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Ellyse Perry insists she doesn’t have a point to prove after starting the Hundred in blazing form having missed out on Australia’s Commonwealth Games triumph in Birmingham.Perry was part of Australia’s Games squad as a batter only, as she is still recovering from a stress fracture in her back, but she did not play a single match in the tournament having been usurped in Australia’s best T20 XI by Tahlia McGrath.Perry smashed 58 off 31 balls for Birmingham Phoenix in her first Hundred appearance on Saturday and followed that up with 39 not out off 28 balls against Trent Rockets on Monday.Related

• Ellyse Perry extends Sydney Sixers career, remains captain

• Meg Lanning takes indefinite break from cricket for personal reasons

Speaking on Tuesday after announcing she had re-signed with Sydney Sixers in the WBBL as captain, Perry stated she was keen to still be part of Australia’s T20I team moving forward but insisted she was not trying to prove a point after her recent omission.”To be honest, I’d probably be a little bit bummed if I thought that way,” Perry said. “It’s been a great challenge for sure over the last little bit and I really love the chance to keep trying to work and develop my game. But no, I don’t really want to prove a point or anything like that. I think just the opportunity to be part of things has been great.”Perry revealed her back is slowly healing but she won’t be able to bowl in the Hundred. She hasn’t bowled in a match since the ODI World Cup in March when she suffered what was initially thought to be back spasms but later was revealed to be a stress fracture.Ellyse Perry picked up her back injury during the ODI World Cup•ICC via Getty Images

She has begun bowling in the nets and is aiming to be fully fit by the start of the Australian domestic season in late September.”It’s going pretty well,” Perry said. “I’ve had progressive scans over the last 16 or so weeks, probably a little bit longer now. And each time it’s showing that it’s improved and it’s sort of tracking in the right direction. So I have started bowling just at training off a few steps with the plan being to progress that intensity over the coming weeks and hopefully be pretty much ready to go and available to bowl once our summer starts back home.”Perry was unsure whether Meg Lanning would be available for the start of the domestic summer after the Australia captain announced she would be taking an indefinite break from the game last week.”I really wish Meg all the best,” Perry said. “I know there’s a lot of support for her.”Perry had no hesitation in re-signing with Sixers despite currently living in Melbourne and playing for Victoria in the WNCL.Sixers will have a new head coach for the coming season with former England captain Charlotte Edwards taking the reins after Ben Sawyer resigned following seven seasons at the helm. Sixers played in the first four WBBL finals under Sawyer and won the title twice but have missed the finals each of the past three seasons and finished last in 2021-22.Perry, who has been Sixers captain since the start of the WBBL competition, said that she and Edwards had already started planning for the season ahead.”We’ve certainly got together a couple of times,” Perry said. “I know Charlotte’s focus is very much on turning things around. The last couple of years have been a bit disappointing for us, certainly as a group. I think her energy and what she brings and the way that she’ll probably challenge a lot of us will be awesome.”But in saying that I don’t think we have to change things drastically either. It’s probably just a shift in our momentum and how it’s gone in the last couple of years. I think Charlotte is going to be able to bring a real focus to that.”

Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance in India’s opening game of the 2022 Asia Cup has helped him jump eight places on the T20I allrounder’s rankings to a career-best fifth position.Hardik was instrumental in India’s five-wicket victory against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. Hitting the hard lengths consistently, Hardik picked up 3 for 25 in his four overs to help India dismiss Pakistan for 147 in 19.5 overs. He then shepherded a tricky chase, smashing an unbeaten 33 off 17 balls to take India over the line with two balls to spare.Hardik has had a successful year with both bat and ball. He led Gujarat Titans to the title in their maiden season in the IPL, and he’s taken his all-round form into international cricket as well.

