Potent England pace bowling after an unbeaten 155 from Moeen Ali put Alastair Cook's side in complete control on a one-sided second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham on Saturday.
England's batsmen failed to take full advantage on a first day of swinging fortunes in the second Test against Sri Lanka, finishing on 310 for six after outstanding catching kept the touring side in contention on Friday.
England will return on Thursday to chase down a 240-run victory target and stay alive in the seven-match contest against Sri Lanka after rain forced play to be suspended in the fifth one-day international in Pallekele on Wednesday.
Kumar Sangakkara laid the foundation before Angelo Mathews completed a nervy chase as Sri Lanka beat England by six wickets in the fourth One-Day International.
Wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and fast bowler Mark Wood produced a rearguard counter-attack to drag England back into the second Test against New Zealand on Friday as the visitors ended the first day at Hagley Oval on 290 for eight.
Joe Root made a half-century as England rallied to 130 for three at the close of the fourth day of the second Test, in Dubai, on Sunday, 360 runs behind Pakistan after the hosts' Younis Khan had made a swaggering 31st Test century.
South Africa lost four wickets in the final session of a fluctuating first day of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge on Friday but finished with a defiant flourish to end on 309 for six.
South Africa moved cautiously on to 214 for five in reply to England's 458 at the close on the second day of the first Test helped by a gritty performance from Temba Bavuma at Lord's in London on Friday.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad each took three wickets to leave India in trouble on 323 for eight, 246 runs adrift of England, after the third day of the third Test on Tuesday.
Ian Bell returned to form in spectacular fashion with a superb 167 and debutant Jos Buttler also shone to help England strengthen their dominant position over India on the second day of the third Test on Monday.
England face an uphill battle to save the second Test at Lord's after slumping to 105 for four at the close of Sunday's fourth day in pursuit of 319 to beat India.
England paceman James Anderson ripped shellshocked Australia to shreds with six wickets to bowl the tourists out for a paltry 136 on the first day of the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
David Warner and Shaun Marsh smashed fifties to complement their bowlers' efforts as Australia crushed England by seven wickets in the third one-day international in Sydney on Sunday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Australia bundled out England for a paltry 103 in their second innings to win the second Test match at Lord's on Sunday by a massive margin of 405 runs on the fourth day.
Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali led England's charge to a 169-run victory over Australia with a day to spare in the first Test in Cardiff, on Saturday to make a flying start in their bid to regain the Ashes
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and paceman Dhammika Prasad pushed England to the brink of defeat as the home side, set 350 to win, slumped to 57 for five on the fourth day of the second and final Test on Monday.
Karun Nair became the second Indian batsman to score a test triple hundred and his 303 not out helped the hosts post a massive 759 for seven before skipper Virat Kohli declared.
England beat Pakistan by 330 runs to win the 2nd Test at Old Trafford to level the four-match series 1-1 on Monday.
Steve Smith reached his maiden Test century with a six as Australia, trailing 3-0 in the series, took control of the fifth and final Ashes Test against England at the Oval on Thursday.
Australia wrested control of the third Test back from England for the second day in a row on Saturday, reducing the tourists to 180 for four at the close of play and taking another major step towards reclaiming the Ashes.
The Indian spin troika's inability to get breakthroughs on a good batting track was exposed once again as the first cricket Test against England meandered towards a draw after a solid century stand by the visiting team's openers here on the penultimate day. - Scorecard: After India were all out for 488 in their first innings, thereby conceding a first innings lead of 49 runs, England openers Alastair Cook (46 batting) and teenager Haseeb Hameed (62 batting) added 114 runs in 37 overs to take the lead to 163 runs.
Indian bowlers were made to toil as England began their campaign on a promising note, riding on star batsman Joe Root's 11th century to finish the opening day of the first cricket Test at a solid 311/4 in Rajkot on Wednesday. - Scorecard England's leading batsman in recent years, Root was his customary elegant self and made 124 off 180 balls, while Moeen Ali was one short of his fourth Test hundred when the stumps were drawn after 93 overs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
'The less balls we can bowl at Steve Smith, the more balls we can bowl to batsmen at the other end, and the better for us'
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara hit centuries and shared a stand of 209 to lead India to 319-4 in their first innings on the third day of the opening Test in Rajkot, on Friday, trailing England by 218 runs.
Joe Root scored an unbeaten 106 and shared a swashbuckling partnership with Ben Stokes as England put the brakes on a hostile South African attack to reach 238 for five at the close of the second day of the third Test on Friday.
England captain Eoin Morgan was "gutted" after his team's premature exit from the World Cup on Monday and confessed he was clueless about what the future holds for the team.
England picked up three early wickets as Sri Lanka struggled to 218 for six at lunch on the third day of the third and final Test at Lord's on Saturday.
India put themselves on the cusp of completing a comprehensive series victory with England caught in a spin web following skipper Virat Kohli's career-best 235 at the end of the fourth day of the fourth cricket Test. - Scorecard Records tumbled one after another as Kohli's third double ton in as many Test series was complemented by Jayant Yadav's maiden hundred with India piling up a mammoth 631 thereby taking a lead of 231 runs. In reply, England were left tottering at 182 for 6 needing another 49 runs to avoid innings defeat as the hosts are now all but assured to regain the Anthony De Mello Trophy that they had lost back in 2012.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav claimed three wickets apiece in the second innings to lead the hosts to a comfortable 246-run win in the second Test against England on Monday and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. - Scorecard: England, chasing an improbable victory target of 405, were all out for 158 shortly after lunch on the fifth and final day in the first Test match being played in the port city of Visakhapatnam.
Captain Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed may have frustrated the Indians with their dogged defence on Day 4 but Cheteshwar Pujara says it will be extremely tough for England to bat through the fifth and final of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
Ian Bell guided England to an eight-wicket victory over Australia in the third test at Edgbaston on Friday to put the hosts 2-1 up in the series with two matches to play.
Indian batsmen, including flamboyant and in-form skipper Virat Kohli, were made to toil hard before Ravichandran Ashwin's counter-attacking 57 enabled the hosts to reach 271/6 at stumps on the second day of the third cricket Test against England on Sunday.
India captain Virat Kohli revealed that his team got the extra motivation for winning the third Test after he lost the toss and therefore the opportunity to bat first on a good wicket. Scorecard Winning the toss and batting on the opening day is considered as a big advantage in Indian conditions but Kohli and Co overcame that to win the game by eight wickets.
Virat Kohli was frustrated to be dismissed three runs short of his century but another fine captain's knock inspired India on their best batting day of the series in the third Test against England at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara shared a century stand as India made a strong start in their reply to England's total of 400 on the second day of the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
England fast bowler Stuart Broad took six wickets to skittle out India for 152 and the hosts finished on 113 for three in reply to take control on an absorbing opening day of the fourth Test on Thursday.
"There could be up to eight guys who might not ever play Test cricket again in this touring squad. That's a big number... half the squad," Ponting was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.
Chris Jordan claimed five wickets as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 67 runs, their third lowest total in one-day internationals, to help win the third ODI with a resounding 10-wicket victory on Wednesday.
How rare is it for two players to score hundreds on captaincy debut in the same series? Virat Kohli got two when he led India in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide. Now, Steven Smith got one in his first Test as captain in the ongoing second Test at Brisbane.
Joe Root scored his second ODI hundred as England denied India a clean sweep with a 41-run victory in the fifth and final match of the One-Day International series, in Leeds.
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