Tabla de contenidos para 2023-24 en Universal’s Summer Cricket Guide

THE INTERNATIONALS MEN THE TESTS Australia v Pakistan, NRMA Insurance Test Series 14-18 December, 2023 Perth Stadium 26-30 December Melbourne Cricket Ground 3-7 January, 2024 Sydney Cricket Ground Australia v West Indies, NRMA Insurance Test Series 17-21 January Adelaide Oval 25-29 January The Gabba, Brisbane (d/n) ODIS Australia v West Indies, Dettol ODI Series 2 February Melbourne Cricket Ground (d/n) 4 February Sydney Cricket Ground (d/n) 6 February Manuka Oval, Canberra (d/n) T20 INTERNATIONALS Australia v West Indies, Dettol T20I Series 9 February Blundstone Arena, Hobart (n) 11 February Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (n) 13 February Perth Stadium TOUR MATCHES 6-9 December Prime Minister’s XI v Pakistan, Manuka Oval, Canberra 10-13 January Cricket Aus. XI v West Indies, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide CHAMPION AUSSIES Having retained the Ashes, just, the Australian…

Nothing makes the cricket world stand up and take notice like an unfledged rookie dismissing a batting champion in their maiden match. For Todd Murphy, Australia’s first ever New Millennium born Test cricketer, that moment arrived in February when he had India’s champion Virat Kohli caught at the wicket on his Test debut in Nagpur. Only then did the tyro off-spinner realise he could compete at the game’s highest level. He would finish that innings with a fantastic seven wicket haul; the third best ever debut by an Australian spinner. ‘It will always be a highlight for me because of who he is and how good he has been,’ Murphy says. ‘It was exciting, the battles I had with him and a little surreal for me to be out there…

SHAHEEN Shah Afridi is impossible to miss this summer. At 200 cm (6ft 6in), his height is imposing. And he is as tough and resilient as they come. In 50 years of watching top-level cricket, I can’t recall a braver bowling performance by a visiting fast bowler in Australia than Shaheen’s in Adelaide four years ago. In cold weather, using an unfamiliar pink ball, Australia made 3-589, including a career-best 335 not out from David Warner. It was an innings that broke countless records. All the Pakistani bowlers were crushed and obliterated, except one: Shaheen, the teenage leftie from the mountains west of Peshawar near Afghanistan. In only his fifth Test appearance, Shaheen withstood the onslaught, kept running in relentlessly and claimed three for 88. While the other bowlers were…

Pat Cummins endured the worst 48 hours of his captaincy career yet retained the Ashes after persistent rains cruelly denied England of a runaway, series-squaring victory at Old Trafford. Just 30 overs could be bowled on Day 4 and none on Day 5, triggering the first draw of England’s much-celebrated Bazball era. The most thrilling and enthralling set of Ashes contests continued at a breakneck pace, Australia under-achieving on the opening day, having once again been sent into bat after Ben Stokes won his fourth consecutive toss. Mid-series inclusion Chris Woakes continued his inspired form, wobbling the ball just enough and outshining everyone, even 40-year-old local hero Jimmy Anderson, who bowled from his own end in front of an adoring Lancastrian crowd willing him on. Free-flowing opening bat Zac Crawley…

CAPTAIN PAT CUMMINS Right-arm fast bowler, lower order right hand bat, from Penrith. Test debut 2011-12. Tests 55. Tests v Pakistan: 5, 60 runs at 30, highest score 34 not out, Karachi, 2021-22; 20 wickets at 26.35, best bowling 5-56, Lahore, 2021-22, 1 5wI. Tests v West Indies: 1, no batting, 3 wickets at 11.33, BB 3-34, Perth Stadium, 2022-23. ODI & T20 debut 2011-12. ODIs: 75. T20s: 50. Australia’s Test captain since 2021-22. Games as captain: 21 (11 wins, 5 losses, 5 draws). By piloting Australia to the World Test Championship and beating Bazball, twice, at the start of the epic Ashes summer, Cummins ensured his place among Australia’s most popular sportsmen. His bouncy bowling and fearless straight hitting in the opening Ashes Test in Edgbaston in June was…

