Captain Steve Smith frustrated England with a fighting half-century and pushed Australia to 165 for four at the close of a see-sawing day two, rescuing the hosts after a top order collapse in the series-opening Ashes Test in Brisbane on Friday.
Pant equals Dhoni's record of most catches in a Test innings
Australia all-rounder Marnus Labuschagne, who is all set to make his Ashes debut, revealed that he once worked as a Hot Spot camera operator in a Test match against England in 2009, when fast bowler Peter Siddle claimed a hat-trick.
A number of top cricketers have expressed concern about being confined to biosecure bubbles for months on end to keep international schedules on track.
The Gunners' only league defeat of the campaign was in September away to one of England's traditional top-six clubs, Manchester United, drawing criticism that their strong start to the season was based on wins against lesser opposition.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) should "hang their heads in shame" over their sacking of coach Peter Moores, according to former captain Alec Stewart.
Pankaj Advani continued his surge in the World Billiards Championship (time format), making it to the semi-finals with a 916-665 victory over compatriot Rupesh Shah, in Leeds, on Tuesday, while Balachandra Bhaskar shocked Singapore's Peter Gilchrist.
Images from Day 2 in the third Ashes Test between England and Australia.
England coach Peter Moores is impressed with the way Alastair Cook led his team out of a lengthy slump and praised his battle-hardened skipper's resilience.
The images were blurred, and the wifi decidedly dodgy, but darts stepped up to the oche on Friday to provide some rare live entertainment for sports-starved fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throwing from the comfort and security of living rooms and spare bedrooms, and even a landing, a cast of top players kicked off a novel 32 night Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournament in home isolation.
Leipzig will likely need to find an alternate venue or shift the two-leg tie around and first play in England.
Swing and seam friendly conditions, a lack of truly scary Australian bowlers and New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum's retirement are all themes that will resonate when the first Test gets underway in Wellington on Friday.
Labuschagne is expected to bat at number three, with Smith to return to his favoured number four slot.
The uncapped pair are the newcomers in captain Steven Smith's 15-man squad, which includes 10 players with less than 10 Tests, as Australia look to rebuild following a string of retirements after the Ashes defeat in England.
Indian opener KL Rahul's two impressive knocks in the recently concluded two-match T20 series against Australia helped him climb to fifth in the latest ICC Rankings for T20 batsmen, in Dubai, on Tuesday.
'Gutted, the guys put in a huge effort to get this opportunity, to pretty much do all you could and still not get across the line'
Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav tormented New Zealand again as India coasted to a 90-run victory in the second one-day international at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Saturday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Both Wade and Marsh were part of the Australia A squad who begin their four-day clash with Sussex in Arundel on Sunday.
Following is a factbox on the first Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Thursday:
Insisting that Kevin Pietersen had the backing of his teammates during the spat with sacked coach Peter Moores, England pacer Steve Harmison has said reports of players back-stabbing their former skipper were "rubbish and nonsense".
Steve Smith was on 80 when he was hit on the neck by Test debutant Jofra Archer.
Peter Siddle has been brought into Australia's squad while uncapped fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has been called into the New Zealand squad.
'I think as a nation we all aged a year in that super over. I feel nothing but pride. What a team'
Veteran Western Australian batsman Adam Voges in 17-man tour squad but give the cold shoulder to Glenn Maxwell.
Skipper Virat Kohli had to once again come to the rescue of under-fire former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni whose painstaking 37 off 58 balls came in for sharp criticism after England beat India by 86 runs in the second ODI at Lord's on Saturday.
Western Australia batsmen Shaun Marsh and Marcus Stoinis sustained several blows to the body struggling to adjust to the unpredictable bounce of the surface in the contest against Victoria.
Images from Day 2 of the 2nd Ashes Test played at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday
A merciless England, however, wrecked their title defence, crushing them by eight wickets with nearly 18 overs to spare.
Australia reduced England to 203 for six to move to the brink of a consolation victory on the third day of the final Ashes Test at The Oval on Saturday.
Legendary Argentine World Cup winner Diego Maradona died following a heart attack on Wednesday, aged 60.
England captain Kevin Pietersen's attempts to get coach Peter Moores axed may result in his own sacking as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is unhappy with both of them for making a public spectacle of their fallout. Pietersen is due to be back in London on Thursday after a holiday in South Africa and he may find himself replaced by Andrew Strauss as England skipper.
The Australian media were united in their view that the Mitchell Johnson-inspired humiliation of England at Lord's marked a decisive shift in the balance of power in the Ashes series.
Bairstow replaces jaded Buttler in England squad while Australia rope in Hastings, and call-up Handscomb after injury glut
Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
'I'm very privileged to be in the second week of Wimbledon again. This is genuinely one of my favourite weeks of the year so to be prolonging my stay is a lot of fun but I'm looking forward to the challenge.'
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar had resigned from the post 10 months after taking charge in May 2016, but deferred it a week later. He said the new chairman of world cricket body will be announced in May 2020.
It was curtains for India at the Scottish Open after men's singles player Anand Pawar and men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy bowed out of the 50,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Glasgow.
From the English media to social networking websites, 'devastated' Kevin Pietersen found support from all quarters.
