Australian duo Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc insist the side has moved on from the 2018 sandpaper scandal that rocked the team last time they met South Africa in a Test series.

Australia and the Proteas will lock horns for the first time since the fateful 2018 tour of South Africa in a three-game Test series starting on Saturday at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The 2018 scandal rocked Australian cricket, leading to Steve Smith and David Warner's 12-month bans, along with the loss of their leadership positions. Head coach Darren Lehmann stepped aside, with Justin Langer instilled in the aftermath to restore the team's reputation.

Khawaja was part of the side for the third Test in Cape Town in 2018 when the ball tampering saga emerged but said those ghosts had been banished.

"It honestly hasn't been and I'm being genuine," Khawaja told reporters on Thursday when asked if the sandpaper scandal had been discussed internally. "It's because time heals all wounds.

"The guys have come so far from there, both as individual players, but also as a team.

"Everyone's got so many different things going on in their life from where they were four years ago. That actually gave guys a lot of perspective.

"Australian cricket, both as a whole and as individual as players, we were probably at rock bottom right there."

Starc was also part of that Australian side in Cape Town, but echoed Khawaja's sentiments.

"I think both teams have probably evolved since," Starc said. "It's been an evolution of our group across the formats.

"We're very happy, chilled, relaxed, [in an] enjoyable environment and hopefully it's going to show in our cricket and result in a positive performance in these three Tests."

Faf du Plessis, who was the South Africa captain during the 2018 series, fueled the flames ahead of the series with an extract in his newly released book, accusing Smith of "milking" physical contact with Kagiso Rabada in the first Test of that tour.

The 2018 series was full of intensity, with the Smith-Rabada clash one of many heated incidents leading up to the fateful sandpaper scandal.

"This episode has almost been forgotten against the backdrop of what the series still had up its sleeve, or more accurately, down its trousers," Du Plessis wrote.

"They brushed shoulders during one of KG’s overs but Smith milked it like a football player. We knew that KG was one demerit point away from a suspension."

West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews bagged a three-for but could not prevent 16 run loss to England who took an overall 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20 series on Wednesday.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, England Women put up an average 141 for 6 in their stint at the crease.  The team was led by an enterprising 43 runs from 43 deliveries from opener Sophia Dunkley, who gave England a solid start with partner Danni Wyatt.

Dunkley and Wyatt put 36 on the board before Afy Fletcher broke the partnership, after bowling Wyatt for 20.  Following the dismissal of Lauren Winfield-Hill, Heather Knight became the first of Matthew’s wickets.  She was caught by Karishma Ramharack on 4. 

Matthews then also accounted for Dunkley, who was stumped by Knight.  A new-look England line-up then struggled to put together solid partnerships after that managing just 31 off the last five overs.

In pursuit of the target, the West Indies started out at 21 without loss but Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean were then introduced to the attack with great success. 

Davies got the breakthrough when she removed Aaliyah Alleyne, who made 16 from 14. Dean then the important wicket of Matthews to leave the team struggling at 23 for 2 after the first 4 over.  The Windies never recovered and eventually fell short at 125 for 8.  Dean ended with figures of 3 for 22, while Bell claimed 2 for 21.

Another match, another hundred for St Lucia’s Theo Edward, who also took two wickets as his side defeated St Vincent by 201 runs in the WINLOTT WICB U15 Cricket Tournament on Wednesday.

Following knocks of 198 and 101 against Dominica and Grenada, respectively, the 15-year-old Edward scored a game-high 137 as St Lucia racked up 310-9 from their 50 overs. The young allrounder hit 16 fours and six sixes and featured in partnerships of 102 with Johnathan Daniel, who made 33 and 100 with Leon Alexander who scored an even 50.

Dexter Baynes was the best of the bowlers with 3-44 while Jorden Charles took 2-48.

Staring at a mountain of a score, St Vincent crumbled for 109 in the face of incisive bowling from Alexander, who took 5-17 for another five-wicket haul following up on his five-fer against Grenada. Edward was also among the wickets with 2-17.

Only Damali Phillips with 30 and Charles, who scored 24, offered any real resistance to the St Lucia bowling attack.

St Vincent will have another crack at the unbeaten St Lucia on Friday with the winner taking home all the marbles.

A whirlwind knock of 47 from Fabian Allen and Carlos Brathwaite’s four-wicket haul steered Kandy Falcons to a 10-run win over Jaffna Kings in their Lanka Premier League match-up in Pallekele on Wednesday.