CAPTAIN BABAR AZAM Right hand high-order batsman, 29 (at November 1). Test debut: 2016-17. Tests: 49, 3772 runs at 47.74, Highest score 196 v Aus (Karachi, 2021-22), 9 100s, Strike rate 55; 2 for 42. Record v Australia: 10 Tests, 799 runs at 48.35, HS 196 (as above), 2 100s. Captaincy record (2021-23)b>: 20 Tests (10 wins, 6 losses, 4 draws). Previous Test tours downunder: 2016-17 & 2019-20 Pakistan’s only world-ranked batsman on his third tour, his first as captain. Is averaging 50 as captain (45 before). Captains Pakistan at all three levels, having first led at ODI and Twenty20 level in 2019. Saved the 2021-22 Karachi Test with a 10-hour second innings vigil against the Aussies. Is 180cm (5ft 11in). AAMIR JAMAL Right-arm fast bowler, right hand bat, 27.…

CAPTAIN KRAIGG BRATHWAITE Right hand opening batsman, right-arm off breaks. From Barbados, age 31. Test debut: 2011, Tests: 87, 5479 runs at 34.89, highest score 212 v Bangladesh, Kingston 2014, 12 100s, strike-rate 40; 29 wickets at 52.41, best bowling 6-29 v Sri Lanka, Colombo PSS, 2015-16, only 5wI, strike-rate 94. Tests v Australia: 10, 525 runs at 29.16, HS 110, Perth Stadium, 2022-23; 4/91, BB 2-65, Perth Stadium, 2022-23. Has captained in 28 Tests for 7 wins, 15 losses & 6 draws. Previous Test tours: 2015-16 & 2022-23 A 336-run first wicket start with Tage Chanderpaul against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in February was a West Indian record, ahead of even the greats Greenidge and Haynes. Started last summer’s short campaign in Australia with a century in Perth. Loves to bat…

CRICKET SUMMER GUIDE readers can again win tickets-for-two to all of this summer’s Test matches, courtesy of Cricket Australia. We have double passes for each of the opening two days for the five NRMA Insurance men’s Test matches including the West Test in Perth and this summer’s day-night Test in Brisbane. The Pakistanis tour initially for three Tests and the West Indies from the New Year for two. We also have two double passes to the opening days of the inaugural CommBank Women’s International Test between Australia and South Africa at the WACA Ground in Perth in February. South Africa has played just 13 Tests; its first in 1960. None have been against Australia. AND WIN NEW BOOKS & TLA TRADING CARDS • Dan Liebke’s latest book, The 10 Funniest…

BIRD BACK HOME NSW has had few older debutants than returning paceman Jackson Bird, 37 in December. After 12 auspicious years with Tasmania where he averaged four wickets a match, his return to his home city and his favorite northern beaches coincided with the appointment of new head coach, the highly respected Greg Shipperd. Both are on two-year deals. Having represented NSW and the Australian Under 19s, Bird moved south in 2011 having been unable to break into Sheffield Shield ranks with the star-studded Blues. Chris Green earned his first full state contract after winning NSW’s Sheffield Shield player of the season last summer as an uncontracted player. Australia under-19 captain Joel Davies is among NSW’s rookies, while opening bat Blake MacDonald and fast bowler Ross Pawson earned contracts after…

More multi-format women’s cricket series are likely after the success of the wintertime Ashes where almost 25,000 attended the one-off Ashes Test match at Trent Bridge. Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley wants all full-member nations, especially those visiting Downunder, to play multi-formats, ideally a Test, three ODIs and three Twenty20s. In spring the West Indies toured but only for white-ball internationals. The Windies, New Zealand and Pakistan have not played a Test match since 2004. Economically, the Kiwis prefer white-ball matches to Test cricket. The costs associated with hosting a Test match for home nations is considerable. In December, Australia is due to play its first Test in India for four decades. An inaugural Test match against South Africa in Perth is scheduled for February. India and Australia head…

Rarely has Australia ever boasted such an abundance of evolving young talent. The Ashes have been successfully defended but the final XI which forfeited the final Ashes Test at The Oval will never play together again. Just three of the team were under 30: Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne (both 29) and Todd Murphy, 22. Tough decisions are inevitable, the blooding of many newcomers at ODI and Twenty20 level in spring a forerunner for sweeping change across all three levels. Within 12 months, almost all of those in their mid 30s will either decide to depart, like David Warner, or be told that their days in Test cricket are numbered. The champion new ball combine of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood is unlikely to be seen again. ‘IT…

