Australia skipper Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday. Opening batsman Phillip Hughes, spin bowling all-rounder Marcus North and swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus were included in the Australian playing eleven to make their Test debuts.
Twenty-year-old Phillip Hughes will replace retired opener Matthew Hayden in Australia's squad for the three-Test tour of South Africa. The squad includes three other uncapped players in fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, batsman Marcus North and 36-year-old leg-spinner Bryce McGain.
Solid knocks from openers Shane Watson (89) and Simon Katich (99), who put on a stand of 132, and Mike Hussey (81 not out) gave the hosts early command of the match despite skipper Ricky Ponting being forced to retire hurt on 23 after being struck on the arm by Kemar Roach.
Australia may be without Ricky Ponting for the rest of the third Test against the West Indies. The skipper was struck on the arm by a delivery from Kemar Roach and forced to retire hurt on Day 1 of the Test in Perth. At close of play, the hosts were 339 for 3, with Michael Hussey unbeaten on 81 and Marcus North on 23.
Australia batted with grim determination through the final day to earn a draw in the third Ashes Test against England on Monday.
England fast bowlers James Anderson and Graham Onions dismissed Australia for 263 on the second day of the third Ashes Test. England were 56 for one in reply at tea with captain Andrew Strauss on 33 and Ravi Bopara on 23.
Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers scored unbeaten half centuries to take South Africa to 244 for two at the close of the fourth day of the second Test against Australia on Monday.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith plans to put extra pressure on Australia's newcomers in the second Test starting on Friday after his side's comprehensive defeat in the first Test.
The second day's play in the three-day match between India 'A' and the Australians was called off in Hyderabad on Wednesday without a ball being bowled due to a wet outfield because of heavy rain. Australia are 82 for three at stumps with Marcus North and George Balley unbeaten on 14 and nine respectively.
Marcus North hit a brilliant half century as Australia 'A' fought back in the second innings after being forced to follow-on in the three-day game against India 'A' that ended in a draw at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Friday.
A Hemang Badani century helped India to an exciting one-run victory over an Australian Prime Minister's XI led by Steve Waugh.
Zimbabwe held on for a thrilling draw in their three-day tour match against Western Australia.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Euro 2024 qualifying matches.
Captain Aaron Finch will lead an equally strong batting line-up also featuring the talents of David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Glenn Maxwell.
Roundup of the Champions League matches played on Wednesday night
A whirlwind trip of the dark underbelly of global finance, covering everything from tax law changes to aiding criminals to decamp with money from bank accounts.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup semi-final between France and Morocco, played at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.
North Macedonia ask UEFA to probe Austria's Arnautovic's goal celebration during their Euro 2020 match on Sunday. The 32-year-old Marko Arnautovic, who has Serbian background, apologised on Monday for his reaction towards North Macedonia fans but denied he had using racist language towards them.
Mihaila late show for Romania stuns Swiss in thrilling draw
Images from UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Ultimately quotas kill talent and true meritocracy, argues R Jagannathan.
Images from the international friendly and Euro qualifying football matches played on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen signed an agreement with Sterling Partners to buy the New York Mets baseball team, the two sides said in a statement on Monday.
'We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election. 'This is about the integrity of our entire election process,' Trump said in a statement issued by his campaign on Friday.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was on Tuesday named captain and ambassador of Libra Legends in the upcoming Masters Champions League to be played in Dubai and Sharjah from January 28 to February 13. Ganguly will lead a team which will have South African iconic all-rounder Jacques Kallis, left-arm spinner Nicky Boje, English spinner Graeme Swann, Aussie speedster Shaun Tait, spinner Brad Hogg, Netherlands allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate among others.
The Lions from South Africa will look ride on the performance of their captain Alviro Petersen to guide them to a better finish.
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
The outcome of the US presidential election hangs in the balance as several states continued to count their ballots, including some of the most competitive battlegrounds where the tally could take days to complete.
Ashton Agar and Usman Khawaja are the other two names doing the rounds, as the visitors grapple with injury issues ahead of the third Test starting in Ranchi on Thursday.
India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been issued a British work permit and is set to join Derbyshire County Cricket Club this week for the remainder of the English County Championship.
Steven Bergwijn scored twice in stoppage time as Tottenham Hotspur stunned Leicester City and pulled off a remarkable 3-2 victory in the Premier League on Wednesday.
As per the latest projections, Biden has 253 electoral college votes and Trump trails behind with 213. But some US media outlets have given 264 votes to Biden and 214 to Trump.
Dean Henderson arrived at the club from Carlisle United at the age of 14,
Marcus Rashford scored twice as Manchester United extended their 100 percent record on the road, coming from behind again to win 3-2 at the English Premier League's bottom club Sheffield United on Thursday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
Liverpool's bandwagon rolled on as they crushed Merseyside rivals Everton 5-2
Paras Mhambrey's men were an all-conquering force in 2019, winning the Under-19 Asia Cup in September and a Tri-Nations tournament with England and Bangladesh held on English soil. They have not lost a bilateral series since the 2017 Under-19 World Cup, beating South Africa, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan away from home. Among potential breakout stars is southpaw opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who became the youngest cricketer in the world to score a List A double century in October in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Here are 10 images recapping the top events from the previous week.