Allen smashed three fours and four sixes to rally Kandy Falcons to 160-8 after they had slumped to 79-6 in the 14^th over despite 35 from Andre Fletcher and 24 from Ashan Bandara, who was dismissed in the 17^th over with the score at 119.

Allen raced to his 47 in just 23 balls before he was dismissed mid-way the final over when the score was 151. Chamika Karunaratne, who was not out on 18 at the end, pushed the score to 160-8.

Dunith Wellalage was the best of the Jaffna Kings bowlers taking 2-7 while James Fuller took 2-28.

Jaffna Kings made a good go of the chase for 161 thanks in large part to the efforts of Avishka Fernando who made 33 from 20 balls before he was bowled by Allen and Sadeera Samarawickrama, whose steady 48 from 41 balls held the innings together.

He was eventually dismissed by Hasaranga de Silva (2-21), who also took the key wicket of Shoaib Malik for eight, which exposed Jaffna Kings’ lower middle order to Brathwaite, who scythed through the line up with the wickets of Thisara Perera (2), Dunith Wellalage (1) and Fuller for 16, to take swing the match heavily in favour of his side.

The giant Barbadian had earlier taken the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva (0) to finish with figures of 4-18 as Jaffna Kings’ innings closed on 150-9.

Arjun Tendulkar, son of India great Sachin Tendulkar, emulated his father with a maiden century on his first-class debut after posting 120 for Goa against Rajasthan.

The 23-year-old, who mostly plays as a fast bowler, brought up three-figures on the second day of his side's game at Goa Cricket Association Academy Ground.

His efforts came as part of a 221-run partnership with Suyash Prabhudessai, who hit 212 for his own milestone, a maiden double-century.

Their combination helped fire Goa to 493-8 at the close of play on the second day of their clash with Rajasthan.

It sees Arjun echo the senior Tendulkar, who famously scored 100 not out for Bombay as a 15-year-old in 1988, in his first-class debut.

That first century was the prelude to a stunning career that saw the India batter establish himself as one of the sport's all-time greats, with exactly 100 international tons upon his retirement.

Arjun, who was Goa's leading wicket taker during the Vijay Hazare Trophy this season with a 32.37 average, is also a member of the Mumbai Indians' IPL squad, though he is yet to feature for them.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer steered India to an opening-day recovery against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chattogram.

The tourists won the toss at Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and opted to bat first, with opener KL Rahul deputising as captain in place of the injured Rohit Sharma.

Impressive knocks from Pujara (90) and Iyer (82 not out) helped them steadily build a total they hope will offer a defence against their hosts, ending the day on 278-6.

But sturdy figures from Taijul Islam (3-84) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (2-71) helped Bangladesh keep their opponents on something of a leash.

The early momentum appeared to favour them, with a three-wicket flurry taking Shubman Gill, Rahul and Virat Kohli - the latter for a solitary single - at the cost of just seven runs as India were swiftly reduced to 48-3.

A hard-hitting cameo from Rishabh Pant, with 46 off 45 balls and eight boundaries to boot, saw India wrestle back control.

When he fell to make it 112-4, Iyer - in just his sixth Test match - joined Pujara at the crease to mount a controlled partnership, putting together 149 for the fifth wicket.

It was Bangladesh who served up the final sting of the game however, following the latter's dismissal, with Axar Patel trapped lbw off the final ball of the day to keep this encounter hanging in the balance.

Iyer showcases middle-order strength

Having nabbed a century on debut against New Zealand last year, the India batter has posted another four half-centuries since at the Test crease for his country.

His latest however was an assured knock - that included 10 fours - to bring some needed momentum back to the tourists, and will return to the crease in a bid to reach three figures and push India beyond 300 on Thursday.

Seamers struggle for Bangladesh

Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed led the hosts' bowling attack out of the gates in Chattogram, but both failed to really cause problems the longer the first day wound on.

With just one wicket between them - that of Rahul, early on - they looked lacking in threat compared to the rest of their team-mates, with few full balls between them.

Marnus Labuschagne is ready to use every trick in the book to get the better of South Africa as Australia prepare for the first Test.

The top-order batsman is set to face the country of his birth for the first time in red-ball cricket, having been born in Klerksdorp before moving to Brisbane as a child.

Though he scored an ODI century in South Africa in 2020, the chance to face off against the Proteas at The Gabba is an opportunity Labuschagne is relishing.