Fast bowlers quick enough to make even the best dither and dance are sheer gold. In Australia, one man from the Golden West is in a league of his own. No one is more rapid, or as unsettling. And Lance Morris just might be in the right place at the right time in 2023. Already known as ‘The Wild Thing’, Morris hails from Scarborough via the small West Australian country town of Dunsborough near Busselton. He’s our new Thommo, or for the younger fans, our new Mitchell Johnson; except he’s right-arm. By physique, instinct and breeding, Morris, 25, is a yard quicker than anyone in Australia and NZ. At upwards of 145 km/h (90 mph), he is seriously sharp, right up there with the South African express Anrich Nortje. Only…

Just weeks after being beaten for a fourth series in a row by India, Australia won the game which really counted: cricket’s second World Test Championship. The Aussies had controversially missed the inaugural 2021 WTC final having been penalised for a slow over-rate late in the qualifying period. In the new two-year cycle, Australia and India were clearly the two most consistent teams, Australia’s record 11 wins from 19 matches and India’s 10 from 18. South Africa was third with eight wins from 15 games. ‘FOR MANY, THE GAME WAS LOST AT THE TOSS…’ For the first time in the long and illustrious history of London’s Kennington Oval, a Test match not involving England was keenly contested from the opening overs on a green-tinged wicket which promised to be a…

No cricketer in the world is as feared as Ben Stokes at his freewheeling best. All at Lord’s and beyond gasped in astonishment as Stokes donned his superman suit and lifted a down-and-out England back into the second Test. Even without Nathan Lyon, cruelly injured in his 100th consecutive Test, the Australians seemed assured of back-to-back Test wins, before Stokes changed gears like no-one else in the game, going on a Jessop-like six-rampage unequalled in Ashes annals. After a wandering Jonny Bairstow was stumped in mid-pitch, erroneously thinking that the ball was dead and ‘over’ had been called, Stokes revived England’s ailing fortunes as Australian fieldsman scuttled to protect the boundaries. Stokes made 90 of a century-stand with a gallant and fired-up Stuart Broad, reviving memories of Headingley 2019. While…

SEAN ABBOTT Right-arm fast medium, right hand middle-order bat, Parramatta. No Tests. ODI debut 2014-15, 11 games; T20 debut 2014-15, 9 games. ASHTON AGAR Left-arm finger spin, left hand mid-order bat, University (Perth). Test debut 2013, 5 Tests. ODI debut 2015, 21 games; T20 debut 2015-16, 47 games. Originally from Melbourne. Brother of Wes. JASON BEHRENDORFF Left-arm swing bowler, Subiaco-Floreat. No Tests, ODI debut 2018-19, 12 games; T20 debut 2017-18, 9 games. Toured South Africa in spring. TIM DAVID Right hand powerhouse hitter. Greater Northern Raiders. No Tests or ODIs. T20 debut 2019 (Singapore), 2022 (Australia), 25 games in all, including 11 with Australia. Despite not having a state contract or even one first-class appearance, he was signed to the Mumbai Indians for $1.5 mill for the 2022 IPL. Is…

First Test in Australia: 1964-65 Tests in Australia: 37 (Australia has won 26, Pakistan 4, draws 7) Overall: 69 (A 34, P 15, draws 20) Highest total (in A): Australia 8-624 dec., Melbourne, 2016-17; Pakistan 624, Adelaide, 1983-84 Lowest total (in A): Australia 125, Melbourne 1981-82; Pakistan 62, Perth 1981-82 Most Tests: Ricky Ponting (A) 29; Javed Miandad (P) 25 Most runs: Allan Border (A) 1666 at 59; Javed Miandad (P) 1797 at 47 Best average: David Warner (A) 83; Saeed Anwar (P) 59 Most runs in a series (in A): Graham Yallop (A) 554 1983-84; Azhar Ali (P) 406, 2016-17 Highest score (in A): David Warner (A) 335 not out, Adelaide, 2019-20; Azhar Ali (P) 205 not out, Melbourne, 2016-17 Highest partnership (in A): 352 (4th wicket), Ricky Ponting…

