4:46 PM GMT Sri Lanka 303 for 9 (Jayawardene 120, Jayasuriya 51, Wells 2-30) beat England 302 for 3 (Hick 126*, Fairbrother 78, Jayasuriya 1-42) by one wicket Once again, all eyes were on Muttiah Muralitharan. Just as they had been at the beginning of a foul-tempered and engrossing contest, and again during a seminal

4:46 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Australia were “out of control” well before the ball-tampering scandal two years ago according to former international umpire Ian Gould who has recalled his role in the infamous Newlands Test. Gould, who retired from the international game after last year’s World Cup, was the TV official during the Cape Town

6:18 PM GMT The loss of the Kolpak route into English cricket could be to the benefit of South Africa, although it would require CSA to build bridges with the players who have stepped away from the international set-up. That is the view of Simon Harmer, the offspinner who gave up on his South Africa

3:41 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Umar Akmal has foregone the right to defend himself against the PCB’s corruptions charges and will instead wait for a sanction to be confirmed. His case will go directly to the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel after Akmal decided against requesting a hearing before the Anti-Corruption Tribunal. All that remains,

Apr 8, 2020 Jon Hotten Late last year, and with a heavy heart, I was rereading Bob Willis’s Diary of a Cricket Season, written in 1978. After only three paragraphs, Bob was in off the long run: “The early weeks are absurdly cluttered with one-day cricket; you either seem to be playing 55-over games or

3:27 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) has agreed to reallocate £1 million of domestic prize money towards player contracts for 2020, after reaching an agreement with the ECB and the 18 first-class counties in response to the COVID-19 outbreak that has already delayed the start of the county season. Following discussions

11:21 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Yuvraj Singh believes the big difference between players of his generation and the ones today is how they dealt with seniors in the team, specifically in the “sense of respect towards seniors” and appreciating their work. “The youngsters say anything to anyone now,” Singh told Rohit Sharma during an Instagram

7:48 AM GMT Wisden Almanack In an extract from the 2020 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, England’s World Cup XI look back on the thrilling denouement to last summer’s unforgettable final at Lord’s Lethal weapon: Archer bowled much of the World Cup in pain, but finished as England’s leading wicket-taker Getty Images Joe Root There wasn’t the normal

1:27 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Surrey have cancelled Australian seamer Michael Neser‘s contract, making him the first player to miss out on his overseas deal due to the coronavirus pandemic. Neser had been due to play the first half of Surrey’s County Championship campaign, but with the English season suspended at least until May 28