Dean Elgar revealed the Australian spoke to him in Afrikaans in a bid to throw him off during an English county match in 2019, and the Queensland man would not rule out doing so again on the biggest stage.

"We'll have to wait and see," he said. "I've got no doubt that they're going to throw some curveballs and hopefully the responses can be either funny or none at all.

"I certainly think it's always exciting what this Test holds because it is a little bit closer to my heart, because it's the country where I grew up and where I spent 10 years of my life."

With 927 runs in 16 innings this year, Labuschagne has only been outscored in Test cricket by three other men – team-mate Usman Khawaja and the England pair of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

His form sees him ranked as the top Test batsman by the ICC, and he credits his achievements to his drive to keep bettering himself.

"I am who I am because I am obsessed, and I am obsessive," he added. "I love to try and get better each time and each day.

"I think that part, hopefully it never stops for me because I think that's what makes me who I am."

Guyana Under-13 boys went down to Trinidad and Tobago under-13 by nine wickets in the opening encounter of the Bilateral/Goodwill series on Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.  

T&T restricted Guyana to just 43 in 26.4 overs after winning the toss and choosing to field. T&T bowling was led by Shaan Ramtahal, who finished with figures of 3 for 7 off 1.4 overs. Tyler Ramroop ended with figures of 2-5 off 5 miserly overs, Brian Harricharan took 2-6 off 3 overs, while Mikaeel Ali, Ra ed Ali Khan and Jordan Julien had a wicket each.

A revised target of 38 was set due to rain stoppage, and T&T reached the total in 10 overs with the loss of only one wicket. The wicket to fall was Captain and opening batsman Zakarriya Mohamed who stroked an entertaining 23 off just 27 balls. Guyana Captain Brandon Henry dismissed his counterpart with the score on 32.

The series includes four (4) One-Day, 40-Overs matches. Sunday’s game marks the first-ever first Bilateral Under-13 tour to Guyana, initiated by the two board presidents, Bissoondyal Singh (GCB) and Azim Bassarath (TTCB). The three (3) remaining matches will also be played at the Providence stadium on December 13, 15 and 17.

The bad news we all know; the West Indies’ batting is dreadful!

The good news is that help might just be a few years away in the form of a 15-year-old all-rounder from St Lucia.

Theo Edward on Monday scored his second century in two days while helping his country’s U15 team to a massive 403-run victory over Grenada in the Windward Islands WINLOTT Inc. U15 Tournament currently underway at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.

Team captain Edward, who turned 15 in October, scored 101 from 81 balls as St Lucia scored a mammoth 482-8 from their 50 overs. Meanwhile, his vice-captain Johnathan Daniel raced to 142 from just 91 deliveries and smashed 17 fours and eight sixes.

St Lucia also got half centuries from Aaron St Clair and Codi Fontinelle, who scored 68 and 60, respectively, to set up the massive total.

Xzavian Rock was the best of the Grenadian bowlers with 4-90 from his 10 overs.

Faced with incredible scoreboard pressure, Grenada folded for just 79.

Captain Jayon Henry led from the front with 25 but Rock’s 11 was the only other score in double figures  against Leon Alexander, who snared 3-14 and Edward 2-5 to complete the comprehensive victory.

On Sunday, Edward scored 198 in St Lucia’s 435-6 on their way to a 298-run thrashing of Dominica at the same venue. His knock included 30 fours and six sixes that came from 143 balls.

Alexander (58) and Daniel (54) also contributed half-centuries to the match-winning total.

Lybird Tharoux was the best of the Dominican bowlers with 4-53 from eight overs.

With the exception of Earsinho Fontaine’s 53 and Kenneth Valmon (21), Dominica’s batters had no answer for Alexander (5-23) and Edward (2-13) as their side crumbled to 137 all out in just 27 overs. No other batter made double figures while four failed to score in the lopsided affair.

Edward harbours ambitions of playing for the West Indies and lists Johnson Charles as his hero. On his current path, he just might be the hero the West Indies needs in just a few years’ time.

Ben Stokes believes Harry Brook can emulate Virat Kohli's all-format batting dominance after the England youngster again impressed in Pakistan.

Yorkshire batter Brook played a key role as England secured a first Test series victory in Pakistan in 22 years after a nail-biting 26-run victory in Multan on Monday.

