Three-day warm-up for Windies series under way

Saqib Mahmood and Rory Burns kicked off England’s first day of competitive cricket since March 13, as a Ben Stokes XI took the field against a side captained by Jos Buttler.

Mahmood was handed the opening over at Burns and got the three-day warm-up under way with a loosener that sailed for four byes down the leg-side.

Despite that inauspicious start the very sight of the country’s leading red-ball players competing again, for the first time since abandoning their tour of Sri Lanka as the coronavirus pandemic took hold more than three months ago, was a major boost for all the nation’s cricket fans.

Stokes will captain England in next week’s first Test against the West Indies in the absence of Joe Root – who has left the group to attend the birth of his second child – with Buttler serving as his vice-captain.

This week the pair are leading rival teams, though, as 27 players jostle for selection.

Shashank Manohar has stepped down as chairman of the International Cricket Council, with Colin Graves in contention to replace him.

Manohar became the first independent chair of the ICC upon his appointment in 2016 and has gone on to head the world’s governing body for two terms.

The Indian administrator was re-elected unopposed after his initial two years but has opted to walk away with immediate effect, leaving deputy Imran Khwaja in charge on an interim basis.

The board will approve the process for his succession in the next week, with former England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Graves a leading contender.

Graves is stepping down from his position at Lord’s on August 31 and reportedly has the support of several leading nations.

Five-time Ashes winner Ian Bell has signed a 12-month contract extension with Warwickshire that will keep him at the club until at least the end of next season.

Bell, who amassed 7,727 runs in 118 Tests for England between 2004 and 2015, will therefore take his time in Warwickshire’s senior ranks to 23 years.

Ben Stokes will lead England in first Test in absence of Joe Root.