England

England’s loss to the West Indies was a twelfth ODI defeat in 18 matches since the start of the 2023 World Cup and gave a brutal reality check to a new-look eleven that included four debutants. On a tacky surface, England were bowled out for 209, before putting on an encouraging, but ultimately fruitless display

England have signalled their intention to place Jamie Smith at the heart of their revival across formats, handing him a lucrative two-year ECB central contract that will commit him to their plans for both next year’s Ashes tour of Australia and the 2026 T20 World Cup. Smith, 24, was one of the breakout stars of

Danni Wyatt-Hodge has been traded from UP Warriorz (UPW) to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the defending champions, ahead of the third season of the WPL, expected to be played in early 2025. A statement from WPL confirmed that Wyatt-Hodge will get the same fee – INR 30 lakh – that she had been bought by

Ben Stokes has pleaded for the return of a number of “irreplaceable” items after his house was burgled by a masked gang while the England captain was in Pakistan for the recently completed Test series. The incident took place on October 17 at his house in Castle Eden in the North East, with his wife,

Ben Duckett has lifted the lid on the incident that saw him sent home from Australia during the 2017-18 Ashes after pouring a drink over James Anderson, revealing Anderson threw a drink over him first before feeling bad and encouraging Duckett to return the favour. Duckett was part of the Lions tour at the time,

Jacob Bethell, the Warwickshire batting allrounder, has been drafted into England’s Test squad for next month’s tour of New Zealand, as a replacement for Jamie Smith, who will miss the entire trip on paternity leave. Bethell, who turned 21 earlier this week, made a solid impression during his white-ball debuts against Australia in September, including

Brendon McCullum, England’s coach, said that Ben Stokes is “hurting” after struggling to make an impact in their 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan, but has backed his “tough bugger” captain to return to his best in New Zealand next month. Stokes returned from two months on the sidelines with a torn hamstring ahead of England’s

England are unlikely to change their batting line-up ahead of their tour to New Zealand next month despite two heavy defeats to Pakistan. They were bowled out for 112 in Rawalpindi on Saturday, but their captain Ben Stokes insisted: “There’s no doubt in my mind that we have got the best top six batsmen in

Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, says his team have “no excuses” after crashing to a 2-1 series defeat with back-to-back losses in Multan and Rawalpindi, but admits he was surprised it took Pakistan until the second Test to prepare the sort of spinning pitches that have been his team’s undoing on recent tours of the

Secondary-school teachers will be trained to become cricket coaches, under plans unveiled by the ECB to reinvigorate the sport’s participation levels in state-sector education. The initiative was announced at Lord’s on Wednesday as part of an update to the ECB’s Inspiring Generations strategy, following on from last year’s Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC)

England have added Jordan Cox and Rehan Ahmed to their white-ball squads for their upcoming Caribbean tour, which starts next Thursday. Both players are with England’s Test team in Pakistan, with Cox due to fly home after the first day of the series decider in Rawalpindi ahead of the white-ball squad’s departure for Antigua on

Not often in Pakistan cricket does someone pass up the chance to take credit for any successful outcome, regardless of how significant their part was. But Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie kept such praise at arm’s length when talking about Pakistan’s bounce-back win over England in the second Test. Gillespie made clear that effectively all

It is the first time in Shan Masood’s stint as captain that Pakistan have named an unchanged eleven. The decision is not a surprise, though there was a chance Pakistan may switch up their combination to replace Zahid Mahmood, who bowled just six ineffective overs in Multan, with a seamer. But an injury to Mir

Jos Buttler‘s return as England white-ball captain has been delayed by at least three more matches, after he was ruled out of next week’s ODI leg of their tour of the Caribbean due to his long-standing calf injury. Buttler, 34, has been plagued by the injury for four months, and has not played a competitive