The 23-year-old managed only nine runs in the first innings but responded with 109 in the second – the only century of the second Test – to help England to an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

That form comes as no surprise given Brook blasted 153 and 87 in Rawalpindi, with his red-ball international average sitting at an impressive 73.8 from his five innings.

Yet Stokes believes this is only the start for Brook, who he expects to shine across all formats of cricket as he compared the England batter to India great Kohli.

"After the summer he had last year, getting all the big-ups before he made his debut, to come here and put in that kind of performance again was just phenomenal," Stokes told Sky Sports.

"He's one of those rare players that you look across all formats and you can just see him being successful everywhere.

"It's a massive shout, but Virat Kohli is one of those guys where his technique is just so simple and works everywhere. The pressure that he puts back onto opposition is exactly what we're about."

Brook accumulated just 56 runs, averaging just 11.2 across six innings, as England lifted their second T20 World Cup in Australia.

The middle-order batter has impressed in the shortest format for England in his 20 outings, though, with the expectation he will slot into Jos Buttler's side for the 50-over Cricket World Cup in India in 2023.

Stokes does not foresee the pressure impacting the form of Brook, given the comfortable manner in which he stepped into the Test side.

"The expectation on his shoulders coming into this team, because of how good he's been for Yorkshire, was obviously huge," he said.

"But I think that just shows that kind of stuff doesn't really affect him. He's a player whose technique is suited to all three formats, he wants to always look to be putting pressure back onto the opposition, and he's won another game for England.

"[He made a] huge contribution last week, and the hundred he scored here was obviously massive for us in getting that big lead.

"He's a pretty simple lad to captain: he just gets about his business, loves his batting, wants to constantly improve, constantly work on it. He's a pretty easy bloke to have in your dressing room."

Jonny Bairstow's injury offered Brook the chance to take the number-five role for Stokes, with the England Test captain acknowledging he is fortunate to have a wealth of batting talent to call upon.

"We're very, very lucky with the way in which we can replace Jonny, to have Harry coming in, because those two, batting No.5, they both go about it in exactly the same way," he added.

"They bring so much to the team and obviously Harry playing the way he has done at the moment with Jonny not being in the team, unfortunately, it's the best thing you want.

"You want competition for places, you want a strong squad to be able to pick from, and you want those headaches when it comes to the final XI every week, rather than saying 'I'm not sure who we're going to pick, let's pick a name out of the hat.'

"We're definitely not in that situation, and we feel like we've got all bases covered at the moment."

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has congratulated Sir Clive Lloyd on being awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The University of Guyana.

The legendary former West Indies captain received the honour for being an exemplar in the field of sport, management and leadership during the university’s graduation ceremony in Georgetown on Friday.

“We want to congratulate Sir Clive on this well-deserved honor bestowed on him by the University of Guyana,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt.

“Sir Clive’s leadership style brought unity and pride to his team. His vision and passion on the game and his respect and trust for his colleagues were the driving forces behind his immense success as he drove the West Indies to become a sporting dynasty. We celebrate with Sir Clive as he receives this valued award for his service to Guyana and West Indies cricket.”

Sir Clive Lloyd was captain of the West Indies team during a period of unprecedented dominance, which included winning the Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979.

He played 110 Test matches between 1966 and 1985, where he scored 7,515 runs with 19 centuries. He also played 87 ODIs and made 1,977 runs with a best score of 102 in the 1975 World Cup final against Australia at Lord's.

Former West Indies T20I Captain Carlos Brathwaite’s 3-17 wasn’t enough as the Kandy Falcons suffered a 12-run loss to the Galle Gladiators in the Lankan Premier League on Monday.

Brathwaite bowled an excellent four over spell to help restrict the Gladiators to 153-6 off their 20 overs after they won the toss and batted first.

Thanuka Dabare (70) and Nuwanidu Fernando (56) were the main contributors as Isuru Udana provided good support fie Brathwaite with 2-19 from his four overs.

In reply, Brathwaite and Andre Fletcher, who hit an unbeaten century in their first game, managed only four and eight, respectively, as the Gladiators restricted the Falcons to 141-7 from their 20 overs handing them their first defeat of the tournament in their fourth game.

Ashen Bandara (41 not out), Chamika Karunaratne (32) and Pathum Nissanka (29) were the main run-getters while Nuwan Thushara and Lakshan Sandakan took figures of 2-26 and 2-22, respectively.

