Hosts India and arch-rivals Pakistan have been drawn in Pool B for the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup scheduled to be held in Tamil Nadu from November 28 to December 10.

On the occasion of the draw ceremony held in Lausanne, Switzerland the six Pools of the expanded tournament which will feature 24 teams for the very first time, have been determined. Alongside, the men in blue will take on Chile and Switzerland in Pool B.

Josh Hazlewood led the charge for Australia with figures of 5 for 43 as West Indies suffered a dramatic collapse, losing all 10 wickets in the final session on Day 3 to hand Australia a 159-run victory in the first Test. Nathan Lyon claimed the final two wickets off successive deliveries in what turned out to be the day’s last over, sealing a dominant win with two days to spare and giving Australia a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Chasing a target of 301, West Indies showed some early resistance despite losing Kraigg Brathwaite in the first over, caught at backward square leg off Mitchell Starc. John Campbell and Keacy Carty steadied things briefly with some attacking strokes, taking the score to 47 for 1. Carty was given an early life on 1 when Cameron Green dropped him, but the West Indies soon unraveled.

Campbell gloved a scoop attempt off Hazlewood to Alex Carey, and Carty fell the very next ball, inside-edging onto his pad for a sharp catch at gully. Hazlewood continued to make inroads, dismissing captain Roston Chase similarly before bowling Carty with a full delivery, reducing the visitors to 56 for 5.

The Indian women wrestlers continue to demonstrate their dominance on the international wrestling stage. At the prestigious Yasar Dogu International Wrestling Tournament currently being held in Turkey, India sent a contingent of six women wrestlers and delivered a remarkable performance.

Out of the six participants, five Indian women wrestlers clinched medals, securing an outstanding four gold and one bronze, which led India to finish as the runner-up in the overall team rankings.

Despite entering only six wrestlers, India made a powerful impact. Host nation Turkey secured the first position while Kazakhstan stood third.

Pushpa clinched the gold medal in the 55 kg category while Neha secured top honours in the 57 kg division. Manisha dominated the 62 kg category to win gold and Harshita added another gold to the tally in the 72 kg class. Neelam contributed to the medal count as well, earning a bronze in the 50 kg category, rounding off a successful outing for the Indian contingent.

Ahead of playing the T20I series opener against England, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said her opening partner Shafali Verma is deserving of making a comeback into the setup after eight months, adding that she is excited to open again with the explosive right-handed batter.

Shafali had been out of the national set-up after last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, where India failed to enter the semi-finals. After strong showings in the domestic 20-over and 50-over matches, Shafali amassed 304 runs from nine innings with a strike rate of 152.76 for Delhi Capitals (DC) in WPL 2025, and finished at fourth place in the run-scorers’ charts.

That was enough for her to make a comeback in the India T20I team for the series against England, starting in Nottingham on Saturday. “She's had an amazing year. Once the setback had come, she went into domestic, scored bucket loads of runs, and had an amazing WPL.”

The 21-year-old batting prodigy Dewald Brevis gears up for his long-awaited Test debut against Zimbabwe, with the first Test set to begin on June 28 at the Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo.

Known for his fearless stroke-play and explosive performances in white-ball cricket, Brevis will now have the chance to showcase his talent in the red-ball format, as the Proteas field a youthful, reshaped XI in the absence of several senior stars.

The spotlight falls on Brevis at a time of transition for South Africa. Their regular Test captain, Temba Bavuma — fresh from leading the Proteas to their historic ICC World Test Championship title triumph over Australia — has been ruled out of the series due to a left hamstring injury.

Australia spinner Adam Zampa has signed for Surrey to play four T20 Blast games. He will arrive ahead of Surrey’s double-header fixture against Essex at The Oval on July 6. The 33-year-old is the highest wicket-taker for Australia in T20 cricket with 117 wickets. He was the first Australian to pass 100 T20I scalps and was part of the teams that won the T20 World Cup in 2021 and the 50-over World Cup in 2023.

The leg-spinner has over 350 T20 wickets in a career that has taken him around the world to all the biggest franchise leagues, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Big Bash, and The Hundred – where he helped the Oval Invincibles to back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.

Sri Lanka has named a 16-member squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, scheduled for July 2, 5 and 8. Charith Asalanka will captain the side while batter Sadeera Samarawickrama has made a comeback to the squad. Samarawickrama played his last ODI against New Zealand in November last year.

Having notched up consecutive centuries in the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh, right-handed batter Pathum Nissanka will aim to carry his prolific form into the upcoming ODI series between the two sides.

Squad mainstays Kusal Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Maheesh Theekshana are all set to feature in the 50-over contests.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced a set of changes in regard to the use of balls in ODIs, boundary catches and concussion replacements for both Test and white-ball formats. One of the most significant being, in efforts to fasten the pace of the game and over rates, a stop clock to speed up the longest format.

The stop clock, already tried successfully in white-ball cricket, now become a permanent feature in Tests. Fielding sides will be required to begin a new over within 60 seconds of completing the previous one. Failure to comply will lead to penalties, two warnings per innings, followed by a five-run penalty for every subsequent breach. These warnings will reset after every 80 overs, in line with the availability of a new ball.

After being selected in New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, hard-hitting batter Bevon Jacobs sees the series as his first step towards achieving the goal of playing next year's T20 World Cup, especially after learning new things about his game during his IPL 2025 stint with Mumbai Indians.

Jacobs was a surprise pick in last year’s IPL, when MI took him at the mega auction in Jeddah. He was also included in New Zealand’s squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Though he didn’t earn a place in the playing elevens of BlackCaps or MI, Jacobs may well make his international debut in the tri-series starting on July 14 in Harare, which also involves South Africa, the country of his birth.

Men’s international cricket will witness notable rule changes from the International Cricket Council (ICC), including a stop clock for Tests and new Decision Review System (DRS) protocols. Although the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle has kicked off with new rules, white-ball rule changes are effective from July 2.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the ICC will extend the stop clock provision to Test cricket, due to the slow over rates issue, a year after its introduction in men’s white-ball cricket. According to the rules, the fielding team must begin the next over within one minute of the previous one’s conclusion.