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Since the end of IPL 2022, Hardik has played 14 T20Is, scoring 314 runs at an average of 34.88 and taking 11 wickets with best figures of 4 for 33 against England. He also captained India in three T20Is – two against Ireland and one against West Indies – and won all three matches.”In bowling, my plans were pretty simple,” Hardik told Star Sports after the India-Pakistan clash. “I always tell the same thing. It’s just how I use it. I tell that it’s important to kind of assess the situation and conditions, and use your weapon which I feel, you know, hard lengths and hitting the length is my strength. But I make sure I use it very wisely, put some doubt in the batter and ask them to play the wrong shot.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

About his batting form, Hardik said, “In batting, over the years, I have understood [that] the calmer I can stay, it’s going to help me execute all the plans. Those executions, the 50-50 chances that I take, if I am calmer, it helps me to pull it off. Chases like this, you always plan overs.”Related

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There were gains for Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the T20I rankings for bowlers after Afghanistan became the first team to qualify for the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup. Rashid’s 3 for 22 against Bangladesh helped him jump two spots over fellow wristspinners Adil Rashid and Adam Zampa on the list of T20I bowlers. He is now No. 3 with only Tabraiz Shamsi and Josh Hazlewood ahead of him.Mujeeb is ranked ninth – having moved up seven places – after taking five wickets in the first two games at the Asia Cup.In the Test rankings, Ben Stokes’ efforts in England’s win over South Africa in Manchester, saw him move up in all three rankings list. He is now 18th in the Test rankings for batters, 38th among bowlers, and second among allrounders.

Queensland made short work of ACT as they raced to victory with more than 26 overs to spare. Georgia Redmayne’s brisk half-century led the chase after the home side had put in an impressive bowling and fielding display.The tone was set in the fifth over of the day when captain Jess Jonassen plucked a one-handed catch above her head at mid-on to remove Rebecca Carter. When ACT’s leading batter, Katie Mack, cut to point and Matilda Lugg clipped to square leg they were 3 for 31.They were unable to mount a recovery as the Queensland attack chipped away. Jonassen would finished with figures 2 for 5 from seven overs which included three maidens. There was some resistance in a ninth-wicket stand of 33 between Holly Ferling and Chloe Rafferty which was ended when Georgia Voll held a stinging return catch as all seven of Queensland’s bowlers got among the wickets.Voll, who made 145 in the opening game of the season against New South Wales, then helped Redmayne skip out of the blocks in a first-wicket stand of 83 in 15 overs.The victory means Queensland have started their season with four wins from four while ACT have four losses.

No result Rain took centre stage again, washing out the final ODI of the series in Christchurch after 18 overs of the New Zealand chase of India’s 219. Thanks to Finn Allen’s 54-ball 57 and Devon Conway’s 38 not out in 51 balls, New Zealand were at 104 for 1, well ahead of the DLS target, when the players were taken off the field at Hagley Oval. But since the 20-over mark had not been reached, the match ended in a no-result, giving New Zealand a 1-0 series win. It was the fourth of six matches in the short white-ball series to not have a result – India had earlier won the three-match T20I series 1-0.Earlier, New Zealand won the toss, fielded first, and their seamers exploited whatever help there was in the surface and the conditions to dismiss India for 219. Adam Milne and Daryl Mitchell picked up three wickets each to peg India back. And if it had not been for Washington Sundar’s first ODI half-century – following Shreyas Iyer’s 49 from No. 3 – India would have struggled to get to 200.Arshdeep Singh, bowling the second over of the chase, bowled a maiden where he troubled Devon Conway by moving the ball both ways. But Allen couldn’t be contained at the other end and, gradually, Conway also got going, even hitting four fours in a Deepak Chahar over. It helped New Zealand race to 59 without loss in ten overs.Washington Sundar played a fighting knock down the order to take India past 200•Getty Images

