West Indies

West Indies collapsed in the evening session as England won the second Test by 241 runs with rookie spinner Shoaib Bashir taking 5-41 after hundreds from Joe Root and Harry Brook set up the series-clinching win at Trent Bridge. Root (122) and Brook (109), the long-reigning king of England's batting unit and his heir apparent, reeled off classy centuries to pave the way for a sprint to victory on the fourth evening of the Test. Root hit his 32nd Test ton on Sunday to move only one century behind England great Alastair Cook. England took an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the three-test series. Chasing an unlikely target of 385 after England's second-innings 425 all out, the tourists were demolished for 143 in just 36.1 overs as Bashir did the damage. The 20-year-old, who did not get a single over in the first test at Lord's, justified the selection gamble that saw him fast-tracked ahead of the established Jack Leach this summer as he took the role of fourth-innings finisher. Bashir rem

It doesn't matter if James Anderson takes a bunch of West Indies wickets for England in the first test at Lord's from Wednesday. The series opener will be Anderson's 188th and last test and he will transition into England's fast-bowling mentor. He was pensioned off by England managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. They met him at a Manchester hotel in April to say he wasn't in their plans for the 2025-26 Ashes in Australia. This was a month after Anderson returned from India, where he took 10 wickets at an average of 33.50. That series was lost 4-1 but on the last morning of the last test in Dharamsala, Anderson became the first seamer in history to take 700 wickets. He spoke then of being in the best shape, liking where his game was at, and being really excited for this summer, when he will turn 42 at the end of this month. This week, he said he was surprised at how calmly he took the news from Key, McCullum and Stokes. He understood their decis

The recently-concluded T20 World Cup, which was the first ICC men's event in the Caribbean in 14 years, was a success on many fronts but the logistical challenges involved in staging the massive event in the region caused a lot of discomfort to the game's stakeholders, including the players and fans. Cricket West Indies reaped the benefits of hosting the big-ticket competition that gave the governing body financial security for the foreseeable future. The ICC fulfilled its vision of hosting a World Cup in a region outside the big three (India, Australia, England). The locals fans were also thrilled to see top-flight cricket being played in the Caribbean after a long time but the same could not be said about the overseas fans who had to take great pains to watch their teams in action. Before the caravan moved to the Caribbean for the Super 8s, the talk around the games in co-host USA was mainly around the undercooked drop-in pitches in New York. Logistical issues began to crop up onl

Beryl was packing winds of up to 155 mph (250 kmh) as of 2400 GMT on Monday, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said

Hurricane Beryl closed in on the southeastern Caribbean late Sunday after strengthening into what experts called an "extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, and government officials pleaded with people to take shelter. The storm was expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning. Hurricane warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This is a very dangerous situation, warned the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami, saying Beryl was forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge. Beryl was centred about 150 miles (240 kilometres) southeast of Barbados late Sunday. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving west at 20 mph (31 kph). It is a compact storm, with hurricane-force winds extending 30 miles (45 kilometres) from its centre. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique and Trinidad. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica, Haiti's entire southern coas

Ramnaresh Sarwan, one of the most prolific batters to have played for the West Indies, is leading a comfortable life after retirement but when one talks him to him about the health of Test cricket in the region, he paints a grim picture, fearful of a talent exodus to the USA. The unexpected growth of T20 cricket and players' preference for the shortest format has put red-ball cricket on the backburner. First-class teams play as little as five games per season, which Sarwan thinks should be increased to at least 10. Speaking to PTI, the 44-year-old also lamented the lack of cricket facilities in the region. He featured in 87 Tests and 181 ODIs aggregating more than 10,000 runs across formats and played alongside fellow Guyanese Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the great Brian Lara for the better part of his career. "Yeah well Test cricket is at a very low point to be honest. Among the games that we are playing again in the Caribbean, I don't think it's sufficient to develop our players but

West Indian batting great Brian Lara had predicted Afghanistan would reach the T20 World Cup semifinals nearly a month before the tournament began and now that the giant-slayers have made it, skipper Rashid Khan said he is immensely proud to have proved the legend right. Afghanistan continued their brilliant run at the T20 World Cup as they marched to their first-ever World Cup semifinal with an eight-run win over Bangladesh in the last Super 8 clash here. "The only guy who put us in the semifinals was Brian Lara and we proved him right. When we met him at a welcome party, I told him we won't let you down," Rashid said at the post-match presentation. "I think when you get the kind of great, great statements from a legend, as a team, I think it gives you lots of energy as well. We are capable," he added. Lara, in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters last month, had predicted that Afghanistan would be among the semifinalists in the mega-event. "Afghanistan, they are .

