Jofra Archer is “on course” to be fit for England’s 50-over World Cup defence in October, according to Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace.
The 28-year-old fast bowler burst onto the scene to star as England triumphed on home soil four years ago, before playing a key role in the Ashes series that summer.
But injuries have plagued the Sussex bowler since, undergoing several bouts of surgery on his elbow, as well as a stress fracture of the back which derailed his planned comeback last year.
Archer made his first tentative steps towards full recovery earlier this year, featuring in England’s limited-overs tours to South Africa and Bangladesh, before he had to cut short his spell with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
He was subsequently ruled out of this summer’s Ashes series back in May due to another stress fracture in his right elbow, but Farbrace says he is making progress as he bids to make the England squad for the tournament in India.
“He’s going well. I think he is on course for the World Cup which is fantastic news,” Farbrace told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He is going nicely. I think England will need to work out how to get the best out of him over the next few years if he is to go to that next Ashes series.”
Tom Latham and Will Jacks were both dismissed for 99 as leaders Surrey built a first-innings lead of 198 on the second day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.
New Zealand’s Latham and Jacks fell just short of centuries as Surrey made 368 all out on a rain-shortened day in response to Somerset’s first-innings total of 170 all out. The hosts’ seamer Matt Henry finished with six for 80.
Surrey began the day on 138 for four, 32 runs behind, with Latham on 67 and Jacks on 13.
Nick Gubbins gave Hampshire a sniff of saving their fixture with Essex as they lead by 73 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining at the Ageas Bowl.
Hampshire looked on the brink of a fourth defeat of the season, which would have all but ended their title hopes, having given up a 49-run first-innings lead and lost four second-innings wickets before wiping out the deficit.
Jamie Porter was the main architect of their destruction with another three wickets to go with his first innings five for 37, but Gubbins made 44 – the highest individual score of the match so far – as Hampshire were 122 for six at the close.
Middlesex’s first-day charge towards victory over Warwickshire was slowed first by stubborn batting and then by bad weather on the second day at Edgbaston.
After a frenetic opening day of 312 runs for 22 wickets, Warwickshire, bowled out for 60 on the first morning, closed the second day on 189 for four in their second innings, leading by 50.
Sam Hain and Dan Mousley dug in to add 110 in 45 overs, hitting 66 not out and 58 respectively, as Warwickshire clawed their way back into the game, but Middlesex remain very strongly placed.
An unbeaten 61 by opener Luke Wells helped Lancashire have the best of a rain-affected second day against Northamptonshire at Emirates Old Trafford.
When the wet weather brought an early end to play, the home side were 121 for one in reply to Northamptonshire’s 342 after the visitors had begun the day on 302 for five.
Northamptonshire’s lower order squandered their first-day advantage, losing their last five wickets for 40 runs in less than 80 minutes’ play – the final four of them to the spinners, Jack Morley and Tom Hartley, for 13 runs in 28 balls.
Injury-kit Kent finished on 102 for two in reply to Nottinghamshire’s 350 all out on another rain-hit second day at Trent Bridge.
After Ben Slater’s opening-day century, wicketkeeper Tom Moores made 94 as Nottinghamshire secured three batting points – 20-year-old Jas Singh finishing with four for 87 as Kent collected three for bowling.
Division Two leaders Durham trail Yorkshire by 234 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining after the second day in Scarborough.
Durham responded to the hosts’ commanding first-innings total of 340 by reaching 106 for one from 33 overs with former Yorkshire opener Alex Lees unbeaten on 65.
Yorkshire advanced from 142 for two overnight thanks to Adam Lyth’s 111 off 188 balls and Jordan Thompson’s 54 off 52 deliveries, including four fours and as many sixes.
Derbyshire reached 95 without loss to trail by 426 runs in reply to Glamorgan’s first-innings total of 521 for eight declared.
Luis Reece (52 not out) and Harry Came (37no) shared an unbroken opening stand in 40 overs before rain prevented any play after tea.
In Cheltenham, Worcestershire fought back from 182 for seven to end the first day on 265 for seven against Gloucestershire.
