Harry Kane surpassed the 400-goal mark for his senior career as his double helped Bayern Munich beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

Kane moved within one of the milestone as he put Bayern 1-0 up after just nine minutes, coolly finishing from close range after Konrad Laimer's pass had set him up.

Then, after Frankfurt levelled through Hugo Ekitike, Kane slotted home a penalty with typical aplomb following a foul on Thomas Muller to move himself onto 400 career goals and ultimately lead Bayern to victory.

Kane scored 280 of his goals in 435 appearances for Tottenham, overtaking Jimmy Greaves to become the club's all-time leading scorer when he netted for the 267th time in Spurs colours against Manchester City last February.

His tally of 213 Premier League goals, meanwhile, puts him just 47 behind the competition's all-time leader Alan Shearer, who scored 260 times for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.

Kane is also the most prolific player in England's history, his 62 goals for the Three Lions coming in 89 international appearances. 

He memorably missed the chance to surpass Wayne Rooney's previous record of 53 when he blazed a penalty over the crossbar in the Three Lions' quarter-final defeat to France at the 2022 World Cup, only to clinch his place in history in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy three months later.

The very first goal of Kane's senior career came in League One during a loan spell with Leyton Orient as they thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in January 2011.

That was the first of five goals Kane scored in O's colours, while he also netted nine times in a loan spell with Millwall in 2011-12 and twice during a stint with Leicester City the following season.

England cannot rely on Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham alone to win them the Euro 2024 crown, according to France great Marcel Desailly.

Bellingham has enjoyed a sensational debut campaign at Madrid that has seen him score 21 goals in all competitions and assist eight more.

Despite still being aged just 20, the youngster will already have the weight of a nation on his shoulders in the European Championship finals.

Desailly is a big fan of Bellingham, but he suggests Gareth Southgate may have to consider tweaking formation if England are to succeed.

"Too much quality can kill the quality," Desailly told Stats Perform. "This is your problem, you see? 

"All the players have to be able to perform at the same time and help each other. The Dutch have had this kind of problem in the past.

"The Dutch always have high levels of expertise, but every time it was difficult for them to all unite together at the same time and perform.

"The talent is there for England, even though Fabio Capello has said their defence is a bit weak, which I agree with.

"But too much quality kills the quality. Let's see how the coach is able to adjust the side and make certain choices.

"He may have to remove some of the players into a different tactical system to protect the team for the performances needed."

Bellingham's latest goal came in added time to earn Real Madrid a 3-2 win over Barcelona in a thrilling Clasico clash last weekend.

He is already being mentioned as a frontrunner to win this year's Ballon d'Or, which could depend on how England perform in the Euros.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund ace is also being likened to one of the all-time greats in Zinedine Zidane, but Desailly says there is a long way to go.

"In the game against Barcelona, he wasn't outstanding yet he was still key for his team," the World Cup 98 and Euro 2000 winner said.

"Carlo Ancelotti took Vinicius Junior off because he knew what Bellingham could give him in that position. 

"He also has the legs to defend and score the killer goal, or use his cleverness for the collective of the team.

"He's a good player. But trying to compare him to Zidane? It is difficult for us to accept he could be at that level.

"There are differences between them, but the potential of the talents is quite similar."

Mauricio Pochettino believes Cole Palmer will go into Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City on Saturday with nothing to prove to his former employers, insisting he is the right manager to help the 21-year-old continue his stunning ascendancy.

Palmer, who left Chelsea’s Wembley opponents in a £42.5million deal in the summer, is joint top scorer in the Premier League after his four goals in Monday’s 6-0 demolition of Everton moved him level with City’s Erling Haaland on 20 for the season.

He has netted an incredible seven times in the team’s last two home games, including a hat-trick in the breathless 4-3 win over Manchester United when two of his goals came in the 10th and 11th minutes of stoppage time.

He previously scored from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of added time to snatch a point in a 4-4 draw when City visited west London in November.

Palmer has previously stated his decision to leave the champions – for whom he scored twice in August in the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup – was based on the belief he would get more first-team game time at Chelsea.

That decision has been thoroughly vindicated, with his performances for Mauricio Pochettino’s frustratingly inconsistent side placing him in the reckoning for the PFA Player of the Year award.

His odds on winning the award have been slashed by as much as half with some bookmakers since his Everton haul.