Umran Malik’s high pace brought with it quick runs – his first two overs went for 21. Allen feasted on his bowling as he got to a 50-ball half-century, reaching the mark by swatting Washington over long-off. But then Malik had Allen caught in the covers for India’s first, and only, wicket. An over later, the skies opened up.Rain had been forecast for the game, as noted in our preview, and a drizzle delayed the start of the match by ten minutes. After that, Tim Southee and Matt Henry kept openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill quiet on the whole. This despite Dhawan frequently making use of his feet to charge down the pitch in a bid to put the quick bowlers off their lengths. His first two boundaries – a four over cover point and a six over long-on – both came after he dashed down the track. But, at the end of ten overs, all he had to show for his adventures was 25 off 36 balls.Gill, who got off the mark after facing 11 dots, struck two fours – a delectable drive through extra cover followed by a front-foot pull through midwicket – before flicking one to forward square-leg to hand Milne his first wicket. Milne, in for Michael Bracewell in the XI, then got Dhawan playing one on via the inside edge following another slink down the wicket. In between, though, he grassed Iyer at deep third.Daryl Mitchell had only one ODI wicket before this game; now he has four•AFP/Getty Images

Iyer and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship for a while without really getting any momentum going. Iyer looked assured, timing his cuts and punches through the off side well while also not shying away from the heaves to the leg side. But Mitchell, who had only one ODI wicket before Wednesday, prised out Pant with a short one before Suryakumar Yadav edged one to slip off Milne for the second time in the series.Iyer, who looked set to score his second half-century of the series, then sliced one only for Devon Conway to take a sharp catch running in from sweeper cover. At 121 for 5, India were in tatters.When Deepak Hooda fell with India on 149, they were in danger of being way short of the 200-run mark. But Washington showed his batting chops for the second time in the series – following his unbeaten 16-ball 37 in the first ODI – and added good runs with the tail before becoming the last man to fall.The total looked well short of par, and New Zealand looked good to hunt it down. However, the rain ensured that we will never know if an unexpected result was in the offing.

Big Picture

It’s every cricketer’s Christmas dream: a Test match at the ‘G, with a big crowd in attendance. While Australia’s players experience this annually, for everyone in this South African squad, it is their first time featuring in this iconic occasion.None of them were part of the 2008 squad that stunned Australia and claimed South Africa’s post-readmission series win in the country. But, from what they’ve said in the build-up, almost all of them were awake in the wee hours of the morning, watching in wonder as a team who had not been beaten in 28 home series since 1992 were brought down to earth by JP Duminy and Dale Steyn.Related

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• David Warner: a giant among openers, among the best Test batters at his peak

In the years since, Cricket South Africa sought to keep their team at home over the festive period – a reasonable plan considering it is prime summer in South Africa too, but a far less successful one than Australia’s. None of the three venues CSA have tried to host the Boxing Day Test – St George’s Park, Kingsmead and SuperSport Park – are ever as full, or as intimidating, as the MCG.That last thought is something South Africa will have to guard against as they enter what is a must-win Test if they hope to keep the series, and their hopes of extending their winning streak in Australia to four successive series triumphs, alive. For them to stand a chance, they will need significant improvements in the batting line-up that has been dismissed for under 200 in their last six Test innings. They’ve spent the build-up working on both technique and mindset and maintain the mantra that if they can just give their “best in the world” – as Dean Elgar calls them – attack something to defend, they’ll be in the driving seat.Australia’s bowlers won’t take kindly to effectively being called second (or perhaps even third) best and, having already rolled South Africa twice in Brisbane, will back themselves to challenge them again. On paper and experience, their batting is vastly stronger than South Africa’s and even though they relied on one innings – Travis Head’s – to take the opening match, they’ll want to tick off a second success this summer, well before they get to Sydney. Australia have not lost a Test series since December 2021 and have only lost one Test in this WTC cycle.South Africa’s hopes will once again rely on their bowling unit•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Form guide

Australia WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LLLWW

In the spotlight

David Warner will be capped for the 100th time at the MCG, an occasion that may have seemed unlikely when he made his debut on the back of his reputation as a white-ball basher in 2011, and unlikelier still after his last series against South Africa, in 2018. He is one of Australia’s boldest players, on and off the field, and heads towards this major milestone without much form. Since scoring his last hundred in January 2020, Warner has played 15 Tests, scored 678 runs, including two nineties and a 50, and averages 26.07. In 2022, he averages just 20.61, and there are questions about how much longer he will keep playing the longest format. The answer may come at the MCG.Given South Africa’s batting woes, it seems cruel to single out one player but Sarel Erwee must be eager to put in another score of significance, especially after fellow openers Tony de Zorzi and Jordan Hermann piled on the runs in the domestic four-day competition back home. Erwee has not gone past 26 in his last six innings but has only scored one hundred and one fifty in his eight Tests. That’s not too bad a return, especially considering the conditions South Africa have played in, but he will know they’ve dropped openers for less.Can Scott Boland rip up the MCG again?•Associated Press