Brett D’Oliveira (53no), Gareth Roderick (53) and Matthew Waite (64) contributed half-centuries as wickets fell regularly, with the former sharing an unbroken partnership of 83 with Josh Baker (40no).
England captain Ben Stokes is ready to have “serious conversations” about an operation on his troublesome knee injury in a bid to set him on course for another tilt at the Ashes in 2025/26.
Stokes has been struggling badly with a chronic left knee problem for the past year and has been in visible pain throughout the current series against Australia.
Having set his heart on playing a full all-rounder’s role this summer, he has been able to offer just 29 overs with the ball and has not bowled at all in the last two Tests. Batting and fielding also appears to push him to the limit at times and, at the age of 32, a solution needs to be found.
This week’s Ashes finale at the Kia Oval, which England must win to square the scoreline at 2-2, is England’s last red-ball game for six months – a window that offers Stokes the chance to tackle the issue head on.
He had a cortisone injection ahead of this year’s Indian Premier League to help manage his symptoms and, asked if he would now consider going one step further with surgery, he said: “Yeah, it’s something I obviously want to get sorted.
“The times I’ve seen specialists and stuff like that, there has been cricket around, so as it’s been manageable we’ve just cracked on.
“I was pretty broken after the Lord’s game, but I still managed to walk out. I think this is a good time to have some serious conversations with medics around what I could potentially do to get a role in which I can bowl without having to worry about my knee. Those are conversations we will be able to have in that time off.
“It has been frustrating in the last couple of years, not being able to have the same impact and play the same role that I have done for the last 10 years.
“So it’s obviously something that I want to be able to do and hopefully I can get sorted. I keep forgetting that I’m ageing every day.”
Regardless of what happens in the next five days in south London, Stokes knows it will be Pat Cummins lifting the urn instead of him at the end of the game.
That means England are now guaranteed at least a decade between Ashes wins, having last triumphed in 2015, and Stokes would love to be fit and firing to lead the charge Down Under next time around.
“It’d be nice to go out to Australia in 2025 and have a good chance of winning,” he said.
“How this series has gone and how close we were, it does make you think when we next go to Australia do we have a better chance than the last few times?
“The way in which Australians and England players speak about the Ashes, it’s obviously the big one. The Ashes is such an important series for English and Australian cricket and it would be nice to say I’ve won it twice.”
In the short term, Stokes has to work out how to spend his time away. He and head coach Brendon McCullum have worked hard bonding the Test team together over a hectic 12-month period and now face a hiatus before touring India in January.
Stokes has an open invitation to throw his hat back into the ring for England’s 50-over World Cup defence this autumn, but insisted he had no second thoughts about about leaving ODI cricket behind.
“I’m retired,” was his unambiguous response to the idea.
“I’m going on holiday after this game. That’s as far as I’m thinking. But there’s only so much ‘break’ you can cope with. You really do miss that environment, when you’re around the other lads.
“In two or three weeks I’ll probably get bored and just schedule a squad game or something like that.”
Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from July 26.
Football
Harry Kane reflected on Spurs’ trip to Asia.
View this post on Instagram
A bittersweet game for Ryan Reynolds.
Jill Scott will be immortalised in comic-book form.
Ray Parlour enjoyed himself.
Erling Haaland thanked Japan.
Ian Wright was made to feel welcome in New Zealand.
President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema praised the women’s football team for their efforts at the World Cup.
Cricket
Ben Stokes was rudely interrupted by Mark Wood’s choice of music.
Kevin Pietersen was on safari.
Azeem Rafiq urged the rain to stay away from The Oval.
Stuart Broad reminisced.
MMA
Conor McGregor caught World Cup fever.
Cycling
Sir Chris Hoy was a proud husband.
Golf
It was a dog’s life for Padraig Harrington ahead of the Senior Open.
Athletics
Usain Bolt geared up for the 2024 Olympics.
Boxing
Alexander Usyk was ready for battle.
England captain Ben Stokes had an unusual start to his Ashes press conference on Wednesday, with team-mate Mark Wood interrupting the session with a burst of ‘Barbie Girl’.