But his manager said there was no possibility the England international would face City with an axe to grind.

“It’s his first consistent season playing, we need to be careful because he’s still young, he’s growing,” said Pochettino.

“He’s already played twice (against City) in the Premier League. He’s very grateful for Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola. He always talks very highly of them.

“He’s not the type of player that has something inside (to prove). He understood perfectly that for different reasons he wanted to prove himself in another club.

“He’s not the type of person to wants to prove something against his former club.”

Prior to joining Chelsea, Palmer had played only 19 senior league games spread over three seasons, and had not scored in the Premier League.

Yet he is now a genuine contender to deprive his former team-mate Haaland of the Golden Boot won by the Norwegian last season.

There is also the growing prospect of his being selected in Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 in Germany this summer.

“He has to absorb the pressure to play in the Premier League consistently,” said Pochettino, who previously enjoyed success at Tottenham stewarding young talents though their early years, including England captain Harry Kane.

“It’s about the demands in his private life. He is top scorer. He maybe needs to pay attention to different things than before. That’s going to have an influence on how he is going to prepare himself, how he’s going to rest and going to sleep, how he spends his energy.

“We need to be careful. We have the experience to manage this type of thing, when a young kid becomes a big star. Why is he not performing in a few months? Because his life has changed. He needs to learn from this experience that is completely different to the past.”

England captain Heather Knight insists counties feeling upset by their failure to land a new ‘tier one’ women’s team represents “progress” for the female game, while the England and Wales Cricket Board have made it clear a disappointed Yorkshire have not been “punished for past sins”.

The move away from the current regional setup to a fully professionalised top flight from 2025, aligning with first-class counties in the process, is a major step forward for women’s cricket but not everyone has made the initial cut.

Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire were all successful, but eight other proposals were not. Yorkshire have been approved alongside Glamorgan to be elevated in 2027 and a further expansion to 12 teams is planned.

Yet that delay represents the latest setback for a proud cricketing county after several years mired by the Azeem Rafiq racism scandal and financial pressures which saw them reappoint the divisive Colin Graves as chair earlier this year.

However, ECB chief executive Richard Gould made it clear there was no sense of re-litigating those issues in a process that was focused entirely on elevating women’s cricket to fresh heights.

“It’s certainly not (about) being punished for past sins, that’s not our role. Our role is to promote the game, not punish,” he said at the launch of a new national tape ball competition, aimed at further broadening the sport’s appeal.

“It will be disappointing for those venues that either haven’t been selected for tier one at this point or who have been, but perhaps not quite as quickly as they expected.

“There will be individual circumstances but I don’t think anybody should see this as anything other than a positive for the women’s game – we’ve had 16 counties bidding so strongly to host professional women’s cricket.

“We were so relieved by the amount of focus, attention and frankly, love, that was being put into the women’s game in those bids.”

Knight, meanwhile, sees the intensity of the bidding process – and the level of frustration at those who were not approved – as a positive sign given a a relative lack of enthusiasm for female teams earlier in her career.

“It sounds like there’s some counties disappointed which is a shame but also pretty cool,” she said.

“When I was playing a long time ago, a lot of counties weren’t interested. So that disappointment is a sign of the progress that has been made.

“The regional structure has been super successful in professionalising the game and this is the next logical step.

“It has been a problem with regions, mine (Western Storm) has three different counties, and sometimes you feel you don’t have a home or a bit all over the place with facilities, not getting the same equal access as the guys do. Hopefully that will change with this coming in and counties will be accountable. That’s the whole idea: one club, two teams.”

Yorkshire, who have hosted the Northern Diamonds and can now expect their top players to head elsewhere in search of the best – and best-paid – cricket opportunities, had earlier tabled their own statement.

“Yorkshire County Cricket Club are surprised and disappointed not to be awarded one of the initial Tier 1 women’s teams,” it read.

“The news is especially frustrating and upsetting for the players and staff at the Northern Diamonds. Our focus is on supporting them through this difficult period and gaining as much clarity on what the future looks like.”

Simon Phillip, speaking as chair of a Kent side who have hosted the South East Stars in recent seasons, was similarly aggrieved.

“As the most successful county team in the history of Women’s Cricket, offering the only dedicated women’s performance centre at Beckenham and based in a highly diverse south-east London population of 1.2 million people, the decision is difficult to swallow,” he said.

