England

Australia have the opportunity to plot England’s downfall at the T20 World Cup 2024 and could jeopardise their rivals’ prospects of qualifying for the Super Eights by resting players in their final group-stage match against Scotland. Andrew McDonald, their coach, repeatedly insisted on Monday that his players are focused on their game against Namibia in

Moeen Ali has called on England to “throw the first punch” and be “ruthless” in their remaining two Group B games as the defending champions aim to keep their T20 World Cup 2024 hopes alive. Saturday’s heavy defeat to Australia left England fourth in Group B, with all sides having played twice, and potentially in

Australia 201 for 7 (Warner 39, Marsh 35, Head 34, Stoinis 30) beat England 165 for 6 (Buttler 42, Cummins 2-23, Zampa 2-28) by 36 runs Australia outplayed England in Barbados to leave the defending champions sweating on their qualification for the Super 8s. They posted the highest score of the T20 World Cup to

Jonny Bairstow says he has no desire to revisit the controversial events of last summer’s Lord’s Test, as England and Australia prepare to do battle once more in the biggest contest to date of the T20 World Cup. The moment, which occurred during England’s final-day run-chase as Bairstow wandered out of his crease after ducking

Shoaib Bashir, the England Test offspinner, has joined Worcestershire on a short-term loan that includes five Vitality Blast appearances, starting with Friday evening’s clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, and a County Championship match against the table-toppers Surrey. Bashir, 20, enjoyed a breakthrough winter with Ben Stokes’ England team, claiming 17 wickets in three appearances

Jofra Archer had tears in his eyes as he surveyed the scene at Kensington Oval, about to represent England but, for the first time, in his motherland. When his name was announced at the start of the second over, his first in the match against Scotland, the cheering could hardly have been louder or warmer

Only 60 balls were bowled in England and Scotland’s washed-out match in Barbados but there was more to glean about the defending champions than there was about their opponents, other than that Scotland have aggressive openers who fear neither express pace nor spin, whether it be the off or leg variety. That an experienced and

England will begin their defence of the T20 World Cup against Scotland on the same Kensington Oval surface which threw up a 218-run shoot-out between Namibia and Oman on Sunday night. They are heavy favourites against their British rivals but were beaten when the teams last met, in a 2018 ODI, and this slow, low

Scotland 90 for 0 (Jones 45*, Munsey 41*) vs England (match abandoned) Scotland showed that they mean business at this T20 World Cup with Michael Jones and George Munsey forging ahead to 90 without loss in an innings cut in half by heavy rain. But the weather eventually ruined their opening match against defending champions

In the first meeting between the two countries in the T20I format, Scotland seized the initiative between rain breaks to set the defending champions a DLS-adjusted target of 109 from 10 overs. Alas, a further shower after their innings had concluded on 90 for no loss proved terminal, with both sides settling for a point

Essex County Cricket Club has been charged by the Cricket Regulator – the sport’s new independent disciplinary body – after a series of historical allegations of racist abuse were last year upheld by an independent report. In December, a 38-page report compiled by Katherine Newton KC found that, in a period from the mid-1990s to

Match details England vs ScotlandBridgetown, 10.30am local Big picture: Auld Enemies, New Frontiers England and Scotland’s sporting rivalry famously began at the Kennington Oval way back in 1870, with a series of unofficial football contests that gave rise – one year later – to the world’s first rugby international, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, and

Fourteen years ago, in May 2010, Phil Salt was a kid in the stands at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, watching England’s cricketers parading their first piece of global silverware, after victory over Australia in the final of that year’s World T20. Now he’s back as an England star in his own right, seeking to

Jos Buttler has backed Jonny Bairstow to come good at No. 4 during T20 World Cup 2024, citing his experience batting in the powerplay and ability to attack spin in the middle overs. “I think for every player in the team, it’s about trying to read the situation of the game and play accordingly,” Buttler

Jonny Bairstow has described England’s decision to deploy him at No. 4 for their T20 World Cup defence as “a compliment”, acknowledging his versatility. Bairstow missed England’s 2022 triumph in Australia after suffering a career-threatening ankle break and has only played six T20Is since, but it set to play a key role in England’s middle

