Ian Bell’s third hundred in successive Ashes Tests underpinned England’s partial recovery from their false start on an eventful first day at Lord’s.

Shane Watson inspired Australia to a straightforward seven-wicket victory over Ireland in their opening World Twenty20 group match in Colombo today.

The script for a mercy mission back at the club Kenny loves now reads like a misguided, financially calamitous sequel

Kevin Pietersen holds the key to whether he ever plays for England again, England coach Andy Flower said yesterday.

All-rounder John Mooney is out of Ireland’s squad for the next month’s World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka due to a fractured finger.

CHELSEA, it appears, haven’t got a prayer of signing former world player of the year Kaka after the Brazilian playmaker arrived in London yesterday and blamed speculation about a move to Stamford Bridge on a loose Tweet from his mother about plans to preach in England.

IRELAND captain William Porterfield was left fuming after claiming a controversial umpiring decision cost his side victory over the West Indies in Mohali yesterday.

IRELAND wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien believes his brother Kevin must learn to manage the expectation that comes with his new role as a fans favourite.

AS Kevin O’Brien climbed into another six, and the Ireland cricket fans in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore started to think of an improbable victory over England, Vanessa Johnston wafted through the supporters, spraying them with a stress-relieving potion.

IRELAND’S Kevin O’Brien hit the fastest hundred in Cricket World Cup history to sentence shell-shocked England to an astounding three-wicket defeat at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Man of the match O'Brien admitted he could not believe his feat after Ireland pulled off a stunning three-wicket win over England in Bangalore today.

Ireland's Kevin O'Brien hit the fastest hundred in World Cup history to sentence shell-shocked England to an astounding three-wicket defeat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium tonight.

CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss kept his cool to help England scrape an opening World Cup win over the Netherlands after enduring a “shemozzle” of a performance in the field.

EOIN MORGAN yesterday revealed that he does not require surgery on the broken finger that ruled him out of England’s World Cup squad — and that he could have been fit before the end of the tournament.

England completed the formalities of wrapping up a first successful Ashes tour of Australia in 24 years before lunch on the fourth day of the fourth Test in Melbourne, winning by an innings and 157 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

AUSTRALIA are confident their captain Ricky Ponting will be fit for the St Stephen’s Day Ashes Test.

Kevin Pietersen was today fined for speeding after taking a loaned Lamborghini for a drive on his day off from England training.

THE Europe and United States Ryder Cup teams have been banned from tweeting until after the end of the tournament.

Ian Poulter’s million followers on Twitter will have to make do without his many thoughts on the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor this week, with all 24 players having been told to focus on the match instead.

I NEVER seem able to place the kind of bets that are apparently available if you’re a follower of international cricket.

KEVIN PIETERSEN was one of two cricketers fined for their foul-mouthed Tweeting yesterday.

A post on Kevin Pietersen’s Twitter account has said the England batsman has been dropped from the one-day international squads for the series against Pakistan.

EOIN MORGAN is likely to get the opportunity to boost his Ashes credentials against Pakistan this summer after England lost the services of Ian Bell for the series.

Ireland were knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Super Eight stage after a rainy no-result to their Group D shoot-out with England last night.

ENGLAND scraped unimpressively through to the ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight stage after a rainy no-result to their Group D shoot-out with luckless Ireland last night.

England were indebted to their Dublin-born middle-order batsman Eoin Morgan's 45 for helping them set a moderately testing target, which duly became irrelevant between the subsequent Providence downpours.

ANDREW STRAUSS is confident his new-look England are about to go places in one-day cricket – and is hoping they can start by wrapping up their series against South Africa 3-1 today.

Ireland will attempt to overturn the odds and bring Ashes winners England crashing down to earth today in Belfast.

ENGLAND’S quest to regain the Ashes will have to be completed without Kevin Pietersen after he was forced into undergoing surgery on his chronic achilles injury.

ENGLAND face an anxious wait to see whether key batsman Kevin Pietersen will be fit to withstand another battle with Australia in next week’s third Ashes Test.

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss praised the stirring response his battle-weary side gave to their underwhelming Ashes series beginning after they recorded a historic win at Lord’s yesterday.

GRAEME SWANN urged against panic as England strive for victory today in the second npower Ashes Test at Lord’s.

ENGLAND salvaged a dramatic draw in Cardiff as the first npower Ashes Test was embroiled in controversy during a tense finale.

KEVIN PIETERSEN reflected on a satisfying day for England after their most positive start to an Ashes series for years.

ENGLAND could only draw the fifth and final Test against West Indies in Trinidad last night – handing their hosts a 1-0 series victory.

New England captain Andrew Strauss began his permanent term of office with the backing of fallen predecessor Kevin Pietersen.

KEVIN PIETERSEN last night resigned as England captain while coach Peter Moores was sacked on a dramatic day for English cricket.

Kevin Pietersen has quit as England captain, according to reports this morning.

ENGLAND will fly to Abu Dhabi tomorrow to begin preparations for the two-Test series in India according to a report in the United Arab Emirates.

ENGLAND recovered from a pedestrian start to yesterday’s opening match of the NatWest Series with Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen propelling them to a competitive total against South Africa.

KEVIN PIETERSEN paid tribute to Steve Harmison and James Anderson after England confirmed their ascendancy on day two of the final Test against South Africa at The Oval yesterday.

Angry Tibetan exiles may try to disrupt the Olympic torch relay through London if China continues its crackdown on protesters in Tibet, a campaigner warned today.

STEVE HARMISON and the rest of England’s out-of-touch players have been warned they need to lift their performance level to guarantee a place in next week’s first Test line-up.