First Test in Australia: 1930-31 Tests in Australia: 68 (Australia won 39, West Indies 18, drawn 10, tied 1) Overall: 118 (A 60, WI 32, drawn 25, tied 1) Highest total (in A): 619, Sydney, 1968-69; West Indies 616, Adelaide, 1968-69 Lowest total (in A): Australia 76, Perth, 1984-85; West Indies 77, Adelaide, 2022-23 Most Tests: Steve Waugh (A), 32; Courtney Walsh (WI), 38 Most runs: Steve Waugh (A), 2192 at 49; Brian Lara (WI), 2815 at 52 Best average: Doug Walters (A) 92; Gerry Alexander (WI), 60 Most runs in a series (in A): Greg Chappell (A), 702 at 117, 1975-76; Desmond Haynes (WI), 537 at 59, 1988-89 Highest score (in A): Adam Voges (A), 269 not out, Hobart, 2015-16; Brian Lara (WI), 277, Sydney, 1992-93 Highest partnership (in…

Having won all three major competitions in 2022-23, Western Australia has further strengthened its fast bowling arsenal with the additions of tall left-arm paceman Liam Haskett and emerging national under 19 representatives Mahli Beardman and Josh Vernon. Among leading squad members to sign multi-year deals are Cameron Bancroft, unlucky not to be involved in the Ashes after another stellar domestic season, fellow top three batsman Teague Wyllie and quality fast bowlers Joel Paris and Matt Kelly, who have all signed three-year extensions. Shaun Marsh has retired after more than two decades of representative cricket. ‘We’re as committed as ever to achieving sustained success. Stability within the squad plays an important role,’ said Adam Voges, now in his fifth season as head coach. ‘They’re a tight-knit group who push each other…

SON OF A GUN RETURNS Ben McDermott’s homecoming for family reasons strengthened the Bull’s squad at multi-levels. Son of pace great Craig McDermott, he’d debuted for Queensland as a teenager before shifting south to Hobart after just one Sheffield Shield appearance. (Ben is pictured right) He played 49 of his 53 first-class matches with Tasmania. At 28, he could well be entering his best batting years. He remains an Australian-standard player, especially at Twenty20 level. Other squad inclusions include top-order batter Aryan Jain, who made his Shield debut in February, fast bowler Tom Whitney and batting allrounder Hugh Weibgen. Whitney debuted in the Marsh Cup in the final match of the season while Weibgen, an allrounder, is currently part of Australia’s elite under-19 squad. Kane Richardson is pursuing Twenty20 franchise…

The new BBL season has been shortened to 40 matches, plus four finals, over high summer in December and January. The 13th edition of the popular Twenty20 competition starts on Thursday night, December 7. Fans will be treated to 35 nights of Big Bash cricket in prime time, with host broadcaster Seven showing 30 matches ‘live’. Scheduling the tournament over a six-week period, involving many big-name overseas players, is a key feature in Cricket Australia’s extended seven-year broadcast deal with the Foxtel Group and Seven West Media. ‘A shortened BBL allows us greater flexibility to ensure we can deliver the best possible fixture for clubs and fans, while providing a platform that allows players to continue to produce world-class levels of cricket,’ said Alistair Dobson, general manager, Big Bash Leagues.…

Most cricket fans will recall how David Warner burst onto the scene like no other. Promoted from state white-ball cricket to the Australian XI was quite the leap – not that it bothered the precocious 22-year-old, who scored an unforgettable 89 from 43 balls against South Africa. Ken Piesse’s fine biography David Warner, The Bull, daring to be different, reminds me of the words from Randy Bachman’s hit song, ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’. Beginning as a leg-spinning allrounder, Warner’s talents were soon on display beyond the Matraville housing estate where he was raised. He played under-age cricket at Centennial Park and at 16 debuted in ‘A’ grade for Eastern Suburbs. A move from Matraville Public School to Randwick Boys High to qualify for state and Australian schoolboy and under-age…

