South Africa bowled England out for 181 in their first innings and had built up a significant 175-run lead by the close of play on the second day of the first Test at Centurion Park on Friday. Images from Day 2 of the first Test between South Africa and England at Supersport Park in Centurion on Friday.
Kevin Pietersen's test future may be in doubt but the mercurial batsman was hailed as a "million pound asset" when named in England's provisional 30-member squad for this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Pakistan's Rahat Ali removed England's top three batsmen as the first Test at Lord's hurtled towards an exciting climax on Sunday's fourth day. At lunch, England were 90 for three in their second innings, needing a further 193 runs to reach their victory target of 283. James Vince was a Test-best 41 not out and the recalled Gary Ballance 15 not out after Rahat had taken three wickets for 36 runs in eight overs. England captain Alastair Cook launched the chase with a four off the very first ball of the innings when he cut a loose Mohammad Amir delivery to the boundary.
Pakistan's spinner Yasir Shah had Ian Bell (40) stumped in the third session as England ended the day at 222 for 4 on Day 2 of the 3rd Test in Sharjah on Monday.
Spinner Moeen Ali crowned his excellent series by taking five wickets as England beat South Africa by 177 runs in the fourth Test in Manchester on Monday to secure a 3-1 series victory.
After a week dominated by back and forth between the camps over the sledging of England's Jonny Bairstow in the first Test, the tourists clearly decided to target Smith with a few choice words in a bid to unsettle him.
Australia captain Steve Smith described England's James Anderson as "one of the biggest sledgers in the game" on Friday as the heat rose off-field at the Adelaide Oval on the eve of the second Test.
In the batsmen's rankings, Cheteshwar Pujara is the top-ranked Indian at the fourth position while opener Shikhar Dhawan climbed 21 places to be ranked 39th.
Kohli trails Smith by 26 points and will have to produce a string of strong performances to leapfrog the Australian.
Images from Day 4 in the second Test between England and India, at Lord's, on Sunday.
England pace bowler James Anderson took a career best of seven for 42 on Saturday to destroy the West Indies' batting on the third day of the third Test at Lord's and set up his team for a 2-1 series victory.
West Indies ended the fourth day of the unexpectedly enthralling second test requiring 317 more runs to win after England turned the contest firmly in their favour.
Archer, who has played his junior cricket in the Caribbean and qualified to play for England only in April, is a familiar figure for the West Indies camp and it knows what the 24-year-old is capable of.
While a draw always seems a safe option in a game like this but Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri wouldn't like to play a defensive game which at times can be counter-productive.
England ended a well contested first day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa on 260 for six with the late loss of Ben Stokes giving heart to the tourists.
Wood, who has 11 one-day international caps but missed the winter tour of India, is joined by fellow paceman Liam Plunkett who is yet to play for Yorkshire this season because of a calf injury.
England recalled troubled left-arm spinner Monty Panesar on Monday and named three uncapped players in a 17-man squad for the return Ashes series in Australia that starts in November.
England failed to make the inroads into the Australian batting order they needed after gambling on bowling first in the inaugural day-night Ashes Test on Saturday and the hosts reached the second break on 138 for two.
Factbox on the second Test match between Australia and England, which starts on Saturday:
James Anderson claimed four wickets as England made an excellent start to the third and final Test in Sharjah by bowling out Pakistan for 234 on Sunday.
The 35-year-old has been bamboozling batsmen for 15 years now on the international scene and yet still somehow retains the element of surprise.
Opener Dean Elgar provided stubborn resistance as South Africa finished the second day of the first Test on 137 for four in reply to England's 303 at Kingsmead on Sunday.
Pakistan's spinners handed their team a 2-0 series victory after ripping through England's batting line-up on the fifth day of the third and final Test at Sharjah on Thursday.
# England (537) have recorded their third highest total vs India in Tests in India - the top two being 652 for seven wickets declared at Chennai in January 1985 and 559 for eight wickets declared at Kanpur in February 1964. # Moeen Ali has recorded his fourth century in Tests - his first against India - his first three were two vs Sri Lanka and one vs Pakistan. His outstanding 117 vs India is his first century in 21 innings (12 Tests) away from home.
With 36 different playing XIs in as many Tests under Kohli's captaincy, the Indian line-up is begging for some consistency.
With just one win, Sri Lanka are currently at the sixth spot with four points and will have to win rest of their four matches to stay in contention for the semi-final.
James Anderson joined an elite band of bowlers with 500 test wickets and Ben Stokes plundered a vital half century as England took command of a low-scoring third Test against West Indies at Lord's on Friday.
England, who hold the urn, were dismissed for 233 in their second innings in the opening session of the fifth and final day of the maiden pink ball Ashes Test.
England captain Joe Root's impatience to resume hostilities with Australia at Adelaide Oval after a week of off-field distractions was palpable on the eve of the first day-night Ashes Test on Friday.
Buttler was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point after swearing repeatedly at South Africa all-rounder Vernon Philander
Captain Steve Smith frustrated England with a fighting half-century and pushed Australia to 165 for four at the close of a see-sawing day two, rescuing the hosts after a top order collapse in the series-opening Ashes Test in Brisbane on Friday.
The right-hander currently has 873 points in the list of Test batsmen, headed by Australia captain Steve Smith.
Paceman Steven Finn's five-wicket haul put England on the brink of a 2-1 Ashes series lead over Australia on Thursday with the tourists facing a desperate battle to avoid a humiliating third Test defeat.
England made a bright start to their second Test against Pakistan at Headingley on Friday, after being hammered at Lord's last week, with Stuart Broad taking two early wickets and the visitors reduced to 68-4 at lunchtime.
India captain Virat Kohli shot up 10 slots to reach a career-high fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after producing a man of the match performance in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
Asad Shafiq and Younus Khan made gritty centuries to lift Pakistan to 340 for six as England's bowlers toiled in perfect batting conditions on the second day of the final Test at The Oval on Friday.
Joe Root says James Anderson is a 'special commodity', who is getting better with age.
England debutant Toby Roland-Jones wreaked havoc as he picked four wickets to have South Africa reeling at 126 for 8 at stumps on Day 2 of the third Test at the Oval on Friday.
England assistant coach Paul Farbrace has asked his top batsmen to take a cue from Indian skipper Virat Kohli and show guts and gumption in the third Test in Nottingham.
England completed a crushing 347-run victory over Australia with a day to spare in the second Ashes Test on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
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