Opener Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson will all play their first Tests at Adelaide Oval after selectors wielded the axe following the Hobart humiliation, which gave South Africa an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Out-of-favour India batsman Virender Sehwag and Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan will lead two MCC sides in a series of matches in the Middle East to help launch the new county season.
New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden may reportedly be recalled for the back-to-back Ashes series in England and Australia to take the pressure off the four over-stretched and error-prone Ashes officials during the next seven Tests.
Australia batsman Adam Voges has copped a sickening blow to the head while batting for Western Australian on Thursday in the Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania. The right-handed batsman has been ruled out of the match in at the WACA Ground in Perth. Voges was on 16 when he was struck by a bouncer from fast bowler Cameron Stevenson on the opening day of the match.
Virat Kohli will soon be seen wearing No 18 on his white flannels as the ICC has allowed Test-playing nations to have the players sport their names and numbers on their jerseys.
MCG moved to improve the playing surface after receiving the negative rating from ICC following last year's drawn Test against England, when only 24 wickets fell in five days.
Australia's Josh Hazlewood is a 'genius' with line and length and will have no trouble being ready for next week's Ashes opener against England
The pair are serving year-long bans for their part in the Cape Town incident in March and were barred from the 2018 IPL tournament.
Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh broke his hand punching a dressing-room wall in frustration during a Sheffield Shield match and could be out of action for six weeks.
Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland defended the use of the controversial pink ball in the face of players' criticism and is adamant it will prove a success during Test cricket's first day-night match in Adelaide next month.
The left-arm pacer is expected to join Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris in the Australian attack for the first Test against England starting at Gabba on November 21 after missing out on the Ashes tour of England earlier this year.
Netherlands cricketer Tim Gruijters has accused team management of cheating by forcing him out on medical grounds so they could bring in Tom Cooper as a last-minute replacement for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
Pattinson will have to get through the county season unscathed to be considered for the Ashes starting in August.
Adam Gilchrist said Australia are likely to keep faith in the tried and tested combination of Joe Burns and David Warner at the top of the order,
Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is in a race to be fit for the Test series against India after being ruled out of Australia's One-Day series against South Africa.
Australia's Adam Voges scored 1,485 runs at an average of 61.87, ranking him second on the all time list behind Bradman's incredible 99.94.
'Me and Todd (Murphy) were in the MRF tour in Chennai probably six months ago and that left me in good stead to go well in these games.'
Australia fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile could miss the Ashes series against England after breaking down with another back injury.
Steve Smith believes he must improve his body language on the field as he gears up for one of the biggest challenges of his captaincy in the five-Test Ashes series against England.
According to cricket.com.au: "Renshaw will fly to Johannesburg this evening to join the under siege tourists ahead of Friday's final Test against South Africa in the wake of the Cape Town ball-tampering crisis."
Rahul Dravid 'picked' the Australian 'brains' to create solid domestic structure which has served as a feeder line for his country's national team,
Australian cricketers may have to forego their lucrative IPL contracts in the wake of fast-spreading novel coronavirus, the local media reported on Tuesday. The Australian newspaper reportd that Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell could be asked to give up their rich IPL contracts.
'I think I got hit against India in Brisbane on the same thumb last season as well and the pain is always going to be there'
Renshaw made his Test debut at 20 against South Africa in 2016 but is taking a break from cricket after being dropped by Queensland ahead of the resumption of the Sheffield Shield season.
The shocking death of batsman Phillip Hughes on Thursday has cast doubts on whether the first Test between Australia and India will go ahead in Brisbane next week.
Australia captain Michael Clarke batted with a broken shoulder on the recent tour of South Africa and has been advised to rest, ruling him out of the domestic first class final later this week, Cricket Australia said on Monday.
Australia has been battling hundreds of huge bushfires for several weeks with the resultant thick smoke regularly casting a pall over the country's cities.
A lifeless MCG pitch received a 'poor' rating from the governing International Cricket Council in 2017
'I think he has enough confidence in what he is doing, that if he had that opportunity (to play Test cricket) he'd be able to go out and take on the Indian bowlers.'
Sean Abbott, the Australian fast bowler who delivered the ball that killed Phillip Hughes, has made a remarkable return to cricket, helping New South Wales beat Queensland on Friday.
James Pattinson will take an indefinite break from cricket and has been ruled out of the Ashes series against England after reaggravating his lower back stress fracture, Cricket Australia said on Wednesday.
'Their whole batting line-up is world class. So any opportunity to bowl at those guys is a test for myself and a challenge I can't wait to get.'
NSW cricketer Ryan Carters announces retirement at 26!
If Boland gets a chance to play the first Test in Nagpur, he would probably like to walk the talk as he said in episode No. 2 of 'Test'.
Marcus Harris will be the only change to the 11, with opener David Warner cleared to play after struggling with his groin strain in Sydney.
Keeping with tradition at the good old WACA, a raging quick wicket has been laid for this inaugural five-day game. It has a healthy layering of grass which could impact strategies for both sides.
Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan on Sunday said that the idea of experimenting with the pink ball and the day and night Test would be a flop from the perspective of attracting more spectators to the stadium to watch the game in real time.
Australia captain Steven Smith has shrugged off his team's lamentable form on tour and is adamant his side will lift for the Test series against South Africa.
A pugnacious left-hander brimming with self-confidence, he has been in an out of the Australian national team for the past five years.
'India were on top of their game, they deserved to beat us for the first time in their history. But our guys are two years better and a lot of the Indians are the same, more experienced. I can't wait to see them go. Can't wait.'
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