'He is obviously a bit of a rough diamond.'
England have been largely rusty and inconsistent despite having a dangerous squad on paper.
Stuart Broad finished on a high as he claimed the final two Australian wickets to bowl England to a series-levelling 49-run victory in the final Ashes Test.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup semi-final match played between India and England in Adelaide on Thursday.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after 45 World Cup 2023 games.
Astronomical Rs 24.75 crore bid makes Starc most expensive player in IPL history
Woakes was named in the England Lions squad for Tuesday's runout but the 32-year-old did not think the return of fellow all-rounder Ben Stokes necessarily meant the end of his hopes of claiming a spot on the Test team.
IMAGES from the World Cup match between England and Sri Lanka, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
England's exhilarating run chase to battle back into the Ashes series was even too much for captain Ben Stokes!
England have also included seamer Reece Topley, who they hope will have recovered from an ankle injury in time to play.
England qualified for the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals with a nervy victory over Sri Lanka by four wickets in their final Super 12 match on Saturday.
England stood on the brink of the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup after Jos Buttler's batting pyrotechnics secured their comprehensive eight-wicket victory against Australia in a Group I match on Saturday.
After defeats in their opening two matches, Australia came roaring back, winning their next nine games in succession
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index after 37 World Cup 2023 games.
Images from the T20 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Game 17 of the Super 12 competition in the T20 World Cup will see England take on Sri Lanka at the Sharjah cricket stadium beginning 1930 IST.
Images from Day 2 of the second Ashes between England and Australia at Lord's in London on Thursday.
'I've spent a fair bit of time here in Bangladesh and at this ground and it definitely helps to have a little bit of experience.'
Bangladesh secure a 16-run victory in the final match in Mirpur on Tuesday.
Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat but all-rounder Curran gave England an ideal start after dismissing the two openers in his first spell.
Alongside old war horses James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Matthew Potts, Saqib Mahmood, Ollie Robinson, Sam Curran and Olly Stone are also likely to fight for a place in the team for the Ashes, which will begin with the first Test at Edgbaston on June 16.
There are also doubts over the presence of England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who plays for Delhi Capitals in the IPL.
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 of the T20 World Cup match played between England and Afghanistan at the Perth Stadium on Saturday
Chris Woakes and rookie pacer Olly Stone will be vying for a final spot in the playing eleven.
Daryl Mitchell and Matthew Wade were the heroes for their respective teams as New Zealand and Australia set up a Trans-Tasman final in the T20 World Cup.
Images from Day 1 of the fourth Test between England and India, at The Oval, on Thursday.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali "missed a trick" several times in the opening Test against England and their three-wicket loss will hurt the team and their fans, according to bowling great Wasim Akram. Ali and his men held the upper hand for most part of the series opener and had England, chasing 277 for victory, reeling at 117-5 at Old Trafford before England fought back.
Pakistan are ahead in the game with an overall lead of 244 having gone to stumps on 137 for eight in their second innings
As curtains dropped on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand, England strengthened their stranglehold with Stuart Broad ripping through the Kiwi top-order at the Bay Oval.
Daryl Mitchell's superb unbeaten half-century fired New Zealand into their first ever ICC men's T20 World Cup final at England's expense following a thrilling semi-final in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup match played between England and New Zealand in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Archer has not played international cricket since March last year due to an elbow injury, and had a second round of surgery on his elbow in December.
Root and all-rounder Moeen Ali (28) stitched together a patient 91-run partnership to steady the ship.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between England and India, at The Oval, on Friday.
Australia, fuelled by hundreds from Travis Head and David Warner, crushed England by 221 runs in the third One-Day International to sweep the series in front of largely empty stands at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
New Zealand are coming into the match well-prepared, following their 1-0 series-win over hosts England but for Paine, it won't count for much as he believes the win came against a depleted home side.
'Credit to the way England played, they put us under pressure. They played beautifully, hats-off to England, they were clinical.'
Images from the second ODI between England and Australia, at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Sunday
Afghan, who retired from all formats on Sunday after the match against Namibia in the ongoing T20 World Cup, had captained Afghanistan to 42 wins out of 52 games.
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