Bhajji, Afridi among 8 ambassadors for ICC Champions Trophy
Mike Hussey will lead Australia for the three-match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy one-day series against New Zealand.
The India wicketkeeper trails third-placed Michael Hussey of Australia by 10 points in the ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen.
Australia beat New Zealand by four wickets in the warm-up match ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Riding on the disciplined performances of their bowlers, Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets for their second straight victory, in the Indian Premier League.
There is no clarity on the number of players in the auction pool because the deadline for franchises to prune the original list has been deferred to February 4.
Australia left wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist out of an 18-man squad for next month's tri-nations tournament in Malaysia.
Matthew Hoggard took four wickets to reduce Australia to 312 for five on Day 3 of the Ashes Test.
New Zealand reached their victory target with 23 overs to spare, skipper Stephen Fleming ending on 70 not out and Lou Vincent hitting Mitchell Johnson for six to seal the win and finish unbeaten on 73.
The Indian wicketkeeper jumped one spot to occupy the third place in the ICC ODI player rankings.
All-rounder Andrew Symonds retained his place along with seamer Mitchell Johnson, who was the 12th man in Perth.
Aussie left-hander Mike Hussey edged out India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni to clinch the Debutant of the Year award.
Australia named all-rounder Andrew Symonds in place of the retired Damien Martyn in their team for the third Ashes Test against England.
Former Australian batsman Dean Jones believes mercurial all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who recently drew flak from his teammates and management for his 'disappointing' comments about wicketkeeper-batsman Mathew Wade, needs to find a mentor in order to make better decisions about what he says and also how he bats.
The Australian skipper remained unbeaten on 137 with Hussey as Australia cruised to 346 for three on day one of the first Test.
Eight days left and Shane Warne is fit, hungry and ready to restart his Test and perhaps his one-day international career.
Tensions flared-up towards the end of Day 3 on Sunday with none other than the two captains, Virat Kohli and Tim Paine, exchanging verbal volleys.
Australia declared their first innings on 581 for 4, a lead of 384. Bangladesh were 195 for 4 in their second innings at close on day 4 in the second Test.
It will be a big statement if Virat Kohli's young side could start off with a bang at Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 'spritual home', a task which will be easier said than done.
The out-of-form middle-order batsman was omitted after regular opener Justin Langer was cleared to return from injury.
India are yet to shed their 'poor travellers' tag but head coach Ravi Shastri feels that it's unfair to pick on one particular side
Australia beat Bangladesh by four wickets in the first ODI
Opener Phil Jaques scored an unbeaten half-century as Australia 'A' struggled to 120 for six on the opening day of a four-day unofficial Test against.
Sri Lanka scored an upset 22-run win over Australia in the first one-day final at Adelaide Oval on Friday.
The Australian captain became the first player to win the award twice, while Shane Warne was named Test player of the year.
England discard Kevin Pietersen led the congratulatory messages for the triumphant England squad, posting his wishes on Twitter.
All-rounder Scott Styris scored 101 in New Zealand's world record run chase of 332 for eight to beat Australia by two wickets in the final ODI.
Australia were 229 for three in their first innings, trailing West Indies by 176 runs
The 24-year-old though said he would not adopt a conservative approach to batting
Pakistan were bowled out for 174 in their second innings as they lost to Western Australia by 10 wickets.
