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• West Indies 2025 home Test series against Australia expanded from two to three games

  Australia will play three Tests during their 2025 tour of the West Indies after Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) agreed to expand the original schedule of two Test matches which is set to take place in June-July.

  The series will be part of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, which asks for a minimum of two Tests between participating teams.

  Australia’s previous Test series in the Caribbean took place in 2015, where the Michael Clarke-led side dominated with victories in Dominica and Jamaica. Since then, Australia has toured every Test playing nation except the West Indies.

  This upcoming tour will be the first time the teams have played a three-match series in the West Indies since 2012, when Australia secured a 2-0 victory.

  The most recent clash between the sides, held in Australia earlier this year, ended in a 1-1 draw. The highlight of the series was West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph’s heroics at the Gabba, where he guided a rare Test win over Australia, breaking a 21-year drought.

  After taking a five-wicket haul on debut at the Adelaide Oval, Joseph backed it up with a famous second innings haul of 7-68 in Brisbane to spearhead the tourists to an eight-run win.

  While the exact venues are yet to be confirmed, according to ESPNCricinfo reports, Barbados, Grenada, and Jamaica are potential hosts.

  The tour will also feature three ODIs and three T20Is. Meanwhile, Australia is eyeing a place in this year’s WTC final at Lord’s and will aim to carry momentum into the next cycle.

  For the West Indies, the series is a significant opportunity to play against one of the world’s strongest Test teams on their home turf.

• Head century puts Australia on front foot against India

  Travis Head hit a superb century as Australia took control on day two of the second Test against India.

  Head produced a knock of 140 off 141 balls at the Adelaide Oval, where the hosts finished the day with a 29-run lead.

  Australia resumed at 86-1, and Marnus Labuschagne laid the foundations for their charge in response to India's 180 with a contribution of 64.

  Head then took centre stage to take the hosts to 337, with Mohammed Siraj (4-98) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-61) preventing the tourists' deficit from being greater. 

  Australia's bowlers then came to the fore. Skipper Pat Cummins dismissed KL Rahul (seven), while Scott Boland claimed Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Virat Kohli (11).

  Mitchell Starc, fresh from his career-best Test figures of 6-48 on day one, then took Shubman Gill (28), before Cummins removed Rohit Sharma (six) to leave India at 128-5 at stumps.

  Data Debrief: Head shines on home soil

  Adelaide-born Head notched his third century in just nine Test innings at the Oval.

  Though fortunate to be dropped by Siraj on 76, he capitalised on the let-off to reach the ton off 111 deliveries.

  Head certainly enjoys playing India, too, with exactly half of his six centuries across all formats in 2023 coming against them (three).

  He has also averaged 61.9 in 19 innings against India during that time, compared to 36.8 against all other opponents.

• Starc hails Australia's 'grit and determination' after career-best display

  Mitchell Starc praised Australia's "grit and determination" after they skittled India out for 180 on the first day of the day-night second Test in Adelaide. 

  The left-arm fast bowler produced a career-best 6-48 with the pink ball to make light work of the Indian batting line-up as the hosts asserted control. 

  Australia then ended the first day on 86-1, just 94 short of India's first innings total, as they look to bounce back from a 295-run defeat in the opening Test in Perth.

  The 35-year-old gave Australia the upper hand from the get-go by trapping India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in front of the stumps in the first ball of the game. 

  Starc also accounted for the wickets of top-order batters KL Rahul (37) and Virat Kohli (31) before wrapping up the innings with three more in the end, including that of India's top scorer Nitish Kumar Reddy (42). 

  "It was a good day all round. We were a fraction wide in the first hour but after that we were bang on with the ball," Starc told ABC at the conclusion of play. 

  "With the pink ball you are never out of the game in terms of it doing something. There might be periods when it doesn't do as much, but then it might start doing things. But not a lot of what I do changes. 

  His previous best in Test cricket was the 6-50 he took against Sri Lanka at Galle in August 2016. Starc now has 72 wickets in day-night Tests - 29 more than the next-best bowler Nathan Lyon on 43.

  Jasprit Bumrah (1-13) sent back Australia opener Usman Khawaja but Nathan McSweeney remains unbeaten on 38, and he will have the company of Marnus Labuschagne, on 20, when the play resumes on day two. 

  "To get batting on day one and go to stumps with grit and determination was fantastic, in what are the most difficult conditions in pink-ball cricket. If we have a successful first session on day two, we hold the cards," Starc said.