The Buzz
Who is Australia's Ashes villain?
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-Nov-2025
There are some players in the opposition that just haunt you for years to come, as a fan or as a player. Who was that England player that the Aussies still recall, perhaps with a shudder?
The defeat in the famous 2005 Ashes seems to be at the top of the head of several current Australian players: Mitchell Starc, Ellyse Perry, Scott Boland all name Andrew Flintoff as their Ashes villain. In that closely fought series, Flintoff took 24 wickets and scored 402 runs. He also took a five-for at Lord's in the 2009 Ashes to give England their first win at the venue against Australia in 75 years.
Smriti Mandhana puts a ring on it
ESPNcricinfo staff
21-Nov-2025
If you're one of the many, many ardent fans of the Indian women's cricket team, you can't have missed their love for a good song and dance. Life is pretty much a Bollywood musical if you're part of the squad, so it should have surprised absolutely no one that India's recent World Cup winning vice captain chose to make a major life announcement via a choreographed video, with her team-mates.
And just in case it wasn't entirely made clear in the video, here's a little background on what went down.
Full postStuart Broad gets a surprise at Australian airport
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Nov-2025
Australians have enjoyed turning Stuart Broad into a villain, and to be fair, he's leaned into that role pretty hard. During the 2025-26 Ashes, Broad will be (probably) aggravating local fans, not from the outfield but from the commentary booth.
He had a welcome organised for him when he landed in the country after an 18-hour flight.
Full postWhat are England eating during this Ashes tour?
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Nov-2025
What are England's players eating during their Ashes tour down under? Their chef during the time they play warm-ups against England Lions is dishing out some pretty delicious meals, it looks like, starting with some sandwiches for afternoon tea.
"Today we had gnocchi, potatoes, pumpkin, says chef Rob, who is a club cricketer himself. "We do a chicken dish, which today was a Portuguese chicken. And we always do a fish dish - I've got a guy who delivers fish to me. He heads to the market in the morning. He delivers my fish to me around about nine o'clock, so generally I don't know what I'm getting until he arrives."
It's been long days on his feet for Rob, who has to feed up to 80 people a day, including England and Lions players, umpires, scorers and other staff. "Bought 1200 plates when I first arrived. I've got 125 left."
Full postIs Steven Smith the worst coin-tosser?
ESPNcricinfo staff
12-Nov-2025
Steven Smith is known for his unorthodox batting style, but now he can lay claim to being a bit of a weirdo coin-tosser as well. Captaining New South Wales against Victoria in their Sheffield Shield encounter at the SCG, Smith went to flip the coin, but really only managed to drop it.
To make matters worse, Victoria captain Will Sutherland, who took the coin gaffe in his stride, called it correctly and won the toss.
Full postEngland's 'cocky captain complainer', and other Ashes banter
ESPNcricinfo staff
07-Nov-2025
Could there be an Ashes series where we say: "There isn't a lot of hype this time around"? Well, we can't say it for the 2025-26 one down under, which is building up predictably, with banter and back-and-forths fired off one after the other.
Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler enjoyed reading a headline and story from the Australian newspaper on England captain Ben Stokes arriving in Australia.
"... Ben Stokes, the king of England's self-proclaimed reinvention of cricket," Broad read out.
Full postWho's got matching World Cup tattoos?
ESPNcricinfo staff
07-Nov-2025
How do you immortalise one of the most significant days of your life and career? Pictures and video are all very well, but when it's this big, you wear it on your sleeve, literally. Post their historic first Women's ODI World Cup win, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice captain Smriti Mandhana got tattoos of the trophy. Harmanpreet got it on her bicep.
See if you can spot where Mandhana got hers in this video of the team on their way to meet the prime minister.
Full postBehind the scenes of India's Women's World Cup win
ESPNcricinfo staff
03-Nov-2025
On Sunday night, 39,555 people at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and millions more across the world watched India women lift their very first ODI World Cup trophy. It was an electric night on the field, the joy, the shock for India, the disappointment for South Africa all splashed across television screens for all to see, but there was even more raw emotion behind the scenes.
An ecstatic India dugout saw the full spectrum of emotions wash over them in the immediate aftermath of the win - an emotional Amol Muzumdar, the head coach, sobbing into bowling coach Avishkaar Salvi's shoulders, an injured Pratika Rawal being wheeled out to join in the team celebrations and managing a wheelchair dance, a shell-shocked Harmanpreet Kaur trying to process the win while congratulating her team-mates... it was a sports movie in the making.
Full postWhat have been England's favourite meals of the World Cup?
ESPNcricinfo staff
29-Oct-2025
After over a month of touring India and Sri Lanka for the World Cup, England are gearing up to meet South Africa in the semi-final in Guwahati. What's been their favourite meal of the tour so far?
For batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge, it's well done chicken tikka with lots of chill, a side of steamed vegetables, garlic butter naan and some rice.
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt enjoys a spot of paneer curry, although that just leaves us wondering - is it butter paneer or palak? Or maybe kadhai?
Full postWhat's Annabel Sutherland eating as she tops the Women's World Cup wickets table?
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-Oct-2025
Australia allrounder Annabel Sutherland is having a terrific World Cup. Five matches in and she's already the tournament's leading wicket-taker, with 15 at an average of 12.13. And in Australia's last game, she scored 98 not out. How is she doing it all?
Well, some carbs are helping. While fielding against New Zealand, Sutherland got sandwiches and bananas delivered to her on the field. "I like my toasties," Sutherland said after the game. "Some naan with honey too. I had that in the fielding innings - that goes down a treat."
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