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Jack Leach completed match figures of 12 for 174 as Somerset maintained their challenge for a first-ever Vitality County Championship title with a crushing 293-run victory over Durham at Taunton.The left-arm spinner claimed seven for 50 in the visitors’ second innings total of 126 all out, aided by teenager Archie Vaughan, whose off-breaks reaped 2 for 40. Nightwatchman George Drissell top scored with 33 in an otherwise disappointing Durham batting effort.Somerset took a maximum 24 points from the game to Durham’s four and, with Surrey up next at the Cooper Associates County Ground next week the second placed Cidermen will have the chance to close the gap on the Division One leaders.Play began under overcast skies with Durham 15 for 3. Somerset fears that the weather might scupper their victory bid appeared justified when rain started falling after just 5.4 overs, with their opponents having added 14 to the overnight score.Seven overs were lost from the half-hour interruption, and nightwatchmen Drissell and Callum Parkinson continued to offer stout resistance when the match resumed, taking the score to 63 in the 26th over.Drissell used his feet well against spinners Leach and Vaughan, while Parkinson dealt effectively with most deliveries on a good line and length, only to fall for 18 to a leg-side ball from Vaughan, which saw him pick out Lewis Goldsworthy, who took a tumbling catch at backward point.It was 70 for 5 when Ollie Robinson edged a turning delivery from Leach and Lewis Gregory took a sharp slip catch, diving low to his left. With seven runs added, Drissell’s battling contribution ended in similar fashion, Gregory pouching a more straightforward chance off Leach.By lunch, Durham were struggling on 94 for 6, their hopes of salvaging a draw resting largely on the weather, the seventh-wicket partnership between Ashton Turner and Bas de Leede, which was worth 17 runs at the interval, and first innings centurion Brydon Carse.Leach had been extracting considerable turn from the River End, while teenager Vaughan maintained exemplary accuracy on an impressive first class debut. Neither gave away cheap runs and skipper Gregory was able to stick with attacking fields.It was Leach who struck again early in the afternoon session, this time finding the edge of Turner’s bat. Overton accepted the straightforward chance at second slip, his sixth catch of the game, to leave Durham 108 for seven.With 16 added, including a Carse six over mid-wicket off Leach, the rain returned and Somerset faced further frustration. Carse had appeared to survive a chance to wicketkeeper James Rew on two, Leach being the unlucky bowler.Play resumed at 2.50pm with a further seven overs lost. The first delivery saw Carse push forward to Leach and edge to second slip where Overton again made no mistake diving to his right.At 124 for 8, the Durham cause was almost lost. Ben Raine could add only two to his first innings half-century before being caught at short-leg to become Leach’s sixth victim of the innings.The next delivery clean bowled last man Daniel Hogg, sparking celebrations among the Somerset players. Within moments the rain was falling again, but it was too late to dampen spirits in a jubilant home dressing room.

It might have been against an inexperienced West Indies. But Brendon McCullum believes England showed a “harder” side to themselves during their 3-0 victory series win, vindicating personnel changes made to improve the team with a view to the 2025-26 Ashes.Sunday’s devastating finale at Edgbaston confirmed England’s sweep, repeating the scoreline of their last series win at the end of 2022 in Pakistan. It meant this three-match series only occupied 10 days, adding to the sense it was a wholly one-sided affair.But West Indies had the hosts under pressure at various points after going 1-0 down at Lord’s. They established a first-innings lead in Nottingham, before having England 8 for 1 at the start of the second innings. In Birmingham, Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph ran roughshod over the top order, reducing them to 54 for 5 in response to West Indies’ opening effort of 282.That they were not able to cash in on those moments spoke of England’s fortitude, in McCullum’s eyes. Upon returning from a 4-1 defeat in India, a first series defeat under his tenure but a third successive multi-match series without success, the Test head coach put an onus on “refinement”, particularly when behind the game. The early signs of that development are promising.”Sometimes when you lose you get a period of reflection and what we’ve seen is a team which has bounced back with a bit more of a harder feel to it,” McCullum said. “I’m really pleased with the overall outcome of the series. West Indies have got a very good bowling line-up in my opinion, and I thought the way we countered that with our batting and our approach was exceptional.”Whilst it reads 3-0 on the scoreboard and it was over in 10 days, there were certain periods right throughout the series where we felt the game could have gone either way. But we were able to stand up in those moments which is really pleasing.”Every bit as encouraging were the new faces settling in so quickly, particularly Surrey debutants Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith. Atkinson’s 22 dismissals at 16.22 earned him the Player of the Series award, while Smith’s 70 and 95 at No.7 in the first and third Tests respectively were supplemented by 14 dismissals as the new wicketkeeper. Shoaib Bashir’s 5 for 41 in the second Test, his third five-wicket haul in five Tests, was vindication for handing the 20-year-old the main spinner’s role.On the other side of that coin were the tough decisions made on those they replaced. James Anderson’s enforced retirement after Lord’s came with a view to allowing quicks like Atkinson room to grow ahead of the Ashes. The 26-year-old marked his only appearance with the England legend by taking 12 for 106 in that first Test. Gus Atkinson was named player of the series for his 22 wickets in his first three Tests•Getty Images

