Cricket

Rohit Sharma has not played any cricket since he tore his left calf on February 2 during the T20 series in New Zealand. Six months without cricket is “challenging” even for the world’s No. 2 ODI batsman and Rohit admits that would be his primary concern as he gears up to lead defending IPL champions

Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie admitted that he would watch Tuesday’s win against England “four or five times” during his 14-day quarantine period upon returning to Dublin. But there’s no doubt that, along with the rest of the Irish hierarchy, he will be thinking of ways to build on that result, too. Here are five ways

Front-foot no-balls will be called by the TV umpire for the first time in Test cricket during the England-Pakistan series which begins on Wednesday as the system is assessed with a view to further use in the future. The system was recently introduced as part of the ICC World Cup Super League, which began with

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have had to rejig their backroom staffers’ line-up just two weeks before CPL 2020 after Simon Helmot, their head coach, and Malolan Rangarajan, the assistant coach, were forced to miss the tournament for different reasons. The franchise has brought in former West Indies captain Courtney Walsh and Mark O’Donnell from

Ishant Sharma has played more Tests for India than any pace bowler bar Kapil Dev, and looks set to join him in the 100-Tests club if India’s tour of Australia, scheduled towards the end of the year, takes place. However, Sharma has played only 80 ODIs, the last of which came in January 2016. He

The Perth Scorchers will be able to field a formidable top order in the Women’s Big Bash having secured the signing of Sophie Devine who has also been named captain. Devine joins Australia batter Beth Mooney as major acquisitions for the Scorchers as they look to reshape their batting unit following Meg Lanning’s move back

Big picture It’s almost like a normal English cricket summer, isn’t it? England lost the first Test yet again but came battling back in the series, something they do far more frequently than any other Test side. The batting order was rejigged regularly and debated in increasingly repetitive terms. Ben Stokes came good, and James

England 328 (Morgan 106, Banton 58, Willey 51, Young 3-53) v Ireland Ireland will need 329 to pull off their first ODI win on English soil and their first victory against major opposition since the 2015 World Cup after Eoin Morgan’s 14th ODI hundred underpinned a frenetic innings. After three early wickets, Morgan added 146

Leicestershire 409 for 8 (Slater 172, Ackermann 94) and 150 for 3 (Ackermann 73*) beat Lancashire 322 (Vilas 90, Croft 63) and 236 (Davies 54, Croft 52*, Mike 4-39) by seven wickets Captain Colin Ackermann led the charge as unfancied Leicestershire completed a sensational seven-wicket victory with just eight balls remaining in the Bob Willis

England’s hopes of adding Jeetan Patel to their coaching staff for the Test series against Pakistan have been thwarted by visa regulations. Patel, the former New Zealand off-spinner, had been due to join the Test squad as spin bowling consultant for the second and third matches of the series against Pakistan. Those plans have now

Derbyshire 239 and 365 for 7 (Hudson-Prentice 91*, Godleman 86) beat Nottinghamshire 324 (Hameed 68, Patel 63, Nash 59) and 279 (Patel 80, Hameed 52) by three wickets Fynn Hudson-Prentice showed skill and character under pressure to guide Derbyshire to a remarkable three-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire in the Bob Willis Trophy North Group match at

Essex 298 (ten Doeschate 78, Browne 61) and 202 for 8 (A Cook 66) beat Kent 387 (Kuhn 140, Robinson 78) and 112 (Harmer 4-35) by two wickets Sam Cook and Adam Wheater rolled Essex over the winning line as the county champions edged a Bob Willis Trophy thriller over Kent by two wickets. Essex

Middlesex 347 for 6 dec and 248 for 6 (Gubbins 60, Moriarty 5-47) beat Surrey 282 (Borthwick 92, Smith 80, Murtagh 5-47) and 123 (Patel 44, Cummins 3-30) by 190 runs Sam Robson took two wickets in two balls with his occasional leg spin to spark a remarkable 190-run Middlesex victory against Surrey deep inside

England will take a late decision on the balance of their XI to take on Pakistan in the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford on Wednesday, after Joe Root acknowledged there was still a slight doubt about Ben Stokes’ readiness to feature as a front-line seam option. Stokes produced one of the finest allround performances

The IPL has laid out a rigorous testing process for players and support staff who will need to clear at least four tests along with a week-long quarantine before they can start training in the UAE. Details of the testing process and frequency feature among the draft document of standing operating procedures (SOPs), which the

Worcestershire 428 for 5 (D’Oliveira 91, Mitchell 80, Libby 77) and 113 for 2 beat Gloucestershire 267 and 270 (Hankins 69, Dent 67, Leach 4-70) by eight wickets Joe Leach took four wickets in a devastating five-over spell to propel Worcestershire to an ultimately comfortable eight-wicket victory over neighbours Gloucestershire in the Bob Willis Trophy

They may have a poor record at the start of a series, but Joe Root believes England have a “head start” before their first game against Pakistan. England have, infamously, lost the first Test in eight of their 10 most recent series (excluding the one-off match against Ireland), including the last five. And while they

Northamptonshire 142 (Stone 4-39) and 507 for 6 declared (Rossington 135*, Proctor 112* Thurston 96, Curran 58) drew with Warwickshire 369 for 8 (Bresnan 105, Yates 88) Northamptonshire secured a Bob Willis Trophy draw that felt like a win after seventh-wicket pair Adam Rossington and Luke Procter batted through the final day to crush the