England

Moeen Ali believes that Brendon McCullum is “100 percent” the right man to revive England’s flagging white-ball fortunes, and backs him to bring out the best in his captain Jos Buttler too, after confirming that he is calling time on his own international career at the age of 37. Moeen, who played 138 ODIs and

Lunch England 325 and 35 for 2 (Lawrence 20*) lead Sri Lanka 263 (Dhananjaya 69, Kamindu 64, Stone 3-35, Hull 3-53) by 97 runs Two early strikes gave Sri Lanka hope as England extended their lead to 97 runs at lunch on the third day of the third Test at The Oval. Three wickets apiece

Moeen Ali, the England allrounder, has announced his retirement from all internationals. “I’m 37 years old and didn’t get picked for this month’s Australia series,” Moeen said in a Daily Mail interview. “I’ve played a lot of cricket for England. It’s time for the next generation, which was also explained to me. It felt the

After an opening day dominated by a lengthy delay for bad light, the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval plumbed farcical new depths on the second afternoon, when Chris Woakes was forced to bowl spin midway through an over, due to the on-field umpires’ concerns about the deteriorating conditions. The

Lunch Sri Lanka 0 for 1 trail England 325 (Pope 154, Duckett 86, Rathnayake 3-56, Dhananjaya 2-18) by 324 runs Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach, Aaqib Javed, had suggested his charges would “rest and come up with something better than this” when reflecting on a dire opening day at The Oval. So it proved on the

Mark Wood, England’s fastest bowler, will miss the forthcoming Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, after being ruled out for the rest of the year due to a bone-stress injury to his right elbow. Wood was withdrawn from the ongoing Sri Lanka series as a precaution, after suffering a right thigh strain while bowling

As the booing sounded from a good-sized Oval crowd who felt they were being robbed when the umpires ushered players from the field for a second and final time on a weather-blighted day, Ben Duckett, for one, didn’t see the need to argue. He was already out, having scored a rapid-fire 86 in conditions that

“So what was it, Baz, that first attracted you to the 6ft 7in left-arm fast bowler, Josh Hull?” “Josh Hull? Six foot heaps, bowls left-arm, ranges in pace from 80 to 90 miles an hour. Swings it, not too dissimilar to the likes of Jimmy Anderson. He’s 20 years of age … good farming stock.

The Test tsar watched on from a distance as a once-trailblazing outfit fell apart, culminating in two failed World Cup defences in the space of nine months. Matthew Mott lost his job as limited-overs coach as men’s managing director Rob Key sought a change of leadership, and Buttler was lucky to stay on as captain.

Ben Stokes has bemoaned the “culture” of English sport for what he perceives as unnecessary criticism of stand-in Test captain Ollie Pope. With Stokes recovering from a torn left hamstring, Pope, his vice-captain, has stepped in to lead the Test team for the ongoing Sri Lanka series. Having overseen comprehensive victories in the first two

Ongoing work at stadiums in Pakistan has forced the PCB to consider the possibility of moving one Test of the series against England offshore. Abu Dhabi, for so long one of Pakistan’s “home” venues during their decade-long exile, has been discussed as a potential alternative if required. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and the National Stadium in

Ben Stokes says the decision to enlist Brendon McCullum as England men’s new limited-overs coach is “an unbelievable move”, and believes his influence will be especially beneficial to the new generation of players who are set to come through the white-ball set-up in the coming months. The ECB announced on Tuesday that McCullum will combine

News of Josh Hull‘s Test debut will have felt like a fever dream to the 20-year-old, and not just because he was wearing multi-coloured briefs at the time. The left-arm quick was batting in the outdoor nets at the Kia Oval, decked out in rogue batting kecks over his shorts, which, at an imposing 6ft

Josh Hull, a 6ft 7in left-arm seamer, will make his England debut in their third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval, which starts on Friday. He will replace Matthew Potts in England’s only change from the side that won by 190 runs at Lord’s to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Hull,

Brendon McCullum has been announced as England’s new men’s white-ball head coach, and will combine that role with his existing Test duties. McCullum has agreed a remarkable new three-year deal as part of what the ECB has termed a “strategic restructure” within the men’s set-up. The contract extension, announced on Tuesday, means that McCullum is

