Defending champions Trent Rockets boosted their hopes of making the knockouts in The Hundred men's competition with a four-run win over Welsh Fire in Cardiff.

 

Rockets slipped to 40-4 but recovered to post 152-6, with Colin Munro making an unbeaten 66 off 35 balls.

 

Fire needed 32 off 11 balls before Joe Clarke and Glenn Phillips hit sixes to reduce the target to 16 off seven.

 

But both were dismissed, with Rockets picking up their second win.

Ben Stokes' return to the England one-day side for the defence of the World Cup will be confirmed on Wednesday.

 

Stokes, 32, will come out of retirement to be named in a 15-man squad for a four-match series against New Zealand in September.

 

The bulk of that party will form the squad for the World Cup in India in October and November.

 

Stokes was man of the match in the final when England won the World Cup for the first time in 2019.

Ravi Bopara took 4-21 as London Spirit claimed a crucial 13-run win over Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

 

With Spirit defending 160 at Lord's, the former England all-rounder took three wickets in nine balls before returning to dismiss the visitors' key man Harry Brook (44 off 24 balls).

 

Brook had led Superchargers' recovery from 56-4 but they fell away after his dismissal and finished on 147-7.

 

Opener Adam Rossington (53 off 30) earlier spearheaded the Spirit innings.

 

The victory lifts Spirit up to fourth in the table, a point off the top three, while Superchargers are a further point back in fifth.

 

With just three points between second and last, every team in the men's competition still has a chance to progress to the knockout stages.

India won the first of three Twenty20 games against Ireland by two runs on the DLS method as rain brought an early end to play at Malahide on Friday.

 

Captain Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in the first over as Ireland struggled to 59-6 before Barry McCarthy's unbeaten 51 helped the hosts to 139-7.

 

India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on 46 before Craig Young claimed two wickets in two balls.

 

It left India 47-2 when rain arrived and it was just enough for victory

Ireland were a bit unlucky there, having just taken two wickets when the rain came. We'll never know what would have happened if the match had continued.

England spinner Alex Hartley has announced she will retire from cricket at the end of The Hundred.

 

The 29-year-old was part of England's 2017 World Cup-winning squad.

 

Hartley took a break from cricket in May to focus on her mental health before returning for The Hundred with Welsh Fire earlier this month.

England comprehensively thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets with a professional performance in the first T20 of their four-match series at Chester-le-Street.

 

Switching formats for their first action since the Ashes a month ago, the hosts romped to victory, reaching 140 with six overs to spare.

 

Jonny Bairstow nicked the second ball of the chase to slip but Dawid Malan made a composed 54 from 42 balls.

 

The left-hander fell with 24 needed from 48 but Harry Brook struck an unbeaten 27-ball 43 to take England home - two towering sixes reinforcing the surprise at his omission from England's provisional squad for their 50-over World Cup defence in India this autumn.

 

A professional bowling performance from England set up the win by restricting New Zealand to 139-9.

Did anyone see that review by Jos Buttler? Not sure what they were thinking there.

 

Of the Hundred, I have been mainly impressed by the wicket keeping standards in the women's game. Bess Heath's inclusion in the current England squad will keep Amy Jones on her toes. There is also Rhianna Southby I was impressed with.

This is like the second T20 in reverse, NZ handing out the hammering this time.

Fast bowler Jofra Archer trained with England on Tuesday, raising hopes he could still travel to the World Cup as a reserve to the frontline squad.

 

Archer, 28, has missed the entire home summer with a stress fracture in his right elbow.

 

He was not considered fit enough for a place in the 15-man World Cup squad, but could be one of three reserves.

 

England must finalise their party for the tournament in India in October and November by 28 September.

Players have expressed concern at proposals to expand The Hundred in a meeting with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

 

One of the plans for the future of the tournament involves all 18 first-class counties hosting a team, with promotion and relegation between two divisions.

 

Representatives from the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) met with the ECB in London this week.

 

Their concerns included scheduling and the impact on the women's competition.

Sydney Sixers wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy has said she injured her hand in a "gory" incident while separating her fighting dogs at her home.

 

The Australia international had to have surgery and was a late withdrawal from her side's Women's Big Bash League game against Sydney Thunder on Sunday.

 

The 33-year-old said she was bitten after putting her hand between her two Staffordshire bull terriers.

Joe Root, Harry Brook and Mark Wood have signed three-year deals as England begin awarding multi-year central contracts for the first time.

 

Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow have agreed two-year deals, but Test captain Ben Stokes and veteran bowler James Anderson have only signed for one year.

 

Fast bowler Jofra Archer, despite his injury issues, and spinner Adil Rashid, 35, are among those on two-year deals.

 

Multi-year deals are seen as a way to resist interest from franchise leagues.

 

"We are rewarding those players who we expect to make a significant impact over the coming years playing for England," said Rob Key, managing director of England men's cricket.

 

"It is great news and a credit to the players for demonstrating their commitment to English cricket in the ever-changing landscape of the sport."

 

The England and Wales Cricket Board has given out 18 multi-year deals, in addition to eight lasting one year and three development contracts.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has introduced an independent regulator in response to a damning independent report into the game.

 

The report, published in June, said racism, sexism, classism and elitism are "widespread" in cricket.

 

The regulator's remit will include safeguarding, anti-corruption, anti-doping and anti-discrimination.

 

ECB chief executive Richard Gould said it was important cricket had "the best processes in place".

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67618663

Northamptonshire have re-signed pace bowler Chris Tremain for the start of the 2024 County Championship.

 

The 32-year-old Australian will be available for the first four rounds of games, but cannot stay longer because of visa restrictions.

 

Tremain is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Sheffield Shield with 34 victims at an average of just 15 each.

 

"I enjoyed every moment I spent with the group last season," he told the Northamptonshire website.

Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim became only the second Test batter in history to be dismissed for obstructing the field on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand in Dhaka.

 

Mushfiqur, 36, handled the ball as it bounced away from him while defending a delivery from Kyle Jamieson.

 

He was then given out following an appeal by New Zealand.

 

England's Len Hutton is the only other batter to be dismissed for obstructing the field in Test cricket.

 

Hutton was given out during a match against South Africa at the Oval in 1951 after attempting to hit the ball after it rolled up his arm and went past him.

England's Harry Brook has deleted his phone's social media apps in an effort to shield himself from negativity.

 

Brook, 24, made a superb start in international cricket, playing starring roles in Test cricket and winning the T20 World Cup in November 2022.

 

But he struggled in the 50-over World Cup in October and November, averaging 28.16 in England's group-stage exit.

 

"I've been off social media for a while now, anything I stumble across, I delete it from the phone," he said.

 

"I haven't really seen any negativity, I think that's helped my game, helped my mental health and everything to be off social media and seeing all the negativity that brings."

Southern Vipers have boosted their bowling attack for 2024 with the capture of England seamer Freya Davies.

 

The 28-year-old, from Chichester, West Sussex, joins on a one-year deal from South East Stars, who she claimed 15 wickets for last season.

 

The right-armer has 33 wickets in 35 England appearances, most recently in the IT20 series of the Women's Ashes.

 

"I look forward to playing cricket back where I first fell in love with the game," Davies told the club website.

Jos Buttler says he was getting "fed up" with his form and that it was "time to put in a performance" for England.

 

The white-ball captain struck 58 not out in England's six-wicket victory over West Indies on Wednesday.

 

It was his first one-day international half-century since September after a poor World Cup where he managed 138 runs in nine innings as England exited at the group stage.

 

"I've been searching for form," Buttler said, after the series-levelling win.

 

"I have had moments where it has been frustrating.

England produced a convincing performance to beat India by 38 runs in the opening game of their T20 series.

 

The tourists slipped to 2-2 in the first over but Nat Sciver-Brunt made 77 and Danni Wyatt 75 in a stand of 138.

 

Amy Jones then smashed 23 off nine balls as England posted 197-6 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

 

England always had India behind the run-rate, restricting them to 159-6, with Sophie Ecclestone taking 3-15 on her return from a dislocated shoulder.

 

The second game in the three-match series takes place at the same ground on Saturday from 13:30 GMT.