‘Not here (just) to participate': Reds keen to tame touring Lions

To this day, Matt Faessler is still confused by it all. On a quiet day in early June, as he went through rehab training at Ballymore, the unassuming Queensland hooker was shown a graphic that had him ranked as one of the most marketable athletes in Australia.
In a Gemba study measuring athletes' profile and social media clout, Faessler was ranked fourth and second for 'interest' and 'influence' respectively, ahead of names like Pat Cummins, Sam Kerr, Gout Gout and Oscar Piastri.
Faessler is happy to admit his sleepy social media footprint, with a couple of thousand followers, isn't a buzzing hive of activity.
'It was as big a surprise to me as it was everyone else,' Faessler said. 'I thought it was one of the boys in the team had edited it, to take the piss. I am not sure how they worked that out, but it gave us all a good laugh.'
Faessler's best guess is the snapshot was taken around the time the 14-cap Wallaby scored a hat-trick for Australia in their win over Wales on their spring tour last year - the first ever by a Wallabies hooker - and duly made a few digital waves.
Heaven knows what fame and online virality might be unlocked, then, if Faessler and his Queensland teammates make some much bigger waves on Wednesday night, by toppling the mighty British and Irish Lions in a midweek tour game in Brisbane.
In their second stop on a nine-game tour of Australia, the Lions will meet the Reds at a near sold-out Suncorp Stadium and the hosts are aiming to make an historic night, by causing an upset and downing the famous Home Nations team.
It's not done very often. Away from Test matches, only the Brumbies (2013) and Australia A (2001) have managed to claim wins over the Lions in the past two tours.

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England unchanged for second Test against India

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4 hours ago

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England unchanged for second Test against India

England have named an unchanged team for the second Test against India, set to begin on Wednesday at Edgbaston, with fast bowler Jofra Archer remaining sidelined. The England and Wales Cricket Board retained the lineup that secured a five-wicket win at Headingley to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Archer, who was added to England's test set-up last week for the first time since 2021, missed training on Monday due to a family emergency, British media reports said. The 30-year-old was called into the squad following England's thrilling five-wicket victory in the opening Test at Headingley last week. He has not played Test cricket since February 2021 and played his first red-ball match in four years in Sussex's County Championship draw against Durham in Chester-le-Street last week. Archer is expected to rejoin the squad on Tuesday. England will look to take a 2-0 series lead over India with victory but the home side have had a mixed bag of results at the Birmingham venue over the last five years. A defeat by New Zealand in 2021 along with a pair of Ashes losses to Australia in 2019 and 2023 show it could be tough work for England. ENGLAND XI v INDIA: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir. England have named an unchanged team for the second Test against India, set to begin on Wednesday at Edgbaston, with fast bowler Jofra Archer remaining sidelined. The England and Wales Cricket Board retained the lineup that secured a five-wicket win at Headingley to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Archer, who was added to England's test set-up last week for the first time since 2021, missed training on Monday due to a family emergency, British media reports said. The 30-year-old was called into the squad following England's thrilling five-wicket victory in the opening Test at Headingley last week. He has not played Test cricket since February 2021 and played his first red-ball match in four years in Sussex's County Championship draw against Durham in Chester-le-Street last week. Archer is expected to rejoin the squad on Tuesday. England will look to take a 2-0 series lead over India with victory but the home side have had a mixed bag of results at the Birmingham venue over the last five years. A defeat by New Zealand in 2021 along with a pair of Ashes losses to Australia in 2019 and 2023 show it could be tough work for England. ENGLAND XI v INDIA: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir. England have named an unchanged team for the second Test against India, set to begin on Wednesday at Edgbaston, with fast bowler Jofra Archer remaining sidelined. The England and Wales Cricket Board retained the lineup that secured a five-wicket win at Headingley to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Archer, who was added to England's test set-up last week for the first time since 2021, missed training on Monday due to a family emergency, British media reports said. The 30-year-old was called into the squad following England's thrilling five-wicket victory in the opening Test at Headingley last week. He has not played Test cricket since February 2021 and played his first red-ball match in four years in Sussex's County Championship draw against Durham in Chester-le-Street last week. Archer is expected to rejoin the squad on Tuesday. England will look to take a 2-0 series lead over India with victory but the home side have had a mixed bag of results at the Birmingham venue over the last five years. A defeat by New Zealand in 2021 along with a pair of Ashes losses to Australia in 2019 and 2023 show it could be tough work for England. ENGLAND XI v INDIA: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.