Jos Buttler has defended the ECB’s decision to pull players out of the IPL playoffs in order to feature in England’s T20I series against Pakistan – but believes that no international cricket should clash with the world’s premier franchise league. Buttler is one of eight members of England’s provisional T20 World Cup squad who left

England’s fast-bowling stocks have been dealt another blow after Jamie Overton was diagnosed with a lower-back stress fracture which will rule him out of their Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer. Overton played his only Test at Headingley in June 2022, taking two wickets against New Zealand and scoring 97 from

Toss England chose to bat vs Pakistan England have won the toss in Northampton and will bat first on a surface with a tinge of grass. After comfortably defending a total in the first T20I in Birmingham, England captain Heather Knight said she expected the ball “to skid on nicely”, but had opted to bat

Greater challenges lie in store, ideally in the Caribbean next month, but Jofra Archer gave the impression that he’ll be ready to make his England comeback against Pakistan next week with a lively six-over display for Sussex’s second XI against Kent in Beckenham. It was a low-key outing, overseen by a handful of spectators and

England allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt has revealed that she missed the first T20I against Pakistan after having her eggs frozen with a view to having a family. “In the period between getting back from New Zealand [where England toured in April] and this [series], I thought it was a great time to go through the egg-freezing

Lauren Bell has vowed to “attack the stumps” as a default approach, both against Pakistan for the remainder of England’s T20I series, and as a means to combat Bangladesh’s slow, low wickets in this winter’s T20 World Cup, after coming through a rusty first spell at Edgbaston on Saturday to help seal her side’s 53-run

Sophia Dunkley will have to wait in line for a return to international action, according to England Women’s assistant coach Gareth Breese, despite an impressive return to form for South East Stars in the opening rounds of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy. Dunkley, who is currently leading the tournament run-charts with 293 at 97.66 in

Ben Stokes will make his first appearance for Durham in the County Championship since May 2022 against Lancashire this week as he steps up his return as an allrounder. The England Test captain’s last competitive match came in the final match of the tour of India at the start of March. Having pulled out of

Key, the managing director of the England men’s teams, regularly meets players for appraisals and told Anderson that they should meet in person. “When we made the decision and we thought, ‘OK, we need to go and meet Jimmy and discuss the future’, Brendon came to the conclusion that the right thing to do was

Stuart Broad has warned that England’s onus on blooding a new generation of fast bowlers in the wake of James Anderson‘s retirement could leave Ben Stokes with a “quite scary” lack of experience for the forthcoming Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka. Anderson is set to play against West Indies at Lord’s on

It was all Nasser Hussain’s fault, though typically it took him the best part of two decades to own up to the fact. “I gave him the wrong field,” Hussain said of James Anderson‘s debut over in Test cricket, against Zimbabwe in 2003, which – for want of a fine leg, and an overambitious off-side

James Anderson has announced he will retire from international cricket after England’s first Test of the summer at Lord’s, against West Indies, bringing the curtain down on a legendary career where it all began 21 years ago. Anderson, who turns 42 in July, made his Test debut at Lord’s in 2003 against Zimbabwe. He has

James Anderson looks set to retire from international cricket at the end of England’s home summer. The Guardian reported on Friday that Brendon McCullum, England’s Test coach, travelled to the UK from New Zealand earlier this week and told Anderson in person over a round of golf that he intends to look to the future

Joe Root has backed the use of the Kookaburra ball in the County Championship, believing it can help upskill domestic cricketers and bridge the gap to Test cricket. The Australian-made ball was used for the first two rounds of the Championship season, in which there were 17 draws across 18 matches. Though a large part

Monty Panesar has ended his foray into politics after just one week, after announcing that he has stood down as a parliamentary candidate for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Great Britain. Panesar, 42, was unveiled by Mr Galloway at a media event in Westminster last week, and was due to contest the Ealing Southall seat

