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Anya Shrubsole has announced her retirement from international cricket, calling time on her career at the top level after 14 years.Shrubsole, the hero of England’s 2017 World Cup triumph, was awarded an MBE after bowling her side to a famous and dramatic victory with a record 6 for 46 in the final against India at Lord’s. Aged 30, she is a two-time Women’s World Cup champion and two-time Ashes winner.Having started her domestic career for Somerset, she played 173 games for her country across all formats, claiming 227 wickets. She is fourth on the list of England’s ODI wicket-takers, and is England’s current top T20I wicket-taker.She will continue to play domestic cricket in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Hundred.”I feel immensely privileged to have been able to represent my country for the past 14 years,” Shrubsole said. “To have been involved in women’s cricket at a time of such growth has been an honour but it has become clear to me that it is moving forward faster than I can keep up with, so it is time for me to step away.”Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be lucky enough to play for England for so long, I’d have been happy with one game. There have been many ups and downs along the way but it was all worth it to be able to lift the ICC Women’s World Cup at Lord’s in 2017.”There have been so many people who have supported me along the way and I want to thank them all for everything they have done, but most of all I couldn’t have done it without the unwavering support of my family. They have been with me every step of the way and I simply couldn’t have done it without them.”Shrubsole captained her country once, and in 2018 became the first woman ever to appear on the front cover of the .After a 2021 home international season curtailed by injury, Shrubsole was part of England’s Ashes campaign in Australia at the start of this year, and her last appearance for England was during the 2022 Women’s World Cup final in New Zealand, when she took 3 for 46 and was the last batter out in a 71-run defeat at the hands of Australia on April 3.Clare Connor, ECB managing director of women’s cricket, described Shrubsole as “the most tremendous servant to English cricket, and to women’s cricket specifically”.”For 14 years she has given everything for the team so it is fitting that her reasons for retiring are so selfless,” Connor added. “In her last game for England – the ICC Women’s World Cup final in Christchurch – Anya was the team’s stand-out performer with the ball, just as she was on that magical day at Lord’s in 2017 when England Women lifted the World Cup.”Her longevity, skill and impact with the new and old ball are testament to her work ethic and commitment over so many years. Aside from her genius with the ball, Anya was the perfect team-mate – selfless, dedicated, thoughtful and kind. She has already dedicated 14 years to England Women’s cricket and I know that she will continue to have a huge impact on the game post-playing.”Anya loves the game as much as anyone I’ve ever met and we look forward to retaining her expertise and passion as she embarks on her next chapter.”

Southern Vipers 155 for 5 (Bouchier 41) beat Lightning 124 for 8 (K Bryce 54, Bell 3-12) by 31 runsLauren Bell underlined her England credentials with a spell-binding three for 12 as Southern Vipers swatted Lightning aside by 31 runs in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.Towering right-arm swing bowler Bell is considered among the favourites to replace the internationally retired Anya Shrubsole and make her debut for Lisa Keightley’s team this summer. She put on a new-ball clinic to claim two for two from her first two overs, before she returned her career-best T20 bowling figures.Maia Bouchier continued her fine start to the season with a mighty 41 as Vipers garnered 155 for five, before Lightning spluttered to 124 for eight after Bell’s antics – with skipper Kathryn Bryce top-scoring with 54.Vipers are now two comprehensive victories from two in this year’s tournament, while Lightning are still yet to secure a point across two seasons.Bell has a metronomic run-up which springs into an explosion of a high front arm and high-to-low action which naturally brings prodigious in-swing. Marie Kelly attempted to negate this by walking down the pitch, but got cramped by a cross-seam delivery to sky to keeper Carla Rudd.Sarah Bryce tried the opposite and stayed still for as long as possible. The Scotland international got stuck on her crease as an in-ducker knocked over her off pole, via a deflection off the thigh pad.Bell’s sights were now on England opener Tammy Beaumont. She drew a leading-edge, only for it to fall agonisingly short of mid-on, but criminology student Bell got her high-profile victim in the following over when she yorked her. She should have pouched a four-for only for Rudd to spill Teresa Graves – who lived a charmed life with Nancy Harman also dropping her.Vipers simply kept it tight from then on, allowing the required rate to rocket. Kathryn Bryce’s battling 47-ball half-century aside, no Lightning batter past 17. Charlie Dean claimed three for 23 and Georgia Elwiss two for 18 to complete the simply triumph.Earlier, Vipers were stuck in and despite losing Georgia Adams to a simple deep square boundary catch, Danni Wyatt and Bouchier used their textbook power to contribute a quickfire 43 for the second wicket before the former was caught on the ring.Bouchier, who began the campaign with an unbeaten 48, found the middle of her bat for the sweetest of sixes over midwicket before advancing and pumping Lucy Higham back over her head for another maximum.Vipers, and Bouchier, were slowed by a brilliant 13th to 16th over fight back. Vipers appeared on course for a huge total at 100 for two but slumped to 110 for five – with a wicket falling in each over.First Elwiss top-edged straight up off Piepa Cleary, then Kirstie Gordon bowled Bouchier through the gate with a wonderful arm ball before Paige Scholfield advanced and hoicked to extra cover.Freya Kemp and Dean added 45 in the last five overs to swing the momentum back Vipers’ way, and the barometer never moved back after Bell dislodged the visitors’ top order.

