Khawaja steers calm course on Ashes rollercoaster
Rain denied England's batsmen a chance to inflict further misery on Australia A's hapless bowlers, washing out the entire second day's play in the four-day Ashes tour match in Hobart on Thursday.
Ben Stokes played another magnificent innings, but the England skipper wasn't able to finish the job as Australian won the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Jhye Richardson will replace injured paceman Josh Hazlewood but opener David Warner has been cleared to play against England in the second day-night Ashes Test.
Fast bowler Mark Wood, who took the final wicket in the fourth Test to seal England's Ashes triumph, expects to be dropped for the fifth and final match against Australia at The Oval on Thursday.
Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood claimed the Men's Test Player-of-the-Year award. It marked his first Australian Cricket Award, with Hazlewood taking 30 wickets at just 13.16 in Tests against the West Indies, New Zealand, and India.
AB de Villiers feels the criticism that has come South Africa's way is unwarranted and they have rather done well to reach the WTC final despite experiencing "so many changes" in the last three to five years.
England will be begin their defence of the Ashes in Brisbane in November next year in the first Test of a five-match series, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia said on Wednesday.
Joe Root was named 'Test Player of the Year', 'Limited Overs Player of the Year' and Fans' 'Player of the Year' at England's annual awards ceremony on Monday. The Yorkshire batsman, 25, hit two centuries in England's Ashes triumph last year, scored four one-day tons and was his team's leading scorer at the recent World Twenty20 tournament in India. He overcame competition from Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes for the Test award and edged Jos Buttler and David Willey in the Limited Overs category, with both prizes decided upon by a media poll.
England dominated Day 2 of the third Test at Edgbaston, reaching 2-116 at stumps after James Anderson helped skittle Australia for 263.
Kevin Pietersen was included in a 14-man squad for next week's third Ashes Test against Australia at Old Trafford despite concerns over his calf injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Sunday.
Former opener Justin Langer offered an interesting hypothesis on Australia's Ashes debacle, saying the visitors came a cropper against England because of their pace bowlers' lack of height.
Monty Panesar is hoping a change of county will help his chances of gaining selection for England's Ashes tour to Australia later in the year.
The final Ashes encounter is an acid Test of England's ability to maintain their focus despite having already retained the famous urn, captain Andrew Strauss said on Sunday.
Usman Khawaja celebrated his recall to the Test arena after two years in the wilderness with a stylish 137 to drive Australia to a declaration on 416 for eight shortly before the close of play on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test on Thursday.
'I had a break to prioritise my mental wellbeing and I got my finger sorted.'
Michael Clarke's touring side will attempt to win the urn on English soil for the first time in 14 years and Alastair Cook's hosts will try to win back the trophy following their crushing 5-0 defeat in the last series Down Under.
Openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook both posted centuries on Sunday to wipe out England's first innings deficit and give the tourists the chance of a draw in the first Ashes Test against Australia.
Australia's Peter Siddle claimed an outstanding hat-trick to sink England further on the first day of the first Ashes Test on Thursday.
Wounded Australia or not, England will have to fight for every wicket and scrap for every run over the next six weeks if they are to return home with the Ashes for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting backed Labuschagne to return to his best.
Images from Day 3 of the 3rd Ashes Test played at the WACA in Perth on Saturday
Images from the T20 World Cup semi-final between Afghanistan and South Africa, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy ground in Trinidad, on Thursday.
'Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better. He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life.'
England completed a clean sweep of their 2010 home series when they defeated Pakistan by 121 runs in the fifth and final one-day international on Wednesday. Pakistan, set 257 to win the match and the series, tumbled from 63 without loss to 135 all out after batting under the lights in the day-night match on a warm evening at the Rose Bowl.
The 30-year-old missed England's opening two games in Perth and Adelaide but is available for the final warm-up game against a Cricket Australia XI starting on Wednesday.
England skittled out shell-shocked Australia for 60 and piled up 274 for four in reply to take control of the fourth Ashes Test on a dramatic first day at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Bangladesh will take on Scotland in the tournament opener in an afternoon fixture followed by a clash between Asian teams Pakistan and Sri Lanka later in the day at Sharjah.
Cricket Australia is negotiating with authorities and England's board over travel conditions and whether players' families can come.
Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali led England's charge to a 169-run victory over Australia with a day to spare in the first Test in Cardiff, on Saturday to make a flying start in their bid to regain the Ashes
Around 11.30pm, several players including Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen took it in turns to get up from where they were sitting and wander over to relieve themselves on the pitch, Australian newspaper The Age reported on Monday.
Pat Cummins said it's tough to repose full "confidence" on ultra-edge technology but maintained that India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal had clearly edged him
England will consider bolstering their top order following their dismal performance in the fourth Ashes Test, coach Andy Flower said. England's numbers three, four and five -- Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood -- contributed just 16 runs in the match which they lost by an innings and 80 runs to leave the series against Australia level at 1-1 going into next week's decider at the Oval.
Channel Nine plans to broadcast some action from this summer's Australia-England Ashes series in 3D, although not the Tests themselves, and plans to take cricket viewers where they have never been before.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 2nd Ashes Test played at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Tuesday
If Labuschagne's pride was wounded, the 27-year-old hid it well when asked about the snub in Brisbane on Friday.
England great Geoffrey Boycott has slammed his country's current crop of batsmen after yet another dismal collapse against Australia, according to reports.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan will play no part in the BBC's coverage of the upcoming Ashes series after being named in the racism controversy involving former Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
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