England

For the first time under Ben Stokes‘ captaincy, England will be playing for pride in a Test match. India hold the spoils, and all England have is the carrot of leaving with a 3-2 scoreline by becoming the first team since 2012 to win two matches in a series against the hosts. Though that is

He’s taken 35 five-wicket hauls, more than anyone in Test history apart from Muthiah Muralidaran, Shane Warne and Richard Hadlee. Two more, and only Muralidaran will remain ahead of him. Despite having all those big wicket hauls to choose from, R Ashwin has picked three non-five-fors as his most memorable performances in Test cricket. Two

“He’s probably going to be fed up of me by September,” Tom Hartley joked ahead of what he hopes will be a productive summer picking the brains of Nathan Lyon. England’s newest finger spinner has Australia’s finest as a Lancashire team-mate for the duration of the 2024 season. He does not regard that as a

Bashir and Tom Hartley have thrived out in India despite limited grounding in the county game and McCullum said earlier this week that it would “slightly mad” if they did not get increased opportunities during the coming season. While McCullum suggested he would like to see Bashir and Jack Leach bowling in tandem at Somerset,

England head coach Brendon McCullum says it would be “slightly mad” if Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir are unable to build on a breakthrough tour of India in county cricket, and has suggested clubs should produce pitches to assist in the development of spinners across the country. Hartley and Bashir have been two plus points

Joe Root‘s first century in England’s ongoing tour of India has lifted the batter to No. 3, while Yashasvi Jaiswal‘s consistent scores have taken him to No. 12 on ICC’s rankings for Test batters. Root’s unbeaten 122 in the fourth Test, his first major contribution with the bat this series, lifted him two places and

Eoin Morgan, England’s World Cup-winning captain, has been appointed as the new President of the Professional Cricketers’ Association. Morgan, 37, captained England to victory in the 2019 World Cup and retired in 2022 after more than 350 international appearances across formats. He will succeed the outgoing president Charlotte Edwards, to become the role’s tenth incumbent.

As England nursed the collective disappointment of their series defeat, head coach Brendon McCullum defended Ollie Robinson after a tough first outing in India. But Robinson finds himself at another juncture in a Test career only in its third year, with questions remaining about his robustness. Robinson had been primed for a pivotal role during

India 307 (Jurel 90, Jaiswal 73, Bashir 5-119) and 192 for 5 (Rohit 55, Gill 52*, Jurel 39*, Bashir 3-79) beat England 353 (Root 122*, Robinson 58, Jadeja 4-67) and 145 (Crawley 60, Ashwin 5-51, Kuldeep 4-22) by five wickets India, led by the sixth-wicket pair of Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, stood up to

Ben Stokes refused to criticise his side’s second-innings batting effort after England saw an opportunity to square the series with victory in Ranchi slip by. Having taken a lead of 46 on first innings, England were bowled out for 145 on day three, in conditions Stokes described as close to “impossible” to bat on, as

Shoaib Bashir dedicated his maiden England five-wicket haul to his late grandfathers, as he braced himself for one last big push in the fourth Test in Ranchi, after a day of Indian dominance put the hosts on course for a series-sealing victory. Bashir bowled a marathon 44 overs in India’s first innings in claiming final

India 307 (Jurel 90, Jaiswal 73, Bashir 5-119) and 40 for 0 (Rohit 24*, Jaiswal 16*) need 152 runs to beat England 353 and 145 (Crawley 60, Ashwin 5-51, Kuldeep 4-22) R Ashwin‘s five-wicket haul, and Kuldeep Yadav‘s four, spun India to an achievable target for victory in the third Test, and the series. On

India 219 for 7 (Jaiswal 73, Bashir 4-84) trail England 353 (Root 122*, Robinson 58, Jadeja 4-67) by 134 runs Shoaib Bashir spun India into the danger zone with a four-wicket haul that ensured England ended the second day of the fourth Test still 134 runs ahead and needing only three more wickets to secure

Jack Leach is set to have surgery on his left knee to remove the remaining swelling that cut short his Test tour of India. England’s left-arm spinner sustained the injury during the first Test in Hyderabad after jarring his knee on the ground while diving near the boundary on day one. The injury was exacerbated