Cameron Green’s century was the centerpiece of Australia A’s successful run chase in the first one-day match against Sri Lanka A in Colombo.Green finished on 119 and added 121 in 117 balls for the third wicket with the fluent Matt Renshaw to break the back of a testing target of 298. He brought up his century, his second in List A cricket, off 92 balls with a blistering cover drive.Renshaw contributed 68 just under a run-a-ball, using his long reach to drive strongly over the off side, before bowled upon playing down the wrong line against legspinner Pulina Tharanga.Green, showing his trademark strength down the ground, and Alex Carey, who unfurled his array of sweeps, then added 116 for the fourth wicket to complete the chase with 14 balls to spare. The duo had been brought across from Australia’s ODI squad which will play the five-match series starting next week.Sri Lanka A had put together a solid batting display but paid the price for none of the top order converting their solid bases.Oshada Fernando and captain Dhananjaya de Silva both passed fifty while No. 3 Kamindu Mendis played attractively before offering a sharp caught-and-bowled catch to Matt Kuhnemann after a second-wicket stand of 87.Left-arm spinner Kuhnemann and offspinner Todd Murphy, who removed Fernando and Niroshan Dickwella, both impressed on their first appearances for Australia A while allrounder Aaron Hardie also did a good job.After Hardie had removed de Silva, Ashen Bandara and Dunith Wellalage ensured Sri Lanka A made good progress during the final 10 overs but Australia A never let things get away too much.However, they were far from their best in the field with at least seven chances of varying difficulty being missed. Legspinner Tanveer Sangha missed three of those off his own bowling.The second one-day game takes place on Friday before two four-day matches in Hambantota.

Trent Bridge has arguably pushed the boundaries of white-ball cricket farther than any other international ground in recent times, and Sunday’s third T20I contained an innings that did just that. It didn’t come in a winning cause, but it pointed to what the future of T20 batting might look like.Suryakumar Yadav scored 117 off 55 balls, and he did this in a chase of 216 where no other India batter passed 30 and only one other passed 20. He did this with a control percentage of nearly 91%. That’s an excellent figure in a Test innings, and a positively surreal one in the shortest format. For large swathes of his innings, he seemed to hit any line or length to any part of the field he wished to target, and England’s bowlers could seemingly do nothing to contain him.Getting him to the other end was their best bet, usually; the other members of India’s top seven scored 64 off 57 balls between them. Even so, Suryakumar kept India in their chase; he brought the equation down to 25 with nine balls left, with an offspinner bowling the penultimate over, and with an impending over-rate penalty about to force England to have only four boundary fielders in the last over.But off the penultimate ball of that penultimate over, Suryakumar’s ball-striking failed him for perhaps the first time in his innings, and he walked back to a standing ovation. The over-rate penalty was suddenly less of an issue for England, and Chris Jordan, bowling with a lower-order pair at the crease, closed out the game with a three-run final over. England had avoided being blanked 3-0 at home, but only just, no matter that the victory margin may have been a healthy-looking 17 runs.Malan feasts on new-look attack