England’s men do not play another Test in Asia for more than two years after Rawalpindi. It will therefore act as a decider in more ways than one, not only dictating the result of a gripping three-match series in Pakistan, but also informing long-lasting judgement on just how well equipped, or otherwise, Ben Stokes and

England will field a three-pronged spin attack on a Rawalpindi pitch that Harry Brook believes has been “raked” by local groundstaff in an attempt to bring Pakistan’s spinners into play. Rehan Ahmed has been recalled and will play alongside Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach, with Gus Atkinson also coming into a side in which both

Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants are among the IPL franchises that have submitted bids expressing interest to buy teams in the ECB-run Hundred. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the GMR Group, recently unveiled as the new owner of Hampshire cricket, and Avram Glazer, co-owner of Manchester United Football

Jay Shah could end up being the ICC chair for two terms of three years each instead of three terms of two years each, which is the current norm, after he takes over on December 1. This after the ICC Board, which met in Dubai over the weekend, recommended that the term – for the

Saqib Mahmood insists he “still has an ambition” to play Test cricket for England, despite committing to a white-ball deal with Lancashire for the next three years. Mahmood, 27, made two Test appearances in the Caribbean in March 2022, claiming six wickets at 22.83, but has been beset by injury in recent seasons, including consecutive

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said he had apologised to his players for his show of frustration on the third evening in Multan, at the point that the second Test against Pakistan began to slip out of his team’s control in a spate of dropped catches and fielding lapses. Stokes, back in the side for the

The range of viable investors in the Hundred teams is “way broader and bigger” than anticipated ahead of Friday’s first-round deadline for bids. That is according to the ECB’s senior leadership team, who defended the Hundred’s projected valuations of overseas broadcast rights on Wednesday by insisting: “We are confident in our product”. The ECB sent

Cricket Australia has unveiled the dates for the 2025-26 Ashes series in Australia with the Gabba set to host the day-night second Test while Adelaide will host the third Test as a day game under a new agreement to have the pre-Christmas Test for the next seven years. CA confirmed that Perth will host the

David, a former left-arm spinner who played 10 Tests and 97 ODIs, is the second Indian woman after Diana Edulji to be included in the ICC Hall of Fame. “It is truly an honour to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, something that I consider to be the highest recognition available to anyone

West Indies needed to chase down 142 to qualify for the T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2018 – a target Matthew later said she’d have “bitten your hand off” for at the start of the game. It turns out Joseph was simply in the mood. “When we went into the changing

Big picture: Rip up the script, and go again The fans have been out in force in Multan this week, but not, as might be justified, to protest against the failings of a Pakistan team that has now lost six Tests in a row. Instead, they’ve been whirring away at either end of the heavily-watered

Anya Shrubsole says that England’s victories in the white-ball leg of last year’s Ashes will have proved to the players that they are capable of ending Australia’s stranglehold on the Women’s T20 World Cup. Shrubsole, 32, was England’s matchwinner at Lord’s in 2017, famously claiming figures of 6 for 46 to defeat India by nine

Ben Stokes will return to captain England in Multan this week after two months sidelined with a torn hamstring. Stokes has stepped up his recovery in the past week and will replace Chris Woakes in one of two England changes from the first Test, with Matthew Potts also coming in for the rested Gus Atkinson.

England want to arrive in Australia next winter with a “battery” of fast bowlers and James Anderson believes the list of candidates for that tour is “growing and growing”. Anderson has worked as their fast-bowling coach since he was ushered into retirement in July and said on Sunday that he is excited by the emergence

Toss Scotland chose to bat vs England Scotland have won the toss and opted to bat first against England in match 17 of the women’s T20 World Cup in Sharjah. This is the first meeting between England and Scotland in a women’s T20I, though there is familiarity between both sets of players through the English

England are bracing to play on “result wickets” for the remaining two Tests of their tour to Pakistan after winning by an innings on a lifeless pitch. The groundstaff in Multan, which will also stage the second Test of the series, were watering a fresh strip barely an hour after England completed their win on