Shane Watson's international future looked bleak on Monday after the all-rounder was left out of Australia's 13-man squad for this month's one-day series against India on Monday.
Centurion Steve Smith praised Australia's bowlers after they reduced England to 107 for eight in the first innings to set up a victory bid in the fifth and final Ashes Test on Friday.
Besides the Australian fans at Lord's Cricket Ground, most of the players had support in the form of their families and spouses.
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is aware that he's no Jacques Kallis but would like to bat well and contribute to the team's win in the World Twenty20, something the legendary South African is known for.
Steve Smith has demanded his team's batsmen lift their output and score centuries against South Africa in the wake of their humbling six-wicket loss in the second Test at Port Elizabeth.
Australia's hopes of winning back respect and moving on from a ball-tampering scandal that plunged the team into disgrace face their first test on Sunday when Tim Paine's rebuilding side meet Pakistan in the series-opener in Dubai.
Images from Day 3 of the 3rd Ashes Test played at the WACA in Perth on Saturday
Australia's Aaron Finch hit his fifth one-day international century to drive the hosts to a 73-run victory over South Africa in Canberra on Wednesday and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Cheteshwar Pujara struck a classy century and combined with captain Virat Kohli (82) to put India in control on the second day.
Mitchell Marsh's spot in a rebuilding Australia side is assured for at least the Boxing Day Test against West Indies but the all-rounder is feeling some heat to score runs to shore up his place.
Joe Burns will bat at number six when he makes his debut for Australia in the third Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, starting on Friday. The 25-year-old, regarded as one Australia's most promising young batsmen, replaced injured all-rounder Mitch Marsh in one of two changes to the Australian team that won last week's second Test in Brisbane. Paceman Ryan Harris, who missed the second Test because of a thigh problem, returns at the expense of Mitchell Starc.
Shane Watson feels that the faltering Indian batsmen will fare much better against Australia later this year compared to how they performed against England in the ongoing five-match series.
A stunning hat-trick from Josh Hazlewood was not enough for Australia, as Darren Sammy led from the front with an unbeaten half-century to fashion a morale-boosting three-wicket win in a World Twenty20 warm-up match at Eden Gardens.
Top-order batsman Shaun Marsh has been dropped from Australia's side for their second Test against West Indies, despite scoring 182 in the comprehensive first Test victory in Hobart.
Australia will resist the temptation to tinker with their team on tour against West Indies and plan to field their best 11 in a bid to sweep the two-Test series and build momentum for the Ashes, selector Rod Marsh has said.
'If there were ever a PR exercise to fix the seemingly irreparable image of Australian cricket in the aftermath of the most notorious on-field scandal in recent memory, then this is it,' observes Dhruv Munjal.
India looking to avoid a seventh straight Test loss on Australian soil.
Naman Ojha is certainly back in the national selection committee's radar after four centuries in his last five first-class innings, including two double hundreds but he rules out any competition with Wriddhiman Saha for the second wicketkeeper's slot in the Indian team.
The Men in Blue have never won a bilateral ODI contest on Australian soil.
Australia captain Michael Clarke showed a tetchy side to his nature in his pre-match press conference.
Australian batsman David Warner is confident he will be fit to face Pakistan in next week's first Test despite suffering a groin injury in the final one-day international in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Kane Williamson staged a fight-back along with opener Tom Latham (36), and Ross Taylor (26) as New Zealand reached 140 for 2 (42 overs) at close of play on Day 2 of the 2nd Test at the WACA in Perth on Saturday.
The former captain's struggling innings of 51 off 96 balls and his failure to rotate the strike in the first ODI has brought to focus the rejigging that captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri will have to fret upon.
Watson used to take flak for his inability to convert half centuries to centuries but recently his problem has been progressing from scores in the 20s and 30s.
Kane Williamson coolly struck a straight six to give New Zealand a one wicket victory over Australia in a dramatic battle between the World Cup hosts at Eden Park on Saturday.
Australia can take the top Test ranking from India with a series victory
Brendon McCullum's dismissal in the final over of the day put Australia firmly in control of the first Test in Wellington on Sunday, as New Zealand were reduced to 178-4, still 201 runs behind the tourists' mammoth first innings of 562.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has warned his team to beware a backlash from a wounded Australia in the second and final Test in Abu Dhabi starting on Thursday.
Photos of the World Cup Pool A game between Australia and New Zealand being played in Eden Park
The first day of inaugural day-night Test match also marks the first death anniversary of Phil Hughes, who had died after being hit on the cricket field
Getting his team composition right will be Mahendra Singh Dhoni's primary aim as Rising Pune Supergiants meet an out-of-sorts Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament encounter, in Mohali on Sunday.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said the way his side bounced back at the World Cup after their defeat by New Zealand should encourage them following a crushing loss in the first Ashes Test.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
The weather-ravaged, dead rubber third Test between Australia and the West Indies petered out in a draw at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Thursday.
Neverending injury concerns and a string of promising all-rounders in the wings have not dulled Shane Watson's optimism of playing a leading role for Australia across all formats of cricket.
Gavin Larsen says if he could rein in the batsmen of 1990s era even with his military medium pace it was because of his skipper Martin Crowe's tremendous leadership style and his faith in the bowlers.
The speculation around the mood inside India's dressing room became a subject of ridicule for Australian skipper Steve Smith, who said the home team does not need to sedge the tourists as they are busy "whingeing among themselves".
After what at one stage earlier this month looked like a vast game of musical chairs, reigning champions India ended up topping the world rankings when the five-month countdown to the 2015 World Cup started on Sunday.
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