The Perth Stadium curator has promised the wicket will be green, fast and bouncy but Stokes offered no thoughts on whether England would attack with four quicks or pick the specialist spinner, Shoaib Bashir, in their 11.
'That so many have reached such an advanced stage of their careers without obvious replacements is certainly a reflection of their quality, but will be a matter of concern in the case of more injuries during the series.'
Marnus Labuschagne, who was dropped from the Test side during the tour of West Indies in June-July, has since hit three centuries in one-dayers and a couple more in Sheffield Shield for Queensland.
The aura of home advantage -- long regarded as a hallmark of India's Test side -- seemed secure. But in barely over a year, that fortress has not just cracked, it has collapsed, raising uncomfortable questions about strategy, selection, and temperament.
Kasprowicz recalls being thanked "for saving Test cricket" for his Ashes 2005 Birmingham dismissal
Giving the 'social challenge' a new twist, the International Cricket Council called Australian batting sensation Marnus Labuschagne a duplicate of his team-mate Steve Smith. ICC used three different photos of Steve Smith indicating different profile pictures for Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram. However, they replaced his Twitter picture with a duplicate account and used Labuschagne's photo to denote it, terming it as 'duplicate account'.
Cummins, who was previously optimistic of taking part in a significant chunk of the series, appears to have no chance of playing the series opener in Perth from November 21 and could even miss all five Tests, leaving superstar batter Steve Smith as his stand-in captain.
'He should be blooded into the senior team immediately, like Sachin was all those years ago.'
Australia's senior batter Steve Smith has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's after suffering a compound dislocation of his right pinkie on Friday.
'India is much stronger in white ball than the red ball. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli... they know that these youngsters are pushing them.'
After becoming the first batter to score a century in the WTC Final, Travis Head said he enjoyed batting with Steve Smith.
Cheteshwar Pujara will get a chance to sneak peek into Steve Smith's preparations ahead of the high-profile World Test Championship final, starting June 7, as the former Australian skipper gears up to play three English county games for Sussex this month.
The duo is followed by a former Sri Lanka icon, Mahela Jayawardene, with 205 outfield catches in 149 appearances.
Showing an insatiable hunger to learn and succeed, Shubman Gill turned to senior players and former greats for insights, embodying the ethos of a student of the game.
Smith dislocated his right little finger in last month's World Test Championship final and will be required to wear a splint for five weeks, Cricket Australia said.
'There's no way in the world he was trying to change Rishabh Pant's guard.'
Steve Smith will miss Australia's first Test against the West Indies in Barbados later this month
Australian batters have been focussed on tackling the spin threat
Australia hope to unlock Steve Smith's potential in Twenty20 cricket ahead of this year's World Cup
'As a captain it makes my life a lot easier knowing you've got lots of settled players there.'
Steve Smith has once again proved why he's Australia's go-to man in crunch matches-by eclipsing none other than Sachin Tendulkar in a major ICC knockout record.
Joe Root scored his 37th Test hundred on Friday to go past the tally of former India skipper Rahul Dravid and contemporary Steve Smith.
Smith had a base price of Rs 2 crore heading into the auction and RCB made the starting bid for him, but in the end, Smith was picked up by Delhi Capitals
He also admitted to learning a lot from 'one of the best players in the world', his teammate Steve Smith.
Shubman Gill's unbeaten 129 in Delhi wasn't just another century; it was history etched in numbers and intent.
With nine Test centuries against India at home, Joe Root set a new record for the most by any batter against a single opponent in home Tests.
Nicholas Pooran, who announced his retirement from all international formats on Tuesday, has been appointed as the captain of MI New York in the Major League Cricket
The spotlight in the World Test Championship Final is on the electrifying duel between Australia's batting mainstay Steve Smith and South Africa's pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada.
Former Australia bowling ace Glenn McGrath says it will be tougher to bowl to Steve Smith once he gets a start.
Smith said he did not regard his injury as a major issue.
With South Africa's seam attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Marco Jansen and Australia having Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and the ever-dependable Josh Hazlewood in their lineup, the battle between the two sides' fast bowlers is likely to be critical in determining the outcome of the World Test Championship final, as per ICC website.
India are welcome to subject Steve Smith to a bouncer barrage but the batsman is well-equipped to succeed
Gillespie said that he feels that either one of Labuschagne or Usman Khawaja, the 38-year-old who failed to touch double-digits in both WTC final innings, will miss out on West Indies tour, which comprises three Tests, starting June 25.
Steve Smith posted a video of himself on Instagram doing some cricket practice and he captioned the post as: "Just a little bit of #isobatting to keep up the hand-eye coordination #cricketdrill #stayhome #stayactive".
Mitch Owen has been rewarded for his fine form in his first five Twenty20 internationals by being named in both of Australia's squads for short-format series against South Africa in the far north of the country next month.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the WTC Final between Australia and South Africa at Lord's on Wednesday
Root reached the milestone during his 69th WTC appearance - a single pushed to deep backward square leg brought up yet another half-century and sealed his place in the record books.
'I feel like as long as I prepare as well as possible, I tick all the boxes ... and then just let my reactions do the talking. Just try and keep it simple, see ball hit ball.'
Though arguably Australia's finest batsman of the modern era, Steve Smith's only on-field role has been as a substitute at this World Cup, with selectors opting for the hard-hitting but inexperienced David in the middle order.
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was ecstatic after running Steve Smith out with a direct hit in the ongoing third Test against Australia, calling it his "best ever" fielding effort which he can watch any number of times.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances