Pat Cummins will not return to India before the fourth and final Test, meaning Steve Smith will again captain Australia in Ahmedabad.

Cummins headed back to Sydney after the second Test – a second defeat – to be with his mother, who is in palliative care with breast cancer.

Former skipper Smith led the Australia team in the absence of the regular captain and oversaw a dominant nine-wicket win in the third Test in Indore.

That victory secured Australia's place in the World Test Championship final, but they need another result in the final match of the series to earn a draw.

Smith will again deputise for Cummins, Australia confirmed on Monday.

Cummins, who is also the ODI captain, has been included in Australia's 50-over squad, with no decision yet made on his involvement in the white-ball series.

Fast bowler Jhye Richardson has withdrawn from that ODI series due to a hamstring injury with Nathan Ellis replacing him in the squad.

Mark Wood is not expecting to play a full role for England in the Ashes against Australia given Ben Stokes' wealth of Test bowling options.

The Durham quick was England's leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals as the tourists succumbed to a 4-0 defeat in Australia in the 2021-22 Ashes series.

Wood has only played three internationals in the red-ball arena since that humiliation against England's old foes, in an attempt to manage his workload after repeated injury issues.

James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson continue to impress under captain Stokes in coach Brendon McCullum's side. England could also call on the likes of Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood, Chris Woakes and the fit-again Jofra Archer.

With such depth of bowling talent, Wood acknowledged there is little chance of him playing all five Tests against Australia in the home series that starts on June 16 at Edgbaston.

"I will definitely not play all five [Ashes Tests]," Wood told reporters in Chattogram, where he is away touring with England's white-ball team against Bangladesh.

"I was delighted to play four out of five in Australia. I was knackered, wrecked, exhausted, [but] that was a big tick in my box to say that in a big series, I can do it, if Stokesy or Baz [McCullum] want me to play.

"More than likely, with the bowling stock we have, especially at home, I probably won't even play four. They might even want me for one or two, if they need a pace element."

The frontline trio of Anderson, Broad and Robinson again combined well in the recent 1-1 Test series draw with New Zealand, in which England suffered a dramatic one-run defeat in the decisive second meeting.

"[Stokes] might want to mix it up to keep people fresh, but if people are playing well, I might not play any," Wood added, acknowledging the quality of his bowling partners.

"I very much doubt, from the way they have managed me, [that I will play] four. If they want three or four, I will put my hand up."

Wood was afforded a two-month break before the tour of Bangladesh to recover both mentally and physically.

The 33-year-old heads to the Indian Premier League with Lucknow Super Giants after England's ongoing white-ball series, before the Ashes, a set of limited-overs fixtures and the 50-over Cricket World Cup in India follow.

"With my record, I might get [through] two of them," Wood said.

He added: "I've done interviews in the past where I've said, 'Of course I'm thinking about the Ashes in the background', [but] I'm actually not.

"There's so much going on before: we've got this, the T20s, the IPL and then the Ashes after that.

"I've got the birth of my daughter in between that, so it's going to be a massive time, I'm not really thinking that far ahead."

Ricky Ponting believes David Warner missed the ideal chance to retire in style at the SCG after his double-century at the MCG in December.

Warner plundered his way to 200 from 255 deliveries in the Boxing Day Test, which was his 100th appearance for his country in the format, as Australia dismantled South Africa by an innings and 182 runs.

That knock came at the end of a difficult 2022 for the opening batter, who had scored only two half-centuries in his previous 19 innings.

The 36-year-old was included in Australia's squad for their tour of India, but managed just 26 runs in three visits to the crease before suffering concussion and subsequently withdrawing.

Former Australia captain Ponting thinks the perfect opportunity for Warner to bow out was at the end of the South Africa series, with his home ground in Sydney hosting the final match.

Ponting told the ICC Review podcast: "Look, I was on radio a couple of days ago, back here in Australia, and I thought the absolute best time for Davey to retire, if he was thinking about it at all, was after the Sydney Test match here in Australia.

"He'd just played his 100th Test in Melbourne, and obviously got 200 in the first innings down there. And to bow out in front of his home crowd is obviously the way that every player would like to finish their careers.

"Who knows now that opportunity might not come around again for Davey, you know. That's nearly another 12 months away."

Australia will feature in this year's ICC Test Championship final at The Oval, and Ponting thinks Warner will play in that match if he is fit.

Indeed, Ponting says it could well act as an audition for the Ashes, which start at Edgbaston on June 16.

"They're probably going to have similar things to think about when they get to the UK because David's record in the UK is not as strong as it is in some other places around the world," said Ponting.

"I think his career deserves to finish the way he wants it to.

"Sort of not to be dropped or tapped on the shoulder in the middle of an overseas tour and have his career end in that way. That's why I just hope he can find it within himself to score a lot of runs between now and next summer."

Will Jacks will miss the rest of England's white-ball tour of Bangladesh after he suffered a thigh injury during their second ODI victory on Friday.

The tourists wrapped up the series with a 132-run win on Friday ahead of a third and final 50-over game on Monday before three T20I matches.

But they will be without all-rounder Jacks, who is set to fly home in order to begin his rehabilitation after he suffered a thigh injury in Mirpur.

Jacks did the damage while fielding at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

"Will Jacks has been ruled out for the remainder of our tour of Bangladesh after suffering a left thigh injury," the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a brief statement on Sunday.

"Jacks will fly home in the next 48 hours to begin his recovery."

Jacks will be hoping to regain full fitness in time for Royal Challengers Bangalore's Indian Premier League opener against Mumbai Indians on April 2.

England have elected to not call up a replacement for Jacks for their remaining four games against the Tigers, leaving them with just a 13-man party for a T20I series that starts on Thursday.

The Gujarat Giants have released a statement clarifying why Deandra Dottin did not join the squad for the Women’s Premier League. In it, they said they were unable to get medical clearance for the player before the stipulated deadline.

The franchise that bought the Barbadian’s talents for US$73,000 in February, stirred some controversy late last week after indicating that the Barbadian all-rounder’s absence stemmed from her ongoing recovery from a medical situation, only for the player to publish a tweet saying she was “recovering from nothing”.

"I really appreciate all the messages but truth be told I'm recovering from nothing but the Holy Ghost anointing thank you #GodIsGood #GodIsInControl", Dottin posted on social media.

However, in a bid to clear the air on the matter, the Gujarat Giants revealed in a statement early on Sunday that Dottin’s absence was due to their failure to get the required medical clearance for the player.

"Deandra is a world-class player and a wonderful signing for the franchise. Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain a medical clearance before the defined deadline for this season, such clearances are a requirement of all players participating in the WPL,” the statement read.

"We look forward to seeing her return to the field soon. Subject to the clearance of her medical report, she will be part of the Gujarat Giants squad in the upcoming seasons."

West Indies bowler Kemar Roach and wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva created a bit of history during the West Indies’ 87-run loss to South Africa at Centurion last week.

In a match that lasted less than three days, the accomplishments of both players were overshadowed by the loss but were no less significant in the rich history of great performances by players from the West Indies.

The 34-year-old Roach had match figures of 1-71 and 5-47 during the match in which he picked up his 260^th Test wicket and became the fifth most successful West Indies bowler behind Courtney Walsh (519), Curtly Ambrose (405) Malcolm Marshall (376) and Lance Gibbs (305).

His five-wicket haul in the second innings that helped bowl South Africa out for 116, was the 11^th of his career that has so far lasted 76 matches since he made his debut against Bangladesh in July 2009.

Joshua Da Silva, meanwhile, playing in his 21^st Test, joined now retired West Indies wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs in a pantheon of five ‘keepers who have had seven dismissals in one innings. Other than Jacobs, the only other players to have accomplished the feat were Pakistan’s Wasim Bari, England’s Bob Taylor, and New Zealand’s Ian Smith.

Both players will get the chance to add to their records when the second Test between the West Indies and South Africa bowls off on Thursday, March 8 at Wanderers. The West Indies will be hoping to produce a better performance with the bat and level the series that South Africa now leads 1-0.

Former West Indies ODI and T20I Captain Kieron Pollard made history on Saturday by becoming the third man to reach 12,000 T20 runs.

Pollard achieved the milestone in a Pakistan Super League game between the Multan Sultans and the Lahore Qalandars.

The 35-year-old entered the game needing just 16 runs to achieve the feat and made 39 off 28 balls including two fours and three sixes as his Sultans suffered a 21-run defeat at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Pollard, the all-time leader in T20s played with 620, brought up his milestone in 550 innings.

Overall, the Trinidadian now has 12,023 runs at an average of 31.15 including one hundred and 56 fifties.

