Travis Head’s counter-attacking hundred and his unbroken 251-run stand with Steve Smith put Australia in charge on 327-3 after an absorbing opening day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India.

Seamer Josh Tongue took five wickets to help England thrash Ireland by 10 wickets in the one-off test at Lord’s ahead of the Ashes series against Australia, but the visitors salvaged some pride with a brave batting effort on the third day.

Australia captain Meg Lanning has pulled out of the Women’s Ashes tour in England that begins next month due to medical reasons, with Alyssa Healy set to lead the team instead, Cricket Australia (CA) said.

With the World Test Championship final just weeks away, Virat Kohli says he has no intention of tinkering with his technique to add “fancy shots” to his arsenal for the Indian Premier League.

Australia based Sanjiv Dubey is the batting coach for the national under-19 cricket team.

On-field umpires will no longer be required to give a soft signal before referring decisions to TV umpires.

Seamer Trent Boult still wants to play for New Zealand at this year’s World Cup and tests next year despite giving up his central contract to allow him to spend more time with his family.

India ended Australia’s 15-month reign as the number one test team in cricket ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June between the two sides.

Former India team mates Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir were docked their full match fees following their altercation in Monday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Lucknow, organisers said.

Test batsman Zubayr Hamza is to return to international cricket in June following a doping suspension after being chosen for the South Africa A squad to tour Sri Lanka.

The Sharjah Cricket Stadium has honoured India batting great Sachin Tendulkar on his 50th birthday by naming a stand after him.

Mark Chapman continued his brilliant form with an unbeaten 104 off 57 balls as New Zealand chased down a target of 194 to beat Pakistan by six wickets in the fifth Twenty20 in Rawalpindi on, coming from 2-0 down to draw the series 2-2.