England

Jonny Bairstow feared he would never walk again after breaking his left leg in three places last August. On Tuesday, Bairstow’s recovery from the horrific injury sustained while playing golf came full circle. After eight months on the sidelines, missing six Tests and England’s T20 World Cup win, the 33-year-old was recalled to England’s squad

Zak Crawley says he doesn’t care about criticism over his continued selection, after the opener was announced as one of 15 names for the first Test of the summer against Ireland, which takes place on June 1 ahead of the Ashes. While the major talking point was the axing of wicketkeeper Ben Foakes for the

Jonny Bairstow has been recalled as England’s Test wicketkeeper at the expense of Ben Foakes for next month’s one-off Test against Ireland. James Anderson is also included in the 15-man squad, despite suffering a minor groin strain while playing for Lancashire last week. Jofra Archer, who recently returned from the IPL to assess discomfort in

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the English summer, including the Ashes, after the ECB confirmed a recurrence of the stress fracture in his right elbow. Concerns about Archer’s fitness were raised earlier this month when he flew home early from his IPL stint with Mumbai Indians, having already taken time out of the

Just over a month before the start of the Ashes, bowling remains “a bit of a challenge” for England’s captain Ben Stokes, who continues to miss out on selection for Chennai Super Kings at the IPL. England play their first Test against Australia at Edgbaston on June 16 and Stokes has signalled his intention to

On-field umpires will no longer be required to give a “soft signal” while referring contentious catches to the TV umpire, according to the revised ICC playing conditions that will come into effect from June 1, 2023. The on-field umpires will now simply consult with the TV umpire before a final decision regarding a referred catch

Usman Khawaja says he has learned plenty from his two underwhelming tours of England as he prepares for what he calls the toughest test for a top-order batter. The 36-year-old opener will be integral to Australia’s chances of retaining the Ashes when the first of five Tests begin in Birmingham on June 16, following the

James Anderson is a doubt for England’s first Test of the summer, starting against Ireland on June 1, after confirmation that he had suffered a “minor strain to his right groin” while playing for Lancashire. Anderson did not participate any further in the County Championship game against Somerset at Old Trafford after returning figures of

England Test head coach Brendon McCullum believes international boards, including the ECB, would be “completely naive” to assume their stars would turn down longterm franchise contracts. Recent reports have suggested that IPL teams are in talks with a number of English cricketers to sign annual deals. Given their investments across other tournaments such as the

Ebony Rainford-Brent, the World Cup-winning former England batter who went on to found the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme, is set to join the ECB board as one of two new cricket non-executive directors. The appointments of Rainford-Brent and sports development expert Pete Ackerley completes the restructuring of the ECB board, after last month’s announcement of

Jofra Archer has flown home from the Indian Premier League “to focus on his rehabilitation” with four games remaining in the group stage of the tournament. “Archer has been recovering from right elbow surgery,” an ECB statement said. “However, pushing through the discomfort whilst recently playing, hoping it will settle, has proven challenging. Therefore, it

Katherine Sciver-Brunt, the most prolific bowler in English women’s cricket, has announced her international retirement after a 19-year career. Sciver-Brunt, who made her England debut in 2004, played the last of her 267 international matches against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final at Newlands in February. In all, she claimed a total of

Sciver-Brunt, the most prolific bowler in English women’s cricket, called time on her international career after 19 years on Friday, ruling her out of the home Women’s Ashes series starting next month. In reality, she would only have been available for selection in the T20 leg of the multi-format series, having announced her retirement from

England Men will return to Trinidad for the first time since 2009 as part of their limited-overs tour of West Indies at the end of 2023. The tour, which consists of three ODIs and five T20Is, will run from December 3 to 21, taking England through Antigua, Barbados, Grenada and Trinidad. Each island will host

England have fired the first shots, or attempted to, in time-honoured fashion ahead of the men’s Ashes, now Issy Wong has joined in the salvo, saying it’s not a bad time to take on Australia Women with their multi-format series beginning next month. Wong made her debut in all three formats during South Africa’s tour

