England head coach Chris Silverwood on Sunday said "controlled aggression" contributed immensely to their series-levelling win against India in the third Test, days after the players had let their emotions get the better of them at the Lord's.
India skipper Virat Kohli backed under-fire wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, saying the team management will give him all the space that he needs in the last two Tests of the five-match series against England.
'When you bowl someone out for less than 100 you're never quite sure whether you've bowled well or if the wicket is not as good as you think it might be. To see both sides bat on it and see the way our openers went about their business just felt so calm.'
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.
Denly fell six runs short of his maiden Test century and Ben Stokes made a sparkling 67 in bright sunshine at The Oval to put England in a strong position to level the series at 2-2.
Jasprit Bumrah was keen to share the plaudits with the rest of the attack, even though he was the undoubted star of the bowling show during India's seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
Former captain Smith, who has endured boos from the home crowds for his role in last year's ball-tampering scandal but has responded by piling up 671 runs in five innings, said it was incredibly special to retain the Ashes in England, something Australia have not done for 18 years.
Steve Smith continued his outstanding Ashes form, striking an unbeaten 60 as Australia recovered from another failure by their openers to reach 170-3 at the close of the rain-affected first day of the fourth Test against England.
Desperate to salvage their Ashes tour, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is hoping to win the fourth Test at Headingley, where he has scored two centuries and his side has not lost a Test in the last 34 years.
England paceman Stuart Broad believes his new ball partnership with James Anderson has improved a lot in the last two years with their perfect understanding of each other's role. Anderson and Broad shared 15 of the 20 Sri Lankan wickets to fall at Headingley where the hosts thumped Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs in the first test. "We've actually improved in the last couple of years," Broad, who turns 30 next month, told British media. "We've always been quite good in communicating, but we've taken that to a new level, realising when one of us in on a wicket-taking streak, the other one can apply pressure and not get too greedy, and vice versa."
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan on Thursday termed the non-selection of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the Indian lineup as "madness". "The non selection of @ashwinravi99 has to be greatest NON selection we have ever witnessed across 4 Tests in the UK !!! 413 Test wickets & 5 Test 100s !!!! #ENGvIND Madness," tweeted Vaughan.
Ben Stokes' match haul of 254 runs and three wickets fashioned England's series-levelling victory against West Indies in the second Test on Monday, also earning him the player-of-the-match award.
Mohammed Shami's unbeaten half century at Lord's gave India a "false sense of security about their tail" and they cannot have "four rabbits from 8-11", said former England captain Michael Vaughan after the visitors suffered an innings defeat in the third Test.
Broad, who has taken 414 Test wickets at an average of 29 since making his debut in 2007, responded by saying the criticism "lacked logic" and claimed that Vaughan had not "got much insight into the changing room".
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between England and India, at Leeds, on Wednesday.
There were close matches, acrobatic fielding, some sharp bowling and big runs scored in the round-robin phase. Here are some memorable moments from the World Cup so far
Sri Lanka, the 1996 winners, kick-started their bid for a place in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup semi-finals in dramatic fashion with a 20-run win against hosts England at Headingley. It took them to six points and off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva insists they can still finish in the top four of the group despite suffering a pair of washouts in Bristol.
The ECB has been trying to convince both the BCCI and the Cricket South Africa to agree to play a tri-series later this year but nothing has been finalised as yet.
Dashing England batsman Kevin Pietersen named Kanpur's Green Park and Ahmedabad's Motera among the 10 worst stadiums where he has played cricket in all these years. Green Park and Motera does have company from other notable venues like Guyana and Manchester's Old Trafford to name a few. Pietersen also termed Gabba as the "11th worst ground" after being asked name 10 by his followers on Twitter. The other grounds that did not find favour with Pietersen are Chelmsford, Colwyn Bay, Canberra, Multan, Leicester and St Kitts. However he rated Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium as one of the 10 best venues that he has played cricket on.
After being widely condemned for their lame capitulation at Edgbaston in the first Test, suggesting a once-dominant team had hit rock bottom, this unlikely comeback was a stirring response.
Aus PM congratulates UK's Johnson on dramatic Ashes win
Willis ended his 90-match Test career with 325 wickets.
Australia, with Steve Smith back in their line-up, will retain the Ashes with victory in the fourth Test, while a win for England would set up a decider at the Oval next week.
Roy was struck on the neck during training on Tuesday and although the 29-year-old passed required concussion protocols on Wednesday, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to have an extra option at the top of the order.
Geopolitics resurfaced at the Cricket World Cup on Saturday when a plane towing a "Justice for Kashmir" message flew over Headingley during India's final group game against Sri Lanka.
It will be Ashwin's third county stint, having represented Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire in the past.
England looked all but beaten when they stumbled to 117-5 in their pursuit of a 277-run target set by Pakistan in the first Test at Old Trafford but captain Joe Root felt confident about his team's battling qualities.
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match played between India and Sri Lanka at Headingley, Leeds, on Saturday
All-rounder Imad Wasim's unbeaten 49 guided Pakistan to a thrilling three-wicket victory over minnows Afghanistan in Leeds on Saturday, maintaining their hopes of reaching the World Cup semi-finals.
English all-rounder Ben Stokes was given a royal honour at the Buckingham Palace after he guided his side to the ICC World Cup triumph last year. Along with Stokes, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, coach Trevor Bayliss, and Joe Root also received the honours as part of the New Year's Honours List.
Small aircrafts towing political messages continued to embarrass the host country after a plane with a message in support of Balochistan flew over the Edgbaston cricket stadium in Birmingham on Thursday.
Vihari, clearly hampered having pulled up clutching his hamstring after running for a single before tea, scored at a rate that made Pujara look like a limited overs slogger.
'I've done absolutely no training, the longest distance that I've ever run is 8 kilometres. So, I don't even know I'm going to be able to complete it but hopefully, I can'
Virtually ruling out Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan's return to the side for the series against England, PCB chairman Ejaz has said that Pakistan will continue to test youngsters in future matches to build a strong team for next year's World Cup.
Steve Smith's domination of England's bowling attack in the Ashes series reached new heights on Thursday as his magnificent 211 led Australia to 497-8 declared on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
Steve Smith received a standing ovation for a fighting 92 at Lord's despite being struck on the neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer.
England needed to win four straight games to lift the trophy - which they did, winning the title after a tied thriller against New Zealand.
India captain Virat Kohli on Saturday vowed to continue with five specialist bowlers despite their big defeat against England in the third Test but hinted at a rejig in attack for the fourth game by factoring in the workload of speed merchants.
Brearley said that the 28-year-old had to make batting his top priority in the longest format of the game.
