Ben Stokes is not risking fitness for this year's Ashes series by playing in the Indian Premier League, insists England head coach Brendon McCullum.
England's Test captain has signed for Chennai Super Kings with the IPL season starting on March 31, ahead of the Ashes getting underway on June 16 in Birmingham.
Stokes struggled with his left knee in England's Test defeat to New Zealand in Wellington, where he could only bowl two overs while batting for 33 runs on the final day.
But McCullum has no concerns.
"I don't think he's jeopardising the Ashes. The skipper has a strong mind, and he knows how to get right for the big moments," he told reporters.
"In fact I look forward to watching him play for Chennai, and see him play cricket without the captaincy and having to worry about everyone else.
"We know when he comes back to us, he'll have that bit between his teeth. I also believe the Ashes is the script the skipper is waiting to write."
Stokes has delivered in huge moments for England, from starring in their 2019 World Cup victory to stunning Australia in a famous Ashes Test at Headingley when the series was last played on English soil four years ago.
He also scored an unbeaten 52 to propel England to victory at the T20 World Cup last year and has become the quickest Test captain to reach 10 wins.
At Chennai, he will play under head coach Stephen Fleming, who was once New Zealand team-mates with McCullum.
"I've got a tee-time with him, so I'll be making sure he looks after the skipper," said McCullum of Fleming.
"Chennai have a very good set-up, and they have an outstanding leader in Flem. He sees the big picture in everything, so I've no concerns."
Australia won the last Ashes 4-0 but after developing a distinct style of play since McCullum's appointment, England look primed to take the fight to the tourists.
"This team has grown over the last eight or nine months," McCullum added. "I think the players have become more at ease with how we're playing, and it's become more authentic.
"Our style certainly does give us the best chance of being able to topple a good Australian side.
"We know it won't be easy but with eight or nine months development of that style under our belts, we should be hard to beat. Bring it on!"
IPL: Yadav century ends Mumbai's losing streak in style
Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten century to lead Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Yadav hit a sensational 102 not out off 51 balls with six maximums as Mumbai successfully chased a target of 174 with 16 balls to spare, lifting them off the foot of the table.
Despite a slow start to the Indians' innings in which SRH took three wickets in the first five overs, Yadav’s introduction turned things around as he put on a partnership of 143 with Tilak Varma (37 not-out).
Sunrisers had started well, with Travis Head reeling off a quick 48, but Piyush Chawla (3-33) and Hardik Pandya (3-31) limited Hyderabad to 173-8, with Anshul Kamboj claiming his maiden IPL wicket by bowling out Mayank Agarwal.
Pat Cummins finished with a flurry, knocking 35 runs from 17 balls, and the Australia captain helped SRH put the Indians on the ropes when he dismissed Rohit Sharma in the fourth over.
Yet Mumbai would lose only one more wicket as Yadav inspired them to victory that snapped a four-match losing run.
Data Debrief: Yadav star of the show
This was Yadav's first IPL hundred of the season, with his knock including 18 boundaries (12 fours, six sixes), taking him up to 334 runs so far this campaign.
He is 16th in the overall rankings, and some 108 runs behind leader Virat Kohli.
Matthews among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for April
West Indies Women’s Captain Hayley Matthews has been named among three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for April.
A past winner of the award and current holder of the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, Matthews is another top-ranked performer to have grabbed headlines in April.
The 26-year-old skipper piled on the runs in her six outings for the West Indies, notching two brilliant ODI centuries followed by back-to-back half-centuries in the T20I contests against Pakistan.
Alongside her 451 runs in April, Matthews also flourished with the ball, taking 12 wickets; six in the ODI matches at an average of 14, and six more in the T20Is at 10.50.
Matthews’ competition for the award are South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.
The South African opener is looking to claim her maiden Player of the Month award in what is her fourth nomination, and is a strong contender after another historic series of displays in April.
Wolvaardt started the month with a half-century in the final T20I contest against Sri Lanka before carrying her excellent form into the ODI series.
Her innings of 41 in the first match preceded an emphatic 110 not out in the second to claim a vital win, but the 25-year-old saved her best score for the last game, blasting a national record score of 184 in 147 balls only for South Africa to be outdone by the brilliance of Athapaththu.
Athapaththu, last year’s ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, continued her dominance in the 50-over format, reclaiming the top spot in the ICC Women’s ODI Batting rankings after a stellar showing in April.
Records tumbled for the Sri Lanka skipper, thanks to a sparkling unbeaten 195 in Potchefstroom against South Africa as the tourists won in a record run chase.
258 ODI runs was complemented by 148 runs in T20Is, which included two half-centuries in South Africa, plus another against Scotland in the ongoing Women’s T20WC Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, where Sri Lanka eventually sealed their qualification thanks to semi-final success on Sunday.
Knight Riders dispatch Super Giants to move top of IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders moved to the top of the Indian Premier League courtesy of a 98-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants.
Sunil Narine hit a sensational 81 from 39 balls, and he was ably supported by Ramandeep Singh's 25 from six deliveries, as KKR reeled off a third straight win on Sunday.
Ramandeep enjoyed a great day in the field too, as he took one of the catches of the season as LSG managed just 137 in response to KKR's 235.
Phil Salt struck 32, but it was fellow opener Narine who did the damage for KKR.
Ravi Bishnoi eventually ended his stand, but only when KKR had reached 140. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32) had to be substituted out, but Shreyas Iyer added a useful 23 before Ramandeep hammered 25 from just an overs' worth of deliveries.
KL Rahul (25) and Marcus Stoinis (36) tried to get Lucknow going either side of Ramandeep's spectacular catch to dismiss Arshin Kulkarni, but the Super Giants never set the pace to truly trouble Kolkata.
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