MEN TEST CRICKET Batsmen 1. Kane Williamson (NZ) 2. Joe Root (Eng) 3. Steve Smith (Aus) 4. Babar Azam (Pak) 5. Marnus Labuschagne (Aus) 6. Travis Head (Aus) 7. Usman Khawaja (Aus) 8. Daryl Mitchell (NZ) 9. Harry Brook (Eng) 10. Rohit Sharma (Ind) Also: 37. David Warner 42. Cameron Green Bowlers 1. Ravi Ashwin (Ind) 2. Kagiso Rabada (S Afr) 3. Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) 4. Stuart Broad (Eng) 5. Pat Cummins (Aus) 6. Shaheen Afridi (Pak) 7. Ollie Robinson (Eng) 8. James Anderson (Eng) 9. Nathan Lyon (Aus) 10. Jasprit Bumrah (Ind) Also: 11. Mitchell Starc 15. Josh Hazlewood ODIS Batsmen 1. Babar Azam (Pak) 2. Rassie van der Dussen (S Afr) 3. Fakhar Zaman (Pak) 4. Imam-ul-Haq (Pak) 5. Harry Tector (Ireland) 6. David Warner (Aus) 7. Shubman…

A mid the hammering of the West Indies last summer, the shining promise of one young man was undeniable. Guyanese opening batsman Tagenarine Chanderpaul was not even in the original touring party named for the two-Test tour late in 2022. He received a late call up only after Jamaican John Campbell was banned for an anti-doping violation. The rookie left-hander slotted in as captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s new opening partner and played brilliantly. The pair’s first wicket stands of 78 and 116 in Perth were in the Greenidge-Haynes class – and there was more to come in Adelaide when Chanderpaul refused to buckle, despite the chaos around him and top scored in each innings. At the cavernous, mostly empty Perth Stadium, the two West Indians scored comfortably at three runs an…

The enormity of playing six Test matches in two months was always going to be the ultimate test for Pat Cummins’ Australians during the most thrilling and stirring Ashes summer since 2005. Having won their first three matches, including the World Test championship, the exhausted Aussies were eventually overpowered by a more aggressive, vibrant and fresher England, which was desperately unlucky not to reclaim the Ashes. Manchester rains cruelly denied the English victory at Old Trafford, allowing the relieved tourists to hold the Ashes. It has been 22 years since the Aussies have won a series outright in the UK. Veteran Mitchell Starc was Australia’s Compton-Miller Medal recipient. Omitted for the series opener at Edgbaston, he took 23 wickets in four Tests in an imposing farewell. Like others in their…

6 PAT CUMMINS (CAPTAIN): A growing band of critics targeted his tactics and planning, especially at Old Trafford where he endured two days of torment. By retaining the Ashes, Cummins was successful, but it was a hollow victory with England denied a 3-2 result only by the Manchester rains. Took 18 wickets across five Tests, but only three in the final two matches when he seemed close to exhaustion. His cleanhitting was particularly valuable at Edgbaston, where his 44 not out was pivotal in a rousing first-up victory. Included were two 6s down the ground against Joe Root which changed the momentum of the match. 4 SCOTT BOLAND: After being a catalyst in Australia’s World Test Championship win at The Oval, Boland played only two of the five Ashes Tests, for two…

Move over Marnus. There is another 29-year-old batting superstar with even superior multi-format figures than Australia’s renowned No.3. Pakistan’s captain ‘King’ Babar Azam has a top five ICC ranking in Test cricket, ODIs and T20s. Along with the illustrious Virat Kohli, he is a sub-continental batting genius. Some dare suggest he is even Kohli’s superior. It seems likely that Babar and Australia’s own Marnus Labuschagne will in time supersede at least some of the run-making achievements of champion batting quartet Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root as they enter their mid 30s. A brilliant stroke player, Babar hails from that great cricketing nursery, Lahore, the same cricket-mad city as Mohammad Yousef, Wasim Akram and his country’s most eminent all-round player, captain and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. ‘Babar…