Relieved to have qualified for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup, South Africa captain Aiden Markram acknowledged that the Proteas erred a bit in attempting to finish off the chase against West Indies too soon, leading to an unconvincing victory. South Africa did well to restrict the two-time champions to 135/8. In reply, the Proteas were 15/2 in two overs when rain disrupted proceedings for close to an hour. The South African batters saw the reduced revised target and improved batting conditions after rain as an opportunity to go hammer and tongs at the target of 123 but kept losing wickets as the hosts made things tight. But Makram and his men eventually got the work done. "A lot of relief to get through to the semifinal. Not going to be brain-washed by that. We would have liked to be more convincing with bat in hand," Markram said at the post match presentation. "After the rain break, the wicket was playing nicely. We did not get the partnerships to then kill the game. Tried t

Opener Shai Hope blasted an unbeaten 82 as West Indies came back roaring to crush the United States of America by nine wickets in the T20 World Cup Group 2 Super Eight match here. After bowling out the USA for a mere 128 in 19.5 overs, the West Indies batters went all guns blazing from the word go to knock off the target in 10.5 overs to make 130/1, recording a comfortable win. The win improved West Indies' standing in the Group 2 points table. The Caribbean side, which had suffered an eight-wicket hammering from England on Wednesday, is now placed second with two points and a Net Run Rate of 1.814. Johnson Charles fell for a 14-ball 15 with a couple of fours early on but the pair of Hope (82 not out) and Nicholas Pooran did the job for their side, smacking the USA bowlers all around the park here at the Kensington Oval. Hope made a mincemeat of the USA bowling as the right-handed wicketkeeper-batter clattered eight sixes and four fours to make 82 not out from just 39 balls, with .

Mitchell Marsh is not just a captain but a true leader, Marcus Stoinis said eulogising his teammate but added that the current Australia group is easy to lead with everyone aware of their roles in specific situations. Marsh has been tasked with leading Australia to their second T20 World Cup title. "Mitchie is not a captain but a leader. The way he gets the groups together inspires it," fellow all-rounder Stoinis said on the 'Unplayable' podcast. "He's been a leader for a longtime in this group. He has captained in the past at a younger age as well." It is not just Stoinis that has lavished praise on the all-rounder, the rest of the team also speaks highly of the 'Bison'. Marsh has had a love hate relationship with the fans, who booed him when his performance dropped leading the all-rounder to claim "most of Australia hates me". But Marsh witnessed a resurgence last year and has now become a fan favourite. He made his way back into the Test team and starred in Australia's stunnin

Legendary West Indies pacer Wesley Hall has seen a lot of great batters over the years and in his opinion, Indian superstar Virat Kohli belongs right at the top with the all-time legends of the game. The 86-year-old from Barbados, who formed a lethal bowling partnership with Charlie Griffith in the 1960s, also feels that the modern day West Indies players can't be expected to turn down million-dollar contracts in franchise cricket though it does impact the health of Test cricket in the region. In stark contrast to the nomadic life of a current international cricketer, Hall played 48 Tests in a career spanning 16 years. He was a special guest at the Kensington Oval here on Tuesday when he met members of the Indian team and presented his autobiography to Kohli and head coach Rahul Dravid on the sidelines of their second training session. Having also served as sports minister of Barbados, the man of many talents reserved humbling words for Kohli in his brief chat with the former India

New Zealand will require some time to regroup after their shock early exit from the T20 World Cup, said skipper Kane Williamson, who was non-committal regarding his return for the 2026 edition of the marquee event. An all-format player who is considered one of the greats of modern day cricket, Williamson has been the BlackCaps batting mainstay for over a decade. New Zealand reached three finals with Williamson in the side -- the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups, the 2021 T20 World Cup and the inaugural World Test Championship final, which they won. Williamson led the BlackCaps in three of those four tournaments. "When asked if he'd return for the 2026 edition, Williamson said: "Oh, I don't know." New Zealand's campaign ended with a facile seven-wicket win over minnows Papua New Guinea. They finished outside of the semifinals for the first time in 10 years. Pace spearhead Trent Boult has already confirmed that the ongoing T20 World Cup was his last. "There's a bit of time between now a

