England

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

Ben Stokes, England’s vice-captain and the man widely tipped to take over from the outgoing Joe Root this summer, says that he offered his team-mate “nothing but love, respect and support” during an emotional phone-call last week, in which Root confirmed his intention to stand down after a record 64 Tests in charge. Writing in

Joe Root, England’s outgoing Test captain, has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2022 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which is published on Thursday. Root, who stood down last week after an England record 64 Tests in charge, follows in the footsteps of his team-mate Ben Stokes, who claimed the

The pair bowled at Lancashire training this morning and, as centrally contracted players, were cleared by the ECB to play in the Division One fixture starting at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday. The ECB also made Stuart Broad available for selection by Nottinghamshire, with the club due to announce their squad tomorrow to travel to

When and if Josh Bohannon earns an England Test call-up, he will be more prepared than most for the media demands that invariably follow. Bohannon’s name was mentioned prominently in the press before the squad to play West Indies in the Caribbean was announced in early February. On the day the touring party was due

Rob Key, the former Kent and England batter who subsequently forged a successful career in broadcasting, has been appointed by the ECB as its new managing director of England men’s cricket. Key will take up the role immediately, stepping down from his TV work with Sky Sports. The 42-year-old, who retired from playing in 2016,

Saqib Mahmood turned down an offer to become a replacement overseas player in the IPL in order to push his Test credentials by playing for Lancashire in the County Championship. Mahmood, 25, made his Test debut on England’s tour to the Caribbean last month, taking six wickets at 22.83 and impressing with his ability to

“There’s no coach, no managing director of cricket, no selector.” Eoin Morgan did his best to sum up the power vacuum at the heart of England’s men’s teams in an interview with ESPNcricinfo last week but now Joe Root has thrown the Test captaincy into the black hole, too. Even before Root’s resignation on Friday,

It is one of the great tropes of modern American literature that a central protagonist often finds their day-to-day struggles foregrounded against the wider societal malaise. Whatever minor acts of heroism and failure these characters are responsible for, they are picayune concerns when compared to the bigger picture, the state-of-the-nation handwringing. Never mind the plot

Darren Gough was “surprised” by the level of criticism Joe Root faced in his final months as England’s Test captain and “can’t wait” to have him available to play for Yorkshire in the coming weeks. Gough, who became Yorkshire’s director of cricket in December after Martyn Moxon was sacked, was speaking during the club’s first

Joe Root has stepped down as England’s Test captain with immediate effect. Root has been in the role for five years and has overseen more games (64), wins (27) and defeats (26) than any other England captain. But his side have won only one of their last 17 Test matches, a run of form that

James Anderson says he has “stopped trying to make sense” of his omission from England’s Test squad for their series defeat against West Indies and that he remains unclear “what the reset thing actually means” after minimal contact from the ECB. Anderson, along with his long-term team-mate and close friend Stuart Broad, was left out

Sri Lanka have been without a full-time head coach since Mickey Arthur’s departure in December after his contract had run out. While he had repeatedly expressed a desire to continue, SLC were understood to have been unresponsive. Since then, former fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake had been in charge of the men’s team.

Alastair Cook says he is in awe of Joe Root’s ability to stay focused on his run-scoring amid intense speculation about his future as Test captain, but has warned his successor that the relentless focus on the “positives” within England’s dressing-room is running the risk of sounding “deluded”. Root is currently taking a break from

That’s how she played a remarkable innings in the final which might have left the most optimistic of England fans daring to dream and, by Meg Lanning‘s own admission, made the Australia captain “nervous”. The problem was, just as in their first encounter on March 5, Sciver’s knock was only the second-best of the day.

News Australia may be riding an 11-match unbeaten streak, but England believe that won’t count for much in a World Cup final Despite the whitewash in the recent Ashes, despite the loss in the league stage against Australia, and despite their contrasting runs to the World Cup final, England captain Heather Knight believes Sunday afternoon

News Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester and North London added to charity’s scope to boost participation The African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme, the independent charity originally set up at Surrey to address a 75% decline in participation among black cricketers since 1995, has been granted ECB funding to become a nationwide project, with its impending expansion into four

News Tournament’s leading wicket-taker says if England play their best they can beat Australia in the final on Sunday Clinching five must-win games to earn the right to defend the World Cup is one thing. Beating Australia – the undefeated, overwhelming favourites who recently thrashed you in a bilateral series – is quite another. But

News Allrounder has been laid low with a bad back since October last year, and will turn out as a specialist batter for Surrey next week When Sam Curran felt pain in his back after Chennai Super Kings’ defeat to Rajasthan Royals in October, he expected it would be nothing to worry about. Six months

Report The experienced pair of Lizelle Lee and Sune Luus are making their 100th ODI appearance Toss South Africa Women chose to bowl vs England Women South Africa have opted to bowl against defending champions England in the 2022 ODI World Cup semi-final at the Hagley Oval in pursuit of their maiden berth in a

News Surrey director of cricket says gulf in standards is due to unavailability of international players Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, insists that county cricket remains the primary “breeding ground” for England’s Test cricketers, but acknowledges that the gulf between the domestic and international game has widened in recent years, due in a large

Say what you like about the World Test Championship table, but it doesn’t half concentrate the mind. There England are, rooted to the foot of the standings having won a miserable 12.5% of the available points in their three series to date for the 2021-23 cycle, and not even the asterisk attached to the incomplete

News Sri Lanka-born spinner escaped Boxing Day tsunami before moving to England as child Thilan Walallawita, Middlesex’s Sri Lanka-born left-arm spinner, will be able to compete during the 2022 county season as a home-registered player, after finally being granted British Citizenship. As a child Walallawita, now 23, escaped the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which decimated

News Rapid return to international coaching for former England assistant in wake of Ashes Graham Thorpe has been named as the new head coach of the Afghanistan men’s team, following his departure from the England Test set-up in the wake of this winter’s Ashes. Thorpe, who played 100 Tests for England between 1993 and 2005,