The Falcons lead the five-team table with six points from four games.

Babar Azam felt the decision to give Saud Shakeel out cost Pakistan as they slumped to a Test series defeat to England on day four at Multan Cricket Stadium.

The tourists won another dramatic match by 26 runs on Monday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Shakeel (94) and Mohammad Nawaz (45) appeared to have given Pakistan the upper hand with a sixth-wicket stand of 80, but both were removed in quick succession by Mark Wood.

Aleem Dar put his finger up after Shakeel edged a delivery from Wood down the leg side and third umpire Joel Wilson stayed with the on-field decision, seeing no evidence that Ollie Pope did not take the ball cleanly.

Pakistan captain Babar believes Shakeel should have remained in the middle.

He said: "The Shakeel dismissal cost us. It looked to us as if the ball had touched the ground. As a professional, you have to respect the umpire's decision, but we felt the ball had been grounded."

England skipper Ben Stokes had a different opinion on the incident.

He said: "I don't think [there were any doubts about the catch], personally. The only thing where you start worrying is when it gets looked at for a long period of time because that's when you start having doubt in your own head.

"I've been part of games before where I've been on the team who's been on the receiving end of those decisions and you're always like, 'that's not carried'.

"You see a lot of those decisions and those type of catches in cricket. You could say the similar thing was when Rooty [Joe Root] got caught at short leg - you could say that might have touched the floor.

"But you've just got to go with what the umpire's decision is. It went our way but I've been involved in a few decisions where stuff like that has gone against us. But you can't change that."

Another dismal display with the bat saw the West Indies Women lose the first T20 International against England on Sunday by eight-wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Batting first, West Indies fell into early trouble slipping to 38-4 after eight overs. Rashada Williams scored 23 and Chinelle Henry 21 helped the WIW get past the 100-run mark in the face of incisive bowling from Player of the Match Lauren Bell, who took 3-26.

Heather Knight, Nat Sciver, and Katherine Brunt each claimed a wicket against the hosts who limped to 105-7 from their allotment of 20 overs.

Bell then scored an unbeaten 59 from 34 balls as England raced to victory scoring 106-2 in just 12.4 overs. No West Indies bowler managed to claim a wicket as opener Sophia Dunkley and Lauren Winfield-Hill were dismissed by runout for 25 and 15, respectively.

A distraught Henry was critical of her side’s batting after yet another poor showing against their English rivals.

"To be three, four wickets down in the first 10 overs with no kind of runs on the board, that is where we fell short, since the ODI series we've been struggling with the bat,” she said.

“We just have to pick ourselves up and keep going. A couple of us got short partnerships going to get us to 100 but it wasn't enough. It was really good to see little Djenaba Joseph standing up against Katherine Brunt, facing her head on, and to have an Under-19 player in our squad so fearless is a move in a good direction for us."

The series now moves to the Kensington Oval, where the teams will meet for the remaining four matches on December 14, 17, 18 and 22. All matches start at 6:00pm Eastern Caribbean/ 5:00pm Jamaica time.

Mark Wood reflected on England's Test series victory over Pakistan as "a monumental day" after they won by 26 runs on day four at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Wood steamed in to take 4-65 as the tourists took an unassailable 2-0 lead with one match to play.

England had only won two Tests in Pakistan before a dramatic triumph in Rawalpindi last week and have now doubled their tally.

Ben Stokes' in-form side have made history, becoming the first England team to win two Tests in a series in Pakistan as they continue to ride on the crest of a wave under the inspiration captain and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Fast bowler Wood swung the game back in England's favour by getting Mohammad Nawaz (45) caught behind to end a sixth-wicket stand of 80 before seeing the back of Saud Shakeel (94) in his next over.

The excellent (2-23) Ollie Robinson finished off the job, while James Anderson (2-44) also bowled brilliantly in win that will live long in the memory for Wood.

He told Test Match Special: "It's a monumental day. Amazing feeling. The effort that everyone's put stands out for me. It's not just one game, it's two games.

Wood added: "I managed to get two wickets when Stokesy asked me to change the game. All game I got my bouncer a bit too off side but in that spell, I got it right.

"I feel knackered. It was a big effort and I'm proud of myself for it. Everyone feels great."

Wood continued: "It's something we'll look back at proudly at the end of our career. It hasn't sunk in completely yet but I think we'll be very proud."

England have won eight of their nine Tests with Stokes as skipper and McCullum at the helm.