Cricket

Steven Smith has had a cortisone injection to help him overcome the wrist tendon injury he suffered during the Ashes and is hopeful of being able to play pain-free during the World Cup. He had initially worn a splint but that did not solve the problem so he resorted to the injection and was able

Leicestershire 267 for 7 (Swindells 117*, Evans 60) beat Hampshire 265 for 8 (Dawson 57, Prest 51) by two runs Leicestershire produced a stunning performance to win the Metro Bank One-Day Cup final, coming back from the brink of ruin after being reduced to 19 for 4 by Hampshire to triumph by two runs off

Senior players Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah have been named in the 15-member Bangladesh squad for the first two of the three upcoming ODIs against New Zealand on September 21 and 23 in Dhaka. But Bangladesh will be without captain Shakib Al Hasan, who has been rested alongside Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan

Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of the final of the men’s Asia Cup against India because of a hamstring injury, but he will “definitely be ready” for the World Cup starting next month. Theekshana injured himself in Sri Lanka’s last-ball win against Pakistan. While captain Dasun Shanaka said Theekshana had a

Steven Davies, the former England wicketkeeper, has announced his decision to retire at the end of the season. Davies played for Worcestershire, Surrey and Somerset during a 20-year career and was capped 13 times in limited-overs internationals by his country. In 2011, having been part of England’s successful Ashes tour to Australia, he became the

England won the toss and bat first vs New Zealand Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bat first in the fourth and final ODI against New Zealand, having named a team with three changes from the 181-run victory at The Oval on Wednesday, but notably Jason Roy was not one of them. Roy,

Nortje had already missed the third ODI in Potchefstroom earlier this week. He “underwent scans and consulted with a specialist this week, and will start bowling again this weekend under the supervision of the Proteas medical team”, a CSA release stated. He played just the second ODI in Bloemfontein where Australia amassed 392 for 8

Sri Lanka 252 for 8 (Mendis 91, Asalanka 49*, Ifthikar 3-50) beat Pakistan 252 for 7 (Rizwan 86*, Shafique 52, Pathirana 3-65) by two wickets via DLS method In a game of multiple compelling storylines, it was Charith Asalanka who stood tall in the end as Sri Lanka edged Pakistan out by two wickets in

Toss Sri Lanka chose to bowl vs England Sri Lanka won a rain-delayed toss and opted to bowl first in the third and final ODI against England in Leicester. In scenes bearing a striking resemblance to those that greeted the start of play in Tuesday’s washed-out second match in Northampton, steady morning drizzle pushed back

Cricket Australia will make neck guards mandatory for Australia and domestic players from October 1 meaning the likes of Steven Smith and David Warner, among others, will be forced to wear them on their helmets having resisted doing so since their introduction in 2015. Mandatory neck guards are one of a number of changes made

Stokes insisted ahead of the fifth Test at The Oval in July that he would use his time off to manage his chronic left knee injury, which he wanted to “get sorted” as soon as possible. But two weeks later, he was named in England’s squad for their four-match series against New Zealand and in

Neither Rauf nor Naseem batted in Pakistan’s chase against India, which ended on 128 for a 228-run defeat, which affected Pakistan’s chances of qualifying for the Asia Cup final. They must now beat Sri Lanka in their final Super Four game. In case the weather forces an abandonment, Sri Lanka will go through to the

Australia’s stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh says his side will learn a lot from being exposed by South Africa’s spinners in helpful conditions in Potchefstroom while the fitness of their own spinner Ashton Agar is a worry after he was unavailable due to soreness with his next opportunity to play before the World Cup unknown because

Lancashire 330 for 5 (Vilas 124, Wells 97) lead Middlesex 194 by 136 runs Lancashire’s batters maintained their side’s grip on the LV= County Championship Division One match against Middlesex and had built a 136-run first-innings lead by the close of yet another rain-shortened day. Replying to the visitors’ 194, the home side were 330

England won the toss and chose to bowl vs Sri Lanka England won the toss and opted to bowl first in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Northampton. England are one up in the series following their convincing seven-wicket victory in Durham on Saturday, built on three-wicket hauls to young debutants Mahika Gaur and

Big picture – India might rotate players Two weeks ago in Bengaluru, India’s Asia Cup-bound squad had exhaustive fitness tests to check their levels of preparedness for the cricket coming up over the next three months. On Tuesday, the players’ fitness levels will be put to test as India return to the R Premadasa Stadium

Both the quick bowlers picked up injuries during the Super Four clash against India over Sunday and Monday. Rauf felt “a little discomfort in his right flank” on Sunday, which prevented him from taking the field on Monday, while Naseem went off in the 49th over of India’s innings on the reserve day with an

At what point should a team that has lost five successive fixtures across white-ball formats start to panic? Or, if that sounds too extreme, when should that team, with the knowledge that a World Cup is less than a month away, begin to show some signs of concern? South Africa’s No. 5 put the team’s