Brydon Carse, the Durham and England fast bowler, has been handed a three-month ban after an anti-corruption investigation by the newly formed Cricket Regulator. Carse, who accepted the charges and cooperated with the independent regulatory body, was found to have breached ECB gambling regulations by placing 303 bets on various cricket matches between 2017 and

Toss England won the toss and chose to field first against Pakistan England will bowl first after winning the toss at the Kia Oval. Under overcast skies with further rain probable, the returning England captain Jos Buttler confirmed the weather played a part in the decision to chase. England make one change to the side

With two washed-out games out of three in their series against Pakistan, England’s preparation for the T20 World Cup has been some way short of ideal. Mark Wood said they were “deflated” by Tuesday night’s abandonment and with less than a week until their opening match against Scotland in Barbados, his own fitness remains something

Kate Cross, England’s veteran seamer, says she hasn’t given up hope of competing for a berth in England’s T20 World Cup squad in Bangladesh this winter, but admits her more realistic goal is the 50-over version in 2025, as she prepares to lead the line once more in the third ODI against Pakistan at Chelmsford.

England vs Pakistan – Match abandoned without a toss England and Pakistan will head to the T20 World Cup short on match practice after persistent rain wiped out Tuesday night’s match between them in Cardiff without a ball being bowled. It is the second abandonment of the series after the weather ruined Wednesday’s series opener

Jos Buttler is set to miss England’s third T20I against Pakistan on paternity leave. Buttler travelled home to London after captaining England to a 23-run victory at Edgbaston on Saturday, giving them a 1-0 lead in the four-match series after the opening match at Leeds was washed out. He and his wife Louise are expecting

Jos Buttler will keep wicket at the T20 World Cup after deciding the risk of England incurring strict over-rate penalties is outweighed by the superior view he gets from behind the stumps. Buttler’s decision means that he will lean heavily on Moeen Ali, his vice-captain, to relay messages to bowlers. The ICC have repeatedly attempted

Matthew Mott believes it is time his England team “get the mojo back” ahead of the T20 World Cup – and has hired Manchester City’s psychologist to help his players be more emotionally vulnerable if they come under pressure in the Caribbean. David Young, who was previously with England from 2016 to 2020, has worked

Gloucestershire have announced that chief executive Will Brown will leave the club this summer, ending his 11-year association with the county. Brown succeeded Tom Richardson in 2013 and oversaw a Royal London Cup win in 2015 and promotion to Division One. Bristol’s County Ground has also become a regular host of international men’s and women’s

Pakistan, meanwhile, remain the only one of the 20 participating sides at the World Cup not to have made their provisional squad for the tournament public. The PCB had specifically pointed to this game when declaring their intention to withhold the squad announcement, saying it would be finalised after the first T20I between the sides,

Sam Billings has called for a fair distribution of revenues from the ECB’s proposed sale of stakes in Hundred teams to private investors, and believes that the biggest clubs have a “moral responsibility” to ensure that all 18 first-class counties can thrive. There is broad agreement between the ECB and the counties that stakes in

Jos Buttler has defended the ECB’s decision to pull players out of the IPL playoffs in order to feature in England’s T20I series against Pakistan – but believes that no international cricket should clash with the world’s premier franchise league. Buttler is one of eight members of England’s provisional T20 World Cup squad who left

Big picture The last time England played Pakistan in this format, nearly 90,000 people turned up to watch, with a global audience potentially in the hundreds of millions. It came at the MCG in the 2022 T20 World Cup final, and as the Pakistani tears and wild English celebrations demonstrated, what was on the line

England’s fast-bowling stocks have been dealt another blow after Jamie Overton was diagnosed with a lower-back stress fracture which will rule him out of their Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer. Overton played his only Test at Headingley in June 2022, taking two wickets against New Zealand and scoring 97 from

Pat Cummins‘ key role in the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s which ignited last year’s Ashes series has been revealed while team-mates have admitted they were concerned for Alex Carey‘s well-being in the aftermath. The incident, on the fourth day of the second Test, is a major theme in season three of The