England Cricket News

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) _ England is still wary of India's formidable batting lineup ahead of the second Test at Nottingham starting Friday, despite the visitors' disappointing performance in the rain-affected first Test draw. Captain Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman all failed to get past 50 in either innings at Lord's. But England paceman Chris Tremlett, part of an unchanged England lineup, is still treating India's batsmen with respect. ``It would be stupid to say ...

LONDON (AP) _ England faces its first serious Test challenge since its disastrous Ashes defence when it starts the first of three matches against India on Thursday. While England's one-day form has remained poor, the Test team rebounded from the completion of a 5-0 loss to Australia in January by winning its recent four-Test series against an inexperienced and demoralized West Indies team 3-0. But only middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul seriously troubled England's bowlers then and things are ...

LEEDS, England (AP) _ England will field an unfamiliar bowling attack in the second Test against the West Indies starting Friday at Headingley, with all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and fast bowler Matthew Hoggard out injured. Flintoff, who also missed the opening Test at Lord's that ended in a draw on Monday, failed a fitness test on his ankle on Wednesday. Hoggard is sidelined with a groin strain, forcing England selectors to call up fast bowlers James Anderson and ...

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) _ The world gets its last chance to see Brian Lara play international cricket on Saturday when the West Indies plays England in a World Cup Super 8s match that has been given unexpected significance. In World Cup terms the game is pointless. Neither team can reach the semifinals. But Lara's surprise announcement on Thursday that he is retiring from all cricket after the match may bring ...

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) _ England seems able to fit in a batting collapse almost anywhere in its innings at this World Cup. The middle order faltered against Sri Lanka last time out and, in Sunday's Super 8s match, the team slumped from 230-5 to 247 runs all out despite Kevin Pietersen scoring 104 for his team's first century in six tournament matches. The latest, and possibly most dispiriting, collapse ...

Andrew Symonds posted his maiden test hundred and shared a 279-run sixth-wicket stand with Matthew Hayden that prolonged both his test career and England's Ashes woes. Having already relinquished the Ashes with three straight losses, England had a rare spell of domination Wednesday when the pacemen had Australia reeling at 84 for five on the second morning of the fourth test. Enter Symonds. His place in doubt and with an ...

Monty Panesar's arrival on an Ashes stage and Steve Harmison's return in a familiar role lent England renewed credibility on the first day of the third cricket Test against Australia. Panesar took five for 92 on his Ashes debut Thursday and Harmison snared 4-48 as England dismissed Australia for 244 in 71 overs, after Australian captain Ricky Ponting had won the toss and confidently batted. The belief that the five-match ...

Alastair Cook made an unbeaten 106 and his test opening partner Andrew Strauss 88 as England took full advantage of an opportunity for batting practice on the second day of a two-day cricket match against Western Australia on Sunday. Cook and Strauss shared a 183-run partnership in England's total of 356 for four as the match, designed to give the tourists experience of Perth's WACA ground ahead of the third Ashes test which starts there on Thursday, ...

Australian men would go without sex to see their national team beat England in the current Ashes cricket series in Australia, a survey has found. The survey by men's magazine Zoo Weekly found 41 per cent of its 20,000 respondents would forego sex for a month if it meant Australia regained the Ashes. Four per cent were willing to go without sex for a year if it ensured an Australian win. Australia leads the five-Test Ashes series ...

England spinner Monty Panesar struggled to justify a growing clamor for his Test call up when he took just two wickets for 63 runs in a limited overs cricket match between England A and an Australian Chairman's XI on Friday. While Panesar performed unimpressively, Australia's newest Test recruit, Adam Voges, scored a classy 71 as the Australian selection beat its English rivals by seven wickets. Voges was called into the ...

England coach Duncan Fletcher has defended the decision to pick Ashley Giles over Monty Panesar in the first two Ashes Tests. Fletcher said selection issues weren't only up to him. British newspapers have widely panned the choice of Giles, who had spent an entire season out of the game, instead of Panesar as England's spinner. England lost the opener in Brisbane and then collapsed at the end of the second ...

The situation is similar enough for Andrew Flintoff to remain confident his England lineup can retain the Ashes. England lost the first Test in 2005 by 239 runs before coming back for a 2-1 series upset that snapped Australia's eight-series grip on the old urn. That series turned when Australian strike bowler Glenn McGrath hurt his ankle trodding on a ball while practising in the hour before the second Test ...

World champion Australia overcame early batting hiccups Saturday to defeat Ashes rival England by six wickets in a crucial Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament. Led by fast bowlers Shane Watson (3-16) and Mitchell Johnson (3-40), Australia bowled out England for 169 in 45 overs. The world champion wobbled in its run-chase before Damien Martyn (78 off 91 balls) celebrated his 35th birthday with a blistering half century, leading Australia to 170 for four in ...

Rival captains played down the hype of next month's Ashes as world champion Australia and England geared up for Saturday's must-win match of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament. ``I don't see this having a lot to do with the Ashes,'' Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Friday. England and Australia both lost its opening Group A games and another defeat Saturday would throw the loser out of the biennial tournament. England would begin its Ashes defence when the ...