Australia say they're ready and waiting to take a new-look England head on in the Ashes.
Australia will nonetheless be richer for their presence, and the duo's carefully orchestrated reunion with team mates has been smoothed by some cracking performances since their recovery from elbow injuries.
Handling the spotlight and the probing questions from the fourth estate can be difficult for first-time international players and Cricket Australia prefers not to leave anything to chance.
Australia avoided a series whitewash as they survived a mid-innings wobble to beat England by five wickets in the third T20 international and regain their top-ranking in the sport's shortest format on Tuesday.
Paine's batting lineup has been rated the worst Australia has ever, so the bowlers could well be under pressure
Former Australian pacer Brett Lee equated his country's pace attack for the upcoming Cricket World Cup at home to the 'biggest wolf pack' he has ever seen.
Injured pacer Harris sidelined; Siddle dropped.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between Australia and India, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Saturday.
India go into the game 0-1 down after Australia registered a 10-wicket win in the lung-opener at Mumbai
Calls have been growing for spilt captaincy in the Indian team since Rohit led Mumbai Indians to a fifth title in the IPL.
Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has said that India were scared of losing the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Australia has restricted the usage of saliva and sweat to shine the cricket ball in wake of the coronavirus pandemic which has spread rapidly around the world. This decision has been taken under a framework released by Australia's federal government about the staged return of professional and recreational sport amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
Kiwi star Brendon McCullum must have given nightmare to many bowlers around the world during his international playing days. The former New Zealand captain, who recently retired from international cricket, named the four toughest bowlers he found difficult to face against during his 14-year dream career. "Murali (Sri Lanka champion Muthiah Muralitharan) was always, for me, incredibly difficult to face, mainly because you had no idea which way it was spinning," McCullum told Star Sports. "Brad Hogg, as well, because of his uncanny bowling action and his ability to turn it both ways. "I think Brett Lee when he was in his pomp. He was fast, wasn't he? "And probably Mitchell Starc too of more recent times."
RCB named Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa as his replacement for the cash-rich event starting September 19 in the UAE.
Usman Khawaja will replace Travis Head in Australia's middle order for this week's fourth Ashes Test against England in the only change to the side that wrapped up the series in Melbourne last week.
Marnus Labuschagne scored a sparkling 185 to help Australia to a commanding lead before the home pace attack struck to leave Pakistan facing a heavy defeat on the third day of the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday.
Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane jumped three places to enter the top-10 in batsman's list while Ravichandran Ashwin maintained his pole position among all-rounders in the latest Test rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Chappell still believes that Australia might have a slight edge in Test matches
Chappell said 'the skill level of Indian youth teams would embarrass some of our first-class teams'.
Hazlewood to miss out again as Australia announce unchanged playing XI for final Test
Cheteshwar Pujara struck an unbeaten 79 as Indian batsmen gave a far better account of themselves to keep the hosts afloat by taking a 126-run lead.
Interesting numbers from day two of Ranchi Test
"He (Harris) is the in-form player of the competition and has an outstanding record over the last two years. I would have liked to have got (Matt) Renshaw in there, but he hasn't scored enough runs," Lehmann told Macquarie Sports Radio.
Australia is set to rest its fast-bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazzlewood for the first three ODIs against India in a bid to manage their workload ahead of a busy international calendar.
Pujara was placed sixth, down one rung, with 791 points, while Rahane occupied the ninth spot after slipping a couple of positions with 759 points.
Labuschagne said Australia were expecting a little more help from the fifth day pitch but credited India for hanging on for a remarkable draw.
Hardik Pandya hasn't featured in Tests since 2018 and has only recently recovered from a career-threatening back injury.
Australia batsman Adam Voges produced a Man of the Match performance as they emphatically beat West Indies by nine wickets in the first Test in Dominica on Friday
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has named India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the captain of his World Cup 2015 XI.
Penpix of players in Australia's Ashes squad.
Clarke said their statement finds no mention of the incident's chief protagonist, Cameron Bancroft
Pat Cummins exceeded expectations in his first Test match in more than five years and the speedster will pose a sweet selection headache for Australia, bowling coach David Saker said on Saturday.
A captain's century hewn from granite and two wickets in a fiery pace assault after tea saw Australia wrest the momentum away from England on day three of the series-opening Ashes Test in Brisbane on Saturday.
'They have tried too hard to be that stereotypical Australian team that are aggressive and go hard at people.'
Top order batsman Usman Khawaja has been omitted from Australia's annual list of 20 elite, contracted players in 2020 after falling out of favour with selectors midway through last year's Ashes. The 33-year-old lefthander has not played for the Test side since being dropped after the third match against England in Leeds last August.
Australia offie Nathan Lyon reckons the Indian captain 'will be able to adapt to any climate that we are able to play in'.
Former Australia captain Steve Waugh says the upcoming four-match rubber is a 'significant chance' for India to win their first Test series Down Under.
The side leave later on Monday for the series in England, where they can expect a hostile reaction after being embroiled in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in late March. The sides will play five one-day matches and a Twenty20 international.
Steve Smith and Aaron Finch struck half-centuries to help Australia to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first One-day international in Colombo on Sunday. Sri Lanka, who lost the toss and were sent out to bat on a dry, turning wicket, set the visitors a target of 228, but Australia successfully chased them down with 19 balls to spare to give them the lead in the five-match series.
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