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes were parked after the tour of India as the selectors sought someone who could occupy a middle ground of being an expansive batter and reliable keeper. Jack Leach, who had played 14 of Ben Stokes’ 23 Tests as captain – and would have featured more were it not for various untimely injuries – was overlooked to allow Bashir the chance to realise his high potential.”Coming into the series we knew we need to make a couple of improvements to continue to improve as a side,” McCullum said. “We brought in some new faces and some guys that have shown that they’re very comfortable at international level, and until you give some people opportunity, you don’t know right?”What we’ve seen from Gus Atkinson, from Shoaib Bashir and Jamie Smith – these guys have shown that international cricket is where they belong and they’ve performed accordingly. It’s really satisfying from that point of view, but also the growth of the side in general.”That’s not to say that the transition from old to new was quite as smooth as the instant results would have you believe, however.”I mean no changes ever are, are they?” McCullum said, acknowledging the awkwardness of the conversations that had been required to bring through the new blood. “Keep in mind that the guys who have been in there before did a really good job for us. It’s certainly no slight on them, but we felt that we needed to introduce some new guys, and guys with skill-sets which would complement the rest of the guys in our line-up.”We opted for that and you hope they go well, and you don’t ask for instant gratification when it comes to those. But the way the series played out, you’d say the guys have performed and certainly shown they’re good enough at this level.”Related

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McCullum made a point of praising Anderson’s influence in his new role as fast-bowling mentor. Fresh from taking 5 for 40 on Sunday to set up England’s 10-wicket win in the third Test, Mark Wood credited the 41-year-old for a lunchtime pep-talk to the group about how to get the most out of the reverse-swinging Dukes ball they had at their disposal.Anderson and England will decide on making his gig full-time at the end of the summer. For now, McCullum could not be happier with having access to the mind and skills of a bowler who finished on 704 Test wickets three weeks ago.”Sometimes when you’re a player you don’t always give everything to everyone else, because you’re worried about your own performance. But the information he’s (Anderson’s) been able to pass on and the way he’s fitted seamlessly into our group of coaches, we’re so lucky to call upon that resource and the person he is.”It’s never easy but Jimmy seems really content right now, It’s great to have him and I feel very lucky that he’s part of our group.”There are just over three weeks before the next Test engagement against Sri Lanka starting at Emirates Old Trafford on August 21. A handful of players will rest during that period while others, including Stokes, will turn out for their respective Hundred teams. McCullum, who will remain in the UK instead of returning to New Zealand, took the time to issue public support to England’s limited-overs coach Matthew Mott.The Australian has come under fire after two unsuccessful World Cup campaigns in both white-ball formats over the last nine months, and met with men’s managing director Rob Key on Sunday as part of an ongoing review into the set-up. Reports suggest Mott is set to be let go, with Jos Buttler to stay on as captain.”Motty is a good bloke and a very good coach,” McCullum said. “It is what it is, right? I don’t know how it’s going to work out to be honest, I haven’t really followed it. You’re worried about doing your own job. He’s a great bloke and whatever happens, he’ll be fine.”