Team news

Pat Cummins confirmed the XI on Christmas Day with hometown cult hero Scott Boland retaining his place. A tough decision was actually avoided with Josh Hazlewood making his own call that he wasn’t quite ready for a return after his side strain.Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott BolandSouth Africa had finalised their XI on Christmas Eve, but the only thing they were willing to give away was that any changes would be made in the line-up, not the team composition. That means they will continue with a 6-5 split, allowing all four specialist quicks and the spinner to take the field and have not been drawn into lengthening their under-fire batting line-up. If a switch happens, it’s likely to be in the top three where Rassie van der Dussen, who returned from a broken finger in Brisbane, could make way for Theunis de Bruyn.South Africa (possible): 1 Dean Elgar (capt), 2 Sarel Erwee, 3 Rassie van der Dussen/Theunis de Bruyn 4 Temba Bavuma, 5 Khaya Zondo, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Pitch and conditions

The Gabba was given a below average rating for extra bounce and occasional excessive seam movement and inconsistent bounce, and the MCG produced a low-scoring Test last year. So, what are the odds on another bowler-friendly surface? Less than you’d think, it seems. The general consensus is that this MCG pitch will do a little less than its 2021 avatar, with both teams hopeful it will produce a good contest between bat and ball. Two days before the Test, South Africa’s speedster Anrich Nortje said he expected good pace and bounce but not as much sideways movement as Brisbane.The Test is set to start in hot and humid conditions. Melbourne is forecast to be 32 and 36 degrees on days one and two, with the possibility of some showers on the opening morning, before a wetter third day will give way to cooler temperatures on the last two days.

Stats and trivia

• Both Warner and Elgar are within sight of milestones after beginning their international careers at the Under-19 World Cup in 2006. Warner is 78 runs away from 8000 Test runs and will become the eighth Australia to reach the landmark, while Elgar needs 24 runs to reach 5000 Test runs. He will be the eighth South African to get there.
• Usman Khawaja needs 34 runs for 4000 in Tests
• South Africa have played 12 Tests at the MCG, and won three. Since readmission, they have played five Tests at the venue and only lost two, with two draws and their famous 2008 victory.

Quotes

“There would have been a part of everyone that would’ve felt a little bit aggrieved if Scott missed out.”
Pat Cummins on Scott Boland“We will try and get a lunch in somewhere but it’s obviously a PG-rated lunch. If the game was on the 28th, it might have been a bit different.”

Australia captain Alyssa Healy suffered a calf strain while batting in the fourth women’s T20I against India and was ruled out of the contest. A word on her availability for the final game of the tour was awaited.Healy, leading for the first time in place of Meg Lanning, who is on an indefinite break, helped Australia get off to a quick start after they were asked to bat. She raced to 30 off 21 balls, hitting six fours in the process. On the penultimate ball of the powerplay, she moved well across to the off side and pulled Deepti Sharma to the square leg fence. That is when she appeared to have tweaked her calf.Healy was seen hobbling and, after some attention from the physio, decided to carry on. However, a ball later, she was unable to pinch a quick run, which is when she decided to walk off. Not long after that, she was ruled out from further participation in the game.After the series against India, Healy was due to play the Women’s National Cricket League, the domestic 50-overs competition in Australia. From January 16, Australia are scheduled to take on Pakistan at home for a six-match white-ball series starting with the three ODIs, which are part of the ICC Women’s Championship cycle.In Healy’s absence, Tahlia McGrath, the designated vice-captain in Mumbai, will take over the side. Beth Mooney is the back-up wicketkeeper. She has donned the gloves regularly in the Women’s Big Bash League – first for Brisbane Heat and then for Perth Scorchers.Should Healy be ruled out of the fifth T20I, Phoebe Litchfield could be an option to open the batting, having done so for Sydney Thunder in the WBBL. Healy is the second Australian player to suffer an injury on the tour, after Jess Jonassen was ruled out with hamstring problems last Sunday.

