England

Like a fine wine, has Stuart Broad mellowed with age? That would appear to be the impression on the eve of his ninth Ashes campaign, with his admission that he doesn’t mind when or how he is deployed in the coming five Tests against Australia, just so long as he plays his part in an

The last time England won the men’s Ashes, Joe Root walked away with the Compton-Miller Medal as the player of the series. It was also the last time he played Australia without the burden of captaincy. Back in 2015, Root’s 460 runs at an average of 57.50 helped England to a 3-2 scoreline to regain

Moeen Ali is considering a return to Test cricket for the Ashes. The offspinning allrounder, who retired from the format at the end of the 2021 summer, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he has been approached by the England management to answer a mayday call after Jack Leach was ruled out of the five-match series with

Ben Stokes has implored Ollie Pope to take his new role as England’s official vice-captain “as seriously as I did” as concerns around Stokes’ fitness linger ahead of the first Ashes Test on June 16. Stokes reiterated before England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s that he intends to play a full part in all

From the bright lights of the IPL to the ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hats of Blackpool, Jos Buttler is set for quite the scenery change on Wednesday when he plays his first home match of the summer for Lancashire in the Vitality Blast against Worcestershire at Stanley Park. Buttler, fresh from two months at the IPL

England spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out of the men’s Ashes after scans revealed he had suffered a lumbar stress fracture. Leach developed “low back symptoms” during the Test victory over Ireland at Lord’s and he will now miss the entire series against Australia. Leach was among in the 16-man squad for the first

The shock news that Jack Leach has been ruled out of the Ashes is a significant blow to England’s preparations, depriving them of a spinner who has flourished under Ben Stokes’ leadership, and who has bought into the so-called “Bazball” ethos with his willingness to bowl to attacking fields, and accept the risk of some

When Sue Redfern walks onto the field in Bristol on Sunday as the first woman to stand as an umpire in a Vitality Blast match, she will do so hoping to make more than another significant step in her groundbreaking career. She wants to make way for women in cricket, including herself, to break free

Ben Stokes met Josh Tongue for the first time when the England squad gathered in London on Monday ahead of this one-off Test against Ireland. Less than a week on, Tongue has imprinted himself as permanently on his skipper’s heart as on the Lord’s honours board. With five for 66 in the second innings to

Ben Stokes insists that England fans have “nothing to worry about” as he continues to manage a chronic left knee issue ahead of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on June 16. He appeared to jar his left knee – which he has had to manage carefully for several years – when taking a catch

Stat-padding days are hard to come by, even for an England team that plays a lot of Test cricket. But on Friday at Lord’s, it seemed everyone who made it out to the middle were able to touch up their personal statistics at the expense of a willing but lacking Ireland attack. Ollie Pope registered

By 10am, the queue for entry at Lord’s North Gate was quite frankly eye-popping. It stretched past the Wellington Hospital, past the BP garage, down towards the road that provides a shortcut to the Beatles’ zebra crossing. But for the buses tiptoeing past those punters who had spilled off the pavements, it would have wormed

Ireland 172 (Broad 5-51, Leach 3-35) and 97 for 3 (Tongue 3-27) trail England 524 for 4 declared (Pope 205, Duckett 182, Crawley 56, Root 56) by 255 runs It had to be six. In England’s new Test era, his double-century just one run away it was only fitting that Ollie Pope passed the milestone

England 152 for 1 (Duckett 60*, Crawley 56) trail Ireland 172 (Broad 5-51) by 20 runs Pointless is a TV quiz show in which contestants must guess the most obscure answer to each question, an answer that’s right but which no member of the public surveyed by the show has thought of. But it was

Josh Tongue was quick to talk up Worcestershire’s role in him winning his first Test cap for England against Ireland at Lord’s this week, but it remains to be seen if he will still be at the county in 2024. Tongue is the first Worcestershire player to make a men’s Test debut for England since

