Are England better-equipped to face Australia now than they were a week ago? Graeme Swann believes they are, following Moeen Ali‘s decision to reverse his retirement from Test cricket and fill the vacancy created by Jack Leach‘s lower-back stress fracture. “I think it makes us stronger,” Swann, a three-time Ashes winner during his England career,

Moeen Ali has reversed his retirement from Test cricket and been added to England’s Ashes squad after answering an SOS call from the team’s management. Moeen confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Monday night that he had been asked to consider a potential call-up following an injury to Jack Leach, who went for scans after England’s 10-wicket

Like a fine wine, has Stuart Broad mellowed with age? That would appear to be the impression on the eve of his ninth Ashes campaign, with his admission that he doesn’t mind when or how he is deployed in the coming five Tests against Australia, just so long as he plays his part in an

Moeen Ali is considering a return to Test cricket for the Ashes. The offspinning allrounder, who retired from the format at the end of the 2021 summer, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he has been approached by the England management to answer a mayday call after Jack Leach was ruled out of the five-match series with

Ben Stokes has implored Ollie Pope to take his new role as England’s official vice-captain “as seriously as I did” as concerns around Stokes’ fitness linger ahead of the first Ashes Test on June 16. Stokes reiterated before England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s that he intends to play a full part in all

From the bright lights of the IPL to the ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hats of Blackpool, Jos Buttler is set for quite the scenery change on Wednesday when he plays his first home match of the summer for Lancashire in the Vitality Blast against Worcestershire at Stanley Park. Buttler, fresh from two months at the IPL

The last time England won the men’s Ashes, Joe Root walked away with the Compton-Miller Medal as the player of the series. It was also the last time he played Australia without the burden of captaincy. Back in 2015, Root’s 460 runs at an average of 57.50 helped England to a 3-2 scoreline to regain

The shock news that Jack Leach has been ruled out of the Ashes is a significant blow to England’s preparations, depriving them of a spinner who has flourished under Ben Stokes’ leadership, and who has bought into the so-called “Bazball” ethos with his willingness to bowl to attacking fields, and accept the risk of some

England spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out of the men’s Ashes after scans revealed he had suffered a lumbar stress fracture. Leach developed “low back symptoms” during the Test victory over Ireland at Lord’s and he will now miss the entire series against Australia. Leach was among in the 16-man squad for the first

When Sue Redfern walks onto the field in Bristol on Sunday as the first woman to stand as an umpire in a Vitality Blast match, she will do so hoping to make more than another significant step in her groundbreaking career. She wants to make way for women in cricket, including herself, to break free

Ben Stokes met Josh Tongue for the first time when the England squad gathered in London on Monday ahead of this one-off Test against Ireland. Less than a week on, Tongue has imprinted himself as permanently on his skipper’s heart as on the Lord’s honours board. With five for 66 in the second innings to

Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s captain, praised the character that his team had shown in digging deep on the third and final day of the Lord’s Test, and forcing England to bat again when an innings defeat had seemed to be on the cards overnight. But, he added, Ireland’s eventual ten-wicket loss had “not been preparation” for

England have announced an unchanged squad for the first two men’s Ashes Tests. The 16-man party, which includes Worcestershire seamer Josh Tongue who was drafted in as bowling cover for the one-off Test against Ireland currently taking place at Lord’s, will report to Birmingham ahead of the Edgbaston Test starting on June 16. The announcement

Stat-padding days are hard to come by, even for an England team that plays a lot of Test cricket. But on Friday at Lord’s, it seemed everyone who made it out to the middle were able to touch up their personal statistics at the expense of a willing but lacking Ireland attack. Ollie Pope registered

Lunch England 325 for 1 (Duckett 161*, Pope 97*, Crawley 56) lead Ireland 172 (McCollum 36, Broad 5-51) by 153 runs Bazball and patience are polar opposites but even under the former’s ethos, Ben Duckett continues to prove that old adage that all good things come to those who wait. Nearly seven years after making