Jhye Richardson will miss the IPL and is all but sure to be out of contention for the Ashes after undergoing surgery to overcome his hamstring issues.Richardson suffered a recurrence of the injury playing club cricket last week as he attempted a return to action after initially pulling up in the BBL. He was ruled out of the ODI series in India and the surgery option was taken in a bid to find a long-term solution.He was due to line up for Mumbai Indians in the IPL for what would have been his second stint at the tournament following a season with Punjab Kings.”Injuries are a big part of cricket, that’s a fact,” Richardson tweeted. “Frustrating? Absolutely.”But I’m now in a scenario where I can get back to doing what I love and work bloody hard to become an even better player than before. One step back, two steps forward. Let’s do this.”Richardson has been let down by his body over the last two seasons having previously undergone major shoulder surgery in 2019, which ruled him out of that year’s ODI World Cup and Ashes.He took a maiden Test five-wicket haul against England in Adelaide in December 2021, his first Test since injuring his right shoulder, but a nagging heel injury ruled him out of the next match and he has not played Test cricket since.He played in the T20I and ODI series on the tour of Sri Lanka in June of 2022 but then had an interrupted pre-season for WA. A number of soft-tissue concerns limited him to just two Sheffield Shield games and one Marsh Cup game prior to the BBL.”Obviously it’s devastating that he has re-injured that hamstring again and he is going to miss a significant amount of time to get his hamstring right,” Western Australia coach Adam Voges said. “We all feel for Jhye and we’re hopeful that whatever they come with as a solution can fix his hamstring and we get him back out there because it has been a tough 12 months for him.”

The surviving members of India’s 1983 World Cup-winning cricket team – with the exception of Roger Binny, currently the BCCI president – have said they were “distressed and disturbed” at leading Indian wrestlers being “manhandled” by security personnel in the national capital of Delhi earlier this week.In a statement, the squad members also said they are “most concerned” that that athletes might be “dumping” their medals in the Ganga river as part of their ongoing protest against the non-action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, against whom the wrestlers have levelled accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation.”We are distressed and disturbed at the unseemly visuals of our champion wrestlers being manhandled,” a statement released to PTI on Friday by members of the squad said. “We are also most concerned that they are thinking of dumping their hard earned medals into river Ganga.Related

• Wrestlers' protest: Kumble and Uthappa call for quick resolution

“Those medals have involved years of effort, sacrifice, determination, and grit and are not only their own but the nation’s pride and joy. We urge them not to take any hasty decision in this matter and also fervently hope that their grievances are heard and resolved quickly. Let the law of the land prevail.”Kapil Dev, the captain of that side, said that “the whole of 1983 team stands by the statement we have issued”. But Binny, the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, later clarified that he was not among the signatories.”Contrary to some media reports, I would like to clarify that I have not issued any statement regarding the current situation of the wrestlers’ protest,” Binny told PTI. “I believe that the competent authorities are working on to resolve the issue. As a former cricketer, I believe that sports should not be mixed with politics.”

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The update came two days after Anil Kumble, Robin Uthappa and a few other former cricketers expressed their anguish at the situation.On Sunday, images of Vinesh Phogat, among other wrestlers, being dragged away from the site of their protest in central Delhi had emerged. Delhi Police acted against the wrestlers – whose protest has been led, since January, by Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, the last two of whom are Olympic Games medallists – when they breached the security barriers and started to march towards the new parliament building, which was being inaugurated by Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, at the time. The protesters were pushed into buses and taken away, and police personnel cleared the protest site – not far from the parliament building not long after.Apart from Kumble and Uthappa, there was a message from Irfan Pathan, who tweeted “I’m so sad to see the visuals of our Athletes” on Sunday night itself, and from Manoj Tiwary, now a Member of the Legislative Assembly in West Bengal, who offered his support to the wrestlers.