Having wrapped up the series win, India rung in the changes, most of which impacted their bowling. No Bhuvneshwar Kumar, no Jasprit Bumrah, no Yuzvendra Chahal and perhaps most significantly no Hardik Pandya. Without the cushion of the allrounder, India were down to five bowling options who would each have to bowl their full quotas, irrespective of how they fared on the day.They didn’t do too badly at the start, as Jos Buttler chopped on after a promising start, and Jason Roy struggled for fluency, hacking his way to 26 off 26 before top-edging a slash off Umran Malik.But Dawid Malan played an excellent hand, getting off to a quicker-than-usual start and rushing along thereafter, taking particular toll of two bowlers whose styles perfectly suit his game. He scored 17 off eight balls against the quick and generally short-of-a-length Malik, and 28 off 11 balls against Ravindra Jadeja, whose left-arm spin is usually hidden away from left-hand batters. With no sixth bowler to turn to, India didn’t have that option here.Malan had got to 77 off 38 balls and looked set for a hundred when Ravi Bishnoi struck two key blows in the 17th over. His exaggerated angle across them and his propensity to get his wrong’un to dip sharply make him a major threat to left-handers, and he dismissed both Malan and Moeen Ali in the space of three balls to bring India much-needed respite after an 84-run fourth-wicket stand between Malan and Liam Livingstone.But it was short-lived respite, as Livingstone, Harry Brook and Jordan ransacked 46 runs off the last 19 balls of the innings to propel England to 215.Dawid Malan was typically fluent through the off side•PA Photos via Getty images

India stutter at the top
Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant opened once again for India, but they didn’t repeat their successes from Saturday’s game at Edgbaston. Both David Willey and Reece Topley got the new ball to swing just enough to keep their scoring down in the first two overs, in which time Pant fell to a bottom-edged swipe across the line.Then Virat Kohli came out and played an unusual sort of T20 innings by his standards, indicative of India’s target today, but perhaps also of the demands of the new coaching regime. He stepped out of his crease to the first four balls of Willey’s second over, whipped one of them for four, drove one for a handsome straight six, and then slapped one into the hands of short extra-cover.Then Rohit, having hit two fours earlier in the over, failed to manufacture enough power to clear deep midwicket off a Topley slower ball in the fifth over. India were 31 for 3.The full 360, but only from one end
Playing his first game of the series, Shreyas Iyer played an innings that would have provided ample ammunition to his doubters. Against the spin of Moeen and Livingstone, he hit two sixes and scored 16 off eight balls. Against the quicker bowlers, he scored 12 off 15 balls and failed to find the boundary even once. And he was out while shuffling to make room against a short ball.And yet, his 23-ball 28 was part of a partnership of 119 in just 61 balls.The runs mostly flowed from the blade of Suryakumar, and they came in every possible direction: over mid-off and extra-cover, with left elbow high; wide of long-on with a whip of the wrists; behind square on the leg side with the shovel-sweep; and, most unstoppably, in the arc between cover point and third man with open-faced slices between or over the 30-yard ring. Of the 14 fours and six sixes he hit on the day, perhaps the most astonishing were his sixes over the off-side square boundary off Richard Gleeson and Jordan, off near-yorkers angling into the stumps.There were never enough boundary fielders when Suryakumar was on strike, but he was off strike often enough for England to remain in control of the game. And eventually, the target remained just beyond India’s reach. Along the way, however, Suryakumar ensured that he’ll be one of the first names on India’s team sheet, fitness permitting, when the World Cup rolls round in October.