Stokes had just sat down to take questions ahead of the fifth Test against Australia when the opening bars of Aqua’s 1997 pop hit began reverberating around the Kia Oval’s indoor school.
Stokes, who was five years old when the novelty track became a UK number one, took the moment in his stride as he puffed his cheeks in deadpan fashion before before correctly guessing the culprit.
Looking up and over his shoulder towards the team gym, he shouted “Woody” as laughter from the assembled journalists replaced the music.
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, launched in cinemas in the UK last week.
Stokes proceeded to name an unchanged XI and spent 15 minutes speaking to reporters, but Wood’s DJ set was not quite complete.
As Stokes finished his appearance and stood up to leave, Wood reprised the prank by playing The Imperial March by composer John Williams – better known as the song that heralds the appearance of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies.
Pat Cummins insists Australia feel a strong sense of unfinished business as they bid to cap retaining the Ashes by completing an overdue series success on English soil.
The tourists begin the fifth and final Test with the urn already in the bag after last week’s Old Trafford washout frustrated England.
Australia have not won a series outright in England since 2001 and blew the chance to do so four years ago after paying the price for some over-exuberant celebrations ahead of their last visit to the Kia Oval, when they also held a 2-1 lead.
Captain Cummins believes the circumstances are completely different this time around and says his side are determined to end the 22-year wait.
“I think the good thing is that it’s a really similar group to 2019,” he said.
“That Manchester (in 2019) was a big win to retain the Ashes, which we hadn’t done for a long time off the back of Headingley, even Lord’s, where we probably missed a trick last series.
“I felt like that was a big exclamation mark on the end of that series with still one Test match to play.
“It feels really different here, this group has been really motivated to win the series.
“We know that it wasn’t our best week last week and at the end of the game it was a bit of a pat on the back, ‘well done, we’ve retained the Ashes’ but really it feels like the job’s not done.”
Australia, who went 2-0 up in the series, were spared a winner-takes-all decider in south London by a rain-ruined end to the fourth Test in Manchester.
England were well in control after piling up a 275-run first-innings lead but, with just 30 overs possible across the last two days, they were prevented from converting their dominance into a series-levelling victory.
The next five days could prove to be the end of an era for this Australia team, most of whom are aged 30 or above and may not be in contention for the next Ashes series in England in 2027.
Opening batter David Warner, who turns 37 in October, on Tuesday quashed rumours he is set to retire imminently and intends to stick to his initial plan of finishing on home soil early next year.
Pace bowler Cummins concedes knowing when to transition from one generation to the next is a complex issue but has no desire to see any player finish prematurely.
“It’s a hard one,” said the 30-year-old. “I certainly don’t want to rush anyone out of the door.
“I think this is about the fourth Ashes series where (England bowler) Jimmy Anderson has said it’s going to be his last one, so you never quite know. It is just an age.
“Some of these guys might be around here in four years and still be at the top level. We’ll see but it’s always a conversation.
“We’re lucky we’ve got white ball cricket, where you can have a soft entry for a lot of the (younger) guys, give them exposure to international cricket.
“It’s something the selectors talk about but really you try and pick your best XI each week.”
England have named an unchanged XI for the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Kia Oval.
Record wicket-taker James Anderson, who turns 41 on day four, retains his place in the side despite a disappointing series thus far while Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have both been passed fit.
Australia take a 2-1 lead into the series decider and have already retained the urn but Ben Stokes’ men are looking to square the scoreline after last week’s washout at Old Trafford.
Anderson made it clear in a newspaper column that he has no intention of retiring and plans to continue his two-decade international career as long as he is wanted.
And captain Ben Stokes made it clear that was still the case.
“Jimmy Anderson is the greatest fast bowler to play the game,” he said.
“He’s not had the impact and the wickets he’d have liked to in this series, he’s come under a bit of flak, but he’s a quality performer.”
Stokes also paid tribute to his other veteran seamer, Stuart Broad, who has defied all expectations to play six Tests in a row this summer.
“At 37 years old it’s testament to the work and effort he puts in,” he said.
“It’s amazing. It was always going to be hard for one bowler to play every game this series but he’s been incredible for us. He’s been very good at coming on with the ball and changing the game.”
James Anderson insists that “the hunger is still there” to keep playing as he prepares for the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval.
England have named an unchanged squad for the Test, where they are aiming to level the series against Australia, but veteran seamer Anderson has been under the microscope.
The 40-year-old has taken just four wickets at an average of 76.75 across the series, including one at his home ground Old Trafford last week, but he is still determined to keep giving his best for England.
Writing in his column for the Daily Telegraph, Anderson said: “I have certainly not had the returns I would have liked in this series. Everyone goes through a lean patch, but you just do not want it to be in the most high-profile series we play.
“I keep talking to the coach and captain. They want me around, so as long as I am still hungry, want to put in the work, I will keep trying to give my best for the team.
“That is exactly where I am at the minute. I love playing Test cricket as much as I ever have and this is my favourite period as an England cricketer.
“If I was bowling horrendously, with my pace down and hobbling around in the field, I might be thinking differently. But the hunger is still there. I feel like I am bowling well, that I can still offer something to the team.”
A total of 22 wickets fell on the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One match between Warwickshire and Middlesex at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire were put into bat but were all out for just 60 runs – their lowest championship total since 1982 when they could only muster 43 against Sussex.
Middlesex were in scintillating form with the ball as Ethan Bamber took five for 20 and captain Toby Roland-Jones chipped in with three for 27, as the Middlesex attack made the most of the bowling conditions to remove Warwickshire with just 22.5 overs bowled.
The visitors had a lead of 139 after posting 199 in response. Ryan Higgins top-scored with 53 as bowlers Ed Barnard and Mir Hamza both took three for 49.
There was still time left for Warwickshire to start their second innings and they lost two wickets before stumps, reaching 53 for two at the end of a hectic day’s play.
Nottinghamshire opener Ben Slater notched his first ton since April last year to give his side a healthy advantage over Kent.
Slater put exactly 100 runs on the board before he nicked Jaskaran Singh straight into the hands of Harry Finch and while Haseeb Hameed, Will Young, Joe Clarke and Steven Mullaney all made starts, they failed to go on.
Kent took regular wickets to stop the hosts from going on to make a big partnership, but in the end it was wicketkeeper Tom Moores who frustrated the Kent attack, finishing unbeaten on 72 as Nottinghamshire closed on 275 for five.
Northamptonshire’s Emilio Gay posted three figures for the first time in nearly a year as their batters dominated against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Gay posted 144, one run short of his career-best total, and hit 14 boundaries in his 342-minute innings which helped his side post an impressive 302 for five at the close of play.
Aiming to haul themselves off the bottom of the table, the Northamptonshire opener put on 207 runs with captain Luke Procter for the fourth-wicket stand and earn just their second batting bonus point of the season.
Jamie Porter took five wickets as Essex landed the first blow over Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.
Pace bowler Porter conceded just 37 runs as the hosts could only manage 120 on a bowler-friendly pitch, with Simon Harmer chipping in with three for 26.
Batting also proved tricky for Essex, who replied by reaching 145 for six at the close, but more importantly take a 25-run lead into day two.
Surrey’s Tom Lawes destroyed the Somerset top order as they were bowled out for just 170 at Taunton.
The hosts were all out after just 56.3 overs, with 20-year-old seam bowler Lawes claiming wickets of three of the top four on his way to figures of four for 41, Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scoring with 59 for Somerset.
Surrey replied with 138 for four, Tom Latham leading the way with 67 not out while his fellow countryman Matt Henry began his final appearance of a prolific spell in red and white-ball cricket for Somerset by taking three for 26.
Division Two leaders Durham endured a frustrating day at Scarborough after Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean shared a century stand as the hosts threw the first punch on a curtailed day’s play.
Lyth and Bean shared 113 inside 31 overs and went on to a score of 142 for two from 38 overs before Bean fell lbw to England Test pacer Matthew Potts.
Lyth led the way with 75 not out off 118 balls, but hail at lunch prevented an afternoon restart and when play looked to get under way at 2.30pm, rain fell again and it was not until 5.30pm when play resumed for nine overs before bad light cut short play for good.