England 302 for 7 (Root 106*, Robinson 31*, Akash 3-70, Siraj 2-60) vs India A stirring century from Joe Root tempered Akash Deep‘s dream debut and pulled England out of trouble on an enthralling first day of what is a must-win fourth Test for the touring side in Ranchi. Root, who had copped criticism for

Rehan, the 19-year-old, featured in England’s first three Tests against India. He picked up 11 wickets at an average of 44, including a match-haul of 6 for 153 in Visakhapatnam. He was, however, left out of the England XI for the fourth Test beginning in Ranchi. It is understood Ben Stokes’ decision to leave Rehan

Big picture: Joe Root’s time to bounce back England have not lost a Test series in the Bazball era. Of the seven completed series in this period, they won four and drew three. However, that could change over the next five days as India – after trouncing England by 434 runs in Rajkot – go

Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir will play the fourth Test against India as England roll the dice in this must-win game on a cracked Ranchi pitch. The pair, who will replace Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed, are the only changes from the 434-run defeat against India in Rajkot, which leaves England 2-1 down, desperate to

“It looked interesting, didn’t it? I don’t know. I can’t say much.” It was perhaps the most diplomatic answer Ben Stokes has given in India so far. Coming into this tour, England made a conscious effort not to moan about pitches. Just like any team at home, curating a surface on their own terms was

England are considering turning back to their one specialist quick approach for the must-win fourth Test in Ranchi, with Ollie Robinson set to make his first appearance of the tour. And they could also be boosted by Ben Stokes returning to his role as a seam-bowling allrounder. The tourists are yet to make a concrete

Brendon McCullum says he may have to hold Ben Stokes back from bowling in the ongoing series with India but admits it is “a good sign” the England captain is open to the possibility of reprising his allrounder role in the final two Tests. Stokes has been progressing his bowling throughout this tour following an

India 445 (Rohit 131, Jadeja 112, Sarfaraz 62, Wood 4-114) and 430 for 4 dec (Jaiswal 214*, Gill 91, Sarfaraz 68*) beat England 319 (Duckett 153, Siraj 4-84) and 122 (Wood 33, Jadeja 5-41) by 434 runs India needed such a day. Just to send the message out to those who had started believing they

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, has promised that his team will park the disappointment of their crushing 434-run loss in the third Test in Rajkot, and move onto Ranchi later this week fully focussed on bouncing back to claim a 3-2 series victory. After challenging India hard over the first two days of the contest, England’s

Ben Stokes has called for the Decision Review System (DRS) to scrap umpire’s call after England were left bemused by Zak Crawley‘s second-innings dismissal in their defeat in the third Test against India. Crawley reviewed Kumar Dharamasena’s decision to give him out lbw to Jasprit Bumrah in the ninth over but left the field incensed,

Joe Root‘s dismissal, reverse-scooping Jasprit Bumrah straight to second slip to spark England’s collapse on the third morning in Rajkot, should be viewed no differently to him “playing a drive and nicking off”. That was the argument put forward by Ben Duckett, who defended his team-mate’s shot selection amid widespread criticism. Root has played the

England 207 for 2 (Duckett 133*, Root 9*) trail India 445 (Rohit 131, Jadeja 112, Sarfaraz 62) by 238 runs A sensational century by Ben Duckett, at 88 balls the third fastest against India in India, left the hosts shell-shocked after they once again left runs un-scored in their first innings of 445. There was

The ICC has banned Rizwan Javed, a UK-based club cricketer, for 17-and-a-half years – the second-longest sentence handed out by the ICC to date – after he was found guilty of five different breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) anti-corruption code. Javed was among eight players and officials originally charged by the ICC in

India 326 for 5 (Rohit 131, Jadeja 110*, Sarfaraz 62, Wood 3-69) vs England On the first day of the third Test, India’s batting finally came together but not without an early alarm. Down at 33 for 3 on a pitch that was full of runs and with two debutants to follow, India were looking

Mark Wood has been recalled to England’s attack at the expense of the offspinner Shoaib Bashir, as England confirmed their team for the third Test against India, which gets underway in Rajkot on Thursday. Wood played as a lone seamer in England’s victory in the first Test at Hyderabad but went wicketless on a surface

Ben Stokes continued his return to operating as a fully functioning allrounder on Wednesday with a 20-minute bowling session in Rajkot, but will not bowl in England’s remaining three Tests in India. The England captain has been stepping up his bowling on this tour after an operation on his left knee at the end of