Lauren Smith made 73 not out and Bethan Miles took 3 for 15 on her debut as South East Stars fought back from 122 for 9 to inflict a third defeat in three games on the north-west based side, Thunder in this year’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.After posting a clearly competitive 198 all out on a wicket helpful to the spinners, the Stars dismissed Thunder for 146 to complete a fine 52-run victory and achieve their second win in the 50-over competition.The Stars’ innings was composed of three very distinct phases. In the first 13.1 overs of the game Chloe Brewer and Kirstie White took advantage of some loose bowling and the quick outfield to put on 67 for their side’s first wicket.Then Alex Hartley took over. Four balls after she had dropped White when presented with a straightforward chance in the ring off Phoebe Graham, she had the reprieved batter leg before wicket for 12. That began a collapse that saw the Stars lose nine wickets for 55 runs in 19 overs.Hartley was the chief beneficiary and she finished with 6 for 24 from her ten overs, which is just outside her List A best of 6 for 23. The spinner bowled superbly but was helped by some indifferent batting and also by a quite brilliant catch by Daisy Mullan, whose full-length diving effort at deep midwicket saw the end of Rhianna Southby for 8 and also gave Hartley her fifth wicket.When Miles was ninth out, bowled by Deandra Dottin for nought, Thunder probably anticipated a relatively simple run-chase, but Smith and her last-wicket partner, Dani Gregory, had other ideas. Showing exemplary common sense, they defended straight balls capably and took advantage of anything loose to put on 76 in 15.3 overs.Smith reached her fifty off 70 balls and went on play the innings that set up a fascinating second half of the match. Dottin took the last wicket when she had Gregory caught behind and she finished with 3 for 49 from 9.5 overs. Hannah Jones also bowled a tight spell and took the important wicket of the opener, Brewer, who was bowled by a flighted, full-length delivery for 49.Thunder’s pursuit of 199 began poorly when Dottin top-edged a pull off Phoebe Franklin and was caught by White at short fine-leg for 8. Rebecca Duckworth then made 15 of a 53-run stand for the second wicket with Georgie Boyce but by then the Stars had the spinners on and they were getting as much joy from the pitch as Thunder’s slow bowlers had enjoyed.Duckworth was gated by an off-spinner from Lauren Smith, skipper Ellie Threlkeld was bowled when attempting to sweep Miles and the debutant followed her maiden wicket by running out a dawdling Natalie Brown for 2 and trapping Shachi Pai leg before for nought.Slow left-armer Miles then took the vital wicket of Boyce for 68 when she beat the opener in the flight with a beautiful looping delivery and that left the last four Thunder wickets with the task of scoring 72 runs in 18 overs.Despite some useful blows from Graham, who made 11, they never looked like reaching their target and, appropriately enough it was Smith who took the last wicket when she had Hartley caught at mid on with 9.5 overs to spare. Smith ended the game with 2 for 20, Gregory took 2 for 36 and Franklin, 2 for 25.

Pakistan went into the final day with nine wickets in hand, having batted outstandingly in the fourth innings at Galle last week, and probably needing to play out a little over two full sessions, with the light likely to deteriorate in the afternoon again.But outside a 79-run third-wicket stand between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, they could not resist Sri Lanka’s rampant spinners. Prabath Jayasuriya, perhaps the find of Sri Lanka’s home season, claimed his fourth Test five-for in six innings, taking 5 for 117. Ramesh Mendis, who himself had had a five-for in the first innings, claimed 4 for 101.Bowling together since before lunch, they took seven wickets between them for 85 runs. One batter – Fawad Alam – had been run out, though this had also been brought about partly by the pressure these two had created.Babar top-scored with 81off 146 balls, having earlier overturned an lbw against him on 34. It was his wicket, soon after lunch, that was the key moment – Jayasuriya getting him lbw with a straight delivery.It was in the last half-hour before the break, though, that Sri Lanka, and the pitch, suddenly came to life. Suddenly, chances were being created, balls were dropping just short of excited close-in fielders, and a heavy pressure had descended on Pakistan.Rizwan was the first to go, leaving a Jayasuriya delivery that was angled in from around the wicket. He did not quite believe that this straighter ball had clipped his off stump, and waited for confirmation from the third umpire, that he had, in fact, been bowled for 37 off 69.Fawad Alam was then run-out in a horrendous mix-up for which Babar was likely to be blamed. Having made just one off his first eight balls, Fawad was keen to get off strike against Mendis. He hit a ball straight of mid-on and took off, expecting Babar to come through. Babar initially took a couple of steps, but looking over his shoulder, decided to send Fawad back even though his partner was about three-quarters of the way to the danger end. Asitha Fernando’s throw found the keeper’s gloves, and Fawad was not even close to making it back.Agha Salman then played a pained six-ball innings in which it seemed every other ball might get him out. He was out off what turned out to be the last ball before lunch, as he played a paddle sweep against Jayasuriya, and ended up only hitting the ball to Kusal Mendis at short leg, who had anticipated the stroke and reacted well to pouch it, diving quickly to his right.The Sri Lanka players celebrate Imam-ul-Haq’s wicket•AFP/Getty Images