England are anticipating “a run-fest” in St Lucia as they resume their six-hitting battle with West Indies in a Super Eight fixture. The sides hit 120 sixes between them in a five-match T20I series in December – which West Indies won 3-2 – and are both expecting high scores at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.There were two group-stage games in St Lucia this weekend, which were played on the same strip and gave an indication as to how good the pitch is for batting. Australia pulled off the second-highest run chase of the T20 World Cup so far, hauling in 181 against Scotland – which sent England through – and Sri Lanka’s 201 against Netherlands was the joint-highest total of the tournament.England’s players watched Saturday’s game (local time) nervously from their hotel in Antigua after beating Namibia, exchanging WhatsApp messages on the team’s group chat and even turning off when the game was tight. “It wasn’t nice,” Sam Curran said. “A few of us were having dinner and watching the Scotland game. It got quite close, and some of us turned it off because we got a bit nervous. Thankfully, the Aussies played really well to chase that down.”England play twice here in the Super Eight – against West Indies and South Africa – and made note how flat the pitch looked, with relatively short square boundaries allowing Australia and Scotland to hit 20 sixes between them. “It looks like a really good wicket, the way guys were able to hit through the line and the way the ball was travelling,” Curran said, “[and] in last night’s game, it looked like some good scores again.”West Indies will get a first look at the pitch when they face Afghanistan, with the same strip due to be used for a second time for their game against England. Their captain Rovman Powell expected his batters to relish a truer surface after variable bounce in Guyana and Trinidad.”Tomorrow presents an opportunity here at the Daren Sammy Stadium for us as batters to get it right,” he said on Sunday. “It’s also a better opportunity on a better wicket… When we looked on the schedule, all the batters were excited to come to St Lucia. Traditionally, St Lucia has been a place where batters like to bat. But it’s also an opportunity for bowlers to bowl good spells here – especially the fast bowlers.”This has been the lowest-scoring men’s T20 World Cup out of nine, with just 6.69 runs per over on average. But those numbers have been skewed significantly by some dicey pitches at the temporary Long Island venue, and England – based on their experience in December – have long believed that the World Cup will be “a slug-fest”, as their managing director Rob Key put it.West Indies won the six count by a margin of 64-56 in that series, with all five games won by the team that hit more sixes. England’s batters had a range-hitting session with Kieron Pollard – who has captained St Lucia in the CPL – when they trained on Monday morning, and are looking to beat West Indies at their own game.”Sometimes it’s about turning your sixes into fours as a bowler, and small things like that,” Curran said. “It might sound silly, but that’s where the game of cricket’s going. Even if you go for a lot of runs, if you take a wicket in that over, you could change the game. Looking at our batting line-up, we deal in a lot of sixes as well: it’ll be a run-fest on Wednesday, I’m sure.”1:53

Knight: No. 5 is too low for Brook

The other major factor to note in St Lucia is the breeze: winds of around 10mph have blown from the east to the west of the ground, with some balls flying unexpectedly for six and others swirling in the breeze. “We have chatted as a bowling unit: in the Caribbean, the wind’s a big factor,” Curran said.Curran played his first match of the tournament in England’s rain-shortened game against Namibia on Saturday, with him and Chris Jordan replacing Will Jacks and Mark Wood. Jos Buttler, their captain, said after their win that those changes were due to the specifics of an 11-over game – which was later reduced to ten – but there are tough calls to make ahead of Wednesday night.Liam Livingstone left training early after netting on Monday and is a doubt due with a niggle in his side, while England must decide whether Jacks should come straight back in at No. 3 or whether their batting line-up is better balanced with Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook shuffling up to three and four respectively.England selected Jordan in their squad in anticipation of high-scoring games, offering extra batting depth from No. 8, but he has conceded 10.87 runs per over so far at the World Cup. They will weigh his all-round capabilities up against the need for early wickets against a West Indies side who will bat very deep themselves.

Big picture: Who will give way at the top of Group 2?

