Winter Watch | Week 7

Right, let's get straight to it. Yes, there is another (brief) England update to navigate, yet with the commencement with the Big Bash League in Australia there is now plenty more to write home about. Take it away, Tom...

Tom Alsop

Having missed Brisbane Heat's opening match of the Big Bash League with injury, the powerful batter was also an absentee in today's thrilling match with Perth Scorchers, in which Brisbane dramatically chased down Perth's total of 257 with the penultimate ball.

It is hoped that Alsop will be fit for their next match on December 22, where they'll face Sydney Thunder at 8.15GMT.

Jofra Archer

A rather lone shining light on this Ashes series for England with the potential for Australia to win the series before the fourth Test, Archer took five wickets in the opening innings at Adelaide and overnight scored a maiden Test fifty - finally out for 51.

Anna Buckle

A fabulous showing with the bat from Bankstown's Ava Dragovic proved the catalyst for a nine-wicket defeat for Anna Buckle's UTS North Sydney at the weekend

With the dearth of wickets suggests this wasn't to be Buckle's finest outing with the ball of the winter, though she did bowl economically in her four-over spell, going for 23 runs.

Oli Carter

A low-scoring thriller for Carter's Sturt last weekend that ended in a positive result, yet a difficult outing with the bat for the Sussex wicket-keeper over his two innings, making 9 and 6 respectively. 

This, though, was actually more runs than his opening batting partner, Josh de Caires, mustered in the match, with a fine second innings stint at the crease from Brad Davis ensuring Sturt reached the finish line. Behind the stumps, Carter claimed two catches - both in the first innings.

Daniel Hughes

Swapping Eastern Suburbs for Sydney Sixers, Hughes is another Sussex representative in the Big Bash this year. Opening the batting in both games, it was a tricky start for the Aussie alongside Babar Azam, who has found similar difficulty with the bat.

Both have scored 13 runs this campaign, with their Sixers side still in search of a first win in the competition this year.

Nathan McAndrew

Our third and final Shark featuring in the BBL, McAndrew is clad in Sydney Thunder's green once again this year and earned a wicket in their opening match against Hobart Hurricanes.

Bowling 2 overs for 21 runs, he did pick up the valuable wicket of Matthew Wade just as the wicket-keeper batter was starting to accelerate. McAndrew's Thunder are next in action on Saturday, in the Sydney derby against Hughes' Sixes, at 8.15am GMT.

Ollie Robinson

A tidy two-wicket haul for Robinson in his most recent match with Sydney University in what was a quite blistering performance against UNSW. 

A 50-over match, Sydney Uni needed fewer than 17 overs to chase down the target of 101, which UNSW took 42.1 overs to make. Robinson bowled beautifully in his 10 overs with the ball, earning five maidens and going for just 19 runs.

Jayden Seales

Another week, another Seales update from New Zealand. And it's their final Test of the series at Mount Maunganui as we report following Close on Day 2.

It's been a good series for Seales, and here...

And that'll do it for Week 7, and indeed 2025 as we pause for a short winter break ourselves. Winter Watch shall return on 5th January, where we'll provide a comprehensive update from around the globe over the festive period.