England's sorry tour of Australia finally ended with a whimper -- a crushing 84-run defeat to give the hosts a clean sweep of the three-game Twenty20 series in Sydney on Sunday.
Australia reclaimed the Ashes by dismissing England's last five batsmen after lunch on Tuesday for a 150-run victory in the third Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Australia's Steve Smith scored a brilliant century to help wrest control of the third Ashes Test back from a revitalised England on a sweltering opening day at the WACA on Friday. When stumps were drawn for the day, Australia were 326 for 6 after 87 overs.
Ryan Harris sent shudders through the home dressing room by grabbing three early wickets but Bell weathered the storm with a majestic unbeaten 105 that led England to 234 for five in their second innings at the close, an overall lead of 202 runs.
Cricket's decision review system was further dragged through the mire on Thursday after another controversial decision in the third Ashes Test with the irate Australian board and even Prime Minister Kevin Rudd weighing in.
England's comprehensive Ashes victory over Australia was built on a purposeful and well-drilled team that combined the perfect blend of youth and experience.
If England's struggles in Bangladesh are anything to go by, they could be in for an even rougher ride in India over the next couple of months when they take on the world's number one side in a five-match series in similar spin-friendly conditions.
David Warner punished a wasteful India with his second century as Australia seized control of the first Test at close of play on Day 4. The left-hander, who scored an emotional 145 in the first innings, added another 102 to help fire Australia to a 363-run lead at a sun-drenched Adelaide Oval on Friday. In the course of the day's play several milestones were set. Check them out.
Dumped England batsman Kevin Pietersen has slammed his former team managers for allegedly allowing a culture of 'bullying' to develop and claimed coach Andy Flower and wicketkeeper Matt Prior were behind an orchestrated campaign to oust him.
Mitchell Johnson electrified a world record Test crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a searing new ball spell to capture two late wickets and leave England a rocky 226 for six at the close of the opening day of the fourth Test on Thursday.
Chris Rogers became the second oldest Australian to hit a maiden Test century as he led his team to 222 for five on the second day of the fourth Ashes Test against England in County Durham on Saturday.
Phillip Hughes's tragic death cast a shadow over an eventful year that saw Ashes rivals Australia and England brawl on the field and bond off it, joining India to pull off a bloodless coup and take charge of the game.
Dejected after a 133-run loss (D/L method) against India in the second One-dayer in Cardiff on Wednesday, England skipper Alastair Cook said that his team has a lot of improvement to do if it wants to overturn the 1-0 deficit in the five-match series.
Sachin's Blasters has Lara, Sehwag, Mahela, Murali and, of course, Tendulkar! Warne's Warriers has Ponting, Kallis, Sanga, Akram and Donald...
England's cataclysmic Ashes loss with two Tests to spare has sparked the usual calls for heads to roll in all departments, but confusion reigns as to whether Andy Flower will man the guillotine or put himself beneath the blade.
He has no qualms in conceding that England will be underdogs in the upcoming Test series against India but captain Alastair Cook feels that status itself will take a the pressure off his side and make it more competitive in the five-match rubber, starting in Rajkot on November 9.
Unfortunately, the day chosen for the match was the actual day of Diwali and cricket starved Houstonians were in a dilemma about staying home with family and friends or going to watch their back-in-action cricket heroes.
The Ashes remains the pinnacle of Test cricket for James Anderson like any Englishman but the showdowns against India also rank pretty high as the world No.1 side brings out the absolute best in him -- the 2012 away series being a case in point.
Kevin Pietersen's England career was ended on Tuesday after he was left out of the squad for this year's World Twenty20 and the limited overs tour of the Caribbean.
This was the 36th tie in one-day international history and the 8th involving India.
As the teams gear up for the 2019 World Cup to be held in the UK across 11 venues, here is a look at the 10 greatest matches in the history of the mega-event.
Nathan Lyon grabbed four wickets and Jackson Bird claimed his first victim of the series as Australia restricted England to 238 for nine at stumps on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes Test on Friday.
Images from Day One of the first Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. Australia ended the day on 354-6.
With only a day to go for the start of the much-anticipated five-match Test series between India and England, all eyes would be on aggressive skipper Virat Kohli as he readies to motivate his boys and avenge the 2012 home series loss against Alastair Cook's men.
Rajneesh Gupta one of the greatest cricketers ever to have played One-Day Internationals.
'Team India's strategy -- rather the lack of it -- boomeranged in the game against New Zealand. It's because of the T20 generation's lack of patience to counter spin,' feels Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com
The reasons for India's poor show in England lie between a very demanding captain, a very smug coach and inadequate coaching staff, says Sudhir Bisht.
Starring Mankad, Bedi, Siva, Azhar and Sachin.
Former Essex player Ian Pont, who is now engaged in coaching Indian bowlers in Bangalore, shares his views on the fallout-out from the Kevin Pietersen's tell-all book with Rediff.com's Manu Shankar.
As Cheteshwar Pujara plays a landmark Test against Sri Lanka, Rajneesh Gupta salutes the batsman's career thus far in numbers...
After what at one stage earlier this month looked like a vast game of musical chairs, reigning champions India ended up topping the world rankings when the five-month countdown to the 2015 World Cup started on Sunday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers from the first Test in Rajkot.
No one even comes close to the impact Anil Kumble has had on Indian cricket, when it comes to winning matches and series, say Aakash Chopra and Impact Index.
As India gets set to play its 500th Test, Rajneesh Gupta presents India's memorable Test victories at home.