What direction is the drama following these two teams going to go in next?On the face of it, things are going smoothly for South Africa. They are unbeaten at the tournament and have won matches when both setting targets and chasing but, and this is a big but, none of it has been easy. It’s not just they were pushed by former champions Sri Lanka (who actually did the least pushing) and fellow Super Eighters Bangladesh but also by three Associates: Netherlands, Nepal and USA. If England were watching, they will have seen the flaws in South Africa’s make-up, most notably in the batting. Two of the top three – Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram – have only just found form and the middle-order have not yet had the opportunity to play to their potential.England will have been more pre-occupied with their own sideshows. They survived a group-stage scare in which they were all but written off after their rain-out against Scotland and have played and lost to their biggest rivals, Australia. Their net-run-rate boosting victories over Oman and Namibia helped ensure their survival once Scotland’s challenge had faded, but their most recent win over West Indies could yet propel their campaign to a new level. It is entirely possible that three teams in a Super Eight pool of four could end up with two wins each, especially given USA’s underdog status in Group 2, and so net run-rate could provide decisive. England’s is currently at 1.34, which leaves them in a good position, and after their shaky start, they would like to think they’ve got on a roll.South Africa might argue that they are already on one, and all they have to do is stay consistent with the knockouts in sight. Their next challenge is to maintain their winning start against two former champions. England’s task is much less abstract. South Africa humbled them at the 2023 ODI World Cup, in the middle of a horror run they don’t want to repeat, and with only USA to come, they have a chance to stamp their authority on this event.

Form guide

South Africa: WWWWW (last five matches, most recent first)
England: WWWLW

In the spotlight: Opening batters and the quickest of the quick

Both Quinton de Kock and Phil Salt played their best innings of the T20 World Cup in their last games with de Kock’s 74 setting South Africa up for a big total and Salt’s 87* helping England chase 181 against West Indies. Before those knocks, the numbers were not quite what the pair may have liked. De Kock had scores of 20, 0, 18 and 10 and Salt 37, 12 and 11. Starts, for sure and crucial to the tone of the innings, but they were not there at the end. Having players with their aggression bat through could be key on surfaces that seem to have offer runs and so how they perform in the next two matches could be key to their respective team’s semi-final hopes.South Africa have not had the challenge of consistent and genuine pace until now which makes Jofra Archer an interesting opponent. He is England’s joint-leading bowler at the tournament so far and has their best economy rate of 6.58 and could prove a handful to a top-order that is still finding its feet at the event. They’ll hope to counter-punch through Anrich Nortje , who equalled Dale Steyn’s record for the most wickets by a South African at T20 World Cups in the last match, and has looked menacing throughout. Nortje is the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker so far and has been played with respect. Will England’s batters, who enjoy pace on, show him the same?

Team news: Changes afoot for both teams?

South Africa are spoilt for choice in the bowling department and opted to bench Ottneil Baartman to accommodate an extra spinner in Antigua. That team composition could work well for them in St Lucia too but Tabraiz Shamsi was expensive against USA and they may consider left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin instead. However, given the variations he offers, Baartman could come back into contention too and it is a case of trying to fit three players into one spot.South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markam, 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi/Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich NortjeEngland stormed to a convincing win with this XI at this venue over West Indies, but the short turnaround means Mark Wood may be due a break from the action after another wholehearted, if unrewarded, display. Chris Jordan is the obvious inclusion, with Sam Curran’s left-handed options seemingly established ahead of Will Jacks, who struggled to translate his aggressive intent into runs in his two outings against Australia and Oman.England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood / Chris Jordan, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

Runs, and a fair few of them, have been available throughout the matches that have been played here with a first-innings average of 187. However, it’s not all smooth sailing for batters. There’s good bounce and carry on offer and some grip, which brought England’s spinners into play against West Indies. The one unknown is whether playing the match in the morning will make any difference to the conditions as all three matches so far have been night games. Weather-wise, there’s rain due over the weekend but the forecast for Friday is clear and humid with peak temperatures at 31 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• The head-to-head record between England and South Africa is all-square with each team having won 12 matches against the other. At T20 World Cups, South Africa hold the upper hand and have beaten England four times in their six meetings, including their most recent clash in Sharjah in 2021.
• Anrich Nortje is two wickets away from 50 in T20Is and Tabraiz Shamsi one away from 300 in all T20s.
• Jos Buttler needs 19 more runs to become the ninth batter to 1,000 in all T20s this year. Currently, there are five South Africans with that many for 2024: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickelton.