As part of a new revenue-distribution model, India are set to take home 38.5% of the $600m earnings over the next four-year commercial cycle. The ECB are the next highest earners in the proposed model, potentially earning $41.33 million (6.89%) with Cricket Australia next highest with $37.53 million (6.25%). The PCB is projected to make

Ben Stokes says his fitness levels are back to their 2019 best and hopes to come good on a promise to his team-mates to fulfil his role as an allrounder this summer. A chronic left knee injury has left England’s Test captain managing his bowling output in recent years, in turn dulling the balance he

It’s not often you get to the eve of the Test summer and an England captain likens himself to a Chelsea footballer. But such are the demands on a modern cricketer like Ben Stokes, the comparison made sense. “I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL,” the allrounder joked during

Big picture: Searching for the pinnacle “So Ben, what does the Ashes rivalry mean to you?” No disrespect was intended to England’s actual opponents in tomorrow’s one-off Test against Ireland, but nor was there any point in playing the question – which came in the opening seconds of Ben Stokes‘ first press conference of the

Tongue, the 25-year-old Worcestershire seamer, was initially drafted into the squad last Wednesday as cover for James Anderson and Ollie Robinson who were nursing groin and ankle niggles, respectively. He will now make his international bow at Lord’s. Anderson and Robinson were ruled out of this week’s match by head coach Brendon McCullum on Monday,

Many Associate member boards fear the proposed new international revenue-distribution model, which heavily favours the game’s superpowers, could potentially stall the growth of the game. The ICC has proposed a new revenue-sharing model for the 2024-27 cycle to be voted on at its July board meeting in Durban. As reported by ESPNcricinfo earlier this month,

James Anderson and Ollie Robinson have been ruled out of England’s first Test of the summer, against Ireland at Lord’s from Thursday, but according to Brendon McCullum, both are on course for full fitness come the start of the Ashes at Edgbaston, beginning June 16. Neither has bowled competitively since, while there are still concerns

Gary Wilson, Ireland’s batting coach, is hopeful that his team’s heightened focus on technique ahead of their one-off Test against England at Lord’s will also aid them in their bid to qualify for the 50-over World Cup in India this winter. The four-day Test, beginning on Thursday, will be Ireland’s first against England since a

The Hundred is going nowhere before the end of 2028 and has “a long and successful future well beyond that”, according to the ECB’s chair. Several outlets reported last month that Richard Gould and Richard Thompson – the ECB’s chief executive and chair respectively, who previously held the same roles at Surrey – were discussing

England white-ball players are considering negotiating releases from their ECB contracts in order to take up lucrative offers to play in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States. English players on full central contracts are unlikely to feature in MLC this year but ESPNcricinfo understands that Jason Roy – who

Having come through the pathway at New Road since the age of six, Tongue has shown good pace and bounce from a tall action and will join the Test squad for their camp this weekend as a point of difference. With Robinson, Anderson and Mark Wood due to sit out the Ireland Test to preserve

The directors of cricket (DoCs) at county clubs have called for an “urgent” review into standard contracts to address the “very real challenge” presented by their players representing several franchises during the English winter. The majority of county cricketers are employed on 12-month contracts but the English season only runs from April to September, meaning

England were handed good news ahead of the Test summer as scans revealed Ollie Robinson had suffered no damage to his left ankle. The seamer reported discomfort in the ankle after day two of Sussex’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Glamorgan at Hove last week. He left the field on day three with soreness

James Anderson believes Australia will not be able to cope with England at their best as he prepares to play no more than four of the five men’s Ashes Tests this summer. Anderson is recovering from a mild groin strain picked up during Lancashire’s County Championship match against Somerset last week. While the 40-year-old expects

James Anderson is set to miss England’s first Test of the summer against Ireland at Lord’s as he looks to preserve himself for the Ashes series that follows. Anderson is currently recovering from a mild strain of his left groin picked up during Lancashire’s recent County Championship match against Somerset. The 40-year-old picked up the