Openers

Openers forging a partnership to savour

Chloe Saltau, Perth Shane Watson and Simon Katich both know how it feels to see a bugbear lurking in the shadows when they approach a Test century.

Sri Lankan openers overpower Windies

Nottingham, England Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillekeratne Dilshan hammer an opening stand of 124 as Sri Lanka beats the West Indies by 15 runs in the World Twenty20.

VicSpirit fails to break through for league title

Jesse Hogan The season's results show Victoria with a 3-2 lead over NSW but that advantage is largely irrelevant when it does not include the biggest game of the year: the Women's National Cricket League final.

Ponting wins toss, bats

Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat first against Pakistan in the Australia Day limited overs match at Adelaide Oval.

Worthy adversaries give contest flavour

Peter Roebuck Two superb all-rounders went toe to toe as the teams wrestled for supremacy at the SCG.

Victoria thrashes Tasmania to reach preliminary final

Victoria has earned a spot in next week's Twenty20 preliminary final by crushing Tasmania by nine wickets at the MCG before a record crowd.

Pleasure, little pain for Ponting

Peter Roebuck His team is coming together nicely for the Ashes and his captaincy is clever.

All-round effort puts Watson on top of the world

Chloe Saltau, Hobart Six months ago Shane Watson was not even in the Test team but he is poised to finish the summer as Australia's leading run-scorer and one of the world's top all-rounders.

Hauritz defies doubts to turn his career around

Peter Roebuck Despite his limitations the off-spinner has made his mark in Test cricket.

Pakistan seamers on a roll

Jamie Pandaram, Sydney Pakistan produces one the great swing bowling performances seen at the SCG.

Butt's patience over punchiness pays off

Glenn Jackson, Sydney On the surface of it, a green one of course, Tasmanian quick Brett Geeves has a bad feeling he and his teammates set the Australians up for this fall.

An innings of nothing flash

Jamie Pandaram, Sydney Pakistan holds a lead of 204 runs, enough to kick Australia out of the second Test should its bowlers emulate the day-one massacre.

Team's decline a hard lesson

Greg Baum, Sydney The sportsman of advanced years often marvels at the quantum improvement in his once meek and cowed opposition without recognising the extent of his own decline.

Result is not foregone as form, fortunes stay mixed

Peter Roebuck AUSTRALIA has a huge task on its hands to retrieve its position against an opponent that is well ahead but ought to be out of sight.

Pakistan turn the screws on luckless Australia

Sydney Pakistan have taken an imposing 204-run lead on the first innings in the second Test, despite Australia fighting back with seven wickets in the final session of the second day's play.

Victoria cops big bashing in Adelaide

South Australia stakes strong claim to host the domestic Twenty20 final and secure qualification for the lucrative Champions League.

Australian bats plunder 3-339

Jamie Pandaram, Perth Australia's batsmen restore order with a performance that may have well taken the game away in one day of the third Test in Perth.

Bowlers the key for enigmatic Pakistan

Pakistan are back in Australia with their enigma tag firmly in place after mixed results and turbulent off-field events since their last cricket tour of this country.

Aussies flicker between the sublime and the ridiculous

One wicket!One lousy, stinking wicket.That was all that stood between Ricky Ponting's men and a successful 2009.

Tense battle in Adelaide Oval shield match

South Australia and Western Australia are locked in a tense battle for outright points on the final day of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.