World number one Carlos Alcaraz arrives in Melbourne with only one mission in mind -- claim a first Australian Open title to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.
Australia captain Pat Cummins has eased back into bowling in his rehabilitation from a lower-back injury.
Australia all-rounder Cameron Green has confirmed that he will be fully available to bowl in the Indian Premier League's 2026 season, clarifying that his listing as a batter rather than an all-rounder ahead of Tuesday's auction was due to a "stuff-up" by his manager.
Mohammed Shami is set to compete in the last two Tests of the ongoing series against Australia with his playing kit already headed Down Under
India are favourites to secure victory and draw the series, but England will still fancy their chances of completing what would be by far the highest successful Test run chase at The Oval.
Former India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said watching T20 World Cup from the sidelines for the first time in his career will be a "strange" experience as he reflected on the difficult selection calls and leadership decisions that defined his captaincy tenure.
England opener Zak Crawley said Australia had shown why they were favourites coming into the Ashes after a tough day four at Adelaide Oval left the tourists staring down the barrel of a series defeat on Saturday.
Taking his 17th Test five-wicket haul, he finished with 7 for 58 off 12.5 overs.
Former Australian batter Damien Martyn on Saturday returned home from hospital after recovering from an "awful" meningitis attack, which he said made him realise "how fragile life is."
Starc eclipsed Pakistan legend Wasim Akram's tally of 414 wickets to become the most successful left-arm pacer in the longest format.
The Perth Stadium curator has promised the wicket will be green, fast and bouncy but Stokes offered no thoughts on whether England would attack with four quicks or pick the specialist spinner, Shoaib Bashir, in their 11.
"There is no plan to remove Gautam Gambhir": Rajeev Shukla quashes reports of change in Test coach
Limited-overs captain Hope has played 38 Tests, the last of which came in Sri Lanka in late 2021.
'Dad played the biggest role in my cricket, coached me all the way through and sort of let me go as I got into my older teenage years, but (he) would always shoot a message (like) 'put the reverse sweep away'.'
All eyes will be on Captain Shubman Gill and Coach Gautam Gambhir to lead the Indian Test team into a bold new era.
South Africa begins their T20 World Cup campaign against Canada, while Zimbabwe faces Oman in another match. Both South Africa and Zimbabwe aim to make a strong impact in the tournament.
But Rohit's deplorable form in red-ball in red-ball cricket may have forced this decision.
India's young guns are fearless and mentally hardened by the IPL exposure. But true mettle will be tested when adversity strikes -- and this time, there will be no Kohli to stir up the crowd, no Rohit to deliver a captaincy masterstroke, and no Ashwin to conjure wickets out of nowhere.
Spin great Harbhajan Singh said the selectors were right in appointing Shubman Gill as India's ODI captain last year, stating that the youngster is ready for "big challenges".
India captain Virat Kohli might skip the last two Tests of the highly-anticipated four-match series against Australia as he gears up for the birth of his first child in January which could pave the way for an in-form K L Rahul's entry into the middle order.
Mitchell Starc will become just the second Australian fast bowler after Glenn McGrath to play 100 Tests.
Smith dislocated his right little finger in last month's World Test Championship final and will be required to wear a splint for five weeks, Cricket Australia said.
'The ICC needs to spread the wealth more evenly across the board and if we want two tiers to be competitive and we want teams in the second tier to have the chance to go into the first tier, well, they can't do that without no cash.'
India's chances of reaching the World Test Championship finals (WTC) took a major hit as they slipped to the fifth spot in standings following their embarrassing 0-2 series whitewash to South Africa at home.
Kanpur, Nagpur, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai were chosen to host a Test match each in the two home series.
Australia batter Usman Khawaja's first run-in with Brendon McCullum, during the 2011 Test series between Australia and New Zealand, was far from pleasant, as per Fox Cricket.
Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has set himself a tentative 4-6 week time to recover from a lumbar bone stress injury.
Gill, who was vice-captain of the T20I side, was the most high-profile absentee when the national selectors named a 15-member squad for the global showpiece in India and Sri Lanka starting February 7.
Audi launched their debut Formula One livery, outlining a five-year plan to challenge for championships by 2030 as the former Sauber outfit begins a new era.
Sammy expressed frustration that his side were on the "sharp end of the stick" for two caught behind decisions that had been referred to Holdstock which saw Australia batter Travis Head given not out, while Windies 'keeper batter Shai Hope was adjudicated out.
Labuschagne underlined the cricket adage that "catches win matches", while England counted the cost of dropped chances in Adelaide.
When I'm batting, I think only as a batter: Captain Gill on dual responsibility
Injuries prevented Archer appearing in subsequent Ashes series but the 30-year-old is now fit and firing and will be part of England's high-octane pace attack that many think could power them to a first series win in Australia since 2010-11.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri outlined the quality of Steve Smith that has always amazed him, and expects the captaincy for the first Ashes Test in Perth to bring the best out of him.
Joe Root picked an easy single off Mohammed Siraj in the 58th over to take his score to 31, which also took his overall Test tally to 13290 runs.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya will not be considered for India's Test series against Australia starting next week despite starring with the bat in the white-ball series, captain Virat Kohli said.
Virat Kohli surpassed the great Ricky Ponting for most runs by a No 3 batter in ODIs.
Speaking on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan, Mukund, who represented India in seven Tests from 2011-17, said: "I think Shubman has it in him to become an all-format captain, but I do not think India should have an all-format captain anymore."
Spin-bowling all-rounder Chase, who played the last of his 49 Tests in March 2023, will begin his captaincy with a three-match home series against Australia on June 25.
New Zealand will pin their hopes on a rookie attack and field a new wicketkeeper when they take on the West Indies in the second Test in Wellington starting on Wednesday following a slew of injuries.
