Paceman Jofra Archer's breach of bio-secure protocols could have been a "disaster" and ended up costing the board tens of millions of pounds, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) director of cricket Ashley Giles has said. England dropped Archer from the second Test against the West Indies following the breach, announcing the decision only hours before the start of the match on Thursday.
Deep down, Kohli perhaps well understands that in the most challenging of conditions, his team needs more than just his sheer force of will to succeed. It requires that extra skill, tenacity and temperament. His jigsaw is near-ready; he just needs to find the final pieces, observes Dhruv Munjal.
England should not be overly reliant on express pace in the next two Tests against West Indies and must consider alternating Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, former quick Darren Gough said. England opted for the express speed of Archer and Wood and the experience of James Anderson in Southampton but lost by four wickets in the series opener.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee said their World Test Championship triumph will take at least a couple of weeks to sink in.
Skipper Rohit Sharma will be travelling to the port city on Wednesday and is expected to feature in the series-opener.
Conway hopes playing the ball off kitty litter might help prepare for the variation of spin off bowlers' foot-marks.
Shubman Gill is all set to open with Rohit Sharma after he was named in India's 15-man squad for the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand, in Southampton, from June 18.
An extended 21-man Australian squad is in England for the three Twenty20 matches, which start on Sept. 4 in Southampton, before three one-day internationals in Manchester from Sept. 11.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill thwarted New Zealand's plans with a gutsy batting display in tough conditions.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
'No, I can't pretend I am as good as gold, because I am not. It would be wrong to act like everything's OK.'
Australia Test captain Tim Paine has apologised to New Zealand for writing the Black Caps off before their World Test Championship triumph against India.
Sehwag took a funny jibe at the ICC for hosting the World Test Championship final in the UK
James Anderson is far from being done after becoming the first pacer to amass 600 Test wickets and he sees no reason why he can't enter the 700-club alongside Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan even though he has hit 38.
Manchester United's Axel Tuanzebe, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, Chelsea's Reece James, West Bromwich Albion's Romaine Sawyers and Southampton's Alex Jankewitz have all been victims of online abuse
Meet Sudha Murty and N R Narayana Murthy's daughter whose husband Rishi Sunak is the frontrunner to be Britain's next prime minister.
Pujara's strike-rate has been a constant subject of debate for sometime now
Former captain Michael Vaughan cautioned England ahead of next month's three-match Test series, saying Pakistan is a better team than the West Indies in the traditional format and can shock the home team.
England named an unchanged squad for first match of the three-Test series against Pakistan that begins on August 5 in Manchester, the country's cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday. England beat West Indies 2-1 in the first international Test series since the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the sport in March, winning the third match by 269 runs on Tuesday.
Here is a compilation of some of the best photos from 2021...
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
Newly-appointed British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that he has been elected to fix some of the "mistakes" made by his predecessor as he promised to place "economic stability and confidence" at the heart of his government's agenda.
>The Indian cricketers, who have been picked for next month's World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the five-Test series in England, are looking to get their first dose of the vaccine ahead of their trip to the UK.
'If you talk about form then everyone goes through ups and downs'
The famous win in the opening Test against England in Southampton was West Indies' first in the opening Test of an away series in almost 13 years and only their second Test win in England in 20 years.
Liverpool's Sadio Mane marked his return from injury with a late goal to break Norwich City's resistance and secure a 1-0 win on Saturday to extend his side's Premier League lead to 25 points.
England, who were blown away by the visitors at Southampton, will back themselves to make a strong comeback.
Joint-leaders Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool both dropped points on a busy day of English Premier League action as Leicester City and Southampton narrowed the gap in what is shaping up to be one of the most open title races for years.
ECB England off-spinner Dom Bess described James Anderson as the greatest English player of all time after the 38-year-old moved within two wickets of becoming the first pace bowler to claim 600 Test victims.
Will Captain Virat Kohli continue to change the team for the 39th game in a row?
England all-rounder Ben Stokes will miss the remainder of the ongoing-three Test series against Pakistan for family reasons, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Sunday.
Leicester City recorded the biggest ever English top-flight away win by beating 10-man Southampton 9-0 at a rain-sodden St Mary's to move up to second place in the Premier League on Friday.
Rain washed out an entire day's play for the second time in the ICC World Test Championship final in Southampton on Monday, diminishing hopes of a result in the India vs New Zealand contest.
A determined New Zealand bounced back in fine style on the third day to gain the upperhand in the World Test Championship final.
Rishi Sunak on Monday is all set to make history on Diwali as Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party, following Penny Mordaunt's withdrawal from the race.
With the former prime minister stepping aside on Sunday night saying it was "simply not the right time" for his comeback, the prospect of a Diwali victory for Sunak cannot be ruled out.
Images from Day 6 of the ICC World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand, at The Hampshire Bowl, in Southampton, on Wednesday.
New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson said his team is pleased to keep things in the balance after India reached 146/3 on a rain-hit second day of the ICC World Test Championship final in Southampton on Saturday.
English Premier League matches have continued behind closed doors during the second lockdown announced on November 1. Supporters have not been allowed into sporting venues since the first lockdown was announced in March, barring a few exceptions.
