Ben Stokes continued his return to operating as a fully functioning allrounder on Wednesday with a 20-minute bowling session in Rajkot, but will not bowl in England’s remaining three Tests in India. The England captain has been stepping up his bowling on this tour after an operation on his left knee at the end of

Mark Wood has been recalled to England’s attack at the expense of the offspinner Shoaib Bashir, as England confirmed their team for the third Test against India, which gets underway in Rajkot on Thursday. Wood played as a lone seamer in England’s victory in the first Test at Hyderabad but went wicketless on a surface

England have whittled their team for the third Test down to 12, with Mark Wood in line to regain his place in the XI on a green-tinged Rajkot pitch. The tourists have played just one seamer in each of the first two Tests, with Wood getting the nod in the first match in Hyderabad before

England encountered yet more visa trouble on their tour of India after Rehan Ahmed was stopped from leaving Hirasar airport, Rajkot, because he was not in possession of the right paperwork. Sportstar reported on Monday that Rehan had been prohibited from re-entering India after England’s mid-series break in Abu Dhabi because he only held a

It is understood Sultans wanted to replace Topley with South African quick Nandre Burger – who also had a stellar season in the SA20 – but was told by Cricket South Africa he wouldn’t be granted an NOC. They are believed to be considering Olly Stone, who played in the SA20 and the ILT20 recently,

Jack Leach has been ruled out of the rest of England’s Test series against India after failing to recover from a knee injury. The left-arm spinner damaged his left knee fielding on the opening day of the first Test in Hyderabad, diving to stop a boundary and colliding with the ground. He then exacerbated the

England have allowed Dan Lawrence to rejoin his team at the ILT20 while the squad is on a break in Abu Dhabi between Tests against India. Lawrence, who was called up to the Test squad after Harry Brook’s late withdrawal, had been a wildcard signing for Desert Vipers but only played one match for them

So, it’s back to the UAE England go, two Tests down and three to go. A peculiar 10-day gap in this schedule allows the team to retreat from the relentlessness of a five-match India series. Players’ families will be meeting them in Abu Dhabi, offering some comforts of home and an opportunity to shed the

Ben Stokes has questioned the DRS for giving Zak Crawley out lbw but does not believe it was the reason England lost the second Test in Visakhapatnam. India levelled the series 1-1 with victory by 106 runs on day four, bowling the tourists out for 292 in pursuit of 399. Just as in the first

India 396 (Jaiswal 209, Anderson 3-47, Ahmed 3-65) and 225 (Gill 104, Hartley 4-77) beat England 253 (Crawley 76, Bumrah 6-45, Kuldeep 3-71) and 292 (Crawley 73, Bumrah 3-46, Ashwin 3-72) by 106 runs Jasprit Bumrah, the fast bowler of our times, completed the job that he had begun in England’s first innings as India

India drew level in the five-match series with a 107-run win over England in Visakhapatnam, but the batting performance remains an area of concern. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a double-century in the first innings and Shubman Gill hit a hundred under pressure in the second, but no other batter could get a big score. Captain Rohit

It proved to be the case, but Ben Stokes says at no point did his side believe their lofty fourth-innings target in the second Test against India was too many. Still needing 332 of the 399 set by the hosts, captain Stokes and his team began the fourth day in Visakhapatnam with the trademark self-belief

England 67 for 1 (Crawley 29*, Duckett 28) and 253 need another 332 runs to beat India 396 and 225 (Gill 104, Axar 45, Hartley 4-77, Rehan 3-88, Anderson 2-29) Ludicrous though it may sound, the chase is on. No team has ever hunted down a target of 399 to win a Test match in

It meant, after bowling two overs to start the day’s play, England were short a bowling option. Nevertheless, they rallied to dismiss India for 255, with the inexperienced spin trio of Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir combining for eight wickets to limit England’s target to 399 to win in Visakhapatnam for an unlikely

England batter Hamza Shaikh ensured his time at the Under-19 World Cup would not be forgotten when he was given out obstructed the field against Zimbabwe. In the 17th over, Shaikh defended a ball down by his feet and Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Ryan Kamwemba started to come from behind the stumps to collect it. Then, with

