England

Marnus Labuschagne believes the slowness of the Edgbaston pitch played a part in him being drawn into twice edging Stuart Broad during the first Ashes Test but while he is looking at some technical adjustments it isn’t something he will dwell on for long. Labuschagne netted extensively at Lord’s over the weekend in preparation for

England will beat Australia by 150 runs at Lord’s next week to square the men’s Ashes series at one-all. That is the belief of Zak Crawley, who has also predicted that the level of “niggle” between the two sides will heighten over the course of the series. Speaking to Times Radio, Crawley said that the

Saqib Mahmood will visit a specialist in London next week amid concerns that a stress reaction in his back could rule him out for the rest of the English summer. Mahmood, who has played for England in all three international formats, has only played five games for Lancashire this season, two in the County Championship

Rehan Ahmed, the 18-year-old Leicestershire legspinner who claimed a memorable five-wicket haul on his Test debut in Karachi last year, has been added to England’s Test squad as cover for Moeen Ali, whose performance at Edgbaston was hampered by a blistered spinning finger. Rehan’s call-up comes after limited success for Leicestershire in this year’s County

Joe Root says fans should “strap in” as England look to double down on their aggressive approach and bounce back from defeat in the first Ashes Test. For all the entertainment England provided across five days at Edgbaston, Australia’s victory by two wickets has set the narrative against the hosts. An engaging style of play

Australia 386 (Khawaja 141, Carey 66, Head 50) and 282 for 8 (Khawaja 65) beat England 393 for 8 declared (Root 118, Bairstow 78, Crawley 61, Lyon 4-149) and 273 (Cummins 4-63, Lyon 4-80) by two wickets Australia won an epic first Test by two wickets, to take a 1-0 lead over England at Edgbaston,

Brendon McCullum believes that the first Ashes Test “validated” England’s attacking method despite a two-wicket defeat to Australia that he likened to a heavyweight bout and expects his side to “go a little harder” in the second Test at Lord’s next week. England scored at 4.61 runs per over in the match and attacked Australia’s

Ashes series can turn on moments like these. Three balls into Usman Khawaja’s second innings at Edgbaston, James Anderson angled a ball into him from around the wicket which squared him up and took his outside edge – only for it to trickle harmlessly down to the boundary between wicketkeeper and first slip. Khawaja had

Match referee Andy Pycroft ruled that both teams were two overs short of their targets after time allowances were factored in. Teams are docked one WTC point, and 20% of their match fee for each over they are short of their target. Both captains, Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes, accepted the sanctions.

England hope that a week’s gap between the first and second Ashes Tests will enable their bowling attack time to recover ahead of back-to-back fixtures at Lord’s and Headingley, following a heavy workload at Edgbaston this week. The second men’s Test starts on June 28 at Lord’s and England are only expected to train twice

Tash Farrant, England’s left-arm seamer, is to undergo surgery after suffering a recurrence of the lumbar spine stress fracture that ruled her out of the entire 2022 season. Farrant, 27, undertook an extensive rehab programme following the initial injury last May and returned to domestic action in April. However, she has played predominantly as a

The devil on Joe Root’s shoulder just before 11am. The demon terrorising Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith just before 7pm. A day in the life of Stuart Broad is rich and varied. On Monday, Broad added a new entry to his roller-dex of Ashes moments. A vital top-order dual hit on Labuschagne and Smith in

Matt Parkinson will leave Lancashire at the end of the season to join Kent on a three-year-deal. The 26-year-old leg-spinner has found his opportunities limited at his boyhood county, despite starting the season with a five-wicket haul in the first round of this season’s County Championship against Surrey. He then played one match on loan

Ollie Robinson has defended his send-off towards Usman Khawaja, saying he “doesn’t care” how Australia might receive his actions and that he is “here to provide… that theatre of the game”. Robinson removed Khawaja for 141 on the third morning at Edgbaston, knocking back his off stump as he came down the pitch looking to

Moeen Ali has been fined 25% of his match fee and handed a demerit point on his return to red-ball cricket after spraying “a drying agent on his bowling hand” on the second day of the first Ashes Test. Moeen admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft, the match referee. “In

