Kiwi Ross Taylor's mammoth 290 in the WACA Test against Australia, propelled him to the top-10 list
Grace and strength will be on one side while poise and killer instinct on the other when a revamped Kolkata Knight Riders take on champions Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, on Wednesday.
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.
Virat Kohli is the lone Indian batsman to be figuring in the top-10 in the ICC Test batsmen rankings.
Factbox on the second Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Saturday:
The PM said the new line-up brought in "talent from across the whole of the Conservative party".
Glenn Maxwell missed his maiden ODI century but his career-best 95 helped Australia win the tri-series
Kane began the night level on 19 goals with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah in the race for the Golden Boot.
Australia will be desperately hoping to play a full game under clear skies when they face arch-rivals England in their must-win Champions Trophy clash in Birmingham on Saturday.
Newcastle United drew a scrappy Premier League relegation clash 1-1 at Birmingham City on Monday leaving coach Kevin Keegan still without a win in eight league matches since returning to the club. The draw lifted Newcastle one spot to 14th with 29 points from 30 matches, while Birmingham rose from 17th to 16th taking their tally to 27 points from 30 games.
British aid worker David Haines has been executed by Islamic State militants, according to a video posted Saturday to a website associated with the group, making him the third Western captive to be killed by the Islamist extremist group in recent weeks.
West Indies were bowled out for 271 in their first innings after Australia pacer James Pattison ended Darren Bravo's stubborn resistance at tea on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday.
England appointed Geoff Miller to the newly-created post of national selector and sidelined former chairman of selectors David Graveney. Miller will head up a four-man selection panel which will include head coach Peter Moores, and former Test players Ashley Giles and James Whitaker.
Right from the moment England captain Alastair Cook won the toss, his team did no wrong. The hosts humiliated South Africa as they handed them a crushing seven-wicket-defeat with 75 balls to spare in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy, in London, on Wednesday.
Langer's side secured their spot in the last four with a 64-run win over hosts England at Lord's on Tuesday and return to the famous north London ground on Saturday to face neighbours New Zealand in their penultimate round-robin tie.
Eoin Morgan calls for England to make a 'fresh start' after dismal World Cup
That was also Messi's 500th goal for Barcelona.
Defending champions, England retained their title when they came from behind to get the better of Australia 2-1 in the final of the 21st World Men's Team Squash championship in Chennai on Wednesday.
The 87-year-old has the distinction of being the very first South Asian origin Conservative party candidate to contest a general election back in 1979.
The only former champion in the women's draw, Serena Williams, was ousted in the second round of the French Open.
Sergio Aguero netted his 13th hat-trick for Manchester City as the champions made light of the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne to thrash Huddersfield Town 6-1 and move joint top of the Premier League.
Hardik Pandya hasn't featured in Tests since 2018 and has only recently recovered from a career-threatening back injury.
Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann said on Thursday he will step down after this week's Test match against South Africa, partly because of abuse his family received over a ball-tampering scandal that has rocked the sport.
Manchester United beat AC Milan 5-4 on penalties after their International Champions Cup match in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ended 2-2 in regulation time on Saturday.
Michael Clarke has branded a prominent Australian sports journalist a 'headline chasing coward' in a rant on social media after the broadcaster linked the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal with cultural failings during his captaincy.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
Brazil scored an unconvincing 2-1 victory over Colombia to enter the semi-finals of the World Cup on Friday night. They will meet Germany.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Roger Federer opens his title defence while Tim Henman starts another year of hope at Wimbledon on Monday.
Images from Day 5 of the 4th Ashes Test played at the MCG on Saturday
Novak Djokovic survived a late bout of nerves to beat Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday and reach the Australian Open semi-finals. The Serbian third seed missed four match points and was broken when serving for victory but recovered to set up a semi-final against either world number one Roger Federer or American 12th seed James Blake.
Director's Cut is a new TV series featuring Kabir Bedi interviewing Indian filmmakers.
Brighton & Hove Albion scored three times in the second half to fight back from two goals down and beat Manchester City
The prospect of a depleted Australia team struggling on home pitches against India in the coming summer could add further heat from broadcasters
The good times are back, in a measured way, in fun spots across the globe.
On the ICC ODI Team Rankings, No.1 ranked Australia has moved up from 118 points to 120 points, while New Zealand has dropped behind India in fourth position. New Zealand had started the series on 112 points, but the 3-0 defeat has meant it has dropped to 109 points.
The victory takes Pep Guardiola's side into provisional second spot
Imperious Liverpool extended their Premier League home winning streak against Arsenal to six on Saturday with an easy 4-0 victory that lifted them to second in the table.
The Australians are struggling against India's new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn't get any easy as the series progresses.