Nicholas Pooran displayed his incredible six-hitting prowess as West Indies geared up for the Super 8 with a dominating 104-run win over Afghanistan in their final Group C match of the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday. With both teams assured of a Super 8 berth, it was the two-time champions WI who displayed their batting might, amassing a formidable 218 for five, with Pooran going on a six-hitting spree during his 53-ball 98. It was the highest total for the hosts in men's T20 World Cups. In reply, Afghanistan succumbed to scoreboard pressure, managing just 114 in 16.2 overs. Afghanistan had bundled out their opponents for sub-100 totals in their first three games but skipper Rashid Khan's decision to bowl first here backfired as Pooran put on a ruthless display, hitting as many as 8 maximums and 6 fours during his stay. Opener Johnson Charles (43)Shai Hope (25) and Rovman Powell (26) also contributed with the bat as WI posted the highest total of this edition of T20 World Cup. Gulb

ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Highlights West Indies vs Papua New Guinea: There was a little bit of a scare for the co-hosts but Rostoin Chase and Andre Russell handled it well to hand them a five-wicket win

Legendary pacer James Anderson on Saturday announced that the first Test against the West Indies this summer will be his final appearance for England, bringing down the curtains on an illustrious career spanning over 20 years. Regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all times, the 41-year-old is England's leading wicket-takers and is one of only three bowlers to take over 700 Test scalps. "Hi everyone. Just a note to say that the first Test of the summer at Lord's will be my last Test," Anderson wrote on his Instagram. "It's been an incredible 20 years representing my country, playing the game I've loved since I was a kid. I'm going to miss walking out for England so much. "But I know the time is right to step aside and let others realise their dreams just like I got to, because there is no greater feeling," he added. Anderson's announcement comes after England red-ball coach Brendon McCullum conveyed to the seamer that they are looking at the future, with an eye on the Ashes .

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup received a terror threat to the tournament from North Pakistan; Cricket West Indies (CWI) provides assurances regarding implementation of all necessary safety measures

Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Friday committed to gender pay equity among its players having signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA). The MoU is for the period from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2027 and covers all agreements in respect of player remuneration and updated terms and conditions across the West Indies system. "The MOU outlines plans to achieve parity in international and regional match fees, international captain's allowances, international team prize money and regional individual prize money for all West Indies cricketers by 1 October 2027," the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said in a statement. India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England have put steps in place in recent times for pay equity among the genders. Just last year, the ICC announced prize money parity at ICC tournaments for men's and women's teams. WICB President Kishore Shallow said the announcement was a significant moment in the re

Legendary batter Brian Lara feels that West Indies cricketers cannot be faulted for preferring lucrative T20 franchise leagues around the world, like IPL, to national duty, saying playing the game these days is also about "making a living". One of the reasons of West Indies' decline, especially in Test cricket, has been the advent of T20 franchise cricket, with a handful of the Caribbean stars choosing to chase lucrative deals around the world instead of representing their nation in red-ball cricket. For an 18-or-19-year-old to say, 'I'm heading to the IPL', or, 'I don't care about West Indies cricket'... It's not just his fault," Lara told 'Sen Sportsday'. (About) 40 or 50 years ago, you may have been driven or motivated by playing for your country. But the sport today is about playing and making a living, so we have to make sure that that is part of the whole deal that we are selling," said the former captain who is here as team mentor for the two-match Test series against Austral

An independent anti-corruption tribunal has termed former West Indian cricketer Marlon Samuels guilty of four offences. What are they, and why do they matter?

Former West Indies cricketer Marlon Samuels has been found guilty of four offences under the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) Anti-Corruption Code following a hearing by an independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal. The International Cricket Council (ICC), in its capacity as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official under the ECB Code, had charged Samuels in September 2021 of breaching four counts of anti-corruption code during a T10 league in 2019. The 42-year-old has been found guilty after he exercised his right to a hearing before the Tribunal. "The Tribunal will now consider the submissions of each party before deciding on the appropriate sanction to be imposed. The decision will follow in due course," ICC said in a release. Samuels played 71 Tests, 207 ODIs and 67 T20Is in his international career, scoring 11,134 runs and taking 152 wickets. He retired from international cricket in November 2020. The former top-order batter has been found guilty of breaching articles 2.4.2, 2.4.3, 2.4.