Speedster Brett Lee returned home as the richest Australian cricketer, taking home a whopping $80,000 per scalp for his four wickets from as many games in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. The paceman was bought for $900,000 at the IPL auction and earned more than $320,000 for his brief stint with Punjab Kings XI.
India made two changes to their side with opener Virender Sehwag recalled for Praveen Kumar and S Sreesanth replacing Munaf Patel.
India were unchanged from the side that played the abandoned match in Brisbane last Tuesday.
Chris Rogers will replace the injured Matthew Hayden, while Shaun Tait replaces spinner Brad Hogg for the third Test against India.
Not only at Sydney but Harbhajan Singh had also allegedly called Andrew Symonds a "monkey" in Mumbai during Australia's recent tour to India, a media report claimed on Wednesday.
Ponting slammed England skipper Joe Root, Stokes and Jos Buttler for the manner of their dismissals
Pitch conditions and the ability of Australia's pace trio to exploit reverse swing should make India's job of scoring another 493 runs to win the first Test a tough one, batsman Michael Clarke said on Friday
England avoided the indignity of becoming the first international side to lose a one-day series 7-0 by recording a four-wicket victory over Australia at the Riverside on Sunday.
Both sides made one change from Wednesday's first match, won convincingly by Australia by 93 runs.
Virender Sehwag replaced Yousuf Pathan in the Indian side for the one-off Twenty20 international, while Murali Kartik came in for all-rounder Joginder Sharma.
The top seven most valuable players in the recently-concluded India-Australia seven-match one-day international series were all Australians.
The world champions, having already sealed the series 4-1, fielded an unchanged side after opener Matthew Hayden failed to recover fully from his hip injury.
Australia pace bowler Brett Lee has been ruled out of the second Ashes Test after failing to recover from the rib injury that forced him to miss the first, captain Ricky Ponting said on Wednesday.
Australia battled hard against some accurate England bowling on Thursday to reach 142 for one at tea in their first innings on the second day of the first Ashes Test.
England are assured of qualification for the next stage unless they lose to Australia by more than 50 runs and Kevin Pietersen is relishing the challenge ahead.
Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath made it to Cricinfo's all-time Australian XI but Ricky Ponting was deemed good enough only for the 12th man's slot.
Michael Clarke's prospects of succeeding Ricky Ponting as Australia's next skipper were lifted when he was named as vice-captain.
The India wicketkeeper trails third-placed Michael Hussey of Australia by 10 points in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who silenced his critics by scoring a sparkling 134 against India, on Wednesday said he hung in there because he had "hunger" to do well at the international level despite being under enormous pressure.
Both teams are considering adding extra pacemen to their bowling stocks in anticipation of a speed war in the first Test at Perth.
Pacer Mitchell Johnson returns to the Australian team after a fortnight's rest for the third one-dayer against South Africa at the SCG on Friday. Johnson, who was rested after the 1-2 Test series loss against the Proteas, replaces Ben Hilfenhaus in the 12-man squad for the third match of the five-game series, which is locked 1-1.
A magnificent spell of fast bowling by Dale Steyn saw South Africa inch closer to a historic Test series victory in Australia after the fourth day of the second Test at the MCG in Melbourne on Monday. Set a mediocre 183 to win the match and the three-Test series, South Africa raced to 30 for no loss in six overs.
With the Ashes Tests already consigned to history, Australia's cricketers have switched their attention back to one-day cricket and the defence of their World Cup title in the West Indies.
Australia still searching for their best formula in ODIs, says Finch
The Australian captain is looking to make up for the Ashes loss in the Test and one-dayers against an ICC World XI.
West Indies brought back fast bowlers Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards in place of Marlon Samuels and Corey Collymore.
Yuvraj Singh, who was out of the first match with an illness, returns to the Indian side in place of Mohammad Kaif.
Australia's top players have swapped traditional white cricket clothing for Army greens as they step up their preparations for the Ashes series.
The recent ODI tour of the Windies have cost the players their top slots.
Left-handed batsman Jimmy Maher, who also keeps wicket, is likely to play his first game of the tournament on Sunday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni replaced Australia captain Ricky Ponting as the top ODI batsman in the ICC rankings
Australia will be keen to avoid another close tussle against bottom-rung Bangladesh when the second Test begins on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma has won four out of five matches since he replaced Ricky Ponting as the skipper of the Mumbai Indians side and the stylish batsman feels that leading the side is helping him evolve as a batsman too.
Australia were fined for a slow over-rate during their 18-run victory over India in the tri-series one-day international in Sydney.
The 21-year-old Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler has turned heads with his raw pace and razor-sharp control.
Openers Mike Hussey and Matthew Hayden hit centuries as Australia, replying to the West Indies' first innings of 149, amassed 256 for 1 by close of day 2 in the second Test.
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