With pacer Jofra Archer, opener Rory Burns and star all-rounder Ben Stokes back in the England squad, the visitors are likely to have some competition for spots in the team for the 1st Test against India.
England on Sunday named their strongest available squad for the Ashes tour to Australia as all-rounders Ben Stokes and Sam Curran missed out but seamer Stuart Broad was included despite the calf injury he picked up in the Test series against India.
Spinner Dom Bess was named in England's 13-man squad for the first Test against West Indies and there was no place for Moeen Ali among nine reserves, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Saturday.All-rounder Ben Stokes will lead England in the match, which will begin at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday in a bio-secure environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia's Steve Smith struck a superb 144 on his return to the side as they recovered from 122-8 to reach 284 all out against England in the first innings of the first Ashes Test before the hosts saw out two overs unscathed at Edgbaston on Thursday.
Images from Day 5 in the second Test between England and India, at Lord's, on Monday.
The performance of openers Rohit Sharma and K L Rahul has been the biggest plus for India in the batting department. Both have showed remarkable temperament and technique in testing conditions to give the team a solid start.
'Why on earth aren't all competitions using DRS'
IMAGES from the first Test between England and West Indies played at the Rose Bowl Cricket Stadium, Southampton on Thursday
Anderson sustained a rib injury in England's 189-run win in the second Test at Newlands and underwent an MRI scan in Cape Town.
Images from Day 2 of the third Test between England and India, at Headingley, Leeds, on Thursday.
England have added wicketkeeper Jos Buttler and spinner Jack Leach to their squad for the fifth Test against India at Old Trafford, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Tuesday.
India captain Virat Kohli was named the 'Leading Cricketer in the World' for the third time in a row in this year's edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, the publication said on Wednesday.
The spinner could not justify his selection and leaked 95 from his 11 overs for the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who was left out of the first Test, is back in the mix as Shardul Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at Lord's on Monday.
Images from Day 1 of the third Test between England and India, at Leeds, on Wednesday.
England named an unchanged squad for first match of the three-Test series against Pakistan that begins on August 5 in Manchester, the country's cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday. England beat West Indies 2-1 in the first international Test series since the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the sport in March, winning the third match by 269 runs on Tuesday.
A virgin Motera pitch has become the big talking point as captain Virat Kohli looks to get the combination right with India looking to continue their momentum to trouble England in the day-night third Test match, starting in Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
Australia declared their first innings on 473/9 and then reduced England to 17/2 after a near-flawless evening session to take charge of the day-night second Ashes Test on Friday.
Dom Sibley, nicknamed 'The Fridge' by team mates, has lost 12kg since experiencing a "wake-up call" while in Sri Lanka earlier this year for the series that was aborted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
New Zealand's pace attack of Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, however, made life difficult for the visitors
Images from Day 4 of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's in London on Saturday.
Images from Day 4 of the first Ashes Test between England and Australia in Edgbaston, on Sunday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 1st Ashes Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Saturday
The seasoned Alastair Cook warmed up for next month's Test series against India with an unbeaten century as England Lions made a solid start against India 'A' on Day 1 of the four-day unofficial Test.
The 49-year-old's Twitter account was hacked on Monday and the hacker had posted derogatory anti-Iran tweets.
England were all out for 391, taking a slender 27-run first innings lead, riding on captain Joe Root's majestic knock on an entertaining day of Test cricket at Lord's.
Captain Joe Root and Coach Chris Silverwood made a boo-boo when they picked a pace-heavy attack for the pink ball third Test.
India's captain Virat Kohli will have to think overtime about the balance of his squad, with a long tail, often bushy with runs, and just two openers -- one untested (Rohit Sharma) but very capable and another supremely talented (KL Rahul) but highly reluctant starter.
Bairstow, who was rested for the first two Tests as part of England's rotation policy, is back with the squad and is expected to play the Day/Night Test
Rohit Sharma has overtaken captain Virat Kohli to become the top-ranked Test batsman from India.
India's pacemen produced a terrific display of swing bowling to crush England by 151 runs in the second Test at Lord's on Monday, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
'We know what we need to focus on and we take a collective decision as a group. Everyone is happy with the win. It gives us more motivation to win the next Test. We have the belief, we are just looking forward to the opportunities. The fans have been amazing as well'
Steve Smith overtook India's Cheteshwar Pujara to grab the No 3 spot in the ICC rankings
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar lauded Australia's Steve Smith on making a remarkable comeback to Test cricket.
England shot out India for a paltry 78 and cruised to 120 for no loss in their robust reply to take early control of the third Test at Headingley on Wednesday.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the opening Ashes Test played between England and Australia at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Friday.
With his height, Antigua-born Cornwall generates more bounce than most off-spinners and combines it with his accuracy to trouble batsmen.
Ponting slammed England skipper Joe Root, Stokes and Jos Buttler for the manner of their dismissals
'We realise we haven't been good enough across all facets of the game. The boys want to win, we want to win the series too.'
England skipper Joe Root has backed James Anderson to hit peak form again, saying on Wednesday that the pace bowler's spot in the team is not in question ahead of the second Test against Pakistan starting on Thursday.
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