Pat Cummins, who was one of the star performers for Australia in the recently-concluded Ashes series, is now targeting the Twenty20 World Cup at home next year.

Smith's player of the match effort of 211 and 82 runs in the two innings has lifted him to 937 rating points, only 10 less than his all-time best aggregate achieved in December 2017.

Pat Cummins's late burst reduced England to 18/2 at the end of day four in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Chasing 386 to win, England lost Rory Burns and Joe Root off two consecutive deliveries in the very first over from Pat Cummins, as Australia close in on retaining the Ashes.

Johnson felt that making a change in the winning combination would be a bit tough but backing Starc instead of Cummins for the second Test at Lord's.

After the T20 series, the Aaron Finch-led side came from 0-2 behind to win the five-match ODI series 3-2. They then went on to defeat Pakistan 5-0. 

Pat Cummins was clinical with the ball, taking three wickets and conceding only 30 runs in the game against Pakistan.

Australia have won two back-to-back ODI series - India and Pakistan, and Maxwell has played an important role, hitting three half-centuries in their 5-0 series win in the UAE.

Cummins missed the first two ODI's of the five-match series against Pakistan and he only played in the third ODI in which he was able to take three wickets.

Australian media reports on Friday revealed the breadth of the fracture between Warner and his teammates immediately after the ball-tampering scandal.

The 25-year-old bowler joins Jhye Richardson in returning home early as the latter injured his shoulder in Sharjah.

The fast bowler is likely to get a chance in the five-match ODI series against Pakistan to make his case stronger for the upcoming World Cup.

Will the IPL offer any answers? Does Rahane still deserve a chance? Is Vijay Shankar ready? We don't know but India can still hope.

Marcus Stoinis was keeping the hopes alive for the Aussies as they needed 11 runs off the final over but it just was not to be.

Pat Cummins lavished praise on Jasprit Bumrah, saying that the Indian pacer has a great cricketing brain and he executes his sills really well.

Maxwell rued that he could have finished the game and said he still has a lot of work to do to secure a ticket to the World Cup.

Cummins and Anderson move ahead of Rabada after Proteas suffered a shock defeat to Sri Lanka in Durban, with the Australian claiming the top spot and the Englishman moving to second.

The 25-year-old said that he is preparing himself well for the swinging conditions in England and is getting better and better with each passing day. 

Pat Cummins won the Allan Border medal for Australia's leading men's cricketer with 156 votes, six ahead of off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who was voted test cricket player of the year.

Head coach Justin Langer said he reached a mutual agreement with Saker, a former England bowling coach, that it was time for the pair to part ways.