England

Liam Livingstone will make his England Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Livingstone, 29, will be one of two new faces named by skipper Ben Stokes for the first Test from the team that ended the English summer. Ben Duckett will partner Zak Crawley at the top of the order, replacing Alex Lees

Brendon McCullum says England will continue their mantra of attacking cricket in Pakistan ahead of a series in which he hopes his players will experience “the greatest accomplishment” of winning overseas. England’s first Test tour of Pakistan in 17 years is also a first assignment abroad for the McCullum-Ben Stokes revolution that took the home

Ah, but what of South Africa? Sure, that didn’t work at the start. Defeat by an innings and 12 runs inside three days at Lord’s drew plenty of pent-up derision from the sidelines, most of it from traditional supporters – many of them English – who were slightly put out by the suggestion that they

The Hundred will run from August 1-27 in 2023, a shorter window than in its first two seasons as the competition avoids a clash with England’s home international cricket for the first time. England men’s Tests against India (2021) and South Africa (2022) have been previously played alongside the Hundred, overlapping with the second half

Ollie Pope only knew the day before that he would be captaining England in their warm-up match against the Lions in Abu Dhabi. While sitting at breakfast with Zak Crawley and Jack Leach at the team’s plush Ritz Carlton hotel, head coach Brendon McCullum casually sidled over and informed him he would be leading in

A private equity firm has tabled a £400 million bid for a 75 percent stake in the Hundred, in what has been described as a potentially “game-changing” development for the future of English cricket. According to Sky News, Bridgepoint Group, a London-listed buyout firm, has approached the ECB with a proposal that could inject up

England fast bowler Mark Wood is a doubt for the first Test against Pakistan. Wood has been in the UK recovering from a hip injury sustained during England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign and will join up with the Test squad in Rawalpindi this weekend. Though the injury ruled the 32-year-old out of the semi-final

The promotion of Rehan Ahmed to the Test squad might have seemed a bit last-minute. But a day after Ahmed was informed by head coach Brendon McCullum of his selection for the tour of Pakistan, men’s director of cricket Rob Key revealed that that had been the plan all along. A 15-man Test squad was

Rehan Ahmed, the 18-year-old legspinning allrounder from Leicestershire, has officially been added to England’s Test squad for the tour of Pakistan. Ahmed, who has just three first-class appearances to his name, was originally due to travel to Pakistan as a net bowler, with the ECB taking a view in October that the experience would benefit

Ben Stokes will sit out day one of England’s Test three-day warm-up match against England Lions ahead of their tour to Pakistan, with Ollie Pope set to lead in his absence. Stokes is understood to be managing his body, particularly a troublesome left knee, after getting through nine T20Is in the space of a month,

Luke Wright, the former England and Sussex allrounder, has been named as the new England Men’s selector. The role, which covers many of the duties previously carried out by the former national selector, Ed Smith, will see Wright sharing responsibility for the selection of England’s red- and white-ball teams, alongside the coaches and captains of

Luke Wright‘s appointment as an England selector on Tuesday coincided with his retirement from professional cricket, bringing a decorated, 20-year career to a close. He leaves the game with over 20,000 runs and more than 300 wickets; the record for the most runs in the T20 Blast; and a host of trophies to his name

The BBL has suffered a major blow just weeks out from the start of a new season with Liam Livingstone, the number one pick in the inaugural overseas draft, withdrawing from the tournament due to his increased international workload. Livingstone was the first player picked by Melbourne Renegades in August and was the most sought-after

England decided to bowl against Australia Both Pat Cummins and Jos Buttler returned for the final ODI at a scarcely populated MCG as Australia looked to close out a 3-0 series victory. The pair had been rested in Sydney with Josh Hazlewood leading the home side and Moeen Ali captaining England. Cummins returned in place

The England Test side has been shedding support staff during the early stages of Brendon McCullum‘s tenure as head coach. However a new addition has been made for their upcoming tour of Pakistan – a chef. The appointment comes following a debrief of the limited-overs side’s experiences in the country during their seven-match T20I series.

