Blog

Zak Crawley was “shocked” when Matthew Mott told him that he wanted him to captain England. His leadership experience at professional level amounts to two Championship games and two T20s for Kent, and he has only won three caps for England’s white-ball teams, all of them against Pakistan two years ago. But this three-match ODI … Read more

Big picture: Back to the margins It’s no slight on the visitors, honest. But here we are again, all the same. Just as Ireland opened England’s international season at Lord’s back in June, with a contest so translucent that both teams found themselves peering straight through it towards more pressing matters beyond, so they have … Read more

Bangladesh quick Tanzim Hasan has had to apologise to the BCB for a number of offensive Facebook posts from the past, which resurfaced after his international debut at the Asia Cup last week. Some of the posts date back to 2014, and BCB cricket operations chair Jalal Yunus said Tanzim was repentant about his posts … Read more

Rishabh Pant won’t be fit to play the upcoming World Cup but former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist is still fascinated by the impact he has had in his six years with the Indian team. Pant, 25, made his international debut in February 2017 and has risen to be one of the first names down on … Read more

September 5 Malan hits 26 off 21 in the final T20I at Trent Bridge, while Brook makes 4 off 8. Speaking before the game, Mott repeatedly stresses that the squad is only “provisional”, telling Sky Sports: “What I’ve been most impressed by is his response since missing out and that’s what great players do. There’s … Read more

It was Jos Buttler who rang Jason Roy to let him know that he had been left out of England’s final World Cup squad – just as it was for last year’s T20 World Cup. Buttler considers Roy a close friend and the pair have been international team-mates for nearly a decade, but twice in … Read more

Joe Root has been added to England’s squad for their first ODI against Ireland at Headingley on Wednesday at his own request, as he bids to rediscover his 50-over form ahead of next month’s World Cup. England’s initial 13-man squad to play Ireland did not feature any of their provisional 15-man World Cup squad. But … Read more

Further assessments back in Australia will determine Travis Head’s World Cup fate after the fractured hand he suffered in South Africa, but he remains a long shot to now make the tournament in India. Matthew Short has been called up to the ODI squad for the three matches in India which precede the World Cup … Read more

Jason Roy has been axed from England’s World Cup squad, with Harry Brook drafted in in his place, after the selectors made a dramatic late amendment to their 15-man squad for the tournament in India which gets underway in just under three weeks’ time. Roy, 33, was an integral member of the England squad that … Read more