Michael Clarke to retire from Test cricket after Oval Test

The legendary Australian player and captain Michael Clarke has announced that he will retire at the end of the ongoing Ashes series. Australia has already lost the series against England by 1-3 on third day of the 4th Test.

Clarke was reportedly not in the mood of retiring until the Trent Bridge Test, where his team lost the match by an innings and thus, adding one more to the consecutive series loss in England.

34-year-old Clarke has been playing Test cricket for past 11 years and believes that he was physically and mentally exhausted by now and should leave when it is time. Clarke himself confirmed the news soon after his team lost their 3th Test in the ongoing series. This was Australia's first loss by an innings against England in 30 years.

"The boys have worked hard, I don't blame anyone in that change room. As a team we haven't performed as well as we needed to be beat England, and as a captain I certainly haven't led from the front."

Michael Clarke will play the final Test match of the series as Captain against England at the Oval in London. The current Ashes series has not done any good for Clarke and he is now at his all-time lowest Ashes average of 16.71. He indicated that it is time for him to move on and make place for someone better. Former England captain Michael Vaughan supported Clarke's decision saying that he was not surprised with the decision.

Clarke has scored 8605 runs in his career that include 28 centuries and 27 half centuries. A big applause for one of the best Cricket players of all-time.

England vs Australia 2nd Test, Day 1: AUS 337/1

The Ashes, 2015

Source: cricbuzz.com

The first day of the 2nd Test match between England and Australia is over. Australia has scored 337 runs with the loss of just one wicket in 90 overs played today. Chris Rogers is playing at 158 while Steven Smith is not out at 129 runs.

The 2nd Test match in the ongoing Ashes series started on Thursday, 16th July. Australia won the toss and chose to bat. Opener David Warner scored 38 runs of 42 balls and was caught by Anderson. Chris Rogers (158) and Steven Smith (129) are still batting and will continue the Australia Innings tomorrow. 90 overs of match were played today.

Australia 1st Day Score Card

The wicket of Warner was taken by Moeen Ali.

Check out the score card in the left side panel.

England vs Australia 1st Test, Day 2: Australia trail by 166 runs

The Ashes, 2015

Source: cricbuzz.com

The first Test match of the Ashes, 2015 is being played between England and Australia. The 2nd day of the match is over and Australia is trailing by 166 runs and playing at the score of 264/5. England made 430 runs in total in their first innings.

England started today's match at the score of 343/7 where they left off yesterday. Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad continued from their first day's innings. Moeen Ali ended up making 77 runs in 88 balls and was caught by Watson on a ball by Starc. England lost all their 10 wickets at the score of 430 runs in 102.1 overs.

England 1st Innings Score Card

Australia started batting second after England's innings. Chris Rogers scored 95 runs of 133 balls and gave a solid start to his team. Shane Watson (29) and Nathan Lyon (6) are batting now for 6th wicket partnership. Australia has already lost 5 wickets and scored 264 runs in 70 overs. Moeen Ali took 2 wickets for England while James Anderson, Mark Wood and Ben Stokes got 1 wicket each.

Australia 1st Innings Score Card

 

England vs Australia 1st Test, Day 1: England scored 343 Runs for 7 Wickets

The Ashes, 2015

 

One of the most awaited Test series of the year, The Ashes 2015 has started from today, July 08. The first Test match between England and Australia started today. England won the toss and chose to bat first and scored 343 runs for 7 wickets in 88 overs. Moeen Ali (26) and Stuart Broad (0) are playing for 8th wickets.

Match: The Ashes 2015, Test 1

Teams: England and Australia 

Schedule: From July 08 to July 12

Venue:  Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

England XI Squad: Alastair Cook, Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson

Australia XI Squad: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Steven Smith, Michael Clarke, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon

The first Test match is being played at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. England won the toss and Captain Alastair Cook decided to go for bat first. England did well on the first day of the game. The team score 343 runs  losing 7 wickets. Joe Root remained the star of the match with his 134 runs innings in 166 balls. Gary Ballance (61) and Ben Stokes (52) also managed to complete their fifties and gave English team a good score.

England still got 3 wickets in hand and would want to score as much as they can on 2nd day.

From Australia side, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood each took 3 wickets. Josh gave 70 runs in 22 overs with 8 maiden overs. Nathan Lyon also got one wicket in his 17 overs inning.

The biggest partnership was of 153 runs between Gary Ballance and Joe Root for 4th wicket.

England 1st Innings Score Card

Source: cricbuzz.com

Check live score in the left sidebar.