Opinion

AARON PATRICK: China’s third-ranked political leader, Zhao Leji, helped oversee a vast purge of officials designed to entrench Xi Jinping’s power.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty to charges he engaged in rigged high-stakes poker games that prosecutors said had ties to the Mafia.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: It is unclear where the new deal is headed. Here is what seven experts in the United States, Europe and Russia think needs to be done. 

EDITORIAL: It was bewilderingly bad, brainless cricket. The good news is, it’s over for now.

CAMERON MILNER: The sun is setting on Anthony Albanese’s era in office. While Tony Burke and Mark Butler are poised to ascend to the top job, there is one other reluctant candidate who could step up.

AARON PATRICK: Podcaster and marketing lecturer Scott Galloway’s guide to masculinity has become an international hit by urging men to pursue sex, relationships and professional advancement.

JUSTIN LANGER: It was sensational to watch, but two-day Tests will kill the Ashes.

MITCHELL JOHNSON: Usman Khawaja’s injury fiasco could cost him his farewell tour - even if he is fit to play at the Gabba - with the Aussie dressing room unlikely to be impressed.

Self-obsessed Liberals need to accept internal barneys are of no importance to voters and factionalism is killing the party.

EDITORIAL: The rise of Kellie Sloane only serves to highlight the grim state of things in Canberra.

CLIVE HAMILTON: My old institute has forgotten the values it was founded on. By excusing China’s territorial bullying, it mirrors the CCP’s own media circus.

BEN HARVEY: They watched on as close to 40,000 tonnes of Japanese Imperial naval might blew sky-high before slinking off into the night and making a frantic return to safe waters.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Donald Trump is receiving gifts by the dozen. Here’s why calling him the most corrupt man to ever sit in the Oval Office is no understatement.

MITCHELL JOHNSON: You must be at your best for the ultimate sporting showdown as any weakness will be fully exploited by your opponent.

In tonight’s show, on the eve of the first Ashes test in Perth, Ben Harvey recounts the greatest and most controversial moments in the past 143 years of cricket between Australia and England.