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.

ENGLAND’S worst World Cup fears were realised yesterday when their leading one-day batsman and former Irish star Eoin Morgan was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured finger.

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss has admitted Eoin Morgan could be ruled out of the World Cup because of a fractured finger.

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.

EOIN MORGAN’S second Rose Bowl hundred of the summer helped England clinch the troubled NatWest Series 3-2 with a landslide 121-run victory over Pakistan.

PAKISTAN’S limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi last night described Yasir Hameed as having the mental age of an adolescent.

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's Eoin Morgan has urged the England selectors to help him realise his boyhood dream of playing in an Ashes 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.

ANDY FLOWER is unrepentant about England’s management of the ball, despite South Africa’s transitory suspicions that tampering might have been afoot during the third Test.

STAND-IN captain Paul Collingwood praised England’s fight after they averted a shock one-day international defeat to Ireland in Belfast.

Ashes winners England averted a shock defeat to see off Ireland by just three runs in their one-day international in Belfast today.

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

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.

ALASTAIR COOK spearheaded an impressive catching and bowling display by England which allowed them to claim a narrow advantage at the end of the first day of their Test series against New Zealand.

Captain Paul Collingwood is confident England can bounce back and win their one-day series with New Zealand despite suffering a humiliating defeat in the opener at the Westpac Stadium.

MUTTIAH MURALITHARAN had the last laugh in a week of cheer for Sri Lanka as England’s brave rearguard fell narrowly short at Asgiriya.

ENGLAND lost a highly-charged thriller at The Brit Oval yesterday as India levelled the NatWest Series of one-day internationals by completing a huge run chase in the final over.

CAPTAIN Michael Vaughan backed England to follow up completing their 3-0 Test success over West Indies at Chester-le-Street yesterday with further victory in the forthcoming one-day matches.

IAN BELL settled into his most successful position in the batting order to rescue England against the West Indies at Old Trafford yesterday.

ENGLAND captain Michael Vaughan admitted his side had “let a lot of people down” after they were knocked out of the World Cup in humiliating fashion by South Africa yesterday.

ENGLAND averted a possible World Cup humiliation by scraping to an unconvincing six-wicket win over Bangladesh to retain a tenuous hold on their hopes of progressing further in the tournament.

THE boys can hold their heads up high, after yet another credible performance at the World Cup, this time against England.

Ireland captain Trent Johnston hopes a few pints of Guinness were raised in toast to his team’s effort during their World Cup Super Eight defeat to England yesterday.

BRAVE Ireland went down to England yesterday as Paul Collingwood delivered a match-winning performance to prevent England from suffering embarrassment and get their Super Eights campaign underway.

England cricket star Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff has apologised for the late-night drinking binge at the World Cup which led to him being sacked as vice-captain.

Bray native Ed Joyce has been included in England's 15-man squad for the cricket World Cup.

ANDREW FLINTOFF hailed Paul Collingwood’s match-winning innings as the best one-day batting display he has witnessed after England beat Australia by four wickets at the MCG.

SHANE WARNE savoured every second of his final confrontation with England to deliver one of his best all-round displays and put Australia on the brink of an Ashes whitewash.

SHANE WARNE is set to announce his retirement from international cricket today. And he could be joined by another Australia legend, fast bowler Glenn McGrath.

Matthew Hoggard produced a four-wicket haul to halt Australia’s fightback and keep England’s hopes of victory in the second Ashes Test alive.

England’s hopes of making further inroads into Australia’s batting line-up were undermined by a stubborn fourth wicket stand in the second Ashes Test.

Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen entered Ashes folklore today with big hundreds as England approached a formidable first-innings total in the second Test.

ANDREW STRAUSS is backing England’s inexperienced batting line-up to overcome their nerves and deliver in the forthcoming Ashes series.

ENGLAND have set their sights on finishing their summer with a flourish when they attempt to complete an emphatic victory over Pakistan in next week’s final Test.

PAUL COLLINGWOOD made partial amends for a costly error by becoming England’s unlikely candidate to halt Pakistan’s record-breaking march towards a major lead in the third Test yesterday.

ANDREW STRAUSS’S love affair with Lord’s continued yesterday when he marked his first Test as England captain with a century that left Pakistan already needing a ground record-equalling 342 to win the first Test.

PAKISTAN paid a high price for a series of dropped catches as unbeaten hundreds from Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood put England in a strong position on the first day of the first Test at Lord’s yesterday.

JUST an hour’s play was possible yesterday on the second day of the second Test between India and England in Mohali due to bad light and rain.

England squandered a promising position on the way to a 22-run defeat on the final day of the first Test against Pakistan in Multan.

England suffered a damaging collapse to turn an anticipated last-day victory over Pakistan into more likely defeat as they stumbled in pursuit of the 198 runs required to take the first Test.