Australia decided to bat against England There were two new captains at the toss for the second ODI in Sydney as Josh Hazlewood led Australia for the first time with Pat Cummins rested and Moeen Ali taking charge of England with Jos Buttler having the game off. Hazlewood became the 28th Australia men’s ODI captain

Big picture Underlining the increasingly congested cricket calendar, newly-minted T20 World Cup champions England have had to snap out of revelry and attempt to somehow focus on a seemingly inconsequential three-match ODI series against Australia. Around 72 hours after partying into the wee hours of Monday, a slew of England’s title-winning heroes will be back

For the second time in less than three years, Matthew Mott held a World Cup aloft at the MCG. In March 2020, it was the history-making performance of Australia’s women’s team, in front of 86,174 spectators, and a few days ago the England men’s team became the first male side to hold both World Cups

In early 2019, Somerset filmed short video clips of their academy players for their YouTube channel to introduce them to the club’s supporters. They were each asked a series of quickfire questions: Childhood hero? If you could be one current cricketer, who would you be? Would you rather play in the Ashes, World Cup or

Sam Curran has admitted he spent the last few weeks of the T20 World Cup asking the relevant seven members of England’s squad what it was like to win the 2019 50-over World Cup. Along with the buzz of success after so much hard work, they confirmed being able to say you had won a

After his starring roles in two gripping World Cup final victories, could Ben Stokes be persuaded to go for the hat-trick by coming out of ODI retirement in time for England’s defence of their 50-over crown in India next year? Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball head coach, is hopeful that he can be tempted. However, he

Will Smeed has signed a white-ball-only contract at Somerset in a ground-breaking move that highlights the growing divide between formats in English cricket. Smeed is one of the most promising young batters in the English game and made his debut for the Lions earlier this year. He has impressed for Somerset in the T20 Blast

Pakistan were 119 for 4 after 16 overs in the T20 World Cup final against England at the MCG but managed to score only 18 for the loss of four wickets in the last four overs, and their approach at the death was a “massive mistake” according to former New Zealand captain and current Chennai

After his Player-of-the-Match performance in the 2019 ODI World Cup final, Ben Stokes guided England through a tricky chase to win the 2022 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan. Stokes scored his first T20I fifty to lead England to glory in Melbourne, and former New Zealand captain and current Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming

Ben Stokes has hailed a new legacy under Jos Buttler as England added the T20 World Cup to their 50-over title, becoming the first team in men’s cricket history to hold both trophies simultaneously. Stokes took England over the line with an unbeaten half-century for a five-wicket victory in the final at the MCG after

Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of cricket for an extended period after suffering a broken leg in “a freak accident” at a birthday party in Melbourne on Saturday. Maxwell fractured his fibula and underwent surgery on Saturday. It is understood it happened as he slipped while running in a backyard with the person celebrating

David English, the larger-than-life “Godfather of English cricket” – whose Bunbury schools festival has helped to foster the careers of more than 1000 first-class cricketers, including more than 125 international players – has died at the age of 76 following a heart attack. English was a friend of the stars whose life story had to

In 1992, the same year England and Pakistan last met in a World Cup final, Australian-based New Zealand band Crowded House released one of their most famous songs, Four Seasons in One Day. It was an ode to Melbourne’s unpredictable weather, featuring the line, “it doesn’t pay to make predictions.” It is a lesson the

Big picture Qudrat ka nizam. Never mind the controllables and one-percenters that usually dominate post-match platitudes. Six weeks ago, after England had cruised back into the lead of their topsy-turvy seven-match series in Pakistan, Saqlain Mushtaq was roundly lampooned for suggesting that the “laws of nature” were ruling the fortunes of his team. And yet,

England should consider picking David Willey for Sunday’s T20 World Cup final against Pakistan, as he may be a better fit for the MCG than Chris Jordan. That is the view of Eoin Morgan, their ex-captain, who has been following the team around Australia in his new role as a pundit for Sky Sports. Jordan,