England

Report Dan Lawrence makes accomplished debut as tourists build lead Joe Root‘s highest Test score since November 2019 has helped England into a dominant position at lunch on the second day of the first Test in Galle. Root went through 2020 without a century – the first time in his Test career he has gone

In the midst of so much Covid uncertainty, with county budgets slashed as the game reels from the £100 million losses incurred in the 2020 season, it is a tribute to the unequivocal good-eggery of Graham Onions that he has been handed a chance for a brand-new beginning, so soon after the cruelly abrupt end

News Offspinner returned his best Test figures as Sri Lanka collapsed If Dom Bess‘ bowling analysis on the first day of the Galle Test teaches us anything, it’s probably that individual statistics can be deeply misleading in a team game. Bess claimed 5 for 30, his best Test figures, as England bowled Sri Lanka out

Sri Lanka 135 (Chandimal 28, Bess 5-30, Broad 3-20) vs England Stuart Broad could have been forgiven if, in the early moments of this Test, he reflected on the wisdom of the phrase ‘careful what you wish for’. For by then, England had lost what was anticipated to be an important toss and been sentenced

News Former great lends expertise to England batsmen in Sri Lanka, and is open to further work Jacques Kallis has admitted he is “sad” to be unable to use his experience to help the next generation of South African cricketers, but is enjoying his time working with England instead. Kallis, arguably the greatest cricketer South

News With tourists missing several players from 2018 whitewash, skipper senses ‘clear advantage’ for home side England rested Ben Stokes for this series, left Keaton Jennings out, and have lost Moeen Ali to Covid-19. Although Dimuth Karunaratne sympathises with Moeen in particular, he’s pretty sure all this confers an advantage to his team. Although Karunaratne

News Mathews will play as specialist batsman; Chandimal set to return after missing second Test in South Africa Batsman Angelo Mathews and fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep are among five players who have joined the Sri Lanka bio-bubble since their return from South Africa. They, along with batsman Roshen Silva, spin-bowling allrounder Ramesh Mendis, and left-arm

Joe Root has hinted that England will opt to field an extra seamer in the first Test of their series in Sri Lanka, rather than adding a third spinner to their attack. Despite playing at Galle, a venue with a long-earned reputation for favouring spin bowling, England are set to select only two specialist spinners

Had it not been for an ill-starred bout of car-pooling en route from Birmingham to Heathrow Airport, Chris Woakes might well have been sizing up a golden opportunity to extend his all-round credentials against Sri Lanka, and offer England the seam-bowling balance they will be so sorely lacking in the absence of Ben Stokes. Instead,

It sometimes feels as if the opposition bowling is the least of the worries facing England’s new Test batsmen. As if taking a step up in level is not daunting enough, there is also a vast step up in scrutiny. From playing in front of county audiences – which, while bigger than sometimes credited, really

News Mason Crane, Matt Parkinson and Amar Virdi are with the squad as reserves England will consider adding one of their three reserve spinners to their main squad ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka on January 14, after head coach Chris Silverwood ruled Moeen Ali out of contention. Ali has been self-isolating after

Dan Lawrence‘s England debut has always been a matter of when, not if. At the age of 17, he became the third-youngest batsman to make a hundred in County Championship history, taking a strong Surrey attack for 161 at The Oval, and he has been marked out as a coming man ever since. The best

News Team Root make 184 for 2 from 50 overs before allowing Team Buttler time to bat Team Root 184 for 2 (Root 74*) vs Team Buttler England’s preparations for the Test series in Sri Lanka have stepped up a gear with the start of an intra-squad warm-up game in Hambantota. After tests revealed no

Dom Bess is poised to bowl alongside good mate Jack Leach in Galle © Getty Images The phrase “can’t wait,” comes up frequently when talking to Dom Bess. At least six times in a 20-minute conversation. He “can’t wait” for the Test series in Sri Lanka to start; he “can’t wait” to bowl on more

Stuart Broad in the nets at Hambantota © ECB James Anderson and Stuart Broad are prepared to put in the hard yards in a holding role during England’s Test series in Sri Lanka, and accept that they are unlikely to play every game in Asia over the next two months. England opted to pick only

News Leach takes immunosuppressants to manage his Crohn’s disease which make him more vulnerable to infection Jack Leach has admitted he has feels “vulnerable” to Covid-19 and said there have been moments when he questioned whether his health issues would prevent him ever playing for England again. Leach has not played Test cricket since he

News The Test career of Crawley’s mentor, Rob Key, serves as a cautionary tale Zak Crawley isn’t really the sort to go in for tubthumping, nor would he ever claim to be the one and only. But he has insisted he doesn’t want to be remembered as a “one-hit wonder” as he heads into England’s

England’s tour of Sri Lanka is still going ahead for now © Getty Images England’s tour of Sri Lanka will continue – for now, at least – after the latest round of Covid-19 tests showed no new positive results. The squad will hold their first training session of the tour in Hambantota on Wednesday afternoon,

Moeen Ali tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Sri Lanka © AFP/Getty Images England’s touring party in Sri Lanka faces an anxious wait in their hotel rooms just as their preparations for the Test series should have begun in earnest. England were due to have their first training session of the tour in Hambantota

News Ali enters 10-day self-isolation period and appears certain to miss first Test Moeen Ali has tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Sri Lanka. England landed in Sri Lanka on Sunday, January 3 ahead of their two-Test series and were tested on arrival, with Ali’s result coming back positive. He will be required to

News Psychologist to travel with team to Sri Lanka as part of focus on players’ mental wellbeing England will have to “manage” the threat of Covid-19 as well as devote extra attention to physical and mental wellbeing on their three-month tour of the subcontinent, according to Test captain Joe Root – and that includes being

News England’s Test captain eager for challenges to come after ‘frustrating summer’ with the bat Having turned 30 earlier this week, and facing a defining year as captain that will include his 100th Test and culminate in England’s attempts to regain the Ashes in Australia next winter, Joe Root is hopeful that he could be

News ECB to appoint permanent staff member with player welfare brief England are set to recruit a dedicated staff member to look after their players’ mental wellbeing, in response to concerns about the consequences of having to spend extended periods in biosecure environments. England’s limited-overs tour of South Africa was cut short earlier this month,

You’re not going to lose it in three weeks. That is the attitude Sam Billings is carrying into his first BBL match for the Sydney Thunder after 14 days quarantine in an Australian hotel room. Billings could be forgiven for showing some frustration at the Covid cricket world where isolation and bio-secure bubbles are the

News Bowler played four Tests for England in 1981-82, before moving into TV commentary Robin Jackman, the former Surrey and England seamer who went on to become one of the leading broadcasters in South African cricket, has died at the age of 75. Jackman, who made his Test debut in 1981 at the age of

News Edrich played 77 Tests between 1963 and 1976, most often as a fearless left-handed opener John Edrich, the former England batsman who was renowned as one of the world’s doughtiest players of fast bowling, has died at the age of 83. He died of natural causes on December 23, at his house in north

News ECB respond to latest government advice after update from health secretary England’s tour of Sri Lanka will proceed as planned on January 2, according to the ECB, in spite of the UK government requiring any person who has been in South Africa in the past fortnight to quarantine immediately, due to the discovery of