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.
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.
Josh Hazlewood will be Australia's third pace bowler in this week's first Test against New Zealand after Peter Siddle was named 12th man on Wednesday.
Paceman Steven Finn's five-wicket haul put England on the brink of a 2-1 Ashes series lead over Australia on Thursday with the tourists facing a desperate battle to avoid a humiliating third Test defeat.
Australia's Steven Smith has become the second youngest batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to achieve the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following stellar batting in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.
West Indies have lost their last four Tests, two to Australia and two to Sri Lanka, and have not enjoyed a single win in Australia since the 1996-97 tour.
South Africa's success in Australia is often put down to their comfort on the hard local tracks, which can be similar to those at home, but they could face some unfamiliar conditions this year.
Opener Neil Broom produced a hurricane 117-run knock off just 56 balls as Otago Volts recorded a comprehensive 62-run win over Perth Scorchers in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Check out the lowest totals in Ashes history after England bowled Australia out for 60 in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
New Zealand strike bowler Tim Southee will miss the upcoming One-Day International series against Australia but Blackcaps coach Mike Hesson is optimistic the seamer would recover from a foot injury in time for the subsequent Test series.
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.
After Australia scored 399 in a first innings highlighted by a knock of 199 by Steve Smith, West Indies were left reeling at 143 for eight in reply, 256 runs behind and facing the prospect of having to follow-on on Saturday.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be gunning for the No.1 spot in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as an interesting contest promises to develop with Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who wrested the top spot following a 10-wicket haul in the Lord's Test that ended on Sunday.
Anderson becomes number-one ranked Test bowler
Captain Michael Clarke blasted a magnificent 105 as Australia outplayed England in all departments to beat the hosts by 88 runs in the second One-Day International at Old Trafford on Sunday and go 1-0 up in the series.
In terms of days, Dale Steyn has spent 2,320 days at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, the most by any bowler since World War II.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara eye top 10 places while Ravindra Jadeja jumps to career-best third position among Test all-rounders.
Australia rode on James Faulkner's brutal unbeaten 29-ball 64 to take Australia to thrilling 4-wicket win in Mohali on Saturday.
Australia rode on James Faulkner's brutal unbeaten 29-ball 64 to take Australia to thrilling 4-wicket win in Mohali on Saturday.
Tailender Jason Holder was left stranded on 82 not out as West Indies were dismissed for 220 in their first innings against Australia in Jamaica on Saturday, a deficit of 179, on the third day of the second Test in Kingston, Jamaica.
With an impeccable tally of 2,633 runs across formats this year, Kane Williamson, says Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com, is right up there among the pantheon of modern great greats.
The fourth One-Day International between India and Australia was abandoned in Ranchi, because of a wet outfield caused by heavy rain.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
Barring Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, all players have declared their allegiances to IPL franchises over their respective countries' domestic sides ahead of the upcoming Champions League Twenty20.
Who were the most valuable players in the just-concluded India-Australia ODI series? Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji 's formula provides overwhelming evidence that the bat complete overwhelmed the bat.
India rode on Virat Kohli's brutal unbeaten 115 and Shikhar Dhawan's 100 to pull off a sensational six-wicket victory over Australia in the do-or-die sixth One-Day International and level the seven-match series 2-2, in Nagpur, on Wednesday. Chasing a mammoth 351, the Indians blazed away on a belter of a track at the VCA stadium in Jamtha to overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
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