As long as Babar was around, though, Pakistan still had a chance of batting out a session and half, and securing a draw. Upon resumption, the bowlers were still dominant. He was dropped on 78 by Dhananjaya de Silva at slip, off the bowling of Jayasuriya. The ball had gone a distance to his left, and travelled quickly – de Silva getting both hands to it before grassing it. It didn’t hurt Sri Lanka much, though, in Jayasuriya’s next over, he slid one into Babar’s front pad, the batter playing for the ball that turns. This time, a review would not save Babar.Pakistan unravelled quickly after that. Mohammad Nawaz was caught at cover the following over, trying to smash Mendis against the turn. Yasir Shah bashed six boundaries and had moved to 27 off 24, before fending one to gully to give Jayasuriya his fifth wicket. Hasan Ali was bowled off a deflection trying to sweep Mendis, and Naseem Shah holed out to the same bowler, trying to clobber one over deep midwicket.Earlier, after Imam had edged Mendis behind on 49, Babar and Rizwan had prospered square of the wicket. Having overturned an lbw decision against him on 34, Babar got to his 23rd Test fifty off the 71st ball he faced. He defended resolutely but did not allow the bowlers to deliver long strings of dots to him.Rizwan scored almost exclusively through the leg side, meanwhile, hitting three of his six boundaries via his most productive stroke – the sweep. Only one of his 37 runs came on the offside. This was after Imam-ul-Haq had been dismissed in the third over of the day, caught behind when Mendis spun one more sharply than he anticipated.Sri Lanka’s victory means the series is levelled 1-1. While realistically, either of these teams would have had to win the series 2-0 to give themselves a chance of making the World Test Championship final, they are not out of the hunt either.

Oval Invincibles squeezed the life out of Birmingham Phoenix’s star-studded batting line-up with spin, boosting their qualification hopes and leaving Southern Brave as the only unbeaten side across the women’s Hundred.Alice Capsey, Sophia Smale and Mady Villiers returned combined figures of 5 for 48 from 50 balls, running through Phoenix’s top order while suffocating their scoring, to leave Invincibles needing only 107 to win in their third and final home game.They knocked the target off with 13 balls to spare, as Lauren Winfield-Hill anchored the run chase with 41 not out off 38 balls. Emily Arlott bowled tightly, taking 1 for 8 from 17 balls and dismissing Capsey, but Phoenix needed regular wickets and struggled to make inroads.van Niekerk returns
Invincibles’ decision to leave Dane van Niekerk out of their last two games was a seismic one: she was their captain and the tournament’s MVP as they lifted the trophy last season, but with four overseas players permitted in the squad and Suzie Bates in excellent form, she was squeezed out of the side.But with her wife Marizanne Kapp rested for the Phoenix game with a sore quadriceps, van Niekerk returned to the side. “It has been tough sitting out,” she admitted at the toss, resuming captaincy duties after Bates had been deputised, as her decision to bowl first was vindicated by an impressive performance from her bowlers.With the bat, she was not at her fluent best but still made a telling contribution from No. 4 in what was her first innings since last year’s WBBL final. Van Niekerk was reprieved early on when Amy Jones fumbled a run-out chance, but consecutive boundaries – one swept, one pulled – off Georgia Elwiss removed any scoring pressure from the chase.She ended up unbeaten on 21 off as many balls, leaving Invincibles’ coach Jon Batty with another tough decision to make when Kapp returns to fitness.Phoenix flounder
Phoenix came into this game with a 100% record to protect but never got going with the bat. Sophie Devine fell early, top-edging a sweep into the leg side to be caught-and-bowled by Smale – the 17-year-old left-arm spinner – as Eve Jones’ anchoring, run-a-ball 29 was the only contribution of note.Smale, Capsey and Villiers removed all of the top five between them. Capsey had Amy Jones caught slapping to point, while Villiers’ arm ball accounted for Ellyse Perry, who was smartly stumped by Winfield-Hill. Capsey bowled Eve Jones and Sophie Molineux as Phoenix slipped from 64 for 2 to 71 for 5, and they could only sneak up to 106 despite Emily Arlott’s late blows.Invincibles cruise home
Winfield-Hill and Bates set the tone in the chase with three boundaries in the first seven balls, getting Invincibles ahead of the run rate. And despite Bates falling inside the powerplay, Capsey signalled her intent by hammering her third ball down the ground for six. When Winfield-Hill hit Molineux for four and six in the first set of the powerplay, the rest of the innings was a formality.”It was a big game for us,” Capsey said. “Everyone came out with the energy of wanting to be part of a big occasion. I tend to thrive on the big moments; it narrows my focus a bit more. At the moment, within this team, I’m really backed to take the positive option which is amazing. It gives me great confidence.”