“Whilst this decision will take some getting over, we remain committed to women’s and girls’ cricket and are determined to not let it hamper our long-term ambitions.”

Leicestershire were also vocal about their feelings on missing the boat, claiming “a missed opportunity by the ECB” and saying the club was “crestfallen” not be included.

England bowler Jofra Archer admits he may not be able to cope with any fresh injury problems, revealing “I don’t know if I have another stop-start year in me”.

Archer has been plagued by a litany of fitness problems since bursting on to the international scene in 2019 but is on the comeback trail with hopes of featuring in June’s T20 World Cup in the United States of America and his native Caribbean.

The seamer is not yet certain if he will make the tournament, having last played competitively 11 months ago following a repeat stress fracture in his right elbow, but insists avoiding further setbacks is crucial.

The mental and physical toll has been considerable on Archer and he accepts another breakdown could be one too far.

“It’s been a while and honestly, I don’t know if I’ve got another stop-start year in me. That’s the truth, I don’t know if I’ve got another one,” he told the 4Cast’s Athlete’s Voice podcast.

“I haven’t played cricket for a whole 12 months as yet. Last year I played from January to May. I think the year before that, I played maybe one or two games for Sussex, so you know I’ve had a whole year of nothing.”

England are taking a cautious approach with his latest return, taking an early decision to withdraw him from the Indian Premier League and pre-emptively ruling him out of the rigours of Test cricket until next year.

Instead they hope to unleash him in familiar territory in the West Indies, where they will look to defend their 20-over crown.

He shares that ambition but is refusing to count on it.

“Come the first game in June I really do want to be in the team. The last two years have been really stop-start, so I just think that, you know, everyone’s going to just take it a bit easy,” he said.

“If I’m ready then fine, happy days, but if I’m not they’re still supporting me. Worst-case scenario, I don’t really want to think about this, but even if I don’t make it to the World Cup for whatever reason, there’s still the T20 Blast, there’s still The Hundred.

“There’s still cricket that I haven’t got a chance to play in the last couple of years, so as much as I want to play in the World Cup, if it doesn’t happen for whatever reason, at least I still know I could be somewhat active.”

And if Archer does manage to pull an England shirt back on during their visit to his home island of Barbados, he is expecting to see some friendly faces in the crowd.

“I know it’s not dog friendly in the Caribbean as much as it is here in the UK, but I’d love my family and my dogs at that first game back,” he added.

Jess Breach insists England enter unknown territory when they meet a rapidly improving Scotland in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations on Saturday.

The Red Roses have not lost in the fixture since suffering an 8-5 defeat in 1998 but that record faces its sternest test yet at a sold-out Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, where a record crowd of 7,774 will be attendance.

Scotland toppled Wales in Cardiff in round one before being edged by France a week later and, having won the WXV 2 tournament in October, there is evidence the 28 professional contracts awarded at the end of 2022 are raising standards.

England remain favourites but wing Breach insists the element of jeopardy is good for the Red Rose and the Six Nations.

“It is going to be a really competitive game. And we’ve probably never been in this scenario with Scotland before,” said Breach, who has won on all 35 of her caps.

“Everyone’s really excited because it’s going to be challenging for us. Hopefully we can showcase really good rugby for the fans.

“It’s great for the competition. You can see that every nation is getting better after being contracted.

“Italy put up a great fight against us in the first half, so it just shows that if money is pumped into the game and players are allowed to go full time, the Six Nations gets better.”

Demonstrating the growth of women’s rugby is that Scotland’s victory 26 years ago was staged at an independent school in Edinburgh, compared to a packed Hive Stadium in 2024.

“It feels like we’re growing and heading in the right direction. Every nation wants big crowds,” Breach said.

“That’s happening at the moment and heading into the 2025 World Cup we should be able to sell most stadiums out. It’s exciting and who doesn’t want to be part of women’s rugby?”

On this day 20 years ago, Brian Lara regained the individual Test score world record on his way to an unbeaten 400 against England in the fourth Test in Antigua.

Ten years after hitting 375 to claim the world record for an individual innings against England at the same venue, Lara exceeded that effort by becoming the first player in history to score 400.

By doing so, he became the first player to hold the individual Test innings record twice.

