Red ball specialist Peter Siddle has largely been part of Australia's Test squad but having turned a corner in the shorter formats as well over the past few months, the 34-year-old is eyeing a pot in the ODI and T20 side as well.
The ICC has rated the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) pitch used for the third Test between India and Australia as "average", a very similar rating to the Perth Stadium track for the second Test.
Here's a recap of some of the best on CricketNext in 2018. Enjoy!
Steyn’s hands were disobedient and mesmeric; they insisted on darting across his chest, like an electron in orbit, mocking that imaginary line while also making it the nucleus. His shoulders followed, swaying side to side in a motion that we were assured leaked precious energy. And yet Steyn, more than any bowler of his time looked menacing right from the moment he ran in. Stuart Broad bounded in with all the aggression of a show pony, the young Ishant Sharma with the symmetry of a cellphone tower on wheels, but Steyn, with those eyes, Steyn resembled an elephant in musth.
It had barely been minutes since Australia lost the third Test to India in Melbourne, (thus losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy) but Tim Paine was already dreading playing in Sydney. Such are the times, that Australia are concerned about the tracks produced at home. Perth was quick, but it was almost like an exception in the series. Adelaide had help for pacers and spinners, Melbourne was flat and slow.
While there was a seven-month hiatus between the home series against England in March and the UAE tour in November, the Black Caps did not show any rustiness as they beat Pakistan 2-1 in their adopted backyard.
Anderson blasted a 36-ball ton against West Indies to break Shahid Afridi's record of fastest ODI ton (the feat was later eclipsed by AB De Villiers in 2015).