The 2014-15 Big Bash League starts on Thursday December 18 and you can watch it all live on Sky Sports. Here we take a look at some of the teams vying to win, starting with the Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades.
For all cricket fans this Christmas, Sky Sports is the only place to be.
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England batsman James Taylor says he loved proving his doubters wrong on Sunday and is now expecting for additional international chances.
The 24-year old Nottinghamshire man was regarded as an exciting possibility to get several years but played in his only Test matches two years back.
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Defending champs India have contained just four of their 2011 World Cup winners in their 30-man preliminary squad for next year’s tournament.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin are the sole survivors in the squad that beat Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai.
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South Africa have recalled left-arm spinner Robin Peterson for the three-Test home series against the West Indies.
Peterson returns as the sole specialist spinner as Imran Tahir has been dropped and Dane Piedt is ruled out through injury for the top-graded Test nation.
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Derbyshire all-rounder Jon Clare expects to be back early in the 2015 season after undergoing back surgery.
Clare missed nearly all of the 2014 effort with lower back trouble, playing just once with what turned out to be a issue related to a youth injury.
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Ian Bell insists England would like to play a “favorable, competitive” brand of cricket as they get prepared for the start of one day series against Sri Lanka.
The tourists head to the opening match on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports, having recorded a comfortable victory in the sole warm up match they have managed to play in between extended spans of rain.
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Shakib Al Hasan played a starring role as Bangladesh cruised to an 87-run win over Zimbabwe in their opening one-day international in Chittagong.
The all-rounder became only the 12th player in ODI history to score a century and claim four or more wickets in a match.
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Bangladesh eased to a 186-run victory over Zimbabwe in the third and final Test in Chittagong on Sunday to sweep the series 3-0.
Resuming the day on 71-1 and chasing a formidable target of 449, the tourists were bowled out for 262 in their second innings just before tea on the fifth day, with Regis Chakabva (89no) the only batsman to offer much resistance as wickets tumbled around him.
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England all-rounder Moeen Ali believes the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka will benefit the team ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Conditions will be very different to those encountered in Australia and New Zealand next spring but Moeen insists any game-time against top-class opposition can only be of benefit to the tourists.
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Jesse Ryder has enhanced his opportunities earning a worldwide recall by smashing a century off just 39 balls within a limited overs match against Ireland in New Zealand.
Starting the innings for Otago, the 30-year old from Wellington reached his half century off just 16 deliveries and went to make 136 as the hosts won by three wickets at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln.
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Derbyshire paceman Mark Footitt hopes to impress England’s hierarchy when he joins up with the Performance Programme squad later this month.
The left-armer was one of the best performers in the domestic game last season, taking a total of 106 wickets across all formats at an average of only 19.19.
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England all-rounder Moeen Ali is taking nothing for granted despite a fantastic first season in international cricket.
The Worcestershire player was one of few positives to come from a generally poor year for England, who struggled in limited overs cricket and had only a Test series win over India to celebrate.
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Bowler Tymal Mills has decided to leave Essex at the end of the season when his current contract expires.
Mills played in 12 matches during the 2014 season but has been troubled with a back injury that has limited his appearances to only one game since late July.
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Hampshire have signed Jackson Bird and Yasir Arafat for next season.
Australian fast bowler Bird will spend three months in the AEGEAS bowl and play in most formats, while Pakistan allrounder Arafat is going to be accessible limited to limited overs matches.
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Duncan Fletcher will continue to head India through the World Cup with Ravi Shastri keeping his job as team manager.
Fletcher’s future as trainer came under examination when Shastri was made prior to the one day series with England, however they appeared from that series having a 3-1 triumph and just lost the dead rubber before going down in the single Twenty20 international.
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Gloucestershire completed their LV= County Championship season on a high and refused Kent the possibility of a possible fourth-set Division Two end when they cruised to an emphatic 244-run triumph with two sessions to spare in Canterbury.
The visitors blown off Kent for 203, mopping up their closing five wickets in the session for just 32 runs to inflict a sixth defeat to the injury-hit hosts and bank 19 points for his or her success.
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Lancashire picked up maximum bowling points against relegation rivals Middlesex to the starting day of the critical LV= County Championship battle.
The Red Rose county understand just a win is going to do at Old Trafford if they’re to keep their Division One status – and they formed a strong start in their own pursuit by bowling out the visitors for 214.
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Lancashire understand just a win is going to do against relegation rivals Middlesex if they’re to prevent the fall from Division One of the LV= County Championship.
In a quirk of the fixture list, both counties still in danger of joining already-doomed Northamptonshire in the 2nd grade next season confront each other at Old Trafford in the last week of the domestic season.
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Took Over Durham captain Mark Stoneman disclosed to late nerves in his team’s three-wicket win over Warwickshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup Final at Lord’s.
Durham were establish just 166 to win after bowling the Bears out in 47 overs on a dank day in the Home of Cricket.
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Promotion rivals Hampshire needed to follow on despite Sean Ervine’s 121 on day three against Kent in Southampton.
James Vince could turn his overnight 64 into only 70, as well as the hosts stumbled to 253-9.
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