England’s commitment to high-risk, high-impact cricket hurried the first Ashes Test towards a gripping conclusion, setting Australia 281 to win on day four at Edgbaston.
Resuming on 28 for two, England put their foot to the floor as they moved to 273 all out at the end of an elongated afternoon session.
The hosts would have loved one of their middle-order batters to kick on to a substantial score, but saw Joe Root (46), Harry Brook (46) and Ben Stokes (43) dismissed one by one just as they were dragging control away from the Australians.
There were important runs too from from the tail, Ollie Robinson making 29 as the last two wickets put on 44.
Despite delivering emphatically on their promise to entertain, even those who roared their approval from the stands may reflect that England over-reached against Nathan Lyon at times.
Root was stumped for the first time in 131 Tests when he ran down the pitch and swiped fresh air and Brook cut short a highly promising stay when he dragged to midwicket trying to force a boundary.
Former captain Root set the tone for a colourful day with an audacious start, attempting his trademark reverse ramp off Pat Cummins’ first delivery of the morning.
Root has become a master of that audacious stroke but, even by his own standards, attempting it so early – with a crucial Test match balanced on a knife-edge – showed remarkable chutzpah.
Undeterred, he went back to the well twice in the next over, launching Scott Boland over the wicketkeeper’s head for six and then flicking four more beyond the slip cordon. It was a faintly surreal, but utterly exhilarating opening salvo.
England continued to go after Boland, who shipped 31 off his first three overs as his reputation for economy took its second battering in four days.
By contrast, Cummins was working up a head of steam at the Pavilion End and he produced a picture-perfect inswinging yorker to see off Ollie Pope (16), thudding the base of off stump as the batter groped for contact. He finished with four for 63 – an outstanding effort by any measure.
That left England 84 ahead and three down, but the arrival of Brook ensured the tempo did not slow. He took just three balls to register his first four, punching Cameron Green down the ground and quickly dialling up the aggression.
He helped himself to 13 off Lyon’s first over – not the kind of reception the spinner would have anticipated on a wearing pitch – and later launched him over extra-cover with a clean swing of the bat.
Lyon got his rewards for sticking at it, Root overly giddy as he ran down the pitch and left Alex Carey a simple stumping.
Stokes unexpectedly cooled things down, playing safely as he realised the importance of slowing Australia’s roll, but Brook lost his patience as Lyon dried up the scoring options.
Within sight of a first Ashes fifty he swiped at the spinner and was well caught by the diving Marnus Labuschagne at midwicket.
Jonny Bairstow successfully overturned an lbw decision just before lunch, with England heading in at 155 for five. They made another 118 in the middle session, but were bowled out in the extra half-hour as they wrestled for the upper hand.
Bairstow took the lead past 200 with successive fours – an impeccable square drive and a thick edge to deep third – but he was undone lbw by the wily Lyon for 20.
That left Stokes in charge of building the lead and he batted with deliberate focus, putting away the slogs that have too often followed him around as captain.
He hit five boundaries in almost two hours of observance, before his opposite number Lyon trapped him leg-before with the lead at 217.
England will have been happy with their finishing position from there, Moeen Ali making a scratchy 19 and Robinson showing real composure as he chipped away vital runs.
He was close to being out for five, but Labuschagne brushed the ball across the ground after claiming the catch at short leg. He holed to give Lyon a fourth, with Stuart Broad and James Anderson adding 17 more before the latter edged Cummins behind.
Windies to test T20 World Cup readiness against South Africa, Australia in Jamaica and T&T; final squad to be named this week
With the ICC Men’s Twenty 20 World Cup now just about a month away, Darren Sammy and his West Indies team will up the tempo on preparations, before testing their readiness for the June 1-29 global showpiece, with a final warm-up match against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
Sammy’s final squad, which is expected to be named sometime this week, will be one of nine teams to travel to the Trinidad and Tobago in May for eight warm-up matches, four of which will take place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while the other four is scheduled for the historic Queen’s Park Oval. The teams will arrive in twin island republic on May 21.
