Defending champions Australia suffered a major blow ahead of the knockout stage of the Women's Twenty20 World Cup when all-rounder Ellyse Perry was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament on Tuesday. The twice ICC women's cricketer of the year hobbled off the field in tears after suffering a right hamstring injury during Monday's four-run victory over New Zealand that sealed a place in the semi-finals for the hosts.
A factfile of the teams ahead of the second quarter-final in the World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Images from the second day's play of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday.
Images from the opening day's play of the fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson was forced to cut short his training session in the Melbourne Cricket Ground nets after being hit on the helmet by a bouncer on Tuesday, three days before the start of the third Test against India.
Jonathan Trott posted his third century in five Ashes Tests to propel England closer to a series victory in the fourth Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday.
Stoinis smashed 13 fours and eight sixes during his blistering innings.
Images from Day 1 of the second Test between Australia and India, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on Saturday.
"Off the field when we meet, we meet very warmly. We want to meet nicely. On the field, we play with intensity," stated the batter when asked about the camaraderie between the Pakistani and Indian players.
Batsman Marcus Stoinis has been fined A$7,500 (3,984 pounds) for directing personal abuse at Australia team mate Kane Richardson during a Big Bash League Twenty20 match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. Stoinis apologised "unreservedly" for the abuse during the Melbourne derby between the Stars and Renegades teams.
Adam Voges scored his maiden One-Day International century as a depleted Australia secured a 5-0 series whitewash by beating West Indies by 17 runs in the final match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Jones, known affectionately as 'Deano' by the global cricket community, played 52 Tests and 164 ODIs.
The 59-year-old Englishman was taken to hospital on Monday after suffering abdominal pains but discharged after tests, with his employer Channel Nine reporting that he was in "good spirits".
Victoria state sports minister Martin Pakula said the government would develop a plan with Cricket Australia and the MCG to allow the famed 100,000-seat stadium to be at one-quarter capacity for the Test starting on Dec. 26.
Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson revealed that his side gambled on Rahul Dravid's orthodox batting style to get the better of him in the first Test.
India relied on the young brigade to finally break their prolonged winless streak by spanking Australia by eight wickets in the second Twenty20 International and level the series 1-1.
crowd of 80,000 flocked to the MCG for Thursday's sudden-death encounter.
Australia have overcome their wobbles against swing bowling and are ready to prove it if called in to bat on the first morning of the Boxing Day Test against India, captain Michael Clarke said.
Australia completed victory at the Gabba in two days, batting marginally better than the Proteas on a perilous, grassy pitch that South Africa captain Dean Elgar complained was unfair to the batters. T
Australia captain Tim Paine on Tuesday hinted that opener David Warner could play the third Test against India, while the young Will Pucovski is also not far from returning to competitive cricket.
In a career that spanned over 14 years, the calmness that Dhawan exuded on and off the field was one characteristic that set him apart from the other stalwarts of Indian cricket.
Following is a fact box on the second Test of the four-match series between Australia and India:
India bagged 30 points for their eight-wicket win. They are placed second with 390 points
Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan may sign for Australian domestic side Victoria Bushrangers for the Twenty20 Big Bash and play as a local hero at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he was labelled a chucker 14 years ago.
Pakistani pace spearhead Wahab Riaz and leg-spinner Yasir Shah have been reported to be involved in a scuffle during a practice session in Brisbane on Wednesday following which the team management is likely to take action against the duo. As per a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official, both the players hit each other following an argument while playing football on the eve of the opening Test of the three-match series against Australia starting from Thursday.
Pace bowler Kyle Mills has followed team mate Daniel Vettori into retirement.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground was kept on standby to host back-to back matches against India, who won the traditional Boxing Day Test at the MCG by eight wickets on Tuesday.
Hailing India's transformation from a struggling side to favourites to defend the World Cup title, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has attributed the brilliant seven-match unbeaten run to team effort and fixing "small things right".
Watson pulled up sore after bowling on day one at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and although he went on to score 83 with the bat, the all-rounder was spared from bowling duties during Sri Lanka's brief second innings on Friday.
Australia all-rounder Dan Christian secured the 31st one-day international hat-trick in a Tri-series match against Sri Lanka at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Heavy rain washed out the third day of the already weather-disrupted third and final Test between Australia and South Africa at Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave a frank assessment of his team's fourth day collapse to lose the first Test against Australia, saying the Melbourne Cricket Ground wicket was benign enough to reel in the victory target.
India's young bowling sensation Umesh Yadav said Sachin Tendulkar's advice to bowl fuller length deliveries was instrumental in him bagging three wickets on the opening day of the first Test against Australia.
Australian spin legend believes India's chances of upstaging Michael Clarke's men in their own backyard in the upcoming four-Test series will largely depend on the fitness of their pace bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan.
Australia's backup wicketkeeper and top order batsman Tim Paine has been ruled out of the entire four-Test series against India after being forced to undergo surgery on an injured finger.
There is an uncanny resemblance between Wade and Jackson's 'gravity-defying tilt'.
Australian captain Tim Paine said a 'proud' cricketing nation like India is not going to roll over in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne like they did in the series opener in Adelaide and singled out KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant as potential threats.