Lara reclaimed his record from Australian Matthew Hayden, who only six months earlier had broken the record with 380 in Perth in October 2003.

Lara’s mammoth innings steered the West Indies to a total of 751 for five before declaring and reflecting on his achievement, he said: “When I scored it before I didn’t know what to expect – this time it was very tiring, but I’m here again.

“Matthew Hayden must have batted very well against Zimbabwe because it doesn’t matter who you are playing against, it’s very hard.

“It’s a great feeling, but it’s dampened by the series result. Ten years ago the match ended in a draw, but this time we’re looking for a result.”

Upon achieving the record, Lara was greeted in the middle by Baldwin Spencer, the Prime Minister of Antigua, while England captain Michael Vaughan hailed Lara as “one of the all-time great players”.

“We all set out to achieve greatness, but he is a gifted, gifted player – throughout his innings we tested him with a few things but he was much better than us for those two days,” Vaughan said.

“He is one of the all-time great players, he has achieved something that has never been achieved before even with the amount of pressure he had on him before the start of this Test.

“He will go down as one of the greats of the game and it will take some player and some performance to beat his 400.”

Mahela Jayawardene went close with 374 for Sri Lanka against South Africa two years later but Lara remains first and third on the list two decades on.

England head coach John Mitchell believes smaller balls could be an important development tool for the women’s game.

World Rugby is to analyse data collected from a trial in the recent Women’s Under-18 Six Nations festival, as well as from the training sessions of three Celtic Challenge teams.

The current size 5 ball is the same as that used in the men’s game, while the trial tested the size 4.5 ball which is around three per cent smaller and up to four per cent lighter.

“We use the big ball and we’re quite happy with that. When the smaller ball arrives, we’ll deal with that,” Mitchell said.

“But if I put my development hat on, these young girls have been exposed to a big ball their whole life.

“If you’ve got younger girls wanting to come into the game and you have smaller communities that don’t have the ability to play 15s but could do a lot more in school yards with smaller balls, if that gives them confidence to play the game then I’m all for it.”

Zoe Aldcroft, who has replaced Marlie Packer as captain for Saturday’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash with Scotland, has an open mind to the possible benefits of the smaller ball.

“We haven’t had many issues so far with a size 5, but we’ll go ahead and see what the 4.5 ball will do,” Aldcroft said.

Packer was dropped for the first time since taking over the England captaincy a year ago and must settle for a place on the bench for the trip to Edinburgh, while veteran centre Emily Scarratt was overlooked altogether for a second-successive match.

The omission of two big name Red Roses and Test centurions from the starting XV comes amid a warning from Mitchell that no player is safe from the axe.

“There’s no such thing as rotation. This squad is selected for Scotland. Anyone is capable of replacing anyone, as far as I see it,” Mitchell said.

Scarratt started the Six Nations opener at inside centre in her first outing since being converted from the number 13 jersey by Mitchell, but has not been picked since.

A calf and Achilles injury has been troublesome, but Mitchell insisted that ultimately, the 34-year-old was “not selected”.

“Emily is progressing nicely. She still hasn’t been able to do a full week. She’s come out of yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) session well so that’s a really good sign,” the Kiwi said.

“Tomorrow’s session will be a lot faster and if she gets through that, then it presents a good case for her in the next two weeks.

“The most important message you need to hear is that Emily needs to be 100 per cent fit because we have got girls who are 100 per cent fit and that’s what we go for basically.

“The girls understand that they have to be 100 per cent because there’s so much competition within the group.”

Hooker Amy Cokayne makes her first appearance for 12 months after recovering from a calf injury, having made a successful comeback for Leicester in recent weeks.

Eric Dier believes he is playing the best football of his career and warrants a place in England’s Euro 2024 squad.

The 30-year-old has been a regular for Bayern Munich since his eye-catching loan switch in January, having dropped down the pecking order at Tottenham where he made only four appearances under Ange Postecoglou.

Dier has impressed for the German giants but Southgate overlooked the 49-cap England defender for March’s final camp before naming his Euros squad.

The centre-back has not played for the national team since their World Cup last-16 win over Senegal in December 2022 but believes he deserves to be in consideration to go to a fourth major tournament.

