Top seed Andy Murray could meet Roger Federer or Kei Nishikori in the third round, while Serena faces tricky Belinda Bencic in opening round
India will usher in 2016 with a three-week tour of Australia, comprising five ODIs and three T20 Internationals, starting January 12.
Wednesday's Twenty20 International in Brisbane will be followed by matches at Melbourne and Sydney before the four-Test series gets underway in Adelaide on December 6.
Uber, Ola's main competitor in Australia, currently operates in 19 cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.
A strong fourth innings fightback that had nearly clinched a remarkable record run chase in the first Test loss to Australia in Brisbane had given Pakistan the confidence they needed for the rest of the series, captain Misbah-ul-haq has said. The visitors, who were dismissed for 142 in their first innings, had Australian cricket fans chewing their fingernails to the quick as they counter-attacked in chasing 490 for victory.
A refreshed Roger Federer's clinical demolition of Jarkko Nieminen in his first match of 2014 suggested he could be a factor in the first major of the year.
Indian cricket team's much-anticipated tour of Australia will begin either in Adelaide or Brisbane instead of favoured Perth after Western Australia state government made it clear that there won't be any relaxation in quarantine guidelines in their territory.
Australia pace spearhead Mitchell Starc may be called up for his first Twenty20 international in two years against India on Sunday after replacing the injured Billy Stanlake in Aaron Finch's squad.
The Karnataka pacer made a record-breaking start to his international career, picking four wickets on ODI debut, as India defeated England by 66 runs to go one up in the three-match series.
Australia head into Sunday's game with a 1-0 lead after winning the opening T20 in Brisbane on Wednesday by four runs.
Paine stood down after Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper published alleged text message exchanges between him and an ex-Cricket Tasmania employee, claiming the co-worker had complained that he had sent an unsolicited picture of his genitals.
The list of international sporting events affected by a new virus outbreak in China grew on Wednesday with skiing World Cup races in Yanqing cancelled and Olympic women's football in Australia in doubt over concerns about athletes' safety. Badminton, tennis and basketball were among other sports whose governing bodies were rearranging events, weighing possible changes or monitoring the implications of the outbreak.
Prolific Pakistan batsman Babar Azam wants to achieve the "legend" status that Virat Kohli has acquired but concedes that despite the oft-repeated comparisons, he is still some time away from getting anywhere close to the Indian captain. The 24-year-old, who is a self-confessed fan of Kohli, spoke about his aspiration to emulate the World's No.1 Test and ODI batsman.
'I just wished I could keep going with that injury and support my team. I knew I might not get a stage like that again. Captain asked me if I could do it. I was in pain but said I would do with whatever I could.'
It is our only chance of avoiding a repeat of our catastrophic second wave, asserts Naushad Forbes.
Young Rishabh Pant's dismissal in the penultimate over "changed things", according to India captain Virat Kohli.
England also named their final one-day squad before the World Cup, with fast bowlers Tom Curran and David Willey returning to a unit who defeated Sri Lanka 3-1. Tom replaces brother Sam as Liam Dawson and Olly Stone also miss out.
England expressed concern over the strength of the bio-secure environment after the positive result, while a South African team investigation has not yet shown how the unnamed player caught the virus.
'It's going to be very difficult to play all three forms -- and good luck to all the guys that want to keep playing -- it's challenging.'
Hafeez had already been reported twice for illegal action and was suspended both times.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that the government will keep in close touch with all relevant groups to ensure a virus outbreak does not have affect the Summer Olympics. Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto said organisers are not considering cancelling the Olympics, which start on July 24.
Suspended Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal's modified bowling action will be put through an official ICC test in Chennai on January 24. The bowler, who will miss the World Cup because of the suspension for illegal action, had said he would prefer to be tested in Brisbane and not Chennai. On Tuesday, though, he said he has no issues about taking it in Chennai.
While Federer and Nadal will look to reignite the flair and fight they showed to reach last year's final, 2018 could have a different script at play.
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal's suspect bowling action will be tested at the Cricket Australia National Cricket Centre in Brisbane tomorrow and the result will be declared in about two weeks time, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement on Sunday.
Statistician Rajneesh Gupta has interesting numbers from the second One-dayer, in Brisbane, on Friday. Check them out.
He was among the key plotters of England's historic 2012 Test triumph in India and former coach Andy Flower sees no reason why an encore is not possible this year as he believes the visitors have enough 'formidable players' to challenge the upbeat hosts.
Australia's board had hoped the 60,000-seat venue in Burswood would be ready to host the third Ashes Test between the sides from December 14-18 but construction delays ruled that out, with Perth's traditional WACA ground staging it instead.
Defending champions India will get an early feel of the Australian conditions ahead of next year's 50-overs World Cup after agreeing to play a Test series against the hosts and a triangular one-day series, also featuring England, between December 4 and February 1.
England batsman Jonathan Trott has suffered more stress-related problems on his return to first class action and will take another break from the sport to undergo treatment, the country's cricket board said on Friday.
Harmanpreet extends association with Sydney Thunder for BBL
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic gave Australia an unwanted reputation as a breeding ground for tennis brats during a tempestuous 2015 and the pair will be firmly under the spotlight in front of home crowds at Melbourne Park. With former world number one Lleyton Hewitt set to retire and the last of his two grand slam titles at the 2002 Wimbledon championships a distant memory, Australia has long yearned for a new force in men's tennis to challenge at the majors. Tomic, 23, and Kyrgios, 20, have both been tagged as the future of the sport in the country but the excitement generated by their undeniable talent gave way to dismay last season as the pair hogged the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Australia have included uncapped George Bailey in their 12-man squad for the first Ashes encounter against England next week in a gamble the 31-year-old can replicate his "extraordinary" limited overs form in the Test arena.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Australia is set to play two day-night Tests against South Africa and Pakistan next southern summer in a revamp of home international scheduling, according to reports.
Pliskova was down 5-1 against Williams in the final set before the seventh seed produced a fight-back for the ages to claim a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 quarter-final win over the American great.
India will play their inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton's Ageas Bowl Stadium from June 18-22, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed
Desai, who has been handed a two-year contract, has joined the team before the the first T20 International on Friday.
The ICC on Friday announced that following remedial work and re-assessments, the bowling actions of Bangladesh's Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed have been found to be legal, and both players can immediately resume bowling in international cricket. At the re-assessments, which were carried out at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on September 8, it was revealed that the amount of elbow extension in all of Arafat and Taskin's deliveries were now within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations.
India captain Mithali Raj and head coach Ramesh Powar on Monday listed out their objectives from the upcoming ODI series against Australia and said playing the mighty hosts is the best possible preparation for next year's Women's World Cup.
Star Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was cleared to resume international cricket on Saturday after his bowling action was found to be legal during a retest at an ICC-accredited facility in Chennai.