Success in English cricket is evaluated by Ashes series and World Cups. The extensions to both Brendon McCullum‘s contract and his remit, announced on Tuesday, represent Rob Key quadrupling the size of his bet: McCullum will not only take charge of the 2025/26 Ashes, but now the 2026 T20 World Cup, 2027 Ashes and 2027

India and Australia are currently the top two teams on the points table with 68.52 and 62.50 percentage points respectively, but the identity of the finalists will not be known till next year. For India, who were the losing finalists in both the previous WTCs, there are ten Tests left to play in the cycle

Jack Leach said he is “as determined as I ever have been to play for England” after his 12-wicket haul secured Somerset’s win over Durham, and is targeting a place on October’s Test tour to Pakistan. Leach was England’s first-choice spinner for the first year of Ben Stokes’ tenure as captain, but has only played

Ollie Pope has pledged to “block out” criticism of his batting, as the scrutiny on him mounts following 30 runs in four innings against Sri Lanka. England may have a perfect record under his captaincy, but Pope has come under fire after failing to reach 20 across two Tests standing in for the injured Ben

Ben Duckett and Laurie Evans were among a host of England players drafted in for the 14th edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). Duckett, who had played for Brisbane Heat in 2021-22, was the first pick for Melbourne Stars (platinum category), while Perth Scorchers opted to not use their retention pick for Laurie Evans,

Lunch England 427 and 159 for 4 (Root 45*, Smith 23*) lead Sri Lanka 196 by 390 runs Joe Root continued his productive Test match as England set about stretching their lead on the third morning at Lord’s. Root and Harry Brook added a brisk half-century partnership for the fourth wicket and although Sri Lanka

Flintoff has been involved in England’s white-ball set-up for the past year, including at June’s T20 World Cup, but will not be part of Trescothick’s coaching staff for the three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia next month. He recently had his first experience as a head coach at the Hundred, his Northern Superchargers finishing

Joe Root’s grin as he sat on the Lord’s outfield made clear that his outlandish comparison between Gus Atkinson and Jacques Kallis was tongue-in-cheek. But while Atkinson is unlikely to graduate to official allrounder status anytime soon, there was no questioning the talent he showed in making his maiden Test – and first-class – hundred.

Innings England 427 (Root 143, Atkinson 118, Asitha 5-102) vs Sri Lanka Gus Atkinson strode through to a magnificent maiden Test century, to land a clean sweep of Lord’s honours-board entries in only his fifth England appearance, as Sri Lanka’s toiling attack endured another of their off-colour sessions to surrender the initiative in the second

England are anticipating empty stadiums at October’s Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, but believe that their upcoming training camp in Abu Dhabi will mitigate the impact of the late change in venue from Bangladesh to Dubai and Sharjah. The ICC confirmed last week that the tournament will no longer be played in Bangladesh after weeks

Joe Root dedicated his record-equalling 33rd Test hundred to Graham Thorpe, his long-term batting mentor who died this month aged 55. Root pointed to the skies after reaching three figures and paid tribute to Thorpe’s influence on his batting, saying he “definitely wouldn’t be where I am now” without him. “I’ve been very lucky to

Toss Sri Lanka chose to bowl vs England Sri Lanka opted to bowl on a sunny morning for the start of the second Test at Lord’s, with captain Dhananjaya de Silva hoping for some early assistance for his quicks as the tourists seek a way back into the series, trailing 1-0 with two to play.

Ben Stokes is on track to recover from his hamstring injury in time to play a full role as an allrounder in England’s Test series against Pakistan in October. Stokes tore his left hamstring two-and-a-half weeks ago while playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred. He was ruled out for the rest of the summer

Big picture: Sunny weather, sunny times? Is there a danger that a competitive Test series might break out in London over the coming fortnight? This is a city where Sri Lanka, remarkably, have not lost a single Test in six visits since August 1991. Admittedly, five of those have been draws at Lord’s, although next

Dawid Malan, England’s former No.1-ranked T20I batter, has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 37. Malan, who played 22 Tests, 30 ODIs and 62 T20Is, is one of only two England men’s batters (alongside Jos Buttler) to have made centuries in all three international formats. However, he had not featured in