The Ashes could be decided within days at an Adelaide Oval furnace where England's hopes of wresting back the urn will fire anew or flame out entirely against a strengthened Australia.
Teen sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi showed glimpses of his batting prowess before wicketkeeper Abhigyan Kundu and Vedant Trivedi's unbeaten half-centuries powered India U-19 to a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Australia U-19 in the first Youth ODI, in Brisbane on Sunday.
The eight players who featured in India's World Cup triumph in 2024 will aim to repeat their magic from two years ago.
Enjoyment is a huge part of why I'm still playing: Jonny Bairstow
Labuschagne was the lone player from the Australian national side who was included in the list.
Shreyas Iyer marked his return from injury in style, smashing a fluent 82 off 53 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day match in Jaipur on Tuesday.
With the 2026 T20 World Cup fast approaching, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has opted for a bold shake-up, dropping marquee players such as Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi from the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series.
McDonald also said the selectors would consider a Test recall for Mitch Marsh, even if Australia's white-ball captain said last week he would be watching the Ashes series beer in hand.
Labuschagne underlined the cricket adage that "catches win matches", while England counted the cost of dropped chances in Adelaide.
Tilak Varma made a strong claim for selection in India's 50-over format with an attractive 94 but Australia A came back strongly to win the rain-affected second List A game by nine wickets, in Kanpur, on Friday.
Former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg has accused skipper Steve Smith of favouritism in team selection, and also ripped apart the selectors for the run of losses in the ongoing ODI series against India.
All-rounder Dasun Shanaka will lead a strong Sri Lankan side for the T20 World Cup, featuring key players including Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera and Charith Asalanka.
Save Shreyas Iyer, who will take a lot more time to get fit, others are expected to represent their state teams.
'To see his preparation, the way he dominates the game.'
Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has been ruled out of remainder of Australia's Big Bash League due to a knee injury.
Captain Ben Stokes believes England can build on the positives from their loss in the third Ashes Test to Australia in Adelaide as they look to claim the country's first win Down Under in almost 15 years in the series' two remaining tests.
'I was playing country cricket and working as a carpenter, and that was the dream for me.'
Ravichandran Ashwin hails Travis Head after his 69-ball century, the second-fastest in Ashes history, helped Australia easily chase down 205 runs on Day 2 of first Ashes Test.
Captain Sakibul Gani smashed a 32-ball hundred -- the fastest-ever by an Indian in List A cricket -- to power Bihar to a massive world record List A total of 574/6 against Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
India U-19 completed their clean sweep of Australia U-19 in the latter's backyard with a seven-wicket win in the second and final Youth Test, in Mackay on Wednesday.
Batters Jamie Smith and Jordan Cox have been axed while seamer Saqib Mahmood could not retain his place either.
If selected, it would be the fast-medium pacer's first Test since taking five wickets in a heavy defeat by New Zealand in Hamilton a year ago.
Cheteshwar Pujara, one of India's finest Test batters, called time on his illustrious career on Sunday.
Ashwin added that Kohli is in fine touch, a positive sign for Indian cricket.
The grand comeback party of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma endured a quick 22-ball ending, and their lowkey outing reflected in India's seven-wicket defeat against Australia.
Virat Kohli surpassed the great Ricky Ponting for most runs by a No 3 batter in ODIs.
The former Test captain has been elected as director.
England's McCullum wants to keep 'pretty good gig' despite Ashes defeat
The Namibia match could be a God-sent opportunity for an out-of-form Sanju Samson to get into run-scoring mode after a string of failures that saw him lose his place to Ishan Kishan, who is going through a purple patch.
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin is set to play for Sydney Thunder in the Australian Big Bash League in a mega deal valued at around $1 million over two years.
'We all make mistakes, but what is important is that you've got to get that out of your mind before the next ball commences.' K R Nayar recalls his many encounters with Dickie Bird, the legendary cricket umpire who passed into the ages this week.
Despite piling up runs in domestic cricket and delivering whenever handed a chance for India, Sarfaraz Khan remains on the sidelines -- a situation that former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has described as both baffling and unfair.
The Indian team will tour Australia later this year for a multi-format limited overs series comprising three ODIs and five T20 Internationals.
England called up spinner Shoaib Bashir and seamer Matthew Potts for the final Ashes Test against Australia beginning on Sunday with one of them set to fill the void created by Gus Atkinson's injury-induced absence.
The legendary Ricky Pointing has advised Australia all-rounder Cameron Green to keep things simple and not over analyse or tinker with his game in order to find the right approach in Tests.
'He's a quality player, it was a matter of time for him to score.'
Cricket Australia says it will not take any steps to prevent West Indian batsman Chris Gayle playing in its Big Bash Twenty20 league next season.
'We haven't got everything right. I haven't got everything right as a coach and I put my hand up for that.'
It is understood that right after India's abject surrender against South Africa in the two-Test series at home last month, someone who matters in the cricket board had once again informally approached VVS Laxman to check if he would be interested in coaching the red ball team.
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