Sri Lanka's sprightly cricketers will look to end their winless streak when they take on an Australia sans talismanic skipper Michael Clarke in the tri-series One-Day International in Sydney on Friday.
A fluent half century by Ricky Ponting as well as the positive approach of skipper Michael Clarke saw Australia extend their overall lead to 499, setting India a target of 500 to win the fourth and final Test in Adelaide.
Ricky Ponting, the most successful captain in Test cricket, stepped down as Australia skipper on Tuesday but will continue as a batsman with the team.
Images from Day 1 of the 3rd Test played in Perth on Friday.
Determined to clinch the only trophy missing from their cupboard, formidable Australia face potential giant-killers Bangladesh in their second and final Group A match for a place in the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup in Barbados on Wednesday.
Pakistan have now suffered defeat in 11 consecutive international matches against Australia. The sequence started in September 2009 with the Champions Trophy match at Centurion when Australia registered a two-wicket win off the last ball.
Australia move on to the third Test against India in Perth this week with a 2-0 series lead, a captain in the form of his life and a fiercesome bowling attack salivating at the prospect of a lively wicket at the WACA.
Australia captain Michael Clarke's triple century was just the 25th in Test cricket and the fourth highest Test score by an Australian. It was also the 14th highest by any batsman and the highest in 100 Tests over more than a century at the SCG. Rajneesh Gupta lists the other batsmen to score a triple hundred.
Australia bundled India out for 191 on the opening day of the second Test Tuesday, before coming through a top order crisis of their own to finish a frenetic day on 116 for three, 75 runs behind.
India can inch towards regaining the top spot by narrowing the gap with current numero uno England in the ICC rankings if they manage to beat Australia in the four-Test series starting on Monday.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be sincerely hoping for the lady luck to smile on him when he walks with his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke for the toss on the opening day of the first cricket Test, in Melbourne, on December 26.
Former captain Mark Taylor feels that either Ricky Ponting or Mike Hussey should be dropped for the first Test against India, in Melbourne, to make room for both the all-rounder Dan Christian and recovering batsman Shaun Marsh in the top six.
Australia look well on course for a resounding victory over New Zealand in the second Test at Hamilton after the home side were left struggling on 185 for five at stumps at Seddon Park on Tuesday.
Ricky Ponting looked poised to make amends for running out Usman Khawaja with a big score as Australia reached 154-3 in reply to New Zealand's first innings 295 after the second day of the first Test on Friday.
David Hussey and Mitchell Johnson helped Australia secure an easy six-wkt win over New Zealand in the opening Twenty20 in Wellington on Friday. Set a paltry 119 to win, the visitors got to their target with 24 balls to spare.
Flambuoyant English batsman Kevin and compatriot all rounder Andrew Flintoff will be the star attractions among 43 players who would go under hammer at the Indian Premier League's second season Players' Auction in Panaji on Friday.
Shane Watson blazed a magnificent 161 not out, and clubbed a six to win the game, as Australia scored 297 for four to beat England by six wickets in their first One-Day International on Sunday.
Disappointed with Indian batsmen's poor shot selection in their 329-run chase, former skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that the pressure of the World Cup semi-final got to the team as it was outplayed by Australia in Sydney.
Clarke said that he feels there is no way bowlers would not have known about it.
Australian captain Michael Clarke said he was partly responsible for the sacking of former skipper Ricky Ponting from the One-Day squad.
Australia opener Phil Hughes scored his first Test hundred in 2-1/2 years on Monday as Sri Lanka pressed for a series levelling victory in the third and final Test.
Usman Khawaja hit an impressive century ahead of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka, as Australia took the upper hand in their warm-up match against Sri Lanka Board XI's in Colombo on Friday. The Pakistan-born batsman scored 101 before retiring, as the tourists amassed 311-5 in their first innings in reply to a the Sri Lanka Board XI's 258 at stumps on the penultimate day of the three-day game.
It has come as a big relief for Australia that Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has been rested for the three-match One-Day International series.
Ricky Ponting cracked an impressive 90 not out to steer Australia to an easy eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second One-day International.
Australia have named Mike Hussey as deputy to skipper Ricky Ponting in their 15-player squad for a one-day series in India starting on October 25.
Australia will continue to experiment with their batting line-up against Scotland on Saturday as they attempt to give players some time in the middle before the knockout phase, captain Michael Clarke said.
In a report by Michael Clarke, a former government adviser and the head of the Royal United Services Institute, over the next five to 10 years, about 800 Muslim prisoners, who are in jail for non-terrorism offences, are due to be released having been radicalised in jail.
Dashing opener Virender Sehwag is the highest-ranked Indian batsman at the second spot in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Sunday.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is set to start a new innings after marrying childhood friend Shakshi Singh Rawat in Dehradun on Sunday night, continued to top the ICC ODI batsmen chart released in Dubai.
Australia batsman George Bailey equalled Brian Lara's Test record for most runs off an over against England at the WACA in Perth on Monday.
Australia captain Steve Smith won his second Allan Border Medal on Monday, becoming the fifth player to claim the country's highest individual cricket honour more than once.
Images from the World Cup match between Australia and Kenya, at the Chinnaswamy stadium, in Bangalore, on Sunday.
A handful of leading Australians, including Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson, turned down the offer to focus on their international careers.
The opener was left out because of a hamstring strain from the Australian squad for the Twenty20 match against India.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that the way the team performed in his absence, thrashing England 6-1 in their ODI series, showed that they were ready to chase their fourth consecutive World Cup.
Australia off-spinner Nathan Hauritz's participation at the World Cup could be in doubt after he appeared to have dislocated his right shoulder while fielding in the second one-day international against England on Friday.
Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu won her maiden women's ODI Cricketer of the Year award, becoming the first female cricketer from the country to win an ICC award.
All-rounder Cameron White was on Friday appointed captain of Australia's Twenty20 squad after Michael Clarke quit the post and the format in the aftermath of the team's Ashes defeat to England.
Australia on Monday named a 13-man squad for the lone Twenty20 International against Pakistan in Melbourne on Friday, drafting specialist players for the shortest format, including two new faces, in view of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies in May. The National Selection Panel (NSP) picked a radically different outfit from the one-day squad.
