Queensland quick Michael Neser looks set to make his Test debut against New Zealand on Thursday with Australia considering an unconventional five-man attack for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The hosts, who can clinch the three-match series with a second successive victory, are wary of the surface at MCG where bowlers had to really toil for any success in recent times.
CA has denied reports that former Australia captain Steve Smith and batsman David Warner's suspensions had been relaxed to allow them to participate in domestic first-class cricket ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
The selection of opener Cameron Bancroft, wicketkeeper Tim Paine and number six Shaun Marsh all looked to have backfired early in the series-opener but all three finished strongly in Brisbane to help Australia to victory and boost their confidence ahead of the second test in Adelaide starting on Saturday.
Footage showed the Leeds players in an open-top double-decker bus, surrounded by a swarming mass of chanting fans enveloped in smoke from flares and fireworks.
Defeat always seemed likely for West Brom, who are bottom of the Premier League and sacked their chairman and chief-executive on Tuesday.
Chelsea's woes continued when the holders were dumped out of the Capital One (League) Cup fourth round following a shootout defeat by Stoke City on Tuesday, while Arsenal suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at second tier Sheffield Wednesday.
Manchester United climbed two places up to second in the Premier League after Marcus Rashford scored deep into stoppage time to give them a fortuitous 1-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.
The Australian Cricketers' Association says the pink ball is not ready for day-night Tests and have cautioned administrators not to rush into the concept.
The following are three talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
'I think the next process for me, if I do get a chance in the Test arena, is to try and play more back-to-back cricket now'
Real, Barca and Juve stand firm on Super League
There were, however, no eye-catching major deals in the final 24 hours of transfer activity for European clubs which continues the trend of recent January windows.
They have the freedom to innovate, express their own views.
Australia and New Zealand have targeted playing a first Test match under lights in November, 2015, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Monday.
Thousands gathered at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium on Tuesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 of their fans died during an FA Cup semi-final, one of the darkest days in the history of English soccer.
Liverpool are close to a first league title since 1990 but Steven Gerrard's tears after Sunday's win over Manchester City were a mix of joy and sadness, the 3-2 triumph coming close to the anniversary of one of English football's darkest days.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
ill Pucovski has become the third Australian cricketer to report mental health problems to the team management in just over two weeks
Late-blooming Australia batsman Adam Voges and spin bowler Xavier Doherty announced their retirement from international and state cricket at the end of the domestic Sheffield Shield season on Wednesday.
The shock omission for the match against Tasmania at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this week follows his exclusion from the one-day international team for tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Liverpool fielded a starting lineup consisting mainly of reserves and youth team players with an average age of 19.4, a club record.
Mayank Agarwal is likely to open with Shikhar Dhawan in Rohit's absence in the ODI series beginning on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
It turned out to be a dream tournament for India as the boys the medals, winning a gold, silver and bronze, in the U-19 category in the prestigious British Junior Open.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Australian bowler Sean Abbott returned to action with New South Wales.
Off the back of the spectacular success of the inaugural day-night Test last month, Cricket Australia has today announced an additional day-night round of Sheffield Shield cricket this summer.
'We should send a thousand million messages for the black people. I'm embarrassed and ashamed of what the white people have done for the black people'
Arsenal's defence of the trophy ended with something of a whimper as Mikel Arteta's side struggled with repeatedly sloppy defending.
Premier League Hull City were given a fright as they had to come from behind twice to beat obstinate third tier side Sheffield United 5-3 in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday to reach the final for the first time.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Following is a match by match look at the English Premier League's weekend fixtures
Australia pacer Pat Cummins will skip the three-match Twenty20 series against India next month. He will head back home after the ongoing ODIs to prepare for the Ashes later this year.
'How we play the game reflects who we are as people and for the most part, the Aussie team is a pretty relaxed bunch, we like a bit of a laugh, so let's see what happens in this series.'
Arsenal sent Liverpool crashing out of the FA Cup, avenging last weekend's rout at Anfield, when they beat Brendan Rodgers's high-flyers 2-1 in a full-bloodied fifth round tie at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Manchester City rediscovered their swagger to beat Chelsea 2-0 and move into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday, Manuel Pellegrini winning the battle of tactical wits against Jose Mourinho.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Here is a fact-box on Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who died on Thursday. He was 25.
An article in an Australian newspaper has claimed that the Twenty20 revolution could be responsible for the short attention spans of batsmen who cannot stick out the tough periods. So, do you think that T20 tournaments like the Indian Premier League and Big Bash League are responsible for batting slump in Test matches?
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