Australia 311 for 5 (Khawaja 126*, Carey 52*, Head 50) trail England 393 for 8 declared by 82 runs Usman Khawaja walked up the dressing-room stairs unbeaten for the second straight evening at Edgbaston, 122 runs better off than he had been the night before. England hoped four overs would be enough to dislodge Khawaja

Some centuries mean a bit more than others. But a few of Usman Khawaja‘s since his triumphant return to the Test side have had added significance. Firstly, there was the comeback itself at Sydney in the last Ashes, an opportunity he thought may never come around. Then, having long carried a tag of being unable

What would the late, great Shane Warne have made of it all? A deep point in position for Australia’s first delivery of the series? A first-day declaration with Joe Root in full flow? Two batters stumped on the opening day of the Ashes – the first time that’s happened since Lord’s in 1890? Everywhere you

Jonny Bairstow admitted that the occasion and atmosphere at Edgbaston are “what we live for” as professional cricketers, after marking his first innings for England in nearly ten months with a run-a-ball 78 on a frenetic opening day of the 2023 Ashes. Though Bairstow made his return to the Test team against Ireland at Lord’s

Dan Lawrence will leave his home club Essex at the end of the season after agreeing a shock move to Surrey on a three-year contract. Lawrence, the spare batter in England’s Ashes squad, grew up in Chingford and has played for Essex’s first team since the age of 17, having previously represented the county’s age-group

Warwickshire have ramped up security levels to mitigate the threat of activists running onto the Edgbaston pitch and disrupting the first Ashes Test, and have also prepared a spare pitch that will be used in the event that the playing surface is damaged. Just Stop Oil, a coalition of environmental action groups, have disrupted a

Moeen Ali has revealed that he cancelled a family holiday in the Cotswolds to make himself available to play in the Ashes – but will miss Wednesday’s training session at Edgbaston in order to collect his OBE. Moeen was awarded an OBE for services to cricket in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last year, which he

Southampton’s Ageas Bowl will host a Men’s Ashes Test for the first time in 2027 following the announcement of venues for England’s home international matches from 2025-31. The Ageas Bowl, which hosts its first Women’s Ashes ODI on July 16, will also stage its first Women’s Ashes Test in 2031, with the 2027 edition to

The move comes as a surprise given England’s stated desire for “fast, flat wickets” this summer, leaving them without a genuine fast bowler in the side – though Wood is likely to come into the side at some stage in the series. Ben Stokes, England’s captain, has previously signalled his wish to hit Australia with

Moeen Ali is viewing his return to Test cricket as “a free hit” and revealed he might not have come out of retirement for the Ashes had Ben Stokes not been the England captain positing the question. Speaking at Edgbaston, ahead of Friday’s first Test against Australia, Moeen was phlegmatic, even self-deprecating about his merits

“Stokesy messaged me with a question,” said Moeen Ali. “‘Ashes?'” “I hadn’t heard the news on Leachy [Jack Leach] at the time. So I just said ‘LOL’, thinking he’s taking the mick.” Just a couple of things to unpack there. A 35-year-old man using “lol” is one of them, even if that’s more common than

Steven Finn believes that Josh Tongue‘s success since he dismissed Steven Smith at New Road last month proves that “English cricket as a whole” benefitted from Smith’s short stint in the County Championship. Smith’s three-match contract with Sussex prompted fierce debate within the county game around the merits of enabling Australian players to tune up

Ollie Pope has backed Zak Crawley to make an impression in the Ashes, believing the England opener can strike a run-a-ball hundred against Australia’s much-vaunted attack. Crawley remains a point of contention in a team that has won 11 out of their last 13 Tests under Ben Stokes’ captaincy. He’s been a constant selection since

Are England better-equipped to face Australia now than they were a week ago? Graeme Swann believes they are, following Moeen Ali‘s decision to reverse his retirement from Test cricket and fill the vacancy created by Jack Leach‘s lower-back stress fracture. “I think it makes us stronger,” Swann, a three-time Ashes winner during his England career,

Moeen Ali has reversed his retirement from Test cricket and been added to England’s Ashes squad after answering an SOS call from the team’s management. Moeen confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Monday night that he had been asked to consider a potential call-up following an injury to Jack Leach, who went for scans after England’s 10-wicket