Ashley Giles will return to professional cricket as Worcestershire’s new chief executive, 16 months after he was sacked as England’s managing director following their 4-0 defeat in the 2021-22 Ashes series. Giles was linked with the county when they advertised for a director of cricket last year but will instead take on the top job

Innings breakAfghanistan 146 all out (Zazai 36, Jamal 35, Ebadot 4-47) trail Bangladesh 382 (Shanto 146, Joy 76, Masood 5-79) by 236 runs Afghanistan were bowled out for 146 shortly after the tea break on the second day of the Dhaka Test. Bangladesh didn’t enforce the follow-on. Ebadot Hossain led the charge with a four-wicket

Of the England players arriving into this Ashes riding the crest of England’s nu-wave, Harry Brook is probably at its very peak. Which explains the confidence he has in stating the faster Australia bowl, the quicker they will get sent to the boundary. “Obviously they might have a little bit of extra pace, but if

Worcestershire 410 (Libby 198, Karvelas 4-54) and 381 for 8 (Azhar 100, Libby 97, Karvelas 3-60, McAndrew 3-76) drew with Sussex 348 (Carter 76, McAndrew 65, Carson 64, Leach 6-78) and 359 for 6 (Alsop 100*, Haines 91, Carson 75, Hudson-Prentice 54, Clark 50) Worcestershire nearly pulled off a perfectly-paced run chase only to fall

Bracewell, 32, is equally handy with bat and ball, and has played eight Tests, 19 ODIs and 16 T20Is for New Zealand since his debut last year. He also played in the IPL this season, coming in as replacement for Will Jacks at Royal Challengers Bangalore, picking up six wickets in five matches. One of

Rashid was part of Afghanistan’s third ODI against Sri Lanka after missing the first two due to a lower-back injury. “Although he made a comeback in the series decider today, the team management & medical team have decided to prioritize his long-term fitness,” the Afghanistan Cricket Board said on Twitter. “Despite being fit, our selectors

Moeen Ali has revealed that he cancelled a family holiday in the Cotswolds to make himself available to play in the Ashes – but will miss Wednesday’s training session at Edgbaston in order to collect his OBE. Moeen was awarded an OBE for services to cricket in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last year, which he

Big picture A Test match between two nations will be played in one of the premier cricket stadiums, and in front of a live TV audience. If this is considered as enough of a context, then the Bangladesh vs Afghanistan one-off Test is relevant. Otherwise, sandwiched between the World Test Championship final and the upcoming

Hampshire 142 and 119 (Gubbins 45*, Middleton 44*) for 1 trail Lancashire 374 (Salt 103, Mitchell 68, Organ 6-67) by 113 runs Here I go out to sea againThe sunshine fills my hairAnd dreams hang in the air Thus the opening lines of Black’s 1987 song “Wonderful Life”, whose melody it was tempting to hum

Worcestershire 410 for 9 (Libby 198*, Hose 85) lead Sussex 348 (Carter 76, McAndrew 65, Carson 64, Leach 6-78) by 62 runs Opener Jake Libby needs just two more runs to complete back-to-back double-hundreds against Sussex after dominating the second day at Hove. It looked like being a day of unrelenting toil for Sussex when