With a batting average of just a shade under 30, the pugnacious Mitchell Johnson plundered the Indian bowling to register his ninth Test fifty and give Australia a fighting chance in the second Test at the Gabba.
Umesh Yadav took three wickets on his comeback to Test cricket before Australia reached 221 for four at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against India on Thursday after battling their way back into the contest on the back of debutant paceman Josh Hazlewood's five for 68.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke said his body felt 15 years younger after a spell away from cricket as he prepared for a comeback at the Hong Kong T20 Blitz. Injury-plagued Clarke said nine months without cricket and its rigorous travel, as well as a revamped diet and training regime, had given him a new lease of life as he contemplates joining the lucrative Twenty20 bandwagon. The 35-year-old batsman played his last Twenty20 international in 2010 but he will test the waters for a stint in Australia's Big Bash League at the four-team Hong Kong event this weekend. Clarke, troubled by chronic back problems, retired after last year's Ashes series but less than a year later, he will make an experimental hit-out for Kowloon Cantons. "I'm going to play these couple of games and see how I go, see if I enjoy it and then assess after that," he said. "Right now it's about coming here and having some fun. If I enjoy it, I'll assess when I get home what my exact plan will be." He added: "My body's going really well. My body hasn't felt this good in 15 years. Let's hope I'm saying that on Sunday night after four games of cricket!"
Australia captain Michael Clarke is fit to lead the side into the first Test against India on Tuesday and his return is a "huge boost" for the hosts, fast bowler Mitchell Johnson said.
A total of 62 players were sold at the auction for the 13th edition with the eight franchises spending a total of 1.403 billion rupees ($19.73 million). Australia's Pat Cummins became the most expensive overseas buy ever in the Indian Premier League when the Kolkata Knight Riders paid a staggering Rs 15.50 crore ($2.18 million) for the fast bowler in Thursday's auction in Kolkata on Thursday.
Pakistan spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah took nine wickets in the second innings as the hosts beat Australia by 221 runs in the first Test on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
David Warner's third consecutive Test century could not stop Pakistan from taking control of the first Test against Australia on Friday after the tourists squandered a strong start and were all out for 303 in their first innings.
The squad also sees the return of proven Test and one-day bowler James Pattinson, who joined Australia A in India after recovering from a string of injuries
England needed to prove in the first Test they could compete with Australia and the hosts showed in Cardiff they are a 'dangerous side' .
Joe Root again put Australia's bowlers to the sword and together with Ian Bell gave England the platform on Friday to push for victory in the first Ashes Test after setting the tourists 412 to win with two days remaining.
Mitchell Johnson will not mind being the man England fans love to mock in the Ashes so long as he is taking wickets but the friendly abuse might start to get under his skin if the Australian paceman continues to fire blanks.
Rajneesh Gupta picks instances of sledging which backfired spectacularly.
Australia paceman Mitchell Starc has expressed concerns about the pink ball to be used in the first day-night Test, saying it behaved "very differently" to the usual red ball and crowds might not even be able to see it.
Australian coach Darren Lehmann is reportedly considering playing reserve wicket-keeper Matthew Wade as a specialist batsman in the third Ashes Test at Old Trafford if he manages to make a good score in the tour game against county side Sussex, beginning on Friday.
Pakistan's Test stalwart Younis Khan, who led the national team to its only World T20 title in 2009, remained unsold while captain Misbah-ul Haq was snapped up by the Islamabad franchise on the first day of the Players' Draft for the Pakistan Super League, on Monday.
Images from the World Cup Pool A match between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell feels New Zealand are the dark horses even though India and South Africa will challenge Australia for the trophy.
Opener Murali Vijay hit a half-century as India's batsmen survived some intense pressure from Australia's bowlers on the last day to draw the fourth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Young captain Steven Smith compiled a watchful half-century to guide Australia to 259 for five at stumps and leave the third Test against India delicately poised after an attritional opening day.
Australia dropped batsman George Bailey from the squad for their three-Test tour of South Africa on Monday and brought uncapped Alex Doolan and Shaun Marsh into the 15-man party. Bailey made his debut in the first Test of the recently-concluded Ashes series, but scored only 183 runs at an average of 26 as an unchanged Australia romped to a 5-0 sweep of England.
Mitchell Johnson will be rested for the opening One-Day International against England to freshen up for the rest of the series, Australia coach Darren Lehmann said on Thursday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha says he will be "under pressure" to perform if he makes the playing eleven in the decisive third Test against Sri Lanka, starting Friday, after the freak injury to Wriddhiman Saha opened the door for him after a "long wait".
Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood received his reward for some fine domestic form on Wednesday when he was included in a pace-heavy 13-man squad for the first two One-Day Internationals against South Africa next month.
Pakistan's spinners scythed through Australia's top order in the second innings to get them close to victory in the first Test after twin centuries from Younus Khan and youngster Ajmal Shehzad helped the hosts set an improbable target.
The Australian media were united in their view that the Mitchell Johnson-inspired humiliation of England at Lord's marked a decisive shift in the balance of power in the Ashes series.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said he could not have asked for a better performance from his team following their 405-run mauling of England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Two brilliant individual performances by players on opposing teams lit up the second day of the first Test in Dominica on Thursday.
Coach Darren Lehmann gave Australia a mark of '7.5' out of 10 for a year in which they won the World Cup but lost the Ashes, the series most prized by home fans.
Steven Smith maintained his purple patch to hit a brilliant unbeaten 102 to secure Australia's three-wicket victory against England in a high-scoring tri-series match at Hobart on Friday.
India looking to avoid a seventh straight Test loss on Australian soil.
David Warner and Shaun Marsh smashed fifties to complement their bowlers' efforts as Australia crushed England by seven wickets in the third one-day international in Sydney on Sunday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
'Nothing is confirmed yet either with anything, in regards to the captaincy, but if it works out that way and I am the next captain, then it's a lot of responsibility' 'Hopefully we can send Michael off on a high note at The Oval'
Rubbishing those claims, Clarke said 'The players are as tight as any team I've been a part of'
Sarfraz Ahmed's belligerent century powered Pakistan to a strong 454 in their first innings on the second day of the first Test against Australia on Thursday.
To say Joe Root has been galvanised since being dropped for the fifth Ashes Test that completed England's dismal 5-0 rout in Australia in the early days of last year would be an understatement.
India lost the World Cup semi-final to Australia by 95 runs but that did not stop cricketers and other athletes the world over from acknowledging their good work in the mega event.
'It's happened before. Not just Virat but there's many players that have come up to IPL time and ... look, we know it's a cash rich tournament, there's some money up for grabs.'
Check out the images from the second semi-final between Australia and India at the ICC World Cup at the Sydney Cricket, on Thursday.
Aaron Finch smashed a sparkling century as Australia dealt England a 111-run humiliation in their World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Australia will miss captain George Bailey in the One-dayer against England on Friday but their focus will be to seal a place in the ODI tri-series final.
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