Images from Day 1 of the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand played on Thursday
His duel with India stalwart Virat Kohli will be an interesting sub-plot of the match.
'His elbow is still niggling him a wee bit'
The fifth and final Test between India and England, which was suspended due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the visitors' camp last month, was on Friday rescheduled to July next year.
India to play warm-up games against ahead of England limited overs series
Test cricket and T20 can comfortably co-exist despite the mushrooming of franchise-based leagues, said former England captain Andrew Strauss.
'Trust me when I say that we'll be coming out with exactly the same mindset even if it's a different opposition.'
The India squad left on Sunday morning for Birmingham without the two players.
India led the way in the development of Test cricket under former skipper Virat Kohli, according to South African legend Graeme Smith, who reckons only five or six countries may be playing the longest format in the coming years.
Shane Warne has slammed then Australia coach John Buchanan for questioning the players' (lack of) desire to win, leading to near mutiny in the team.
Spunky England off-spinner Graeme Swann rates the ball with which he castled Ricky Ponting in the Edgbaston Test as the most satisfying delivery of his career, something he can tell his grandchildren about with considerable pride.
Amidst talks that he may be rested for the third Test against the West Indies, young England paceman Stuart Broad has said categorically that he does not want to be rested since he is in the 'best nick' of his life.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will be rested for the second Test against England due to a left elbow injury, with Tom Latham to lead the side in his absence.
England Cricket Board's Managing Director Hugh Morris believes the team's brilliant performance against world number one India in the ongoing Test series is a result of coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss' "outstanding leadership".
England will not change their attacking philosophy in the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord's this week.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said that England batter Joe Root is fulfilling his full potential with his run over two years.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the third and final Test between England and New Zealand in Headingley on Monday.
The Indian cricket legend was felicitated on the same date July 13 when he led India to Natwest final win in 2002
'(The target of) 378 five weeks ago would have been scary, but it's all good.'
Virat Kohli achieved another personal milestone by becoming the seventh India batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to top the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.
India's captain Rohit Sharma may miss their rescheduled fifth Test match against England starting on Friday after he tested positive for COVID-19, but the team will take a late call on his inclusion after his next COVID test, head coach Rahul Dravid said on Wednesday.
Important and satisfying to score runs at number 3: Shubman Gill
The match is delicately poised after a see-saw battle on Monday with Australia on 107-3 in their second innings chasing a victory target of 281 to take a series lead.
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has compared his teammate Graeme Swann's scorching off-break that rocked Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's woods in the Edgbaston Test with Michael Vaughan's magic ball that dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in the 2002 Trent Bridge Test.
Australia retained the urn after no play was possible on day five at Old Trafford due to the wet weather
He is expected to be out for at least three months.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the opening Ashes Test played between England and Australia at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on Saturday.
England spinner Rehan Ahmed has been added to the Ashes squad for the second Test against Australia.
The competition involves the nine top-ranked Test nations competing in a league between July 2019 and April 2021, with the top two sides progressing to the final which will be held in England in June 2021.
Images from Day 2 of the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand played at Edgbaston on Friday
Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood hopes to play in at least three Ashes Tests after declaring himself fit.
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch believes the 285-run first innings partnership between Steve Smith and Travis Head made the difference in the World Test Championship final.
'The hardest place to play in the world is India.'
Tongue is the only change to the side that lost the first Ashes Test
Edgbaston will serve as a contingency venue to stage additional training throughout July.
While Stokes's availability comes as a welcome boost to England's bowling department, they will not be able to call upon first-choice spinner Jack Leach, who suffered a stress fracture in his back earlier this month.
The series-opener against India will be a milestone Test for England as they will be taking the field for their 1000th five-day match, starting Wednesday at Edgbaston.
Navendu Mishra (Stockport) and Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) were among the other Labour MPs re-elected with convincing majorities.
Cheteshwar Pujara has made a comeback to India's Test team while youngsters Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh have received an India call-up as the selection committee on Sunday named the squad for the five-match T20I series against South African in June and the one-off Test against England in July.