Colin Ingram’s century put Glamorgan in the driving seat of their clash with Derbyshire.
Ingram notched his first century of the season and stood firm with a record second-wicket stand of 193 from 338 balls with Zain-ul-Hassan, who himself made 69 before being caught and bowled by George Scrimshaw.
After Ingram was bowled for 136 from 200 balls, Kiran Carlson and Billy Root hit half-centuries and shared a run-a-ball fifth-wicket stand of 107 as the visitors closed on 408 for six.
Harry Brook was just two years old the last time Australia won an Ashes series in England and wants to ensure their wait goes on by securing a “moral victory” for the home side at the Oval.
The tantalising prospect of this week’s fifth and final Test being a do-or-die shootout for the urn disappeared in a downpour at Old Trafford, where England’s dominance was rewarded with a rain-ruined draw.
A 2-1 lead means the Baggy Greens retain as holders, but they remain intent on becoming the first Australian side to win outright on English soil since 2001.
Should they fall at the final hurdle, as they did from the same position four years ago, it would be a flat finish to a tour that started with a triumphant World Test Championship final against India.
And Brook, 24, is eager to press home the growing impression that England have enjoyed the better of this summer’s rivalry.
“We haven’t lost yet, they’ve only retained it. There is another Test match to be won,” he said.
“It’s a shame the weather ruined it for us because we’d have felt very confident going into this game at 2-2. We were dominating the game last week, so if the game had played out, I would like to think we would have won. If we can win this week, yeah, it almost can make it a moral victory.
“We’re not focused on winning as a side, we’re focused on making people enjoy watching and bringing Test cricket alive again. I think we’ve done a decent job of that in the last 12 months and it’s been exciting to watch. It’s definitely been exciting to play in.”
Asked if spoiling the Australian party was a motivating factor, he added: “That would be lovely. It’s not nice drawing, but it would be lovely to not give them that privilege.
“We’re just going to go out there and play the same way we have in this series.”
Brook is one of the least experienced members of a seasoned England squad and has embraced his first taste of Ashes cricket.
He has 271 runs, three half-centuries and a middling average of 38.71, but played a match-winning hand of 75 during a tense fourth-innings chase at Headingley.
“On a personal note, that is one of my favourite innings – a crunch game, at my home ground, so to have contributed a significant amount was nice,” he said.
“I’m learning every day and there are so many things I have learnt this series playing against some of the best bowlers in the world. Having grown up watching quite a bit of the Ashes, it feels like the pinnacle of Test cricket.
“There is a fine line between aggression and recklessness. I’d probably rather be on the reckless side than the tentative side. I’m not just there to survive. I like to score runs and I try to score them quite quick.”
There are some tired bodies in the England camp, particularly among the bowling group. Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are both battling stiffness and soreness, while Stuart Broad is eyeing the prospect of playing a sixth Test in just over seven weeks at the age of 37.
But while many of their group are looking forward to a well-earned rest, Brook’s youth and exuberance means he plans to turn out for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred just three days after the end of the Ashes.
“I’m going straight into it. I’m happy to play that first game,” he said.
Brook is well in demand on the short-form circuit, having won a £1.3million deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League as well as representing teams in the Pakistan Super League and Big Bash.
But he insists the international game is his overwhelming priority and has no intention of letting his head be turned.
Addressing reports that the England and Wales Cricket Board is preparing to introduce improved multi-year deals which would limit availability in T20 tournaments, he said: “I want to play cricket for England. I’m not bothered about all the franchise stuff.
“Obviously, it’s a bonus but I’m completely focused on playing cricket for England. I’m playing all three formats for England, I don’t really feel like there’s too much time to be playing any other franchise stuff, to be honest.
“The IPL is the only one that is really free, when you’re available for everything, so there won’t be much thought there.”
The Texas Super Kings advanced to the playoffs of the inaugural season of Major League Cricket after a three-wicket win over the San Francisco Unicorns in their fifth and final league phase game at the Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina on Monday.
The Unicorns won the toss in the winner-take-all encounter and decided to bat first.
