Smith

Having departed from the squad, the Australia custodian fast bowler Mitchell Starc is the latest player to miss the ODI Champions Trophy due to personal concerns. The team will now head to the tournament with three frontline quicks missing for the ODI competition in Pakistan and the UAE. Starc’s withdrawal follows the exit of two pace stalwarts Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood who were sidelined with different injuries. With Starc’s withdrawal global champions Australia will now be relying on a mix of fringe

Coach Justin Langer came out with a passionate defense of his under-fire captain Tim Paine and premier batsman Steve Smith two days after the Sydney Test match of the Australia vs India series on Wednesday. Paine and Smith copped a lot of criticism for their action on the field of day five at the SCG - Paine for his unsavoury banter with the India's Ravichandran Ashwin and Smith for scuffing the pitch area around the crease. While Paine apologised for his behaviour, Langer

A seven-member meeting is scheduled this week by Cricket Australia to discuss whether to cut short the sanctions provided to the guilty trio of Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft. Seven directors from the official cricket board of Australia are expected to run the flow of discussions on Tuesday. Earlier in March, a ball-tampering scandal at Cape Town saw the trio face lengthy bans from international cricket, along with other tournaments such as the Sheffield Shield, Indian Premier League, and the Big