Mike Atherton never won a series against Australia, but he has been quick to lay the boot in with Pat Cummins unlikely to play in the first Test.

Australia captain Pat Cummins is set to miss the first Ashes Test against England. The Aussies are expected to be without their talismanic all-rounder when the highly-anticipated series begins on

Elsewhere, Dodemaide name-checked Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and Sean Abbott as the leading candidates to join Australia’s pace cartel for the Ashes following recent revelations about Pat Cummins’ wounded back.

First round of the Sheffield Shield season is in the books and it’s sent the Power Rankings for our Test Openers this coming Ashes into a spin. For reference, our first edition established our baseline back in July, and we reset just a fortnight ago.

England's Ashes record Down Under since 2010-11 is miserable: played 15, won 0, lost 13 - so what do the numbers say about Stokes' squad?

Ashes hopeful Marnus Labuschagne has responded to his ODI axing by smacking another century for Queensland in the One-Day Cup, his third hundred of the summer.