England

News Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Rory Burns return for Chennai Tests Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Mark Wood have been rested by England for the first two Tests of their series in India next month, with Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Rory Burns all added to the squad currently touring Sri Lanka. Ollie Pope,

Charlie Hemphrey may have been born and brought up in England, but his classification as a non-qualified player looks set to end his career. Hemphrey, the top-order batsman, has a year left on his contract with Glamorgan. But a combination of factors – not least the ECB’s insistence he should be viewed as not qualified

Zak Crawley heads to the nets to prepare for the 2nd Test vs Sri Lanka © ECB Joe Root is backing his young openers to come through the tough initiation of a maiden Test tour of Asia stronger for the experience. Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley both failed to reach double figures in either innings

News Funds will also be used to encourage more female coaches and coaches with a disability The ECB are introducing bursaries to enable under-represented demographic groups to gain coaching qualifications. The bursaries, which are understood to be worth around £94,000 a year in total, are aimed specifically at encouraging more coaches from a Black, Asian

Olly Stone could come into contention for the second of back-to-back Tests at Galle © ECB England look set to rotate their seam attack as they seek to win a sixth successive Test in Sri Lanka. While England’s seamers performed admirably in the first Test, the team management are keen to ensure none of them

News What the Gabba and Galle results mean for each of the three teams, and New Zealand India’s incredible 2-1 series win means they are now strong favourites to make it to the final of the World Test Championship, while Australia have plenty to do before they secure a place in the top two. Here

News New panel will meet on Tuesday to pick a squad for the first two Tests of the home series Even before the ink on India’s glorious and eventful tour of Australia dries, the selection committee is set to pick a squad for the first two Tests of home series against England. Comprising four matches,

News New Zealand will keep one eye on the final day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and how the next month pans out Going into the final day of the series, not only is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line but so are the prospects for a place in the final of the World Test Championship.

Report Few alarms for England’s batsmen in final push after fourth-evening jitters England 421 (Root 228, Lawrence 73) and 76 for 3 (Bairstow 35*) beat Sri Lanka 135 (Bess 5-30) and 359 (Thirimanne 111, Leach 5-122) by seven wickets England have won the first Test in Galle by seven wickets. In the end, it was

Not even the lure of watching his beloved Liverpool reclaim top spot in the Premier League from arch-rivals Manchester United is likely to deflect Jack Leach from his primary objective tonight – a good night’s sleep. That’s the effect that a hard day’s toil can have on a cricketer in the sweaty, humid conditions at

Report Deficit reduced to 44 as England’s spinners struggle to exert control Sri Lanka 135 and 242 for 4 (Mathews 30*, Chandimal 20*) trail England 421 by 44 runs Lahiru Thirimanne‘s first Test century in almost eight years has helped Sri Lanka take another step towards parity on the fourth morning in Galle. Thirimanne’s only

Some players wear expectations of greatness lightly. Eight years and 37 Tests into his career, it is fair to say that Lahiru Thirimanne has not. In his early years, Thirimanne appeared as he still appears now – mature, measured, responsible, astute, always with that determined look upon his face. Here was a serious young player.

Tea Sri Lanka 135 and 90 for 0 (Perera 55*, Thirimanne 34*) trail England 421 (Root 228, Lawrence 73) by 196 runs Sri Lanka’s batsmen have made an admirable start to their attempt to save the first Test in Galle. Starting their second innings with a deficit of 286, their openers batted throughout the afternoon

News England “are the most compliant team in world cricket”, claims team spokesperson England’s management have insisted they are “not concerned” despite two members of staff at their hotel in Galle testing positive for Covid-19. The England camp were notified on Friday morning that two staff members, both of whom work in the kitchen of

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