England have recalled Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's next week, but paceman Jimmy Anderson misses out with a shoulder injury. Uncapped Middlesex seamer Roland-Jones Ball was named in their 12-man squad, announced on Thursday.
The former Indian captain will play in the English season for the third time.
Such is the level of consistency of Manchester City (nine straight wins) and Liverpool (five straight victories), that it can be easy to lose sight of just how good this title race is.
The Indian left-arm spinner claimed five wickets in each innings for Lancashire in the Frizzle County Championship match against Essex.
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.
he has nothing but praise for the Lancashire club which in many ways represents the backbone of English football.
Graeme Hick moved ahead of WG Grace and into the top 10 all-time century makers on Thursday.
Burnley reached the Europa League third qualifying round with a 3-1 win over Aberdeen after extra time at Turf Moor on Thursday but now face another tough battle to increase their squad size.
Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been given the all-clear to resume bowling and start the second stage of his rehabilitation from shoulder injury.
Monty Panesar is to leave county side Sussex after the club launched an investigation into the troubled England spinner being fined by police for urinating in public.
'The operation is part of continuing and extensive inquiries by police and the security service into alleged international terrorism,' the Metropolitan Police said.
Former Australia player Stuart Law has been confirmed as the Pakistan Cricket Board's first choice for the post of national team chief coach.
Virender Sehwag will play for Leicestershire while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath will represent Lancashire and Durham respectively.
The decision came after the ace Indian off-spinner informed the county that his injured finger is still swollen and painful.
Uncapped Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath is in line to replace Flintoff.
The 36-year-old Pakistani left-arm fast bowler, currently playing for English county Hampshire, is the only cricketer in history to take 500 one-day international wickets.
They clinched their first title at the 103rd attempt after reaching 302 for 2 in the first innings of their final match against Leicestershire.
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to undergo an intensive rehabilitation programme to speed his recovery from injury.
While rescue came quick, relief still eludes those affected.
Sri Lanka may possess cricket's most dangerous spinner, but New Zealand's captain Stephen Fleming believes the island nation has little firepower besides Muttiah Muralitharan.
He will be replaced in the squad by Kent's Martin Saggers.
He replaces James Anderson who pulled out of the Test series in Bangladesh with a knee injury last week.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who has failed to recover fully from a hernia operation, will be sent home from England's ill-fated tour of Australia, coach Duncan Fletcher said.
'As a player, the biggest question you ask yourself is whether you are good enough to be on the same ground as Gavaskar, Dev, Border and company.'
England seamer James Anderson is confident that he has enough skill and experience to compensate for his decreased pace over the remaining years of his cricket career. England's record wicket-taker in the format missed the opening test defeat against Pakistan at Lord's with a shoulder injury but returned for the second match in Manchester. Anderson, who turned 34 over the weekend, took four wickets at Old Trafford as England levelled the four-match series with a 330-run victory but there was a discernable drop in pace for the bowler who has claimed 458 victims in 117 appearances.
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.
The touring side reached 75-1 in their second innings at the close, a lead of 205, with Dean Elgar (38 not out) and Hashim Amla (23 not out) bringing some order to the final hour and ensuring their team are well-placed to force the victory that would level the four-match series at 1-1.
England's protracted search for a long-term opening partner for captain Alastair Cook could be over after teenager Haseeb Hameed showed great skill and maturity to score his maiden test fifty on debut against India on Saturday. The 19-year-old Hameed is Cook's 10th partner at the top of the order in the game's longest format since the retirement of Andrew Strauss four years ago.
Premier League leaders Chelsea moved 10 points clear at the top on Sunday despite being held by Burnley in an entertaining game played amid flurries of sleet and snow.
Maulana Masood Azhar was allowed to preach extremist ideology at several British mosques during a month-long visit to UK in 1993 on the invitation of Islamist scholars
Britain will hold a private military funeral for the soldier who was hacked to death in a terror attack on a London street in May.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has charged former Sussex players Lou Vincent and Naveed Arif under its Anti-Corruption code, the ruling body said on Thursday. Former New Zealand batsman Vincent has been charged with 14 offences relating to two Sussex matches in August 2011 - a Twenty20 game against Lancashire and a 40-over clash with Kent.
England captain Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes in his knock of 148, an ODI record.
Jimmy Anderson put England in firm control on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Saturday, with his four wickets leaving South Africa trailing by 142 runs with just one first-innings wicket remaining.
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