Phillip Hughes' tragic death came back to haunt Australia after star all-rounder Shane Watson was hit on the helmet by a vicious bouncer from pacer James Pattinson during their training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Australia paceman Mitchell Starc is in doubt for the return Ashes series against England after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back.
Battle commences at Edgbaston on Thursday and the last time Australia won there was the opening match of the 2001 series which they ended up dominating 4-1.
Australian captain Michael Clarke made his expected declaration overnight and then his bowlers worked their way through the South African batting line-up to dismiss them for 287 and claim an overall lead of 207 runs.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann says he and captain Steve Smith both wanted Mitchell Johnson to play on, at least in one-dayers, but were unable to convince the fiery fast bowler to reconsider retirement.
Jonty Rhodes believes Australia's omission of spinner Nathan Lyon will hurt them in the World T20.
Australia returned to the top of the Test world rankings on Wednesday after Steve Smith and Adam Voges steered the tourists to victory in the second Test against New Zealand to seal a comprehensive 2-0 series win.
Kane Williamson was looming as the difference between a comfortable Australian win in the second Test against New Zealand and a match situation that could tip the scales either way, according to both sides.
Ajinkya Rahane has said it is always a challenge to play against Australia.
Pat Cummins exceeded expectations in his first Test match in more than five years and the speedster will pose a sweet selection headache for Australia, bowling coach David Saker said on Saturday.
Former captain Ian Chappell feels the Indian team will be quite a handful for World champions Australia in the upcoming One-Day International series but the hosts will still be the favourites to win the five-game series as the visitors are short of one specialist batsman.
Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers from the first week of IPL 2020.
Refreshed Australia pace spearhead is confident of regaining his rhythm quickly for the Champions Trophy after being sidelined nearly three months with a foot injury.
While Australia's top cricketers were in attendance, the real eye-catchers of evening were their stunning wives and girlfriends. Take a look.
Impressed with Josh Hazlewood's performance during his five-wicket haul on Test debut, Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath has said that the New South Wales seamer can become a member of the 200-wicket club if he continues the good work.
Sukanya Verma lists the movies she grabbed at MAMI this year.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the important numbers after the third week of IPL 2020.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the important numbers after the second week of IPL 2020.
Australia will be desperately hoping to play a full game under clear skies when they face arch-rivals England in their must-win Champions Trophy clash in Birmingham on Saturday.
Australia have achieved what Steve Smith set out to do when he assumed the captaincy last year by climbing to the top of the test rankings after beating New Zealand on Wednesday with the batsman admitting the trick now "was to stay there". The seven-wicket victory coming just after lunch on the final day at Hagley Oval sealed a 2-0 series win against Brendon McCullum's side and confirmed Australia's ascendancy to the pinnacle of test cricket for the first time since July 2014. "It's a good start for us. We want to win every series we play and winning away from home is a big goal of mine and the team's," Smith told reporters. "We came here at the start of the series wanting to win 2-0 and we knew if we did that we would be number one in the world. "I guess the challenge for this group now is to extend that gap and try and play some very good cricket home and away." Smith, who first captained the side for three tests against India in Michael Clarke's absence at the end of 2014, assumed the role in a full time capacity after his predecessor retired following the Ashes series loss to England last year.
Openers Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns struck sedate half centuries as Australia 'A' cantered to a nine-wicket victory over South Africa 'A' in the first tri-series cricket match in Chennai.
England completed a crushing 347-run victory over Australia with a day to spare in the second Ashes Test on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Pace legend Glenn McGrath, who has often predicted results of Australia's Test rubbers, forecast yet another 5-0 clean sweep by his country against England in the upcoming Ashes series.
Batsmen Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges and Joe Burns have been rewarded for their strong form over the past 12 months by being awarded central contracts by Cricket Australia on Friday.
Opening batsman Chris Rogers wants an unchanged Australian team for the fifth and final Ashes Test as a reward for the eleven players who beat England in the first four matches to emphatically wrest back the urn.
In a televised interview, the former Australian captain also spoke of his dressing room bust-up with Simon Katich among other controversial topics
Fast bowling may be hard work in India but it's good to see talented youngsters like Basil Thampi emerging in recent times, legendary Australia cricketer Glenn McGrath said on Monday.
Cricket Australia has said that it will not be divulging the nature of injuries sustained during a match unless the player is ruled out of the Test during the return Ashes series.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the important numbers after the fifth week of IPL 2020.
Former Australian cricketer Geoff Lawson feels India would need a combination of tight technique and tough minds to get the better of the Aussies.
England were scenting victory after claiming three late wickets to reduce Australia to 174 for six on a fluctuating fourth day of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
AB de Villiers reveals the worst sledging he's ever witnessed
Vampire Academy falls flat on its face, says Paloma Sharma.
Australia pace bowler Kane Richardson is to return home for further examination on a back injury and has been replaced by Joel Paris in the squad for their final one-day match against New Zealand in Hamilton on Monday. Richardson, 24, did not play in Australia's four-wicket victory in the second match in Wellington on Saturday. "Kane Richardson's back pain hasn't subsided sufficiently to take part in the final ODI in Hamilton," a Cricket Australia spokesperson told Australian reporters in Wellington on Sunday.
Australia have put fast bowlers Doug Bollinger and Nathan Coulter-Nile on standby for next week's third Ashes Test against England in Perth should any of the current pacemen break down during the second Test in Adelaide, starting on Thursday.
Top-order batsman Shaun Marsh has been dropped from Australia's side for their second Test against West Indies, despite scoring 182 in the comprehensive first Test victory in Hobart.
Australia have decided to put captain Michael Clarke under wraps with fast bowlers Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle ahead of next week's Ashes opener, withdrawing the trio from domestic fixtures to prepare for the test in Brisbane.
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has backed himself to be fit for the first Ashes Test in two weeks and dismissed an untimely hamstring injury as a "niggle".
Batsman David Warner has been dropped from Australia's one-day international squad while paceman Mitchell Starc will fly back home because of lower back soreness, the country's cricket board said on Sunday.
Down with a recurrent back injury, Australia's regular skipper Michael Clarke said the actions of David Warner and other teammates in Birmingham had an "impact on his leadership".
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