Only two batsmen have scored more T20 runs than Pollard: Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik who has 12,515 runs in 509 matches including 77 fifties and, of course, Chris Gayle who has 14,562 runs in 463 matches including a record 22 hundreds and 88 fifties.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Hayley Matthews led the way with the bat as the Mumbai Indians hammered the Gujarat Giants by 143 runs at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai to kick off the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League on Saturday.

Mumbai made an imposing 207-5 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Giants.

Kaur, captain of the Mumbai Indians as well as India, led the way with a classy 65 off just 30 balls including 14 fours while Matthews, the West Indies skipper, hit four sixes and three fours on her way to a 31-ball 47 at the top of the innings.

New Zealander Amelia Kerr also hit a 24-ball 45 not out including six fours and a six. The Gujarat bowling was led by the off-spin of Sneh Rana who took 2-43 from her four overs.

Needing 208 for victory, the Giants’ task was made even harder when captain Beth Mooney was forced to retire hurt after facing just three balls and not scoring a run.

In the end, only Dayalan Hemalatha (29*) and Monica Patel (10) reached double figures as they were restricted to 64-9 off 15.1 overs.

Saika Ishaque led the way with the ball for Mumbai with 4-11 from her 3.1 overs while Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr took two wickets apiece.

Scores: Mumbai Indians 207-5 off 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 65, Hayley Matthews 47, Amelia Kerr 45*, Sneh Rana 2-43) Gujarat Giants 64-9 off 15.1 overs (Dayalan Hemalatha 29*, Saika Ishaque 4-11, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-5, Amelia Kerr 2-12).

Former West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been controversially ruled out of the inaugural Women’s Premier League because she is “recovering from a medical situation,” according to reports.

However, Dottin has refuted these reports, revealing that she is, in fact, fit and healthy.

Dottin was announced as “ruled out” on Friday according to ESPN Cricinfo but quickly moved to dispute those reports on her social media.

“Get well soon from what if I may ask,” Dottin said on her Instagram stories over a screenshot of the report of her injury.

She also took to Twitter to voice her confusion.

“I appreciate all the messages but, truth be told, I’m recovering from nothing but the Holy Ghost anointing. Thank you,” she added.

Dottin was set to feature for the Gujarat Giants after being bought for US$73,000 at the WPL Auction in February.

Giants have named Kim Garth, the Australia allrounder, as replacement.

Garth had gone unsold at the auction last month. At the time of the auction, she was with the Australia squad that won the T20 World Cup in South Africa.

The Giants are set to take on the Mumbai Indians in the opening game on Saturday. The WPL runs from March 4-26.

Jos Buttler hailed England's intensity as his team clinched an ODI series victory in Bangladesh by dominating the second match in Mirpur.

Sam Curran starred with bat and ball, while Jason Roy top-scored with 132, which also proved to be the exact margin of victory as England posted 326-7 before bowling the hosts out for 194.

Curran followed 33 not out with 4-29, while Adil Rashid also took four wickets as the tourists seized an unassailable 2-0 series lead, ahead of the third match on Monday.

After a nail-biting three-wicket win in the series opener, also played in Mirpur, this second contest saw England go up a level, to the delight of captain Buttler.

It was their biggest victory margin, in terms of runs, in ODIs played in Asia.

"That was a fantastic series win," Buttler said. "Bangladesh are a formidable team at home, so we are delighted to get the series win.

"We spoke about ways we could improve from the last match and I thought we really did that. Jason Roy led fantastically well with the batting and guys chipped in around him, and then a fantastic start with the ball."

Buttler made 76 with the bat and Moeen Ali added 42, as Roy found plenty of strong support, with England winning a 50-over series after falling short in their most recent four attempts in the format.

"From one to 11, the guys stood up," Buttler said, "and I thought our standard and the intensity we played the game at was much higher than the first game and that's what we strive to get to.

"We've talked a lot in the dressing room about adapting to conditions and being a team that can play in a variety of ways. There are lots of guys putting their hands up and putting up great performances which is fantastic for the team."

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said Roy performed "exceptionally well", adding: "I am disappointed to lose the series. When you lose a game like this you can point a lot of fingers at a lot of people, but I'm not the kind of person who'll do that. We didn't do well as a team and that's why we lost.

"We'd like to finish the series on a high, it's very disappointing that we lost the series, but credit must go to England for the way they played."

Roy, whose century was his 12th for England in ODIs, spoke of how experience of playing in varying conditions throughout his career helped him get to grips with the pitch.