The revelation came from Cricket West Indies’s (CWI) CEO Johnny Grave during the recently-concluded CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, in Port of Spain.
Grave explained that the final West Indies squad will not convene in full until they travel to Jamaica at the end of May to engage South Africa in three warm-up contests. However, he pointed out that there will be a camp in Antigua prior, which will involve members of the final squad, who are not plying their trade in the Indian Premier League.
From Jamaica, the Rovman Powell-captained squad will then travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the clash against 50-over World Cup winners Australia, ahead of the tournament to be hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
West Indies, the 2012 and 2016 champions, are hunting a third T20 World Cup title.
“We’re going to have a week-long preparation camp in Antigua from May 12, before heading to Jamaica. We’re then going to leave Jamaica and come here to Trinidad and Tobago for a week’s preparation, including playing at the historic Queen’s Park Oval on May 30, in an evening fixture against one of the tournament favourites Australia,” Grave shared.
“That will probably be one of the only games in the warm-up schedule that will be ticketed, and we certainly hope that the fans here in Trinidad, and particularly those in Port of Spain, will come out and rally behind the West Indies in that warm-up match, which is the final game we’ll play before we head to Guyana for the opening game on June 2,” he added.
West Indies, who are drawn in Group C alongside New Zealand, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, will open against the latter at the Guyana National Stadium on June 2.
Grave urged fans to come out and rally behind the West Indies outfit in their push to start the tournament on a high.
“Making sure we have a huge party in Georgetown, and we get off to a winning start (will be crucial). We all know in these global tournaments, confidence and momentum are important and we can think of nothing better than starting with a victory in Guyana and ending it in Barbados on June 29 with a similar victory,” Grave said.
Archer included in England's T20 World Cup squad
Jofra Archer has been recalled to England’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States this June.
The 29-year-old, who has not played competitive cricket since May due to a long-term elbow injury, could make his first appearance for the international team since a tour of Bangladesh in March 2023.
Archer has been limited to just 15 T20Is since his England debut in 2019 and missed their 2022 World Cup success in Australia due to the same injury.
There is a recall for fellow fast-bowler Chris Jordan, who last played for England against New Zealand in September 2023, at the expense of Chris Woakes.
Uncapped Lancashire left-arm spinner, Tom Hartley, is also named in Jos Buttler’s 15-man squad, which includes nine players from the 2022 World Cup.
England will play a four-match T20 series against Pakistan at Headingley in May before they begin their T20 World Cup title defence against Scotland in Barbados on 4 June.
England’s provisional squad:
Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, To Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingston, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
IPL: Salt stars as KKR get back to winning ways
Phil Salt inspired Kolkata Knight Riders to get back to winning ways in the Indian Premier League as they beat Delhi Capitals with an emphatic seven-wicket victory.
The Capitals had surpassed 220 runs in each of their last two matches, but their chances of doing so again were dented early on, Prithvi Shaw walking for 13 before the in-form Jake Fraser-McGurk followed before the end of the third over, his flat drive being taken by Venkatesh Iyer near the boundary for 12.
Varun Chakaravarthy posted figures of 3-16 as Kolkata prevented their visitors from mounting any kind of response, with only Kuldeep Yadav's unbeaten 35 off 26 balls helping them crawl beyond the 150 mark and finish their innings on 153-9.
Salt started brilliantly for Kolkata, plundering his way to a half-century within the first six overs of the chase. He was bowled by Axar Patel, but only after the openers had raced to 79-0, with Sunil Narine and Rinku Singh dismissed shortly after.
Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyer ticked off the remaining runs with ease, securing the win for Kolkata with 21 balls left.
Data Debrief: A sprinkle of Salt
England all-rounder Will Jacks smashed an unbeaten century off just 41 balls to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over Gujarat Titans on Sunday, and his compatriot Salt followed up with a stunning knock this time around.
He reached 52 in just 26 balls, with a further two boundaries taking him to 60 and seeing Kolkata reach 79 by the end of the powerplay. His knock included seven fours and five sixes.
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