IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Ashes Test played in Perth on Friday.
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.
Cricket fever gripped Perth as fans thronged the Optus stadium on Day 4 of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Rain is expected to influence the first morning of play on Friday, with a 25% chance of showers forecast.
India will be accorded a tough welcome to Australia as the Optus Stadium pitch for the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been prepared to offer "good bounce and pace"
Cricket Australia were left millions of dollars out of pocket, having to refund tickets for a confirmed sell-out crowd on day three at the 100,000-seat stadium and for another large crowd for day four.
Pakistan look to be positive against strong Australia team
While ever more hostage to Twenty20's global carve-up, cricket will take a breath from next week to indulge its most time-honoured rivalry as Australia and England battle in the Ashes.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Ashes Test in Perth on Saturday.
He has since returned for key assignments, including the 2022 T20 World Cup victory and both the Ashes and ODI World Cup campaigns in 2023.
No fewer than 36 wickets fell during two chaotic days in the fourth Ashes Test, leaving the captains of both Australia and England unimpressed with the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch.
'The tailenders should have looked to bat with Jamie Smith. Really poor from the batters towards the end. The plan should have been to give him the strike and let him do the heavy lifting.'
Mitchell Starc and Ben Stokes set the scene for a dramatic Ashes series.
Shreyas Iyer's battle against Josh Hazlewood continued on a rain-hit Perth afternoon in the first ODI at the Optus Stadium on Sunday
The Indian team will tour Australia later this year for a multi-format limited overs series comprising three ODIs and five T20 Internationals.
Joe Root's Australian hoodoo is over. The England batter scored his first Test century in Australia, an unbeaten 135 off 202 balls, rescuing his side after a shaky start in the second Ashes Test at Brisbane's Gabba and steering England to 325 for nine following captain Ben Stokes' decision to bat first.
Nitish flaunted his six-hitting muscle in the first innings and showed signs of living up to the belief that the former Indian skipper has exuded in him. After being put to bat by Australia, rain interrupted the play on four instances, and the Indian team toiled for rhythm as well as runs.
Ricky Ponting and his longtime teammate Justin Langer could potentially miss out commentating on the opening Test against India at Perth
The Indian men ruled white-ball cricket, while South Africa ended decades of hurt by winning the World Test Championship at Lord's. Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally lifted their maiden IPL title, though the celebrations were dimmed by a deadly stampede. Above all, it was India's women who won a billion hearts by finally adding an ICC World Cup trophy to the cabinet.
Cricket Australia are expected to announce over the next few days that the fifth Test, scheduled for Jan. 14-18 at Perth Stadium, will be switched to another city because of Western Australia's hard line on quarantine.
Australia batter Matthew Short believes his team's pacers will continue to exploit Virat Kohli's recent weakness outside off stump when India face Australia in the second ODI, in Adelaide, on Thursday.
Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar decoded the dismissal of Rohit Sharma and identified that aggression, a forte of the veteran swashbuckler, was his undoing in the first ODI against Australia in Perth at the Optus Stadium on Sunday.
I won't be able to play freely if I focus on criticism: Harshit Rana
Over four decades, the India-Australia ODI rivalry has mirrored the evolution of both teams, from Australia's supremacy in the 2000s to India's resurgence post-2010. Come Sunday, this rivalry will be renewed as Shubman Gill will commence his first assignment as ODI captain in the opening game of the three match series, at the Optus stadium in Perth.
LaLiga's decision to stage a match in Miami later this year is good for football and a reward for the international supporters who pay to watch the league from afar, the Spanish soccer federation's (RFEF) president Rafael Louzan said.
Starc further commented that Doggett could handle the pressure of the Ashes series, as he seemed to be the third pacer in Australia's attack.
Who do you think should be part of India's playing XI for the first Test against Australia in Perth?
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, arrived in Delhi on Tuesday and linked up with rest of the Indian team, many of whom were playing in the two-Test series against West Indies.
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As he made that slow walk back, Kohli turned once more to the Adelaide crowd, this time perhaps for the last time. The fans rose to their feet, acknowledging a man who has given them some of modern cricket's greatest memories.
From a bowler's paradise on Day 1 to a batting haven on Day 2, the Perth pitch has defied expectations.
The grand comeback party of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma endured a quick 22-ball ending, and their lowkey outing reflected in India's seven-wicket defeat against Australia.
Gill has been placed as an option for the opening slot alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in case Rohit Sharma is not available for the first Test following the birth of his second child on Friday.
'I'm worried. We're going to wander in and have a little game with the 'A' team. (It will be) 'Alright mate, how are you? Good on ya' and we're going to go and perform?'
Sidhu hit back at an X handle for falsely attributing quotes to him.
Cricket Australia's hopes of staging the fifth Ashes Test in Perth appear in jeopardy, with the Western Australia (WA) state government reiterating its "very strict rules" on quarantine and restrictions on players' family members.
K L Rahul eases concerns surrounding his fitness ahead of the first Test against Australia, starting in Perth, by batting comfortably in the nets on Sunday.
Rahul Dravid had backed Shubman Gill to become India's all-format captain four years ago.
The ICC's rating is presumably due to the uneven bounce that became more prevalent later in the recently-concluded second Test between Australia and India.
Iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday, joined a host of former players in slamming average rating given to the Perth stadium pitch, saying only such tracks can revive Test cricket.
