Australian cricketers refused to blame beleaguered captain Ricky Ponting for the deflating Ashes loss to England as they returned home yesterday.
Fast bowler Stuart Clark, one of a handful of players not required for the limited-overs series in England and Scotland, said calls to replace the Australina captain were “ludicrous.”
“Ricky Ponting has got my full support and I think he’s the best man to be captain,” he told reporters at Sydney Airport. “I think it’s ludicrous that anyone says anything other.”
Opening batsman Simon Katich said the whole team must take responsibility for the second successive failure in England, both under Ponting, which toppled Australia from their long-held No. 1 Test ranking.
“There was 11 of us out there that had an opportunity to win the Ashes — you can’t just blame it on one person,” Katich said. “We had our chances throughout the whole five Tests. Unfortunately, when those chances came around, whether it was Cardiff, Lord’s, The Oval, we didn’t grab them.”
Cricket Australia has backed Ponting to stay in the job despite calls for Michael Clarke, Katich or even retired spin-master Shane Warne to take over.
Meanwhile, Ponting, who is due to arrive home later, insisted he “couldn’t be more excited about the future” in an article for the Australian newspaper.
“While we had bad sessions at Lord’s and The Oval which cost us both games, we completely dominated England at Cardiff and Leeds, showing there was little between the teams,” the captain wrote. “Coming off the back of our strong series victory in South Africa earlier in the year, I believe we’re on the right track and our younger players can only get better with experience.”
Australian media was left fuming over the defeat, with most anger directed at the selection panel.
“What hurts more than seeing England partying after a stunning Ashes win? Seeing the Poms not hit the tiles after an Ashes triumph,” said Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, referring to England’s toned-down celebrations.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS