The Test side could face West Indies or Pakistan, this season's proposed red-ball opponents, while Eoin Morgan's white-ball World Cup winners face Australia, who are currently due here in July

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Words were not enough, but the captains tried anyway. 'Extraordinary,' said Morgan. 'Gutted,' said Williamson. More or less everyone else was left speechless.

Pat Cummins expects the IPL to be merely delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and is optimistic the home Twenty20 World Cup will go ahead as scheduled later this year.

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.

PAUL ALLOTT: Bob would have been the last person to think of himself as an all-action hero, but it described my old friend better than he ever knew.

PAUL NEWMAN: It is not without irony that Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, spoke of rewarding cricket's 'core audience' if the game can squeeze a truncated season into this summer.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: England batsman Joe Denly admits his nerves almost got the better of him during this winter's tour to South Africa when he presented Zak Crawley with his first cap.

Ben Stokes, the hero of England's dramatic World Cup triumph and the miracle of Headingley last summer, has been named the leading cricketer in the world.

Wisden is published on Thursday for the 157th time. It is full of joy, and staring into the abyss. The Almanack's arrival usually coincides with a spring in cricket's step. But this year, not so much.

The ECB are considering a re-draft of players if they postpone the Hundred for 12 months - due to changes in status of Kolpak cricketers and the availability of overseas stars.

JOFRA ARCHER: Being chosen as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year is one of the most prestigious awards imaginable. Even being nominated alongside some big names feels great.

Ashley Giles says England's players will have 'no excuses' for not being fully fit to start a truncated cricket season he still believes can take place later this summer.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY TIM RICH: Ian Gould has just been walking on the seafront at Hove. It is eerie; empty. He retired as an international umpire after 13 years following last summer's World Cup.

Joe Root believes David Warner was better behaved in the last Ashes series than the previous one. The Australian batsman is known to be a lively character and Root thought he was calmer.

Coco Cuhna made the mistake of suggesting to her cricket coach boyfriend that it might be fun to see if he could show her how to bat when she saw him whacking a few tennis balls into a net.

The traditional toss of the coin was due to return to the County Championship on Sunday but the half-dozen grounds scheduled to host fixtures stood empty.

Cricket's county champions are still planning for a truncated season and believe a Twenty20 Blast-dominated schedule will help the game avoid the financial black hole facing football.

EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID COVERDALE: Eight months on and the noise of that unforgiving Edgbaston crowd is still ringing in Cameron Bancroft's ears. 'It was loud, it was intimidating.'

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Rashid will turn 35 during the next World Cup in 2023 but with the tournament set for the spin-friendly pitches of India, he says he'd love to be involved.

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor and wicket-keeping great Adam Gilchrist believe pay cuts are inevitable for the country's cricketers as the sport gears up to deal with the financial crisis.

EXCLUSIVE: Ian Watmore quit his leading Football League role in November 2018 citing poor health. But it can be revealed a week earlier the EFL had commissioned an independent inquiry.

The ECB have been given a free run at reorganising their international summer plans after West Indies prioritised their three Tests in England over home series against New Zealand and South Africa.

England cricket legend Andrew Flintoff has recalled how Newcastle boss Steve Bruce once bailed him out of a sticky situation at a restaurant after his credit card had maxed out.

Twenty20 record breaker Chris Gayle has signed for St Lucia Zouks for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League.

Almost the whole squad were stricken by two sickness bugs, the first a type of flu and the second a stomach problem, that weakened England in their heavy first Test defeat over Christmas.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: Sportsmail has learned that the ECB are insured for the value of all tickets sold up until April 1 if the Tests do not take place as planned.

SPECIAL REPORT: There are growing concerns that the new franchise-based tournament is unaffordable given the challenges facing cricket amid the coronavirus pandemic.

COMMENT: The postponement of the controversial new format for at least a year - which will be confirmed on Friday - gives the ECB the opportunity to admit their mistake.

English cricket supremo Tom Harrison has warned of dire financial consequences for the sport amid fears that the new season will not take place at all because of the coronavirus.

Last year's tournament was where Archer rose from relative obscurity to a household name, finishing as England's leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps at an average of 23.05.

ECB chief Tom Harrison revealed on Friday that he had offers 'on the table' from both New Zealand and Australia, as English cricket explores all options in a bid to fulfil its fixture list.

MIKE KEEGAN - SPORTS AGENDA: It would appear that the England and Wales Cricket Board can do no wrong at the moment when it comes to dealing with the Press.

Australia were due to play three ODIs and three Twenty20s against England from July 3 and ECB chief executive Tom Harrison last week expressed hopes that they would still go ahead.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Hampshire are willing to host more than one Test this summer, with chief Rod Bransgrove confident club can help get cricket up and running again in a biosecure environment.

One of the deepest thinkers in the England squad has concerns over the safety of players and concerns about playing cricket while so many people are losing their lives.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LAWRENCE BOOTH: The summer of 1970 remains unique in the annals of English cricket. South Africa, the scheduled tourists, were ditched after protests.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RICHARD GIBSON: Stuart Broad will be ready to play for England in any situation that the ECB's medical experts deem appropriate.

EXCLUSIVE: England hope to play six Tests this summer at only two venues, in a new proposed schedule for the season that could exclude all county and women's cricket. 

EXCLUSIVE By MATT HUGHES: The ECB will face opposition from MCC and counties who play at major Test venues if they seek to sell stakes in Hundred franchises to private equity,

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY PAUL NEWMAN: Key winces at the revelation that his close friend Andrew Flintoff believes he was one of the great English batsmen against fast bowling.

Morgan insists 'the door is still open' for Hales to return to England's white-ball cricket - but says he has yet to rebuild the trust lost when he was dropped from last year's World Cup squad.

Dukes, the manufacturers of balls used in English home Tests, have dismissed the need for artificial substances to aid shining if international cricket is played this summer.

With ECB chief Tom Harrison warning of a £380m black hole in the game's finances if no cricket is possible, Connor remains hopeful England will still be able to face India and South Africa.

MCC members have been told there no full or partial refunds of their annual subscriptions despite the prospect of watching cricket at Lord's being "increasingly remote" this season.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY RICHARD GIBSON: Sam Billings refuses to be haunted by the prospect of missing a second World Cup in as many years due to circumstances beyond his control.

Mark Wood, the England fast bowler who has produced the best form of his career over the last year or so, says the players have 'asked good questions' and have been given 'good answers'.

Sportsmail's experts give their views on what the 61-year-old former FA chief executive must do to ensure English cricket survives, recovers and improves.

It is a timeframe that clashes with England's proposed return to international action - one that is set to be held in a bio-secure environment following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

EXCLUSIVE BY RICHARD GIBSON: Currently Pakistan are due to contest three Tests in August, plus three Twenty20 internationals, but are understood to be open to a longer stay.

The actor has been involved in a clinical trial for a drug called PRO-140 since early this year. And on Tuesday, he received the news from his doctor that his virus is no longer detectable.