Teams

Gavin Hamilton has hailed run machine Will Luxton exploits in Australia, with the Yorkshire young gun scoring three successive centuries - as captain - for Greenvale Kangaroos in Melbourne club cricket.

“Smithy is very, very exciting to watch,” said Noah Kelly recently when asked to describe his emerging team-mate Owen Smith. “He’s got an air of flamboyancy, and he’s got a lot of character when he bats.”

Rich Pyrah has described his former team-mate Mitchell Starc as “Australia’s best weapon this winter”, a theory strengthened by his 10-wicket performance in the opening Ashes Test in Perth on on Friday and Saturday.