Quotes

“Hopefully.”
Kagiso Rabada’s one-word answer when asked if South Africa are peaking at the right time “A lot of people say you learn when you lose, but I truly believe you learn when you win as well. It’s important to reflect on what we did well today. We had a good performance, now we’ll put that to bed and focus on the next performance.”
England’s Jos Buttler has had enough with the platitudes about the gains from losing.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has returned to India’s Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa beginning on November 14 in Kolkata.Pant replaced N Jagadeesan while Akash Deep took Prasidh Krishna’s spot in the squad that beat West Indies 2-0 in October. Pant had missed that series as he was recovering from the foot fracture he suffered during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July. Akash Deep was recovering from a back injury that had kept him out of the Duleep Trophy after his return from England; he has since played two rounds of the Ranji Trophy for Bengal. Mohammed Shami, who has played the first three rounds of the Ranji Trophy for Bengal and taken 15 wickets, was not picked.Pant proved his match fitness by captaining India A to victory in the first four-day game against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru last week. Pant made 90 in the second innings as India A chased down a target of 275.India’s Test captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are currently playing the T20I series in Australia, and will join the Test squad after the five-match series ends on November 8. Kuldeep Yadav was released from the T20I squad after the third match in Hobart so that he could prepare for the Test series by playing India A’s second four-day game against South Africa A starting on November 6.India play two Tests against South Africa from November 14 in Kolkata, and then from November 22 in Guwahati, a city that will be hosting Test cricket for the first time. India are currently third in the World Test Championship table with 61.90% points; South Africa, meanwhile, are fifth with 50% points, having most recently drawn a series 1-1 in Pakistan.

India’s Test squad for South Africa series

Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash DeepIndia’s selectors also picked the A squad, led by Tilak Varma with Ruturaj Gaikwad his deputy, for the one-day series against South Africa A. The three matches are on November 13, 16 and 19 in Rajkot.

India A’s squad for one-dayers vs South Africa A

Tilak Varma (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)

The viral clip of Liverpool’s media manager reacting to Mohammed Salah’s explosive mixed zone interaction on Saturday struck a chord over in Brisbane.Just under 10,210 miles separate Elland Road and the Gabba, where England head coach Brendon McCullum, in the aftermath of a second eight-wicket Ashes defeat, stated he thought the team had trained too much. The sentiments were as far apart as the straight-line distance, but the reaction was still the same: why, oh why, have you gone and said that?The motivation behind McCullum’s comments, which are likely to live in infamy, is far easier to unpick. For this England Test team enjoy the luxury of shelter from the realities of top-level, international sport. A bubble that may be invisible but has long been audible, with the head coach, and, up until his press conference after the second Test, the captain, Ben Stokes, the two prominent voices quipping down missiles headed for their citizens.Related