Matthew Wade led the way with 49 while Chaitanya Bishnoi made 35 as the Unicorns posted 171-8 off their 20 overs.
Pacer Gerald Coetzee took 4-31 off his four overs for the Super Kings.
Texas then reached 172-7 with five balls to spare.
Milind Kumar set the foundation for the successful chase with a 42-ball 52 before Daniel Sams hit a whirlwind 18-ball 42 including two fours and four sixes to help seal qualification to the playoffs.
Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan each took a pair of wickets for the Unicorns.
The Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington Freedom have all confirmed their spots in the playoffs.
The final spot will be determined on Tuesday when the Orcas face MI New York. MI New York and San Francisco both have four points with New York ahead on net run rate. MI New York would seal their spot in the playoffs with a win or by avoiding a heavy defeat. If they lose by at least 130 runs, they would finish fifth and the Unicorns would advance.
Travis Head admitted Australia had “mixed emotions” after Sunday’s washout in Manchester saw them retain the Ashes, but knows the feeling will be very different if they can win the series.
Rain forced the final day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford to be abandoned, wiping out the chance of a potential winner-takes-all decider at the Kia Oval.
Australia have arrived in south London with a 2-1 lead and know the urn will return home with them, but a similar scenario in 2019 saw them come unstuck in the final Test and subsequently forced to settle for a drawn series.
Given the tourists have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001, there is plenty on the line despite the disappointment of last weekend’s wet weather.
“The feeling around it was yes, we have got away with one, but ultimately we have come here to win the Ashes and we have gone a huge way to doing that,” Head reflected two days out from the fifth Test starting on Thursday.
“We played really nice for three Test matches, maybe not played the best week last week, but if we can shut that out and think about what we did well for the first three Test matches, it will put us in good stead for this week.
“This week is very important and I think there are a lot of similarities with ’19.
“Coming here with the opportunity and a lot of different feelings with how the weeks panned out in ’19 and then this week, but I also think off the back of that, it probably showed us how much it meant and how much winning the Ashes would actually really mean instead of retaining them.
“No-one had done it for such a long period of time until 2019 and the high of retaining them, achieving that was huge and great, but then we didn’t have our best week that year.
“So, I think when we reflect from that and moving forward with the group being pretty similar, the ambition is to come here and win them so we have got that chance.”
Australia were completely outplayed in Manchester with England able to post 592 to establish a 275-run first-innings lead and Pat Cummins’ side were still in the red when the heavens opened at Old Trafford.
Only 30 overs of a scheduled 180 were bowled during the weekend and Head painted the picture of a calm dressing room once the draw was confirmed.
Head added: “It is mixed emotions because you would love to win a Test match to retain them and hopefully this week we can win a Test match to do it.
“A draw is a different feeling, no matter what the situation, but there was no real massive elation because we could see the situation coming.
“It was a really relaxed group, we had a quiet beer and a chat about where we need to go and what we can achieve this week, so our heads moved pretty quickly onto this week.”
Harry Brook wants to end England’s Ashes summer on a high and believes levelling the series at the Kia Oval would represent “a moral victory” over Australia.
The tourists already know they will be lifting the urn at the end of this week’s fifth Test, with their current 2-1 lead enough to guarantee they retain as holders.
They are still aiming to pull off an outright victory to become the first Australian men’s side to win a series on these shores since 2001, but England can ensure their achievement rings hollow if they make it 2-2 in south London.
After winning at Headingley and dominating the first three days at Old Trafford before rain robbed them, Ben Stokes’ men want to prove they have had the better of the contest.
“We were dominating the game last week so, if the game had played out, I would like to think we would have won. If we can win this week, it almost makes it a moral victory,” Brook said.
“That would be lovely. It’s not nice drawing, but it would be lovely to not give them that privilege.
“We’re just gonna go out there and play the same way we have in this series. It’s a shame the weather ruined it for us because we’d have felt very confident going into this game at 2-2. The rain won last week.
“We were thinking that (we deserved something) last week when it was pouring down in Manchester. It never seems to be sunny there.”
