Rain washed out day two of the second Test between Australia and South Africa in Hobart on Sunday.
Injured batsman Simon Katich retained his place, while Australia's national selection panel picked an unchanged 13-man squad for the inconsequential third and final Test against Pakistan, commencing on January 14 in Hobart.
American Sofia Kenin counter-punched her way back from a set down against Garbine Muguruza to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win in Melbourne on Saturday. The 21-year-old Kenin, seeded 14th at Melbourne Park, converted her second matchpoint against the twice Grand Slam champion, who double faulted on the final point, to end an engrossing contest that lasted more than two hours.
England opener Michael Carberry looks set to make his Ashes debut next week after being included in the team to face an Invitational XI in a warm-up match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Australia captain Steven Smith said he was embarrassed by his team's performance against South Africa and accused his players of lacking pride in their wickets after another batting collapse paved the way to a crushing 2-0 series defeat.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis described Kagiso Rabada's performance as "phenomenal" after the young paceman helped turn a parlous situation on day two of the first Test against Australia into a thumping 177-run victory on Monday. The tourists had done well to get to 242 all out after being 5-81 on day one but were looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat when Australia raced to 158 without loss on day two. Matters got worse when, having finally broken the opening partnership, South Africa's pace spearhead Dale Steyn was forced off the field with a shoulder fracture that ruled him out of the series.
Australia extended their lead over Pakistan to 277 runs at the end of day three of the third Test in Hobart, with Simon Katich reviving hopes of a series clean sweep by triggering a batting collapse.
Cricket Australia on Wednesday said fast bowler Mitchell Johnson will not immediately join Kings XI Punjab in India for the Oppo Champions League Twenty20 due to a rib injury.
Left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes has became the second Victorian star to retire from first class cricket this season.
Explosive all-rounder Daniel Christian became only the second aboriginal player to get a national call after he was selected in the Australian squad for the two Twenty20 Internationals against the West Indies.
The seven-run win on Friday could be the catalyst for the Aussies as they looked ahead to India's visit Down Under later in the Australian summer.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed that Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis, has appealed the decision of the ICC Match Referee which found him guilty of a breach of Article 2.2.9 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Faf was charged with ball tampering last week after footage emerged from the Hobart Test of him applying saliva to the ball with a mint in his mouth. "Faf has decided to appeal the match referee's decision after he and his legal team had studied the written reasons provided by the match referee." commented CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat.
India opener Gautam Gambhir had his numero uno status intact while team-mate Virender Sehwag slipped a place to sixth in the latest ICC ranking for the Test batsmen.
Peter Siddle's twin strikes left Pakistan reeling at 94 for four, chasing a mammoth 519 for eight at close of play on the second day of the third Test at Hobart on Friday.
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting (137 not out) and his deputy Michael Clarke (111 not out) scored resolute centuries to revive Australia's fate and end Day 1 on 302 for 3, in the third Test at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Thursday.
Australian opening batsman Simon Katich has been cleared to play in the third and final Test against Pakistan, starting on Thursday at the Bellerive Oval.
West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has said he was joking when he asked an Australian reporter out during a live TV broadcast and said he was sorry if she was offended by the widely condemned remarks.
Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen has expressed unhappiness after his photograph was attached to a newspaper article regarding the sensational match-fixing news about Alviro Petersen.
Dirk Nannes (3 for 21) and Shaun Tait (3 for 30) ripped through the West Indies batting line-up to help Australia to a comfortable 38-run victory in the opening Twenty20 international at Hobart.
Sania Mirza yet again failed to move beyond the first round of a WTA tournament and crashed out of the USD two million Dubai Tennis Championships following her 3-6, 4-6 defeat against Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues in Dubai on Monday.
Australian vice captain Michael Clarke, who is India for the two Test series, described how devastated he felt when he was dropped from the team in 2005.
Sania Mirza will have to wait till Tuesday to start her Australian Open campaign as rains forced postponement of her first round match in Melbourne on Monday.
Here is a record of Phillip Hughes' playing statistics.
Younis Khan's return to the Pakistan team got prolonged after chief selector Iqbal Qasim made it clear that the former captain will not be send for the final Test against Australia starting January 14 instead he will be considered for the forthcoming ODI series Down Under.
Captain Alastair Cook and fellow-opener Michael Carberry struck unbeaten centuries to humiliate a depleted Australia 'A' bowling attack and drive England to a record 318 without loss on day one of their tour match in Hobart on Wednesday.
Check out the points table of 2014 Champions League T20 tournament.
Former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic has won a direct wildcard entry into next month's Australian Open by winning a qualifying tournament in Melbourne on Sunday. Dokic, who came from a set down to beat Queensland junior Monica Wejnert 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 will now attempt to qualify for lead-up tournaments in Brisbane and Hobart in the New Year.
Daniel Vettori was sacked due to non-performance of the team in the past few seasons.
The women's tournament, made up of 10 teams, will be held from February 21 to March 8 before 16 men's teams play from October 18 to November 15.
David Miller and Faf du Plessis scored sparkling centuries in a partnership of 252 runs as South Africa beat Australia by 40 runs in a one-day international, in Hobart, on Sunday, to win the three-match series 2-1.
South Africa paceman Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the test series against Australia with a shoulder injury. Steyn left the field before lunch on day two of the first Test in Perth and scans revealed he had suffered a stress fracture, Cricket South Africa said in a statement on Friday.
Former opener Gary Kirsten says South Africa know how to beat Australia in their own backyard in the upcoming three-match Test series Down Under.
South Africa cricket captain Faf du Plessis expressed disappointment on Wednesday that his sanction for ball-tampering had taken the "shine" off the Proteas' series-winning triumph in Australia and denied he had intended to cheat.
Paine replaced Smith as Test captain after the tampering scandal broke during the third Test of the South Africa tour in March.
Australia have dropped Test skipper Tim Paine from their one-day squad for next month's series against South Africa and named opening batsman Aaron Finch as captain in his place.
Australia ended the Under-19 series against India on a positive note, winning the final match, a three-day game at the WACA, by six wickets. But it was India took out the overall honours with a 3-2 series win over the five matches, dominating the Hobart leg of the series. India's Mayank Agarwal, a 17-year-old from Karnataka was named Player of the Series after a terrific tour that saw him compile 379 runs at an average of 75.8 in six innings.
Medium pacer Harshal Patel bagged three wickets and Mayank Agarwal and Avi Bharat scored half centuries as India easily won the first three-day match against their under-19 Australian counterparts in Hobart on Monday.
England lost the opening Twenty20 international against Australia in Hobart on Wednesday after narrowly failing to chase down a massive 214-run target.
Smriti Mandhana has confirmed that she will join the Brisbane Heat for the second season of the Women's Big Bash League, becoming the second Indian female cricketer to commit to the Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition.
Controversies are affecting the Indian ace's performance, AITA Secretary General Anil Khanna said.
