Sri Lanka had poor outings recently in the Tests against Australia but will be keen to turn the tables in the two ODIs set to take place in Colombo on February 12 and 14. Australia are bereft of a few of their key players due to injury and hence, Sri Lanka have a great opportunity to get past them.
The International League T20 will have a new winner in its third season and the two teams who are in the final have already stopped short of getting their hands on the title once and will be keen to go one better in their second respective final appearance, Dubai Capitals and Desert Vipers.
Pakistan have had a good run in the ODIs in the build-up to the Champions Trophy and the final assignment marks the return of tri-series. Pakistan will host New Zealand and South Africa in a short tri-series comprising four matches with two each in Lahore and Karachi, starting February 8.
Ireland will be playing only their 10th Test match and second against Zimbabwe in a little over six months. After playing a couple of Test matches last year and winning both, the visitors will be keen to continue their winning run in a bid to get more red-ball games to play.
The T20I assignment is done and dusted and had a relevance in itself but the upcoming ODI series can't be looked at in isolation, with an ICC event breathing down its neck. Hence, both India and England would be looking to fine-tune their preparations in these three matches, starting in Nagpur.
It is proving to be a drubbing for England women as the series has gone on with Australia 6-0 ahead and 12-0 on points. A whitewash doesn't seem improbable now and England need to pull up their socks in order to not just compete and challenge Australia but be able to avoid a clean sweep.
Australia have already qualified for the World Test Championship final, hence the series might not have much significance more than a dead rubber in a larger context but Sri Lanka have an opportunity to finish the current cyle at No 3 position, leapfrogging India.
That the Sydney Sixers nor Perth Scorchers are in the final for the first time in six seasons, tells you how dominant they have been in the Big Bash League. The Sixers lost steam in the end and it's the Sydney Thunder who will be up against the best team of the tournament, Hobart Hurricanes.
England had a chance in Melbourne in the second ODI to topple Australia for once but ended up choking rather badly and lost the series 3-0. Now, England are in a must-win situation in the remaining games - three T20Is and a Test - and can't afford to lose a single game, starting in Sydney on Monday.
The 16-team tournament in its second edition has defied boundaries going beyond traditional territories with the likes of Samoa, Nigeria and Nepal in the mix apart from the hosts Malaysia. Teams are divided into four groups of four each with three from each of them set to advance to Super Six.
The third edition of the SA20 will kick off on Thursday, January 9 with the two-time defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape taking on MI Cape Town in in Gqeberha. With some of the star overseas signings of Williamson, Dinesh Karthik and Jonny Bairstow, SA20 2025 promises to be bigger and better.
New Zealand won the T20I series but given there's a tri-series and a Champions Trophy on the horizon, they will be keen to zero in on most of their combination in the ODIs even though they will be missing a couple of key players, especially having lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka in November.
New Zealand will take on Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series starting in Mount Maunganui on Saturday, December 28. The series will kickstart the Mitchell Santner captaincy era in white-ball cricket full-time and having played Sri Lanka last month, the Kiwis will not mind them as opposition.
With the World Test Championship (WTC) points at stake, South Africa will be keen to lock one of the two spots in the final as they begin their final assignment of the current cycle against Pakistan on Thursday, December 26 with the Boxing Day Test in Centurion.
South Africa and more importantly, coach Rob Walter will be glad to have his first T20I series win under his belt at last. South Africa have their first-choice players return for the ODIs and Pakistan are coming off a couple of series wins themselves, should be a cracker.
West Indies after a series sweep in the ODIs, will be confident of a good show in the T20Is against Bangladesh with the three-match series in St Vincent starting on Sunday, December 15. Bangladesh will be keen to begin on a strong note as they play for pride after a poor performance in ODIs.
The 14th edition of the Big Bash League will kick off on Sunday, December 15 at the Optus Stadium in Perth with the Scorchers hosting the Melbourne Stars led by a new captain, Marcus Stoinis. The 44-match tournament will run for over a month with the final slated for January 27.
South Africa after a disappointing show in the white-ball games will be keen to turn it around in the one-off Test match against England. South Africa played a couple of Tests this year but lost both of them while for England, this will serve as quality preparation for the upcoming Ashes Test.
Zimbabwe will be high on morale after a thrilling win in the series finale against Pakistan last week. Yes, they lost the series but managed to avoid the whitewash and against them are Afghanistan, who have played as many as six ODIs in the last couple of months or so but not any T20Is since June.
A new-look South Africa side will be up against Pakistan in a three-match T20 series starting in Durban on Tuesday, December 10. With the turnaround from the Sri Lanka Tests being just 24 hours, several first-choice Proteas players will be unavailable and hence, Pakistan will fancy their chances.
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