Rangana Herath claimed his maiden Test hat-trick as 21 wickets tumbled on a frantic second day with hosts Sri Lanka closing in on a series-clinching victory against Australia in the second Test in Galle on Friday.
The second Test between Australia and New Zealand ended in a draw on Tuesday, with the tourists 217 runs short of their victory target of 321 on a rain-disrupted fifth and final day at the WACA.
Following the retirements of Chris Rogers, captain Michael Clarke and all-rounder Shane Watson, Smith will lead a team in transition into the three-match series which wraps up with cricket's first day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Mitchell Johnson has set his sights on equalling the record of mentor Dennis Lillee after becoming just the fifth Australian to take 300 Test wickets last week.
Jake Lehmann's strong form could force an awkward decision at the selectors table where his father sits.
Australia captain Steve Smith said the players drafted in for the third-Test victory over South Africa had energised the team and contributed to a "good start" to the new era of Test cricket in the country.
Shane Watson has been dropped from the Australia team for this week's second Ashes Test against England and will be replaced by fellow all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Wednesday.
Quinton de Kock shone on a gloomy day in Hobart with a sparkling century that propelled South Africa to a commanding 203-run lead over Australia at lunch on day three of the second Test on Monday. - Scorecard: The wicketkeeper-batsman's 104, in a defiant 144-run partnership with Temba Bavuma, frustrated Australia's bowlers for nearly the entire session at Bellerive Oval before he was bowled by Josh Hazlewood. Bavuma was 74 not out at the break, with paceman Vernon Philander on three, the Proteas having taken full advantage of a bloodless bowling display to push to 288 for six.
Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc will return from a broken foot during Australia's limited-overs triangular series in the West Indies in June.
Australia's David Warner breathed life into the rain-ruined final Test with a pulsating ton as the match meandered to a draw against the West Indies on Thursday. Warner, determined to finish an undistinguished series on a high, reached his 16th Test century off 82 balls before a small Sydney crowd. The buccaneering opener had a highest score of 64 in the two previous Tests as team-mates helped themselves to six centuries against the tourists' innocuous bowling attack.
Australia called up uncapped paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile for the first Test against West Indies on Tuesday as a replacement for left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc, who was ruled out of the series due to a broken foot.
Australia went down as victors of the first floodlit test after sealing a nerve-jangling, three-wicket victory late on Sunday but organisers will also claim a win, with 120,000 fans flocking to Adelaide Oval through the match.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin feels trusting one's technique will be the key for wicketkeepers when they are put under pressure during the four-Test series beginning later this month.
Top order batsman Shaun Marsh was called into the Australia squad for the third Test against New Zealand on Wednesday along with pace bowler James Pattinson and left arm spinner Steve O'Keefe.
Photos from Day 2 of the 3rd Test played at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday
A security delegation sent by Cricket Australia to Bangladesh over the weekend has since returned home and was to report to local authorities on Wednesday, prompting speculation the tour will be cancelled. The security concerns in Bangladesh could also impact on Australia's qualifying campaign for the soccer World Cup.
England opener Michael Carberry looks set to make his Ashes debut next week after being included in the team to face an Invitational XI in a warm-up match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
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.
Australia secured a consolation victory in the final Test by an innings and 46 runs on Sunday before England captain Alastair Cook lifted the Ashes urn at the end of a dramatic and fluctuating series.
Australia fought back with two late wickets to restrict England to 196 for four and leave the Ashes series-opener in Brisbane delicately poised on Thursday after the tourists' unheralded batsmen threatened to dominate an intriguing first day.
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.
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia, at Pallekele, on Tuesday.
Australia recalled wicketkeeper Tim Paine for the first time in seven years in a selection bombshell while dropping opening batsman Matt Renshaw in a surprising Ashes squad for the series against England.
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.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth, on Friday.
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Rangana Herath picked four wickets in the second innings to spin Sri Lanka to a 106 win over Australia in the first Test in Pallekele on Saturday.
Australia's search for a successor to Shane Warne is yet to bear fruit nearly a decade after he retired, so Adam Zampa is naturally wary about comparisons with the leg-spinning great.
Ian Bell guided England to an eight-wicket victory over Australia in the third test at Edgbaston on Friday to put the hosts 2-1 up in the series with two matches to play.
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.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said he could not have asked for a better performance from his team following their 405-run mauling of England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
Australia bundled out England for a paltry 103 in their second innings to win the second Test match at Lord's on Sunday by a massive margin of 405 runs on the fourth day.
New Zealand's cricket team have run a gamut of emotions this week after they slumped to a heavy first Test loss to Australia then won three awards at their country's premier sports awards on Thursday.
At the close, after 75 overs were squeezed in around two lengthy rain interruptions, the West Indies were 207 for six with Denesh Ramdin on 23 and Carlos Brathwaite not out 35 after winning the toss.
Coach Darren Lehmann gave Australia a mark of '7.5' out of 10 for a year in which they won the World Cup but lost the Ashes, the series most prized by home fans.
New Zealand's pacemen struck back with two late wickets under the floodlights at Adelaide Oval but Australia's bowlers basked in the sun as the inaugural day-night Test opened on Friday.
South Africa routed Australia for 85 and then weathered a batting crisis of their own before pushing to a lead of 86 runs after a bowler-dominated opening day of the second Test in Hobart on Saturday.
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.
England crumbled meekly to 107 for eight in reply to Australia's 481 to put the touring side firmly on course for victory in the final Ashes Test after a dramatic second day at The Oval on Friday.
Australia railed at suggestions their team resembled a 'Dad's Army' but the evidence supplied by the first four Ashes Tests against England suggests it was not an unfair moniker.
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