"I've spent a lot of time playing a lot of cricket in the subcontinent when i was younger, doing a lot of training camps," the 32-year-old opener said. "Today I had to dig deep with those skills and put it on the field.

"I needed to give myself an opportunity. In the first game I had a bit of a rush of blood and played a pretty poor shot against the spin. I wanted to make sure I batted time and gave myself the best opportunity to score runs and get a good score on the board for the team."

West Indies Vice-Captain Jermaine Blackwood called out his team’s batting performance after their 87-run loss in the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The tourists recovered from a scary situation in South Africa’s first innings when they orchestrated a batting collapse which saw the hosts go from 226-1 to 342 all out.

In the Windies’ first innings, they had their own collapse, going from 169-3 to 212 all out. The West Indian bowlers were then excellent, restricting South Africa to 116 all out in their second innings leaving the Windies needing 247 for victory.

In the end, the regional side put on a poor batting performance, being bowled out for 159 in 41 overs and losing the Test by 87 runs.

“I think we could have been a bit more selective,” said Blackwood, who top scored in the second innings with 79, to reporters after the match.

“We got out too easy and soft. If we stayed positive, I thought we could have got the runs,” he added.

The tourists will have six days before the start of the second Test in Johannesburg and Blackwood says they will have to fix these problems quickly if they are level the series.

“Obviously, it’s something that we have to learn quickly because we are playing against a quality bowling attack,” Blackwood said.

“Once we can go out there and express ourselves, put away the bad balls and keep out the good balls, I think we can beat South Africa but, as a team, we have to believe we can do that,” he added.

The second Test bowls off on March 8.

Sam Curran starred with bat and ball as England made far lighter work of the second ODI against Bangladesh to clinch the three-match series with a 132-run victory.

The opening match of England's tour had gone down to the penultimate over as Jos Buttler's side chased down a modest Bangladesh total, but the hosts put them in to bat first this time and were scarcely in the contest thereafter.

Opener Jason Roy scored 132 and Buttler weighed in with 76 to help England finish on 326-7 and set Bangladesh a target it quickly became clear they would not reach.

Indeed, Curran had two wickets inside the first over, accounting for Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto from consecutive balls, and added a third soon after as Mushfiqur Rahim was caught behind.

Opener Tamim Iqbal (35) finally found a partner in the form of Shakib Al Hasan (58), yet Moeen Ali ended that stand, and Bangladesh could not keep Curran out of the game as he took the catch which removed Shakib.

While that gave Adil Rashid the first of four wickets, Curran of course completed the job with the dismissal of Mustafizur Rahman to finish with 4-29 – Bangladesh all out for 194 with just over five overs remaining.

Curran had also contributed with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 33 off 19 balls, although the partnership of Roy and Buttler did much of the heavy lifting.

England were 96-3 when Buttler joined Roy in the middle, but the pair put on 109 for the fourth wicket to take the game away from Bangladesh.

Although Roy was eventually trapped lbw by Shakib attempting to sweep, Buttler ploughed on for a time and Moeen Ali's 42 kept up the scoring.

Curran hit three sixes in a fast finish, and he was the headline act thereafter.

Roy among England ODI royalty

Although Curran later stole some of the limelight, Roy's 132 – the exact difference between the two teams – put England firmly in control.

It was his fourth-highest ODI score and his 12th century in the format. Only Joe Root (16) and Eoin Morgan (13) have more – not bad company to be keeping.

Streak ended with Bangladesh repeat

Arriving in Bangladesh, England had been winless in their past four 50-over series, but a hard-fought victory in the opening match set the stage for that sequence to be ended in convincing fashion in Mirpur.

England have now won five straight ODIs against Bangladesh, who suffered their first home series defeat since 2016-17 – also against England.

Australia stand-in captain Steve Smith hailed "a complete performance" as the tourists raced to a nine-wicket win over India in Indore to book a place in the World Test Championship final.

In a low-scoring contest at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Australia set the tone on day one by bowling out India for 109, before going on to build an 88-run first-innings advantage.

Eight wickets in the second innings from Nathan Lyon helped to dismiss India for 163, and that left Smith's team needing just 76 for victory on Friday.

They lost Usman Khawaja early, but Travis Head made 49 not out and Marnus Labuschagne an unbeaten 28 to calm any nerves, with Australia reaching a match-winning 78-1 in 18.5 overs.

Lyon was named player of the match, and Smith said: "Nathan got all the rewards with eight wickets, but I think our bowlers as a collective were really good."

