well himself. I think realistically us other spinners are going to be partnering Nathan in the upcoming subcontinent tour.

"I don't really know what it's like to bowl on a spinning wicket in Shield cricket. The closest thing I've ever had to a spinning wicket in Shield cricket is Adelaide Oval when it's green and thatchy. That then limits the amount of overs you bowl as well, so I think there should be an emphasis put on it.

"I think we put a lot of effort into playing the swinging ball in England, we've had the Dukes ball over the last few years in Shield cricket too.

"I think it's really important and I don't know if it has to be every wicket but there has to be some sort of emphasis in bringing spin bowlers in the game."

The Australians had already secured the series victory by winning the opening two matches, but they still played a full-strength side in the dead rubber.

After the Aussies had won the toss and opted to bowl in both of the first two fixtures, it was Zimbabwe's turn to send in their opposition to bat first on the tricky Townsville wicket.

Wickets fell early and often, with opener Aaron Finch falling for five, Steve Smith being trapped LBW on one, Alex Carey caught behind on four, Marcus Stoinis caught behind on three, and Cameron Green caught on three.

David Warner was the one shining light for the Aussies, making his way to 94 from 96 deliveries before he became one of Ryan Burl's five wickets, finishing with figures of 5-10 from three devastating overs.

Glenn Maxwell (19 from 22 deliveries) was the only other batsman to score more than five runs as the home side was bowled all out for 141 in 31 overs.

In response, Zimbabwe built a platform of 38-0 to launch from, and despite a few quick wickets from Josh Hazlewood to make things interesting, the efforts of Tadiwanashe Marumani (35 from 47 deliveries) and Regis Chakabva (37 not-out from 72 deliveries) put the visitors in too strong of a position to fail.

The historic winning runs came off the bat of Brad Evans, delivering Zimbabwe their third ever win against Australia, after previous successes in 1983 at Nottingham and 2014 in Zimbabwe.