The ECB has announced that Andrew Strauss will stand down as a strategic advisor and chair of the performance cricket committee, part of a swathe of boardroom-level changes announced on Friday. Strauss, the former England captain, has fulfilled both duties since September 2020, and has been regarded as a respected figurehead throughout the English game,

“It’s similar to 2019, isn’t it?” Chris Woakes noted, as he looked at the 2023 schedule with its home Ashes series and a 50-over World Cup in the next six months. To say his eyes widened would be an understatement. Four years on, he remains a factor for both, but his standing in white and

Stuart Broad has said Australia’s 4-0 series win over England in 2021-22 does not count as a real Ashes victory, arguing Covid-19 restrictions made it void. Seven weeks out from the first Test at Edgbaston, he has fired the first shot across Australia’s bow with his bizarre claim. In a lengthy interview, he also predicted Australia will

Jonny Bairstow confirmed he is ready to push for a place in this summer’s Ashes, after producing a hard-hitting innings of 97 from 88 balls for Yorkshire 2nd XI, in his first competitive innings since breaking his leg last summer. Bairstow, 33, had been in the form of his life for England’s Test team in

Mark Wood is set to miss the final stages of IPL 2023 to attend the birth of his daughter in late May, but the majority of England players involved in the competition are expected to stay in India for the whole season. Wood has missed Lucknow Super Giants’ last two matches due to illness but

Gary Ballance, the former Yorkshire and England cricketer who recently relaunched his career with his native Zimbabwe, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect. Ballance, 33, made four centuries in 23 Test appearances for England between 2014 and 2017, a record that compared favourably with many other players to have

Ben Stokes has been named men’s Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2023 edition of the Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack, published on Tuesday. Stokes, who achieved the honour in 2020 and 2021 for his performance with bat and ball, has made it three wins in four years primarily off the back of his leadership. Since

The ECB is “exploring” a possible breach of their anti-corruption rules by Test head coach Brendon McCullum regarding his relationship with bookmaker 22Bet India. McCullum’s deal with the Cyprus-registered company was announced in November 2022, six months after he was appointed to his current role with the England men’s side. However, over the past few

Jofra Archer is absent from Mumbai Indians’ line-up for the high-profile IPL match against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday evening. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Archer experienced discomfort in his right elbow immediately after his first game of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 2. Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai captain, when asked by Ravi

Ben Stokes made a tentative return to bowling for Chennai Super Kings on Monday night, but insists that his “main priority” is ensuring he can “fulfil my role as fourth seamer” in this summer’s Ashes series. Stokes has been managing an injury in his left knee for a considerable period of time and received cortisone

Ollie Pope is among many within English cricket watching Ben Stokes at the IPL with bated breath. Despite nursing a troublesome left knee, Stokes chose to fulfil his commitment to Chennai Super Kings. Reinforced by a cortisone injection prior to travelling out to India, England’s Test captain is currently two games into his stint and

Will Jacks believes the hip flexor injury sidelining him at the start of the English season resulted from a relentless winter schedule. The Surrey allrounder picked up the injury on England’s limited-overs tour of Bangladesh in March, and is expected to be fit by the end of May, in time for Surrey’s T20 Blast campaign.

Liam Livingstone will miss Punjab Kings’ fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday but could arrive in India in time to make his comeback from injury against Gujarat Titans on April 13. Livingstone has not played a competitive match since making his Test debut for England against Pakistan four months ago in Rawalpindi, when he jarred

Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, says that the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) hearings into Azeem Rafiq’s allegations of racism at Yorkshire were an important moment for English cricket in its attempts to become the most inclusive sport in the country. Last Friday, five of the six former Yorkshire players who had been charged by

The ECB will introduce multi-year deals for their centrally contracted male cricketers, and increase match fees across the board, to stave off the growing threat of franchise tournaments. While those who chose to miss the tour were not centrally contracted, it was a wake-up call for the ECB, whose wealth had previously insulated them from