He praised the attack one by one, before adding of Australia's effort: "It was a complete performance in the end."

Smith has stepped in to lead the team since Pat Cummins travelled home to Australia for family reasons.

"We're thinking of Patty back home," Smith said at the post-match presentation. "He's had to go home, so our thoughts are with him.

"I really enjoyed this week, I like captaining in this part of the world, I feel like I understand the conditions really well and the intricacies of the game that need to happen ball in and ball out. I think I did a reasonable job this week.

"We're really proud to have clinched a spot in the World Test Championship in a couple of months' time."

It could be India awaiting Australia at the Oval in London in June, and that certainly will be the case if the home side win the fourth Test that begins at the Narendra Modi Stadium next Thursday.

Smith and Australia want to level the series though, having trimmed their arrears to 2-1 with this victory.

"Hopefully we can put up a similar performance and finish the series really well," Smith said.

India skipper Rohit Sharma said his team would "need to regroup and try to understand what we did right in the first two Test matches as well".

He said India have "got to be brave... which I thought we were not".

Lyon's 11 wickets in the match have made him the most successful bowler in Tests between India and Australia, taking him two past Anil Kumble's haul of 111 wickets.

The spinner said: "I just love challenging myself at this level and get a big thrill out of that."

Australia completed a nine-wicket victory over India early on day three of the third Test in Indore to seal a place in June's World Test Championship final.

The tourists required just 76 runs on Friday at Holkar Cricket Stadium and reached that target before lunch to trim India's lead to 2-1 in the four-match series.

Travis Head made 49 not out and Marnus Labuschagne an unbeaten 28, with Usman Khawaja (0) the only man to fall early on in a routine victory stroll.

Australia, who had lost their past three Tests played in Asia, will now face either India or Sri Lanka in the World Test Championship final at the Oval in London.

India require victory over Australia in next week's fourth and final Test to book their place in the showpiece contest.

Eight wickets from Nathan Lyon, who was named player of the match, left Australia on the verge of victory at the end of day two.

A challenging pitch gave India slim hope of at least dragging out day three, and they started strongly as Khawaja was caught behind by KS Bharat for a second-ball duck.

But Labuschagne saw off some tricky early bowling to keep Australia on course and shared an unbroken stand of 78 with Head to see his side home in just 18.5 overs.

Australia snap losing run

This was a welcome victory for Australia, who avoided losing four Tests in a row against India in the format for the first time ever.

India can have no complaints with the margin of defeat as they missed out on a fourth Test victory in a row for the first time since a seven-game stretch in 2019.

Labuschagne and Head hold firm

After strong work on Thursday from Lyon, whose total of 113 career wickets in Australia versus India Tests is a record in the rivalry between these teams, it was left to Labuschagne and Head to get Australia easily over the line.

Their 78-run partnership ranks as the highest unbeaten stand by a batting pair in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series between Australia and India, which will go down to the wire.

Barbadian all-rounder Jason Holder made history on day two of the first Test between the West Indies and South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.

With the second innings wicket of Keegan Petersen with the final ball of the day, Holder took his 150^th Test wicket, joining the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers as the only West Indians to take at least 150 wickets and score at least 2500 runs in Tests.

“I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he told reporters in a press conference after day two.

“Honestly, my inspiration is just the other guys on the field. I was obviously captain at quite a young age and had a good run of it, especially in the Test arena and I thoroughly enjoy this group specifically,” Holder, who captained the West Indies in 32 Tests from 2015-2019, added.

Debuting in 2014, the 31-year-old has amassed 2644 runs at an average of 28.73 with three hundreds and eleven fifties in his 61 Tests. His highest Test score, 202*, came against England in 2019 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

With the ball, Holder has taken 151 wickets at 28.98 including eight five-wicket hauls.

One might ask the question: How did this take so long when he debuted all the way back in 2014?

“It’s a tough one man. I think the way world cricket is going now, apart from the big three, everybody else is barely playing any Test cricket,” said Holder.

“We’ve averaged, in the last three years, maybe six to eight Test matches a year. This year we’ve got six and next year will be around six as well so, it was a slow grind,” he added before comparing the Test appearances of current West Indies Captain Kraigg Brathwaite and former England skipper Joe Root to further emphasize the point.

Brathwaite, who debuted against Pakistan in May 2011, has played 84 Tests while Root, who made his debut against India in December of 2012, has played 129 Tests.