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Judging by the reactions, McCullum’s latest attempt has only attracted more unfriendly fire. Particularly at him. Though his contract runs until 2027, a deal which takes into account his white-ball head coach role, he will likely be first for the block if things go further south. Depending on how badly it goes – who can rule out 5-0 right now? – he won’t be the only collateral.”When you’re in positions as we are as captain and coach, you wear a lot of that burden,” McCullum said. “You wear a lot of that responsibility and that’s what you sign up for.”Of course, that coddling of their players does not seem helpful right now. In taking away the stresses and strains of Test cricket, England seem to lack the on-field appreciation that this supposed to be hard. It supposed to hurt. The struggle real, even six days into a five-match Test series.You would not wish adversity upon anyone. But in life, one way or another, it comes for us all. What you do wish, above all else, is that the people you care for are equipped to deal with such adversity.The merits of the McCullum and Stokes approach – and, by proxy, managing director Rob Key – are hard to remember at this juncture. But it’s worth trying.For starters, it is worth considering that first summer in 2022, when a team who had won one in 17 successfully pulled off four of their top 15 biggest chases. That included a new best of 378 against India, who also found themselves on the wrong end of the second-highest earlier this year.We can throw in the victory in Hyderabad and, more presciently, the comeback from 2-0 down during the last Ashes series. Ultimately, McCullum has made a home in the intersection of the sports psychology Venn diagram, nestled between what players need to hear and what they want to hear. Suggesting that five days of training leading into the Gabba Test might have been over the top plays on that idea that they wanted it too much.”There’s a fierce determination to succeed in this series, right?” McCullum said. “Sometimes that can get in your own way, clouds your judgement or affects your ability to make the right decisions in the right moments.”It’s a really fine balance between being fiercely driven, competitive and desperate to succeed, and that getting in the way of yourself.”It’s the coaches’ job to find that balance in them as well. I firmly believe it’s not training five days straight in sapping conditions as the answer. We need to keep a little bit in the tank physically, a little bit in the tank emotionally, to be able to allow yourself to embrace the conditions you’re being challenged with.”When you come to Australia, it’s such a stark contrast in each ground you go to and the surfaces you play on, you can’t just have one set preparation. You need to make sure you’re ready for whatever is coming and adapt to it. I didn’t think we were quite good enough at that in this Test with either bat or ball.”McCullum subsequently went on to back Ollie Pope, England’s No. 3 under Stokes and, from 2023 until this tour, their vice-captain. A promising 46 in the first Test at the Optus Stadium, featuring plenty of straight drives that suggested better balance and alignment, was followed by 33, 0 and 26. All four innings ended with wince-inducing dismissals that suggested in-play, in-series regressions despite a lot of hard work in the lead-up. Nevertheless, McCullum – unsurprisingly – is sticking by his man.”I think most people were frenetic outside off stump on this pitch tonight,” he said, which actually makes you wonder why England did not sit on that line during Australia’s mammoth first-innings of 511. “Popey has been number three. He’s done well. He’s averaged 40 odd [40.58] for us. He’s our number three here in Australia.”There was greater support for another Surrey man, Jamie Smith. The newest member of the top seven, the wicketkeeper’s arrival into the team at the start of 2024 was as the best of two worlds, between the glovework of Ben Foakes and the outlandish strokeplay of Jonny Bairstow. Right now, he is falling well short of both.A dropped catch off Travis Head and innings of 0 and 4 were the latest extensions of a batting decline that may be attributed to crouching behind the stumps far more than he is used to. Since the start of the summer, he has kept wicket for 1,375.3 overs across eight Tests. That amounts to around a third of what he has done for his entire first-class career for his county.Having begun the home series with India with scores of 40, 44, 184 not out, 88 and 5, he has averaged 10.14 in the next seven innings.Brendon McCullum speaks to the press•PA Photos/Getty Images

“He’s a flair player, and he likes to approach the game in a simple way,” McCullum said. “He works very hard on his game, but he also has the courage and conviction, when he feels he’s given himself the best chance. It doesn’t guarantee everything but I’m sure he’ll appreciate the conditions in Adelaide with the boundary sizes and the pitch.”That might not be music to the ears of those who feel both are problems to address, particularly Pope. But it will tell them and the rest of the squad – including those yet to see action – that the vibes, at least, remain tight.”One thing we won’t be changing is the language in the dressing room, the way we approach the game and the style we’ve tried to operate with,” McCullum said.”Ultimately, you can’t afford to flinch when come down here. This is not a country to start doubting yourself or to walk away from the challenge. You can’t have a glass jaw when you get to Australia. You’ve got to get up and go on.”The skill level among various players all around the world, there isn’t a stark contrast. It’s those who are able to handle the big moments, able to read conditions quickly and able to adapt, problem-solve situations – they are the ones to excel. If anything, our boys need a freshen up. A few days away wouldn’t be the worst thing.”As the tide goes against them, England will head to the surfers’ paradise of Noosa and try and get back on the board. That they will be joined by journalists and photographers looking for the latest pound of flesh will not deter them from cutting loose and expending the nervous energy that comes with a nine-day lead into the third Test in Adelaide.Typically, McCullum sees the pressure on himself and Stokes as something to savour. After all, it can’t go on like this, can it?”Look, that’s the thing; the captain and I, this is the fun stuff, right? Again, you don’t get to feel sorry for yourselves and both of us stress that. We’re both tough blokes who have been in this kind of pressure in your own careers or your own stages in your own lives. You’ve been in tough situations and there’s only one way to go about it and that’s to have that belief in yourself and trust those around you who you believe in. Make sure you stay tight, keep morale high within the group and keep getting towards what you’re trying to achieve.”If the coach and captain seemed worlds apart on Sunday night in the aftermath of defeat – McCullum chipper, Stokes spent – they will use the coming three-day break to realign themselves before flying to Adelaide on Saturday. The fightback starts here. The hard work, well, that will start at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.”We’ve been here before, 2-0 down,” said McCullum looking to 2023, “and we came within a bee’s dick of getting ourselves the win, so there’s no point in feeling sorry for yourselves. That ends in all sorts of trouble.”Just pick yourselves up, dust yourselves off, sharpen off a few of the rough areas and keep heading towards the target.”

