'Alyssa is my most favourite Australian right now and not Mitch Starc. He is No. 2.'
Steve Smith created history with a record 223rd Test catch as Australia took a 139-run lead over South Africa on Day 3 of the first Test at Kingsmead on Sunday.
Josh Hazlewood claimed 6-49 as Australia crushed South Africa by 214 runs at Kingsmead, dismissing the hosts for 206 to take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Mitchell Starc dismissed Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira and Ravi Singh in the space of four deliveries before removing Dasun Shanaka to trigger a stunning middle-order collapse and restrict Rajasthan Royals to 193 for 8.
Mitch Owen has been rewarded for his fine form in his first five Twenty20 internationals by being named in both of Australia's squads for short-format series against South Africa in the far north of the country next month.
Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer has praised Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, calling him a generational talent with the potential to dominate world cricket.
Australia captain Mitch Marsh says the team is confident of their young bowlers performing at the T20 World Cup and that the team has taken lessons from their T20I series loss in Pakistan last month.
Cricket Australia has confirmed that its players participating in the IPL 2026 will be allowed to fulfil their commitments, granting them exemption from the ODI series against Pakistan.
Australia's selectors chairman George Bailey defended sticking with the Test side's veteran core for the Ashes on Wednesday following criticism from former captain Steve Waugh about the team's ageing profile.
The 35-year-old left-armer retires with 79 wickets from 65 T20Is, second on the all-time list for Australia, behind spinner Adam Zampa.
Across four Tests, Australia's fifth bowling option Marsh has bowled only 33 overs, a statistic that underscores his underutilisation. However, McDonald defended the all-rounder.
Australia Women's team captain Alyssa Healy on Wednesday said that her husband and fast bowler Mitchell Starc deserved the record-breaking IPL paycheck as he has worked hard for many years.
The Aussie all-rounder scored a blazing 117 off 64 balls. Not only was his innings decorated with 10 fours and 8 sixes, his two massive partnerships put LSG in the driver's seat.
There were some magical moments in the field from both teams that brought fans and franchise owners to their feet.
Perth Scorchers win sixth BBL title after trouncing Sydney Sixers
Starc's withdrawal comes after pace stalwarts Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were ruled out due to injuries.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh says team respects criticism after shock T20 World Cup exit, with Cricket Australia set to conduct a forensic review.
Bharat Arun singled out pacers Harshit Rana and Mitchell Starc for their crucial contributions in KKR's title triumph.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan has rejected claims that batters have worked him out, saying consistent execution, not new variations, will define his impact at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
McDonald also said the selectors would consider a Test recall for Mitch Marsh, even if Australia's white-ball captain said last week he would be watching the Ashes series beer in hand.
The Aussies also named a 14-player group for the first two T20I matches against India, with Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis earning recalls after they missed the recent T20I series with South Africa.
Several other pacers are unavailable due to injury including Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis.
LSG's lead pacer picked two wickets in his very first over, taking out DC opener Jake Fraser-McGurk (1) and then dismissing No 3 batter Abhishek Porel for a duck.
A versatile and dynamic Australian unit, without key pacer Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, who is likely to miss the early stages of the tournament, will be going into the T20 World Cup with hopes of going deep in the tournament.
'There will be guys that get opportunities. We've obviously got a few guys missing for this series (for) a well-earned rest.'
Pakistan's experienced wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed laid out the team's plans to ruin Australia's star batter David Warner's farewell Test series.
The cricketing ecosystem has learned to survive the prolonged absence of Kohli and Rohit -- at least in two formats -- in this interim period.
Australia's stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international at Perth Stadium.
'I feel like my rhythm has been good for a few weeks now and I guess the last couple of nights I've got the ball to shape in the air and do a little bit off the wicket. So, it's feeling in a good place and hopefully it continues.'
Erskine hit back at Johnson, stating that his questioning Warner's selection isn't logical.
Australia's preparations for the second Twenty20 international against India later on Sunday have been upset with fast bowler Mitchell Starc released for the remainder of the series on compassionate grounds.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
Expect some fireworks for the highly-versatile Cameron Green along with Quinton de Kock, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi.
'It's a long series, our bowlers have had a really big workload and we feel we're going to need Mitch's bowling at some point.'
Pat Cummins confirmed Australia's new-look batting line-up on Tuesday with Steve Smith to open and Cameron Green at number four in the team to face West Indies in the first Test at Adelaide Oval from Wednesday.
Australia's pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has been under fire for his lacklustre form during the home summer.
Starc took 4-43 as Australia cruised to a 64-run victory at Lord's on Tuesday to qualify for the semi-finals
Starc had wiped out the entire top order in powerplay
Australia's assistant coach Dan Vettori said it was a "tactical decision" not to field fast bowler Mitchell Starc in his side's narrow win over Afghanistan at the Twenty20 World Cup as the defending champions' semi-final hopes hang in the balance.
Australia will be without fast bowler Mitchell Starc for Saturday's final one-day international against South Africa after he was given permission to leave the tour to watch his wife Alyssa Healy compete in the women's T20 World Cup final. Healy will feature for Australia against India in the decider of the global T20 competition at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, and will be able to count on the support of Starc.
