Pakistan middle-order batsman Mohammad Rizwan hit a defiant half century on a difficult batting pitch to guide his side past the 200-mark in their first innings and frustrate England in the second Test on Friday.
Handicapped by the absence of key strike bowler Dale Steyn, South Africa will need to dig deep into their reserves if they are to beat England in the third Test and bring parity to the series.
England birthday boy James Anderson and rookie pace bowler Steven Finn ripped through Pakistan's batting to reduce them to 90 for six at tea on the second day of the first Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Jonathan Trott followed Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior into the international wilderness on Monday to leave England desperately short of experience ahead of this year's Ashes series against Australia.
Captain Andrew Strauss has been rested for England's forthcoming tour of Bangladesh, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Monday.
England declined to enforce the follow-on after dismissing Australia for 215 on the third morning of the second Ashes Test at Lord's in London on Saturday. Australia, 156 for eight overnight in reply to England's first innings 425, batted brightly with Peter Siddle reaching his highest Test score of 35.
England head coach Andy Flower rejected on Tuesday any suggestion that his team had engaged in deliberate time wasting during the drawn first Ashes Test against Australia on Sunday.
England tailenders James Anderson and Monty Panesar denied Australia victory in the first Ashes Test with an heroic unbeaten last-wicket stand before an ecstatic capacity 16,000-strong crowd in Cardiff on Sunday. Victory seemed assured for the Australians when Paul Collingwood was dismissed for 74 after five hours 43 minutes of dogged resistance with England still needing six to make Australia bat again and a minimum 11.3 overs remaining.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test match between England and Pakistan in Manchester, on Thursday.
Pakistan beat England by nine wickets in the first Test at Lord's on Sunday.
Former England all-rounder Ian Botham said England's bowlers are disappearing quicker than supplies of Stellenbosch wine, and urged them to concentrate on getting fit, rather than being involved in squat jumps.
English cricketers are unlikely to find many takers in the third Indian Premier League next year as they would be unavailable for most part of the cash-rich Twenty20 event, says Rajasthan Royals franchise CEO Sean Morris.
James Anderson took a career-best five for 23 to set up an overwhelming England win against South Africa on Sunday, putting the tourists 2-1 up in the series with one to play.
The West Indies trailed England by 244 runs at the close of the second day of the first Test in Antigua on Tuesday after Shivnarine Chanderpaul applied the brakes to any potential batting slump
Upset by Jimmy Anderson's comments about Virat Kohli, the usually calm Ravi Ashwin gives the English bowler a piece of his mind.
England announced on Tuesday their one-day squad for the Stanford Twenty20 competition beginning on October 25 and the tour of India starting on November 14.
At stumps on Day 3, India were 125/3 in their second innings to extend their lead to 257 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara (50 not out) hitting a gutsy half-century.
India will play their inaugural World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton's Ageas Bowl Stadium from June 18-22, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed
With England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff gearing up for his swansong Test, pace bowler James Anderson wants to give his outgoing teammate a fitting farewell by winning the Ashes series.
India are only side which can beat England in England: Jadeja
India opener Rohit Sharma has revealed that he has made some technical changes in his batting, like staying steady at the crease and playing the ball closer to his body, in his bid to be successful in the challenging English conditions.
After Steve Waugh, now Shane Warne begs to differ with Ricky Ponting on the alleged time-wasting tactics of England during the Ashes opener in Cardiff, saying the hosts played within the spirit of the game.
England pace bowler James Anderson took two wickets in 14 deliveries to reduce Australia to 348 for 4 at lunch on Day 3 of the first Test against England.
Refusing to succumb to the lure of the cash-awash Indian Premier League (IPL), England pace duo of Stuart Broad and James Anderson on Monday opted out of the Twenty20 extravaganza, saying they want to keep themselves in prime condition for national duty. Broad said, through his management agency, that he would love to play in the IPL at some point of time but as of now international cricket topped his priority list.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field against England in the fifth One-Day International at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday. India brought in left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan in place of Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma replaced the in-form Gautam Gambhir.
England pacer James Anderson described the conditions on Day 2 of the second Test against India at Lord's as perfect for bowling and said his side would have bowled out any batting line-up in the world under similar circumstances.
New Zealand have already booked their spot for the inaugural WTC final, leaving India, England and Australia vying for the other.
Veteran fast bowler James Anderson is pretty sure that the newly laid track at the Motera Stadium will be devoid of any grass for the upcoming day-night Test against India even though there is a nice green cover on it at the moment.
England closed in on a series victory over West Indies after taking complete control on the third day of the second Test on Saturday. The hosts declared their first innings on 569 for six before paceman James Anderson dismissed Devon Smith, Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons as West Indies limped to 94 for three in reply.
England have omitted fast bowler James Anderson from the team to face the Stanford Superstars in Saturday's US $20 million match in Antigua. Anderson joins Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and Ryan Sidebottom as the players to miss out, with captain Kevin Pietersen opting to include spinner Graeme Swann alongside Nottinghamshire team mate Samit Patel.
'India is going to need their bowlers, their spinners firing if they have to win the series' 'It is time Virat shows he can score in England conditions too'
Pujara was placed sixth, down one rung, with 791 points, while Rahane occupied the ninth spot after slipping a couple of positions with 759 points.
South Africa needed to bat for 146 overs to save the second Test but fell just over eight short as a brilliant spell of bowling from Ben Stokes cleaned up their tail and levelled the four-match series for England in the final hour of the day.
England will have to make some tough decisions about the futures of some of their most decorated senior players after they were ruthlessly exposed by Australia in a 15-day Ashes capitulation.
England's bowlers struck an early psychological blow ahead of next month's series against New Zealand when they ripped through a near-test strength batting line-up in a practice match on Tuesday.
The Ashes remains the pinnacle of Test cricket for James Anderson like any Englishman but the showdowns against India also rank pretty high as the world No.1 side brings out the absolute best in him -- the 2012 away series being a case in point.
With its traditionally quick and bouncy wicket playing to the strengths of home pacemen, the WACA has been a house of pain for English cricket and Australians will be hoping for more of the same when the ground hosts its final Test.
The England pace bowler believes increased competition for places prevents him from taking his place for granted.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the 2nd Ashes Test played at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Tuesday
England will miss the skill and energy of leading wicket-taker James Anderson in the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Trent Bridge, former batsman Kevin Pietersen said on Wednesday.
