Chris Rogers struck a sparkling century to fire Australia to a dominant eight-wicket win in the fourth Ashes Test on Sunday, leaving an insipid England staring down the barrel of a humiliating series whitewash.
Having been the cricket world's unremitting bully-boy for nearly two decades, Australia was brought down to earth with an almighty thud on Sunday, losing the Ashes to old enemy England, and their number one status to boot.
Cricket Australia has confirmed it will use Dukes balls, which are used in England, instead of the locally produced Kookaburra brand for the second half of the domestic Sheffield Shield in a bid to better prepare for the away Ashes series next year. The balls behave differently through the air and off the pitch, with Australia's inability to play the moving ball seen as one of the reasons why they have failed to win an Ashes series in England since 2001.
The southpaw became the first to score a hundred in a session at the Gabba, propelling Australia to a 196-run lead over England.
Australia reclaimed the Ashes by dismissing England's last five batsmen after lunch on Tuesday for a 150-run victory in the third Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Cameron Green's injury could open up the door for Cameron Bancroft's Test recall in the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India next month.
India's assistant coach also Ryan ten Doeschate also lauded Starc for his excellent display with the pink ball.
IMAGES from the women's T20I played between Australia and India, at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Friday.
'I had a break to prioritise my mental wellbeing and I got my finger sorted.'
The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
Hazlewood makes the cut as Australia confirm WTC final squad
"I will be walking out with you to bat at the MCG," R Ashwin told Virat Kohli in a short note on X Friday, a subtle and endearing demonstration of their closeness in the team.
Australia might have thrashed England 5-0 in their previous Ashes contest Down Under but key batsman Steve Smith feels their arch-rivals in Test cricket would be a force to reckon with in the July-August return series in England.
England captain Ben Stokes suffered a left hamstring injury during the third Test against New Zealand in Hamilton on Monday and will not field again for the remainder of the match, the team said.
England's leading players could boycott the high-profile Ashes series against Australia, later this year, as they do not want to be confined to their hotel rooms close to four months due to strict quarantine rules in the country.
Both India and Australia will not play a warm-up game ahead of the final beginning at the Oval from June 7.
Cricket Australia's hopes of staging the fifth Ashes Test in Perth appear in jeopardy, with the Western Australia (WA) state government reiterating its "very strict rules" on quarantine and restrictions on players' family members.
Images from the Day 3 of the 2nd Ashes Test played between Australia and England in Adelaide on Monday
Australia's dramatic turnaround to dominate England and win back the Ashes just months after a 3-0 series defeat to their traditional rivals has largely been attributed to the man (Darren Lehmann) they call "Boof".
However, David Warner plans to continue playing white-ball cricket at least until the 2024 Twenty20 World Cup.
'Siraj is now getting flak from the same 'saints' of Australian cricket who once prided themselves on their on-field aggression.'
India, who have returned victorious in both their previous Test assignments Down Under with identical margins of 2-1, will take on the world No.1 Australia in a five-Test series starting on November 22.
At the grassroots level, CA reported an increase in registered participation in community cricket from 627,793 to 661,161, although there was a 3% drop in the number of junior cricketers.
Former India spinner R Ashwin has called for a shift away from the superstar culture prevalent in Indian cricket, urging for a more grounded approach.
England paceman James Anderson raised concerns about potentially 'dangerous' short-pitched bowling at the tourists' tail-enders during the first Ashes Test, but his captain Joe Root said the lower order would just need to learn to 'deal with it'.
Images from Day One of the third Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford, in Manchester, on Thursday.
Ryan 'Ryno' Harris made a crucial contribution to Australian cricket at a critical time.
England and Australia are slated to lock horns against each other in the Ashes later this year. England would be squaring off against New Zealand and India in the longest format before the Ashes.
Not so long ago, the Australian cricketers would announce their arrival in London by telling everyone within earshot how easily they would win the Ashes. Not this time.
Under-pressure England batsman Kevin Pietersen stood tall on the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia on Thursday even as his teammates crumbled around him.
The likes of Yashaswi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna are on their maiden Test tour of Australia.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting backed Labuschagne to return to his best.
Australia completed a dominant eight-wicket victory in the fourth Ashes Test before tea on day four, swatting away a toothless England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday to take a 4-0 lead in the five-Test series.
'I was rooting for you to break my record.'
Paceman Mitchell Starc took pain-killing injections for his strained ankle to bowl through Australia's opening Ashes defeat in Cardiff but is confident he will be fit for the second match at Lord's, captain Michael Clarke has said.
The documentary, which premieres on Prime Video this week, charts the success and failure of Cummins' team
England paceman James Anderson will be rested for the first Ashes Test against Australia but he is fit to play, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler said.
England's Pope will play on after shoulder injury, coach says
AB de Villiers feels the criticism that has come South Africa's way is unwarranted and they have rather done well to reach the WTC final despite experiencing "so many changes" in the last three to five years.