As part of a new revenue-distribution model, India are set to take home 38.5% of the $600m earnings over the next four-year commercial cycle. The ECB are the next highest earners in the proposed model, potentially earning $41.33 million (6.89%) with Cricket Australia next highest with $37.53 million (6.25%). The PCB is projected to make

Lunch Ireland 78 for 4 (McCollum 29*, Broad 3-21) vs England Three quick wickets to Stuart Broad consigned Ireland to a rough start in their Test against England at Lord’s. Broad claimed his three in the space of eight deliveries as Ireland slumped to 19 for 3 then went to lunch on the first day

Josh Tongue was quick to talk up Worcestershire’s role in him winning his first Test cap for England against Ireland at Lord’s this week, but it remains to be seen if he will still be at the county in 2024. Tongue is the first Worcestershire player to make a men’s Test debut for England since

It’s not often you get to the eve of the Test summer and an England captain likens himself to a Chelsea footballer. But such are the demands on a modern cricketer like Ben Stokes, the comparison made sense. “I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL,” the allrounder joked during

Big picture: Searching for the pinnacle “So Ben, what does the Ashes rivalry mean to you?” No disrespect was intended to England’s actual opponents in tomorrow’s one-off Test against Ireland, but nor was there any point in playing the question – which came in the opening seconds of Ben Stokes‘ first press conference of the

Ben Stokes says his fitness levels are back to their 2019 best and hopes to come good on a promise to his team-mates to fulfil his role as an allrounder this summer. A chronic left knee injury has left England’s Test captain managing his bowling output in recent years, in turn dulling the balance he

Tongue, the 25-year-old Worcestershire seamer, was initially drafted into the squad last Wednesday as cover for James Anderson and Ollie Robinson who were nursing groin and ankle niggles, respectively. He will now make his international bow at Lord’s. Anderson and Robinson were ruled out of this week’s match by head coach Brendon McCullum on Monday,

Gary Wilson, Ireland’s batting coach, is hopeful that his team’s heightened focus on technique ahead of their one-off Test against England at Lord’s will also aid them in their bid to qualify for the 50-over World Cup in India this winter. The four-day Test, beginning on Thursday, will be Ireland’s first against England since a

James Anderson and Ollie Robinson have been ruled out of England’s first Test of the summer, against Ireland at Lord’s from Thursday, but according to Brendon McCullum, both are on course for full fitness come the start of the Ashes at Edgbaston, beginning June 16. Neither has bowled competitively since, while there are still concerns

The Hundred is going nowhere before the end of 2028 and has “a long and successful future well beyond that”, according to the ECB’s chair. Several outlets reported last month that Richard Gould and Richard Thompson – the ECB’s chief executive and chair respectively, who previously held the same roles at Surrey – were discussing

England white-ball players are negotiating releases from their ECB contracts in order to take up lucrative offers to play in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States. English players on full central contracts are unlikely to feature in MLC this year but Jason Roy – who holds an incremental deal

The directors of cricket (DoCs) at county clubs have called for an “urgent” review into standard contracts to address the “very real challenge” presented by their players representing several franchises during the English winter. The majority of county cricketers are employed on 12-month contracts but the English season only runs from April to September, meaning

Having come through the pathway at New Road since the age of six, Tongue has shown good pace and bounce from a tall action and will join the Test squad for their camp this weekend as a point of difference. With Robinson, Anderson and Mark Wood due to sit out the Ireland Test to preserve

England were handed good news ahead of the Test summer as scans revealed Ollie Robinson had suffered no damage to his left ankle. The seamer reported discomfort in the ankle after day two of Sussex’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Glamorgan at Hove last week. He left the field on day three with soreness

James Anderson is set to miss England’s first Test of the summer against Ireland at Lord’s as he looks to preserve himself for the Ashes series that follows. Anderson is currently recovering from a mild strain of his left groin picked up during Lancashire’s recent County Championship match against Somerset. The 40-year-old picked up the