There has always been something magnetic and magical about West Indian cricket. When Bobby Simpson’s Australians toured the Caribbean in 1965, my parents allowed me to move my bed into the lounge room so I could listen to the Test descriptions deep into the night on our big Healing radiogram. The names of the time still are vivid, not only the champions like Sobers, Hall and Griffith, but some of the lesser lights, White, Brancker and Collymore. So wide would Griffith bowl on the return crease that the small sightscreens rarely allowed the batsmen to pick up the ball early. Even the gentlemanly Brian Booth believed Charlie chucked his faster one. When Simpson and Bill Lawry conquered Hall and Griffith and shared a near 400-run opening stand at Barbados, it…

Champions always deserve one more Test. As memories fade of David Warner’s early misadventures and hiccupping Ashes farewells, even his sternest critics will acknowledge his legacy as a once-in-a-generation talent who changed the rhythm of Test cricket long before Bazball. And, if you ignore, for now, the spats, the acrimony, the Joe Root punch and Cape Town, Warner is the unchallenged multi-formats champion of the world; audacious, inspired, compelling. Being immersed all winter in Warner’s life story gave me fresh perspective and understanding of a unique personality. Within weeks, after multi-interviews with dozens of his early mates, mentors and teammates, I’d genuinely warmed to him. He has led two lives: the wild, flawed, polarizing maverick fast running out of allies and, from 2013, happier and more focussed, the magnificent clean…

The final: WACA Ground, Perth. March 8, 2023. Western Australia (sent into bat) 7-387 (Josh Inglis 138 (from 110 balls), Cam Bancroft 90(112), MitchellMarsh56(30), Wes Agar 2-56, Henry Thornton 2-75, Ben Manenti 2-77) d South Australia 206 (Henry Hunt 50 (55), Kelvin Smith 44 (34), Nathan McAndrew 42 (26), Ashton Agar 5-64, AJ Tye 3-34, Ash Turner 2-22) by 181 runs. Umpires Gerard Abood and Sam Nogajski. Player of the match: Inglis. Player of the series: Josh Philippe (WA) Venues: WACA Ground 4, AB Field 4, Junction Oval (St Kilda) 3, Adelaide Oval 3, North Sydney 3, Bellerive Oval 2, Gabba 1, MCG 1, University of Tasmania (Launceston) 1 One-day titles: Western Australia 16, New South Wales 12, Queensland 10, Victoria 6, Tasmania 4, South Australia 3, New Zealand 3.…

NEW START FOR JAKE Emerging batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk, 21, has fresh opportunity to cement a regular place at multi-levels in Adelaide this summer. As a 17-year-old he made 51 and 19 on debut for Victoria against a quality Victorian attack in 2019-20. He played eight first-class games in three years, but none in 2022-23. The return home of journeyman Ryan Harris as assistant to Jason Gillespie is a boon. The Redbacks also locked down 10 of their leading players on multi-year contract extensions including promising fast bowlers Spencer Johnson, Jordan Buckingham and Wes Agar. Johnson, a left-armer, impressed across all three levels last summer, his seven for 47 against Queensland in Brisbane the most outstanding of the red-ball domestic summer Kelvin Smith was also re-contracted after a five years absence.…

STILL HUNGRY AND AMBITIOUS The successful defense of both its major titles was a wonderful achievement for Western Australia in 2023. And, as coach Adam Voges forecasts, his squad remains hungry and ambitious for more silverware. Having three players, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis in the Ashes Test squad in winter was a just reward for their efforts. And more likely internationals are on the immediate fringes: Josh Philippe, Lance Morris, Aaron Hardie and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, who spent time with Somerset in English Championship cricket in 2023 (making 137 runs at 19). Voges is in his fifth season as head coach and says interstate teams genuinely fear coming to the WACA Ground as WA is rarely beaten at home. He’d love to see three or four…

When the 2023 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack arrived on my doorstep mid-year it was clear the worldwide pandemic was over. Like Monty Python’s bloated, exploding Mr Creosote, the new edition, No. 160, waddled in at 1616 pages compared to the lean John Cleese build, 2021 Covid edition of 1248. Last year, 2022, it was 1536. Print size has drifted down too; from small to minuscule, challenging the eyes of seasoned readers and ensuring increasing interest in the more expensive larger-print edition. The famous chronicler of everything cricket is now including international and worldwide franchise tournaments, which now have even made it into America. Every one of them, the great, the good and the waste of time, are covered in detail and are supported by that extensive and reliable record section. Australian…