Cricket News sort by England

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has confirmed his availability for the 3rd Test of the ongoing three-match series against England, which begins on June 23 at Leeds in Headingley. The Kiwis skipper was forced to miss the second Test after testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Nottingham Test. England went on to win the match by five wickets to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

In-form England batter Liam Livingstone has backed limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan to come good with the bat soon. According to Livingstone, one good knock should bring the left-handed batter back in form.

Former England Test skipper Joe Root has stated that captaincy had begun to have an “unhealthy effect” on his daily life, which is why he took the decision to quit. The 31-year-old stepped down as England captain in April and passed on the baton to experienced all-rounder Ben Stokes.

England’s new Test captain Ben Stokes has stated that the team will head into the Test series against New Zealand, which begins on Thursday (June 2) at Lord’s, with a ‘blank canvas’ and not look at the game as a ‘red-ball reset’. He is also hopeful of his partnership with new head coach, Brendon McCullum, making the players in the team comfortable and confident.

England Test skipper Joe Root on Sunday asserted that he believes he is the right man to take England forward in the longer format of the game. The under-fire cricketer made the comments after the visitors went down to Australia by 146 runs in the final Ashes Test in Hobart, thus losing the Ashes series 4-0. Set to chase 271 for victory, England crumbled from 68 for no loss to 124 in yet another pathetic batting display.

England captain Joe Root praised the team for showing some fight after the visitors hung on for a draw in the fourth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday. England were set an improbable target of 388 to clinch the SCG Test. However, a draw was the only option for them to save some face. They hung on by the narrowest of margins, with just one wicket in hand, to ensure that they would not be whitewashed.

Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith had some words of advice for England captain Joe Root following the 2nd Ashes Test in Adelaide on Monday. England showed some fight on Day 5 but eventually went down by 275 runs in the pink-ball Test as the hosts took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Resuming at 82 for 4, England were bowled out for 192 as Jhye Richardson claimed five wickets.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting feels that England could end up being whitewashed in the ongoing Ashes if they don’t lift themselves up in Adelaide during the pink-ball Test. On Saturday, England capitulated in the first Test to concede a 1-0 lead to Australia. Resuming their second innings on 220 for 2, they crumbled to 297 all out against an inspired bowling line-up. Australia then chased down 20 to win with nine wickets in hand.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting picked Usman Khawaja as David Warner’s replacement for the second Ashes Test in case the latter is ruled out of the match due to an injury. Warner did not field on Friday after being hit in the chest during Australia’s first innings.