Australia all-rounder James Faulkner is in line to make his Test debut after replacing Usman Khawaja for the fifth and final Ashes Test, starting at The Oval on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka's bowlers ripped through a fragile England batting line-up to win the second one day international at Chester-le Street by 157 runs to tie the five match series 1-1.
England's batsmen failed to take full advantage on a first day of swinging fortunes in the second Test against Sri Lanka, finishing on 310 for six after outstanding catching kept the touring side in contention on Friday.
ohn Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket, said the announcement "is a very positive step for Test cricket".
England have by far been the best team in the tournament.
England and New Zealand have both had to ride out the storm to make this year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup final. It has been far from smooth sailing for either side, but in the end it is Kane Williamson and Eoin Morgan's side who have emerged on top, and deservedly so.
England would love to regain the Ashes in the next Test at Trent Bridge but the loss of leading bowler James Anderson to injury is a disappointment they must overcome, captain Alastair Cook said.
Check out the head to head record between the World Cup finalists.
Having made a commendable comeback from the brink of a series defeat, India will look to increase their stranglehold on hosts England to draw parity when the two teams square off for the fourth Test, in Southampton, on Thursday.
England's Jonny Bairstow compiled his first century at Lord's -- and his second of the series -- to ensure the hosts completed a satisfactory first day of the final Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday, finishing at 279 for six.
The hallowed ground, which staged the World Cup final in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999, has also been put forward to host the women's World Cup final in 2017.
Pakistan's banned leg spinner Danish Kaneria has slammed the Pakistani and English cricket authorities after it was announced on Thursday that fast bowler Mervyn Westfield has been allowed to play lower-level cricket with one year of his spot-fixing ban remaining. "If anything, the permission by the England and Wales Cricket Board to allow special treatment to Westfield, confirms their bias and discrimination towards me throughout this case," Kaneria told PTI in Karachi. The ECB anti-corruption tribunal had banned Kaneria for life in 2012 and Westfield was jailed the same year and banned from professional cricket for five years and club cricket for three years on spot fixing charges. Both were banned after they played together for Essex in the English county championship. Westfield claimed in his testimony that he accepted a 6000 pounds to under-perform in a 40-over pro match between Essex and Durham in September 2009. The paceman claimed Kaneria had groomed him to indulge in spot fixing.
England opener Alex Hales belted a blistering 94 in 61 deliveries to set up a 27-run victory over Australia in County Durham on Saturday and a 1-1 draw in the two-match series of Twenty20 internationals.
In the other match of the day, Dan Lawrence and Jack Burnham hit centuries as title contender England crushed Fiji by a massive margin of 299 runs.
Bairstow replaces jaded Buttler in England squad while Australia rope in Hastings, and call-up Handscomb after injury glut
Nathan Lyon grabbed four wickets and Jackson Bird claimed his first victim of the series as Australia restricted England to 238 for nine at stumps on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes Test on Friday.
Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmed is likely to make his full Australia debut over the next month after being named as the specialist spinner in the squad for six one-day and two Twenty20 internationals against England on Thursday.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was instrumental in keeping England under check after Keaton Jennings hit a century on debut for the visitors on Day 1, on the fourth Test match, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Ashwin claimed the wicket of Jennings (112) and Moeen Ali (50) in a single after the duo had put on 94 runs for the third wicket as England threatened to build towards a big first innings score. The off-spinner also got the wicket of England's batting mainstay Joe Root, caught at slip for 21, before he dismissed Jonny Bairstow late in the day.
Dinesh Chandimal completed a fine century as Sri Lanka continued to hold up England's bid to clinch the series by moving on to 403 for six at lunch on the fourth day of the second test in Durham on Monday. The touring side, crushed in the opening test and bowled out for 101 in the first innings, are six runs ahead in the match after losing only one wicket in the morning session.
Just like it happens with most of the seasoned domestic warhorses, 30-year-old Faiz Fazal had also stopped expecting to break through into the national squad but now that he has earned his maiden India call-up, "the world seemed like a much beautiful place" for the Vidarbha left-hander.
Out-of-favour India batsman Virender Sehwag and Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan will lead two MCC sides in a series of matches in the Middle East to help launch the new county season.
Just hours before England retained the Ashes at Old Trafford by drawing the third Test against Australia, a "drunk" Monty Panesar 'urinated' on bouncers after being thrown out of a nightclub in Brighton in the early hours of Monday and fined by the police.
Jonny Bairstow may be riding the crest of a cricketing wave but England's in-form wicketkeeper-batsman says he is only too well aware of the perils of taking things for granted.
'If he carries on playing and if he stays fit, he will go past Tendulkar.'
All-rounder Ben Stokes has been recalled to the England squad for the first Test against India, starting at TrentBridge next Wednesday.
Chris Jordan claimed five wickets as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 67 runs, their third lowest total in one-day internationals, to help win the third ODI with a resounding 10-wicket victory on Wednesday.
The astronomical fee paid for Ben Stokes at the IPL auction is a confirmation of his status as the modern game's finest all-rounder.
'At home, being vegan is no real problem, and other than dairy (dahi, chhaas, ghee and kadhi) I can eat normally.' 'There is, of course, the eschewing of meat and as someone who likes (should I say liked?) Naga pork and beef steaks, and has eaten snake and dog, going vegan is unusual,' says Aakar Patel.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Former England Test captain Sir Ian Botham has backed Ashes heroes England to win 5-0 in the return series in Australia as he believes that England has the players to win again, especially a match-winning bowling attack.
Jonny Bairstow bludgeoned a brilliant 83 not out in Durham to lead England to a three-wicket win over New Zealand on the Duckworth-Lewis method on Saturday, earning a 3-2 victory in the five-match series of one-dayers.
Classy centuries from captain Eoin Morgan and Joe Root propelled England to a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand.
You'll be forgiven for salivating over these droolworthy pics that will give you a 'foodgasm'!
In terms of days, Dale Steyn has spent 2,320 days at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, the most by any bowler since World War II.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara eye top 10 places while Ravindra Jadeja jumps to career-best third position among Test all-rounders.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
'That has always been my ambition -- to take the reader behind the scenes, to the places he was not allowed to visit, but which I had the privilege of entering.' Haresh Pandya remembers Ted Corbett, sports journalist extraordinaire, who passed into the ages on August 9.
Penpix on the Ireland team for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
A clash of contrasting styles, the ICC World T20 final in Kolkata on Sunday gives both England and the West Indies a chance to create history.
'The difficulty of coordinating the response in Uttarakhand suggests that the country is ill-equipped to deal with a large earthquake in a mountainous area. The effects would be many times worse,' warns Dave Petley, expert on landslides