Australia quick Lance Morris will miss the entire 2025-26 season, and is expected to be out of action for 12 months, after opting for the same surgery that Cameron Green underwent last year following another stress fracture in his lower back.Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday that the centrally contracted Morris, 27, would undergo pars stabilisation surgery in Christchurch to address an ongoing lumbar bone stress injury after being ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa. He had also been due to feature in the four-day matches on Australia A’s tour of India.After lengthy discussions between Morris, CA medical staff and the surgeons, he will follow the same path that Green took last October. Fellow Australia quick Ben Dwarshuis, India star Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand quicks Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson among many others have had the same procedure with screws and a titanium cable fused into their lower back to stabilise the stress fracture and prevent future occurrences.Related

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• Owen, Morris, Short ruled out of South Africa series

• Morris hopeful of early Shield return despite 'frustrating' injury issues

“I feel this is the most logical way to realise my full potential and return to my very best cricket for the Scorchers, Western Australia and Australia long into the future,” Morris said. “I also take great confidence in others who have undergone similar procedures and returned to their best. I plan to work hard through my recovery and return when the time is right.”The surgery is performed by New Zealand based surgeons Rowan Schouten and Grahame Inglis who have two decades of experience performing the surgery on fast bowlers with a staggering return to play success rate. Former Australia team physio and now full-time CA injury case manager Nick Jones has vast experience in the rehab following the surgery having worked through it with Green and another Australia quick Jason Behrendorff back in 2019.It is a significant step for Morris who has had an incredibly frustrating run with injury. Since bursting into Test calculations at the start of the 2022-23 summer when he took 26 wickets in four Sheffield Shield matches while bowling at speeds over 150kph, he has not managed to play more than three first-class games without interruption since.He has been carried as a Test squad member during the Australian home summers and went on the Test tour of India in 2023. He featured in three Shield matches at the start of the 2023-24 home summer and made his ODI debut in February 2024 following an uninterrupted BBL but strained his side in his second game in Canberra and played just one ODI last summer.Lance Morris has been around Australia squads with only limited appearances•Getty Images

He played two Shield games at the start of last summer under careful management before playing eight BBL games out of 10 for Perth Scorchers. He played two more Shield matches at the end of the summer and took 5 for 26 in his last Shield game in March against New South Wales but has not played since.Morris’ management throughout the past two years since earning his first CA contract in 2023 has been a source of debate between CA, his state Western Australia and the fast bowler himself.There have been times when he has been feeling fully fit but regular MRI scans in his lower back have shown recurring areas of concern for CA medical staff which ruled him out of the 2023 Ashes and the 2024 white-ball tour of the UK.”It’s been a bit frustrating,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo in September last year. “I guess you call it a stress fracture, but when we scan it, it doesn’t have the natural characteristics of a usual stress fracture. So there was some confusion at first around exactly what it was.”The tricky one for me was I didn’t actually have any back pain when I was bowling.”He is also a bowler who has performed better, at first-class level especially, the more he has played but it has been difficulty to strike the balance of getting a string of games together without risking injury.There will be a hope that the surgery allows him to get some continuity as it has done for a number of fast bowlers globally. But with the exception of Henry recently, who does not bowl at the express speeds of others, many of the fast bowlers who have undergone the procedure have still had their red-ball loads capped with the recent management of Bumrah by India a prime example.Australia are very keen to have Morris fit and firing ahead of a brutal period of international cricket from October 2026 to November 2027, which includes three away Tests against South Africa, four home Tests against New Zealand, five away Tests against India, a home Test against England to mark the 150th anniversary of Test cricket a possible World Test Championship final, five away Tests against England and an ODI World Cup in South Africa.Fast bowling depth will be vitally important with Australia’s attack on the cusp of a significant transition. Mitchell Starc turns 36 in January while Josh Hazlewood turns 35 in the same month while skipper Pat Cummins turns 33 in May 2026.Morris and fellow injured West Australian CA contracted quick Jhye Richardson, who is 28, are in the ideal age bracket to come into the team when the big three finish up with Australia’s 2024 Under-19 World Cup winning quicks including Callum Vidler, Tom Straker, Charlie Anderson and Mahli Beardman just starting the transition from U-19 to first-class cricket.