Brad Haddin and Chris Rogers are the hardened campaigners identified to unify Australia's Ashes tourists, while the young allrounder James Faulkner's inclusion has intensified pressure on Shane Watson

Australia's selectors are expected to name Brad Haddin as Michael Clarke's vice-captain and No. 1 gloveman for the tour of England, reverting to the leadership duo that delivered a 4-0 hiding of India on home soil two summers ago

Brad Haddin, Chris Rogers and Ryan Harris might all be ready to retire by this time next year. But they can all be key men in Australia's Ashes campaign

Daniel Christian, the sometime Australia allrounder, is expected to sign with Victoria for next summer after falling out of favour with South Australia

Aaron Finch's increasingly fraught efforts to make a first-class batsman of himself may lead the Victorian to New South Wales, after the Blues made him a state contract offer for next summer

A disastrous first two seasons made the Sydney Thunder a laughing stock. Will they get it right in 2013?

James Pattinson is out of the IPL and may also miss the Champions Trophy to have surgery on what Cricket Australia described as "a non-cricket related medical condition in his lower abdominal region"

South Australia made an improper approach to recruit the young Victoria legspinner James Muirhead during the 2012-13 season, a Cricket Australia grievance tribunal has ruled

In its current form, Australia's list of central contracts will only push young players away from Tests and towards T20 as the source of their security

So worried are Australia's selectors by the lack of batting quality available for this year's dual Ashes series that the seasoned duo of Chris Rogers and Adam Voges are being seriously considered for Test squad duty

Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Jackson Bird and Moises Henriques, all potential Ashes tourists, have been omitted from Australia's list of centrally contracted players

Delhi Daredevils have signed the New South Wales captain and left-hand batsman Ben Rohrer for this IPL season

Tasmania's new coach Daniel Marsh has been entrusted with maintaining a dynasty he played a large part in starting when he captained the state

Steve Waugh believes England may fall victim to hubris in the forthcoming Ashes series, suggesting that Australia's bowling strength means Michael Clarke's team needs to only find a handful of decent batting performances to regain the urn

Gurinder Sandhu's rapid emergence as a pace bowler of substance has been underlined by his surprise plucking of the Steve Waugh Medal as the best New South Wales cricketer for 2012-13

Australia may never again produce batting talent on the level of Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke due to "holes in the production line", the former captain Ian Chappell has said

Australia coach Mickey Arthur expressed confidence in Australia's ability to put the India series behind them and prepare well for the Ashes

Shane Watson's place as Australia's vice-captain and even as a member of the Test team is far from guaranteed, after national selector John Inverarity indicated that the sometime-allrounder's future would be a major topic for discussion between now and th

Michael Clarke will forsake the IPL in order take much-needed rest at home as the best remedy for back and hamstring problems

Trevor Bayliss has been handed back his former job as the New South Wales state coach, after the Blues' previous administration ignored his application in 2011