The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has cancelled contracts of the players who were due to participate in the inaugural edition of 'The Hundred' which was pushed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The new 100-balls-per-side format, to be played by eight teams in separate men's and women's tournaments, was scheduled to be held between July 17 and August 15 but had to be postponed because of the pandemic.

A weighted ball would also pre-empt any ball-tampering, Warne said.

In April, the Australian tour of Bangladesh was postponed due to the persisting coronavirus threat.

Australian run-machine Marnus Labuschagne is willing to "sacrifice" the use of saliva to shine the ball in order to get back on the field in the post coronavirus world as the batting all-rounder feels players must be able to adapt to new rules. There has been widespread speculations that the use of saliva and sweat to shine the ball will be stopped to cut down the risk of spreading the highly contagious coronavirus when cricket restarts.

Out-of-favour Suresh Raina might have felt hard done by the national selection committee but its former chairman MSK Prasad made it clear that it was poor form during the 2018-19 domestic season that became his undoing. The 33-year-old, who has appeared in 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is apart from 18 Tests, last played for India in July 2018 in England after which he was dropped for good.

The element of competitiveness will not be lost even if action unfolds before empty stadiums, says world's premier all-rounder Ben Stokes who wouldn't mind international cricket becoming a TV only sport till coronavirus pandemic is under control. Stokes' opinion was sought whether the upcoming England vs West Indies series at home in empty stadiums will lose its sheen as the England and Wales Cricket Board is contemplating cricket without spectators for some time.

Veteran India off- pinner Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday rejected the perception that he is jealous of Ravinchandran Ashwin, saying the Tamil Nadu bowler is a "legend in making".

With the coronavirus outbreak forcing a cricket shutdown across the world, there is speculation that the sport might initially return without fans. The global health crisis has forced England and Wales Cricket Board to suspend all professional sport till July 1 in the country and also put in doubt the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. Buttler said he is hoping for some form of cricket to return this year.

English cricket could lose as much as 380 million pounds if the entire season is wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has claimed. The ECB has already created a 61 million pound rescue package for the 18 county sides and has been offering grants and loans to recreational clubs, impacted by the outbreak.

Ravi Shastri has a firm belief that that the team of 1985 was qualitatively better than the side that won the 1983 World Cup because it was a perfect blend of youth and experience.

'The game which I loved the most, it was taken away.'

Several countries, including Australia have imposed travel restrictions, and McCullum feels adding a team from New Zealand in the tournament could pique the interest of the audience in the league, which has suffered a dip in crowd and TV numbers in the past two years.

The dog was part of Kohli's life for 11 years

The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will feature a women's Twenty20 competition but Morgan says the T10 format would be a better fit than T20, 50 overs or Test cricket.

Virat Kohli's Indian team still has a long way to go before it is spoken of in the same breath as Australia of 2000s, believes former India pacer Ashish Nehra. Under Kohli's leadership, India earned its maiden series victory in Australia in 2018-19, achieving the feat after trying for seven decades.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld a trial court's decision to grant bail to Sanjeev Chawla, an alleged bookie and key accused in one of the cricket's biggest match-fixing scandals that involved former South African captain Hansie Cronje, saying when the scenario of a trial taking place was "stark", the liberty of a person "cannot be left in limbo" on the belief that he was a flight risk.

Spinner Harbhajan Singh revealed said that former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a very shy person when he first came into the Indian team and he only started opening up after the controversial Sydney Test against Australia in 2008.

'There could be a law where you can say from the 15th over or the 20th over, you can give the wax polish to the bowlers.'

These are certainly turning out to be good days for Smith fans with an opportunity to learn a few batting techniques from the Aussie run machine.

"It's the other end of the spectrum now ... You can't wait just to get out there on the cricket field and running around with your mates, getting stuck into training and playing games."

It sure did for New Zealand pace legend Richard Hadlee who had to offer his teammates a week's holiday to take one home back in 1986.

The batting resources of West Indies' 'intimidating' team has reduced Dwayne Bravo's role to a specialist bowler.

Rajneesh Gupta picks instances of sledging which backfired spectacularly and the players had to pay dearly for their misadventures.

Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq said being confined to home due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown can become depressing and wants some cricket activities to resume soon even if the matches have to take place behind closed doors with proper safety barriers. Misbah said he would love to see some cricket activities resume at the international level and has no problems in playing in empty stadiums.

A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the coronavirus pandemic. He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

India captain Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in a post coronavirus world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing. The cricket boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

Umar Akmal was provisionally suspended on the eve of the Pakistan Super League. He did not seem prepared to show remorse nor did he seek an apology for failing to report corrupt approaches.

The TKR has involved their local icons Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine, who along with the team's support staff will be personally distributing the hampers to various areas of the island nation.

All cricketing activity has come to a halt due to the health crisis and there are serious doubts over the future of T20 World Cup. However, the International Cricket Council is yet to take the final call on the T20 showpiece event.

England Test captain Joe Root is keen to play international cricket this summer but not by compromising on quality of the game or its intensity, the 29-year-old has said. With professional cricket suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is considering playing the series against West Indies and Pakistan behind closed doors.

Australian opener David Warner termed as 'bizarre' the experience of playing behind closed doors, which it said was like playing a warm-up game.

Sporting activities, including cricket, are currently shut due to the coronavirus-forced lockdown but Alex Carey is in no mood to let dust settle in his skills and has been working towards that in this break.

Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble compared the fight against the dreaded coronavirus pandemic to the "second innings" of an intense Test match where people can't afford to let their guard down. The coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc across the world, claiming over 2,76,000 lives so far while infecting more than four million people.

Dhoni and his daughter Ziva were up for some outdoor running session at their Ranchi farmhouse.

Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma had given undisclosed amounts to the PM CARES fund and Maharashtra Chief Minister's Relief Fund to support the fight against COVID-19. Now they have contributed Rs 5 lakh each for police welfare amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

A female general at the helm of the force is no longer beyond the realm of possibility thanks to a far-sighted ruling of the Supreme Court that finally lets women take roles of command

Indian expats provided the glue to repair this otherwise dysfunctional relationship

It’s time to revisit a nation building brand campaign, without religion and politics

Europe has focused more on firms and the US on them as well as individuals, India has so far focused on the poor.This is not a time to focus on the fisc. A package to save our firms is urgently needed to set the multiplier effect rolling