England

Matthew Fisher is unlikely to feature for England this summer after scans revealed that his back injury was worse than initially feared. Fisher, 24, made his Test debut in Barbados in March as a late replacement for the unwell Craig Overton and took a wicket with his second ball, having John Campbell caught behind. He

Matthew Mott has been named as the new head coach of England men’s white-ball squads, after being preferred in the role to Paul Collingwood, who took charge during the recent T20I series in the Caribbean. Mott, 48, joins the set-up after a seven-year stint as head coach of Australia Women, who recently claimed the ODI

It was a case of mindset over matter as England unveiled their first squad selection of the Brendon McCullum era. Many of the same notes, in a slightly different order, like the set-up for a Morecombe and Wise sketch, but hopefully without quite the same element of farce in the final analysis. McCullum, currently at

Does anyone remember Chris Dehring? Those of a certain age might raise an eyebrow of recognition at a name that, in the years leading up to the 2007 World Cup, was the ubiquitous, plausible face of West Indies cricket – first as the man who spearheaded the WICB’s successful bid, then as the Managing Director

Leaving aside the odd season of injury comebacks, it’s been 15 extraordinary years since James Anderson last went into a home summer as anything other than England’s attack leader. You have to go way back to the India series in 2007, when his second Test five-for at Lord’s hinted at the bowler he was about

Tom Harrison is set to step down as chief executive of the ECB after seven-and-a-half years in post. Harrison was appointed in October 2014, starting full-time the following January, and has been a controversial figure throughout his tenure. He oversaw the introduction of the Hundred, which belatedly launched last summer, and while the £1.1 billion

Saqib Mahmood, the England fast bowler, has been ruled out for the season after being diagnosed with a lumbar stress fracture. Mahmood, who made his Test debut in the Caribbean in March, missed Lancashire’s most-recent Championship fixture with lower back pain and subsequent scans revealed the full extent of the problem. His absence will further

Brendon McCullum “knocked it out the park” during his interview to become England’s new Test coach and “blew us away with his clarity of thinking”, according to Andrew Strauss, a strategic advisor to the ECB. McCullum’s appointment was confirmed on Thursday after two days of interviews at the start of this week and Strauss, who

The challenge of lifting England’s Test cricket from “rock bottom” instead of a “cushy” role with the limited-overs side is what attracted Brendon McCullum to his first red-ball coaching job. He admitted that initially it was not a job he had given much thought to but as the interview process progressed the opportunity “kind of

To paraphrase Monty Python, apart from 6453 runs in 101 matches, a highest score of 302 and a world-record 54-ball century in his final appearance, what has Brendon McCullum ever done for Test cricket? Well, if those numbers alone don’t impress you, how about his defining role, in the winter of 2014-15, in creating the

Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand captain, has been confirmed by the ECB as England Men’s new Test head coach, on a four-year deal. McCullum, who will step down from his role as Kolkata Knight Riders’ head coach at the end of the ongoing IPL, played 101 Tests for New Zealand between 2004 and 2016,

Brendon McCullum has emerged as a surprise contender for the vacant role as England’s Test coach following two days of interviews at Lord’s. McCullum, who is in his third season as Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach at the IPL, has never coached a first-class game and was widely expected to be a candidate for the white-ball

Rob Key, the ECB’s new managing director of men’s cricket, has given the first clear outline of his vision for England’s white-ball sides by throwing his weight behind Eoin Morgan‘s captaincy while underlining that he is not looking for a “facilitator” white-ball head coach during the ongoing interview process. Key has largely focused on England’s

Surrey head coach Gareth Batty has confirmed that Sam Curran‘s return to full bowling fitness is on track despite the England all-rounder’s limited workload. Curran has sent down just 10 competitive overs since his Surrey return three weeks ago, following six months out with a stress fracture of the back. Those overs all came on

Graham Thorpe, the former England batter, is “seriously ill” in hospital, according to the Professional Cricketers’ Association. Thorpe, 52, played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005, averaging 44.66 with 16 centuries. He was recently announced as the new head coach of Afghanistan following a decade of involvement within England’s coaching set-up, which came

Ron Kalifa, the man widely tipped to become the next chair of the ECB, has withdrawn from the race, to deepen the leadership crisis at the top of English cricket. The ECB has been without a permanent chair since October, when Ian Watmore quit the role in the wake of England’s withdrawal from their planned

Ben Stokes, England’s new Test captain, has confirmed that Joe Root will move back to No. 4 in the order when the team returns to action against New Zealand next month. Root, Stokes’ predecessor who stood down after five years in the role, had moved up to No. 3 for England’s most-recent series, a 1-0

Jofra Archer hopes to make his return to first-team cricket later this month and has admitted that his elbow injury left him fearing for his England central contract. Archer, 27, has not played for England since their T20I series in India last March and has undergone three bouts of surgery in the last 14 months:

Joe Root and Ben Stokes, England’s past and present Test captains, will both return to action for the first time this season in the latest round of LV= County Championship matches on Thursday. Root, who stood down last month during an extended break following England’s series loss in the Caribbean, has been named in a

Ben Stokes, England’s new Test captain, says he expects a team of “selfless” cricketers to take the field alongside him, starting with next month’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, as the squad begins the process of turning around a run of form in which they have achieved one victory in their past 17

Ben Stokes has been named as England men’s Test captain. Stokes was the preferred candidate to take on the job after Joe Root’s resignation following five years in the role. England’s leading allrounder, and one of the few players sure of their place in the XI, Stokes becomes the 81st captain of the men’s Test

James Anderson and Stuart Broad will be considered “available for selection” for the first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2, according to Rob Key, the new director of the England men’s team, following their controversial omissions from the recent tour of the Caribbean. Despite their combined haul of 1177

Rob Key, England’s new director of cricket, says that the chance to have some “skin in the game” was the primary reason why he was willing to forego a commentary role with Sky Sports that he had previously declared to be the “best job in the world” and take on the onerous challenge of reviving

The power vacuum at the top of English cricket looks set to extend throughout the home summer, after the ECB was forced to restart the recruitment process for its new chairman, amid reports that Ron Kalifa – the man leading the nominations committee – is set to be put himself forward for the role instead.

The leading fast bowlers on the county circuit are having their speeds tracked in the early stages of the Championship season as the ECB’s scouting and talent identification department look to improve the quality of data available before players are selected for England. While bowling coaches can use handheld guns that measure bowling speeds from

England will revert to a split-coaching structure for the first time in eight years after the ECB formally advertised for two new head coaches: one for their Test team, the other for white-ball cricket. The decision to split the coaching role in two had been widely anticipated since Rob Key‘s appointment as managing director of

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that ECB’s new managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key needs to grow a “thick skin” just like how he did to counter the “jealous people.” Speaking to the Guardian, Shastri said there was a “gang of people in India” who always wanted him to fail. Just

Rehan Ahmed, the legspinning allrounder who played an integral role in England’s run to the final of this year’s Under-19 World Cup, has signed a long-term contract extension that will keep him at Leicestershire until the end of 2026. Ahmed, a product of the Leicestershire academy, made his first appearances for the senior team as

Graham Ford has emerged as a leading contender to become England men’s new Test coach. Ford, 61, left his job as Ireland’s head coach in November after four years in charge, with his previous roles including stints with Sri Lanka, Surrey and his native South Africa. Most relevantly, he spent five years as Kent’s director

Mohammad Amir will make a surprise return to first-class cricket after signing a short-term deal to play for Gloucestershire in the County Championship. Amir has not played a first-class match since August 2019, when he played a Championship game for Essex a month after his retirement from Test cricket. He will play three Championship games