Joe Root says that a greater focus on player welfare amid an ever more congested fixture list is a “non-negotiable”, after a survey by the Professional Cricketers’ Association revealed a startling 81 per cent of county cricketers have been left fearing for their physical health due to their season-long workloads. The survey, which was conducted

Harry Brook says his performances this summer are dedicated to his late grandmother Pauline, who passed away in March. Pauline Brook was visible throughout her grandson’s career and became a cult hero within English cricket. She often collected awards on Harry’s behalf, of which there have already been many in the player’s short career. She

Maia Bouchier says her goal for the 2024 summer is to cement her new-found status at the top of England’s batting order, as the countdown begins for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September. Bouchier, 25, enjoyed a breakthrough winter on England’s recent tour of New Zealand, where she capitalised on the late arrival

England’s selectors face a difficult call over the potential inclusion of Jamie Overton in their T20 World Cup squad after an inconclusive scan left the Surrey allrounder unclear as to the extent of a recent back injury. ESPNcricinfo revealed this month that Overton was in line for a maiden T20I call-up after making significant strides

Adil Rashid believes that England have “the mindset of champions” heading into June’s T20 World Cup, and has said they have drawn a line under their failure to defend their 50-over crown in India late last year. Rashid was ever-present at last year’s World Cup in which England won only three of their nine group-stage

Yorkshire’s unsuccessful bid to host a Tier 1 team in England’s new domestic women’s structure does not amount to the club being “punished for past sins”. That is according to ECB chief executive Richard Gould, speaking after Yorkshire’s board said they were “shocked and disappointed” to learn they would not receive funding for a fully

Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s chief executive, has called on the ECB to find a title sponsor and a standalone broadcast deal for the Charlotte Edwards Cup after his club’s investment in women’s cricket was rewarded with the award of Tier 1 status from 2025 in the revamped domestic structure. Lancashire have been major investors in Thunder

Raman Subba Row, the former England opener and ICC match referee who also had a long career in cricket administration, has died aged 92. Subba Row played 13 Tests for England between 1958 and 1961, scoring three hundreds and averaging 46.85, but retired from the game after his final international appearance, at the age of

John Stephenson, Essex’s chief executive, says that the club now has a chance to “future-proof” itself through a significant redevelopment of its home ground at Chelmsford, and could even target the hosting of a Men’s World Cup fixture in 2030, following the ECB’s decision to name the county as one of eight Tier 1 clubs

Jofra Archer hopes to play for England in front of his family in the Caribbean at June’s T20 World Cup but has warned that he would find it hard to cope with “another stop-start year” after persistent injuries over the last three years. Archer has not played a professional match since May 2023 due to

Gloucestershire’s viability as a first-class county has been cast into renewed doubt after the club reported a loss of £1.19 million in their annual accounts, published on Monday, which is more than twice the shortfall of £570,000 that they accrued in 2022-23. In her report, Gloucestershire’s Treasurer Rebecca Watkin insisted that the club’s outlook for

Derek Underwood, arguably the greatest spin bowler in England’s Test history, has died at the age of 78. Underwood, who claimed 297 wickets in 86 Tests between 1966 and 1982, played his entire first-class career at Kent, for whom he made his first-team debut at the age of 17, and went on to make over

Jason Roy has revealed that he opted out of the ongoing IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to put his “mindset and body” first. Roy had joined KKR in 2023 for INR 2.8 crore (US$341,000 approx.) as an injury replacement. After scoring 285 runs at an average of 35.62 and strike rate of 151.59,

Nathan Lyon‘s first Test captain Michael Clarke has questioned Cricket Australia’s decision to cap his County Championship stint with Lancashire at just seven games saying it “doesn’t make sense” if he is just going to return to home to do a pre-season given Australia do not play their next Test match until November 22. Lyon,

Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton will host New Zealand’s three-match Test series against England in late 2024, with NZC confirming the dates ahead of the rest of the home schedule due to the local interest and expected demand from visiting supporters. The first Test will begin at Hagley Oval on November 28 followed by the second