India 396 (Jaiswal 209) and 28 for 0 (Jaiswal 15*, Rohit 13*) lead England 253 (Crawley 76, Bumrah 6-45) by 171 runs Ben Stokes’ expression said it all. For the second time in as many first-innings counterattacks, all he could do was shrug his shoulders and marvel at the genius of the man who’d just

The ECB has made an unsuccessful request to New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to move the dates of England’s upcoming women’s tour, with four players deemed unavailable for the first three T20Is as a result of their Women’s Premier League (WPL) commitments in India and two others pulling out of their franchise contracts. NZC confirmed the

India 336 for 6 (Jaiswal 179*, Bashir 2-100, Ahmed 2-61) vs England You can only judge a pitch after both sides have Bazballed on it, or so the saying might now go, after England’s preposterous exploits in Hyderabad. On Yashasvi Jaiswal‘s watch, India appeared in the mood to make amends for their first-Test failings, thanks

Australia batter Cameron Bancroft will return to Gloucestershire this year after signing a deal to represent the club across formats in the 2024 season. Bancroft was recently overlooked by Australia’s selectors for the Test opening spot vacated by David Warner, but has been prolific for Western Australia in the last two Sheffield Shield seasons. He

Big picture It’s happened before. India have gone 1-0 down at home, and India have bounced back. This is what India will be telling themselves: ‘We’ve been here before. We trust ourselves to find our way out of this. We trust our methods.’ It’s what they should tell themselves too. Change is a fact of

Mark Alleyne, the former England allrounder who captained Gloucestershire to an unprecedented era of success in the 1990s and 2000s, has been named as the club’s new head coach. Alleyne won nine trophies during his time as Gloucestershire’s captain and also oversaw the club’s promotion to the top flight of the County Championship. He will

This may be a sign that India are trusting the quality of their spin bowling to draw more out of a pitch that may not be as responsive as some of those in the past; that their experience will help them get one over on an opposition that will be fronting up with a debutant

Shoaib Bashir, the 20-year-old Somerset offspinner, will make his Test debut at Visakhapatnam on Friday, after being named as Jack Leach’s replacement in England’s XI. Bashir linked up with the squad mid-way through their 28-run victory in Hyderabad last week, after suffering complications with his India visa, but will slot straight into the team as

Ben Stokes has confirmed that Jack Leach will not be available for the second Test in Visakhapatnam after failing to recover from a knee injury sustained during the first Test. Leach hurt his knee fielding on the first day of the Test in Hyderabad, before exacerbating the issue on the second morning. Though restricted to

It feels a bit of a missed opportunity to have the second of a five-Test series take place in the ‘City of Destiny’. Perhaps recent history was considered when sorting the order of the off-broadway venues selected for this India-England series. Only the games up front are guaranteed to be live. But as both teams

Brendon McCullum has said that Shoaib Bashir is in contention to make his England debut in the second Test at Visakhapatnam on Friday, and has floated the possibility of fielding an all-spin attack at some stage in his side’s five-match series in India. Bashir linked up with the squad in Hyderabad on Sunday after a

Few players can have experienced as many of Test cricket’s highs and lows as Tom Hartley did on debut across the four days of the first Test at Hyderabad. Hartley’s first delivery in Test cricket was carted by opener Yashasvi Jaiswal over long-on for six. His 308th and most recent spun past an on-rushing Mohammed

Richard Gleeson, the fast bowler who made his England debut at 34, has signed with Warwickshire for the 2024 T20 Blast after he was released by Lancashire at the end of last season. With Henry Brookes leaving for Middlesex on a three-year deal, Warwickshire will use Gleeson as a like-for-like replacement in their T20 side.

The incident occurred in the 81st over of England’s second innings. Ollie Pope, who scored 196, pushed a delivery through the off side and went for a run, but Bumrah was reported to have intentionally stood in the way, a move which led to physical contact. Pope was not pleased, and was seen taking it

Where did India lose the game in Hyderabad? Was it when their spinners were unable to stop Ollie Pope and England running rampant in the second innings? Was it when their batting was unable to deal with the rookie left-arm spinner Tom Hartley on the fourth day? Nope. Head coach Rahul Dravid says the biggest