Brook has registered three half-centuries and scored 271 runs across seven Ashes innings, but would love a big score to finish the series.
On his match-winning 75 at Headingley, the Yorkshireman said: “On a personal note, one of my favourite innings, in a crunch game, at my home ground, to have contributed a significant amount was nice.
“There are so many things I have learnt this series and to play some of the best bowlers in the world, I haven’t got a big score but feel I have contributed in a few games now.
“I know I am at my best when I am trying to be positive, not just trying to survive. A couple of times I feel like I have been reckless, especially that innings at Lord’s in the first innings and then some innings where I’ve been tentative and not trying to score. It is just about getting it right.
“I have definitely got used to them (the Australian bowlers), I haven’t faced them before this series so it takes time but I feel I have watched enough and faced enough to go out there and feel confident now.”
Persistent rain wiped out the entire final day's play in Port-of-Spain, denying India a chance to sweep the Test series 2-0. The game was called off at 2.50pm local time.
The day had started with showers and the teams didn't even arrive at Queen's Park Oval until after lunch. The rain relented briefly before returning once again in the afternoon to force an end to the game.
India won the series 1-0, having brushed West Indies aside in three days in the first Test in Dominica.
West Indies will not be in action in Test cricket until their trip to Australia in January 2024.
Scores: India 438 (Kohli 121, Rohit 80, Warrican 3-89) and 181 for 2 dec (Rohit 57, Kishan 52*) drew with West Indies 255 (Brathwaite 75, Siraj 5-60) and 76 for 2 (Ashwin 2-33)
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Men’s Selection Panel today announced the squad for the three match CG United One Day International (ODI) Series powered by YES BANK against India which starts on Thursday 27 July at Kensington Oval.
The 15-member squad was named following a four-day camp at Kensington Oval held to prepare the white-ball players for the upcoming CG United ODI Series, as well as the five-match T20I Series that follows. The selectors have recalled left-handed batsman Shimron Hetmyer and fast bowler Oshane Thomas. Fast bowler Jayden Seales and leg-spinner Yannic Cariah have been included following their rehabilitation from surgery while left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie is also included, having recovered from injury.
Lead Selector, The Most Hon. Dr Desmond Haynes said: “We welcome Oshane and Shimron back into the group. Both have played at the international level before, with some success, and we believe they will fit well into the set-up. Oshane brings pace and is a potential wicket-taker with the new ball. Shimron’s style of batting will offer a lot especially in the middle stage of the innings and he is also a potential ‘finisher’.”
Keemo Paul is out injured while Jason Holder and Nicholas Pooran were unavailable for selection.
Kensington Oval hosts the first two matches in the three-match CG United ODI Series on Thursday 27 July and Saturday 29 July. The teams then move to Trinidad for the third and final CG United ODI at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Tuesday 1 August. All three matches start at 9:30am local time (8:30am Jamaica time).
Tickets for the matches are available from box offices at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, as well as Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, and the National Cricket Centre in Couva, Trinidad from Monday 24 July. Additionally, tickets are available online in advance from the Windies Tickets service, presented by Mastercard, at tickets.windiescricket.com .
Fans who purchase online will benefit from a 20% discount compared to the box office prices, with tickets ranging from the most premium seats with the best and shaded views in each stadium through to affordable standard seats or mounds/grounds entry.
FULL SQUAD
Shai Hope (Captain)
Rovman Powell (Vice Captain)
Alick Athanaze
Yannic Cariah
Keacy Carty
Dominic Drakes
Shimron Hetmyer
Alzarri Joseph
Brandon King
Kyle Mayers
Gudakesh Motie
Jayden Seales
Romario Shepherd
Kevin Sinclair
Oshane Thomas
West Indies v India Tour Match Schedule
CG United ODI Series powered by YES BANK
27 July: 1st CG United ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
29 July: 2nd CG United ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
1 August: 3rd CG United ODI, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad
T20 Internationals
3 August: 1st T20I, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad
6 August: 2nd T20I, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana
8 August: 3rd T20I, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana
12 August: 4th T20I, Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida
13 August: 5th T20I, Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida
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