Cricket's decision review system was further dragged through the mire on Thursday after another controversial decision in the third Ashes Test with the irate Australian board and even Prime Minister Kevin Rudd weighing in.
Steve Smith continued his build up for the fourth Ashes Test by heading straight to the practice nets after being dismissed in Australia's tour match against Derbyshire on Thursday.
Australia's selectors have responded to the threat of a first ever Test series sweep on home soil by dropping five players from their squad for the third match against South Africa, which begins in Adelaide on Thursday. Joe Burns, Adam Voges and Callum Ferguson, as well as wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, paid the price for a string of batting collapses, while seamer Joe Mennie was also axed after the innings defeat in the second Test in Hobart.
Batsman Shaun Marsh and all-rounder James Faulkner have been ruled out of Australia's limited overs tour of South Africa, Cricket Australia said on Thursday.
Australia captain Finch willing to demote himself when Smith, Warner return
Australia remain optimistic about their Twenty20 World Cup campaign despite being shown up in all facets by India in the opening two matches of their current series. With Steve Smith leading an advanced party to New Zealand for the forthcoming ODI series, the Australians have made more changes to their XI, with Shane Watson to lead the side after skipper Aaron Finch suffered a hamstring injury in Friday night's second T20 defeat. In-form top-order batsman Usman Khawaja comes into the squad as Finch's replacement, and will likely open the batting alongside Shaun Marsh. Finch is awaiting scan results and the Australia camp is bullish he will be able to return before the start of the World Cup in India on March 8.
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.
Australia's top cricketers are effectively unemployed.
Usman Khawaja hit a mammoth 171 and Shaun Marsh approached his sixth Test century as Australia eased 133 runs ahead of England on 479 for four after the third day of the fifth Ashes Test on Saturday.
Following is a fact box on the final Test of the four-match series between Australia and India
Usman Khawaja's magnificent 174 helped Australia to a dominant 556 for four declared and an imposing lead of 399 at the end of the second day of the first Test against New Zealand on Friday.
Here are some pictures of the two getting into some unwanted action on Day 4 of the 2nd Test...
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Australia and Pakistan, in Brisbane, on Thursday.
India have never won the first Test of a series in Australia and will be looking to come hard at Australia on Day 5. Rajneesh Gupta has all the numbers from the fourth day of the Adelaide Test.
Having struggled in the past one year after suspensions of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia finally seemed to have picked their pieces and playing exactly like a five-time champions ought to.
Jasprit Bumrah destroyed Australia with a six-wicket haul to give India a huge 292-run first innings lead.
The 25-year-old with the signature slingshot action helped rout Australia for 151 soon after tea in their reply to India's declared first innings total of 443 for seven..
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth, on Friday.
Australia's players will boycott an 'A' team tour of South Africa later this month unless a new pay deal is struck with Cricket Australia beforehand, the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) said on Sunday.
Australian captain Aaron Finch is confident Glenn Maxwell's ODI absence won't last long.
Debutant Pakistan off-spinner Bilal Asif ripped through the Australian middle-order with six wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 202 on the third day of the first Test, in Dubai, on Tuesday.
Mitchell Marsh kept calm after New Zealand got the sniff of an unlikely victory and scored his sixth one-day international half century to guide Australia to a four-wicket win in the second match of their one-day series on Saturday.
Selectors name the Test squad on Thursday but will have to rely on their gut rather than hard numbers
The fifth and final ODI against Australia will be one last chance for Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to do something special and stake their claim for a place in the World Cup team
Ashton Turner took an experienced Indian attack to the cleaners with some unbelievable hitting, helping Australia chase down a record breaking target of 359 runs and level the five-match series.
Playing against India behind closed doors in the much-anticipated Test series at the end of the year might end up being an advantage for the home side, according to Australia batsman Usman Khawaja. Cricket Australia are desperate for the tour, scheduled for December and January, to go ahead as the lucrative Indian TV rights for the series would go a long way to easing a financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Former pacer Laxmipathy Balaji feels the Indian fast-bowling attack has been in impressive form in the run-up to the ICC World Twenty20 especially veteran Ashish Nehra, who has made a fine comeback into the squad. "India has prepared well for the ICC World Twenty20 and have got the combinations right in the last three tournaments against Australia, Sri Lanka and the Asia Cup. The seniors as well as the juniors are doing well. The fast bowling department has been looking great especially in the death overs," said Balaji. "Ashish Nehra and Bumrah are bowling very well now. Ashish has made a very good comeback. It's not easy to do coming back after six years to a new Indian team. He has had his ups and downs. I rate Ashish very high," he added in praise of Nehra, who was out of the team for a long period after being part of the victorious 2011 World Cup squad.
Adam Zampa and Ashok Dinda claimed three wickets each as Rising Pune Supergiants outclassed Delhi Daredevils by 19 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-hit match in the Indian Premier League, in Visakhapatnam, on Tuesday.
It will be a battle for survival for struggling Rising Pune Supergiants when they lock horns with formidable title-contenders Sunrisers Hyderabad in Tuesday's Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Images from Day 2 of the 5th and final opening Test between Australia and England at the SCG in Sydney on Friday
Labuschagne is expected to bat at number three, with Smith to return to his favoured number four slot.
Australia captain more relieved than happy after his first win as Test captain
The two players were eligible for Aaron Finch's national side after their 12-month suspensions for ball-tampering ended last month.
A rampaging David Warner smashed a run-a-ball century to fire Australia to 278 for two and wrest back the momentum from Pakistan after Azhar Ali's unbeaten double-century buoyed the touring side on day three of the second Test on Wednesday.
It was only the fourth time in history that a side has lost an ODI chase with two centurions.
Opener David Warner put New Zealand's bowlers to the sword with a masterful 163 and Usman Khawaja scored his maiden Test century as Australia dominated the opening day of the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, on Thursday.
Australia opener Matt Renshaw is a doubt for the series-opening Test against Pakistan after suffering a head injury in a tour match in Dubai.
Afghanistan will now join South Africa and India for the series starting later this month.
Opener Glenn Maxwell fired a blistering 145 not out as Australia posted a world record 263 against a hapless Sri Lankan attack in the first Twenty20 international in Pallekele on Tuesday. Maxwell struck 14 fours and nine sixes during his 65-ball stay to help Australia break a nine-year record held by Sri Lanka, who scored 260/6 against Kenya in 2007. Skipper David Warner gave the visitors a fiery start with his 28 runs off 12 balls as he put on a 57-run opening partnership with Maxwell to lay a solid foundation.
Australia have cut opening batsman Ed Cowan and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade from their list of 18 centrally-contracted players, but handed opener Phillip Hughes another chance to establish himself in the national set-up.
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