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“Obviously, I want to be a part of the England set-up and I believe that I should be a part of it, that I’m that level of a player,” Dier told The Overlap podcast.

“I haven’t spoken at all to Gareth Southgate, but you try and play as well as possible for your club and then the decision is out of your hands.

“Since the World Cup, I wouldn’t say that I’ve had any dip in form, I’m playing the best football of my career since (Antonio) Conte came (to Tottenham in 2021) and I’ve carried it on since I’ve been here, and I think I’ve shown that.

“People think that I’m 37 or something, but I’m 30 years-old and am nowhere near the end of my prime and imagine that this will be my prime.

“When I look around the players I’ve played with in my career, like (Mousa) Dembele, (Jan) Vertonghen, (Toby) Alderweireld, (Hugo) Lloris – all these guys, they were 31, 32 and were playing their best football at Tottenham.”

Dier went to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as well as Euro 2016, but had to watch England’s run to the final of the last European Championship three years ago from afar.

Southgate was asked at March’s squad announcement about overlooking the former Sporting Lisbon player for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

“Clearly he’s a player we know really well,” the England boss said of Dier. “He’s only had seven starts this season.

“Bayern have had a mixed period but it’s good to see Eric playing. It’s a great move for him, playing for such a big club.

“He’s a player that if we felt he was the best for that role, he could slot easily back in ahead of the Euros.

“I think there is more value for us at the moment in looking at a (Jarrad) Branthwaite, who we haven’t worked with before because we know about Eric.

“If Eric is playing well and is playing better than all the others by the end of the season, we can bring him in. I’m also mindful he’s stuck on 49 caps and that’s nearly as uncomfortable for me, given what he’s given us, as it is for him!”

England manager Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 selection headaches could soon ease a little as UEFA considers whether to return to 26-man squads.

Teams have been back to preparing for 23-strong selections this summer after being allowed expanded groups to help cope with the knock-on impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

But a return to 26 is understood to have been backed by the majority of coaches at a Euro 2024 workshop on Monday, with UEFA saying it will make a final decision in the coming weeks.

Previous expanded selections allowed Southgate to take a calculated gamble on the fitness of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson at Euro 2020 as the pair recovered from injury.

The same went for Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips at the 2022 World Cup as they worked their way back to fitness and, here, the PA news agency has looked some of the potential beneficiaries if it returns to 26 this time.

Luke Shaw

A key figure in England’s last two tournaments, the Euro 2020 final goalscorer has endured a difficult, injury-impacted campaign. The 28-year-old has only managed 15 appearances for Manchester United this term and has not featured for the national team since last June. Shaw is expected to return for United from his latest setback next month and feature before the end of the season. Southgate would surely include someone he calls “one of the best left-backs in world football” if the squad is enlarged.

Reece James

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Right-back is nowhere near as much of a pressing issue as left-back given England’s options, but a selection of 26 would offer James a glimmer of hope. The Chelsea captain has only managed nine appearances this term and is at risk of missing his second successive international tournament, having been ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar with a knee injury. This time James is dealing with a hamstring issue and the Football Association has been in close contact with Chelsea throughout the 24-year-old’s rehabilitation.

Jack Grealish/Marcus Rashford

Southgate warned at March’s squad unveiling that Rashford and Grealish had a battle on their hands for a place at the Euros. That fight increased as Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen impressed, plus Cole Palmer has kicked on again with Chelsea after overcoming a knock during the camp. Grealish has since started Manchester City’s last two matches, with Pep Guardiola saying he had a “feeling that he’s back”. Rashford is getting minutes but remains short of last season’s form. Despite the competition, the established duo surely both get into an expanded squad.

Mason Mount

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The 25-year-old is a favourite of Southgate but was still a Chelsea player when he last represented England. In fact, injuries have prevented Mount from adding to his 36 caps since coming off the bench 16 months ago in England’s World Cup quarter-final loss to France. Now a Manchester United player, the midfielder is looking to end a frustrating first season at Old Trafford on a high having returned from his latest injury issue. Last month Southgate said Mount will know he is an “outside bet” but an image of him posing for photos in the latest England kit set tongues wagging.

Ollie Watkins/Ivan Toney

England captain Harry Kane is sure to be the main man this summer, fitness permitting, but the back-up striker slot is up for grabs. Dominic Calvert-Lewin filled that role at the last Euros and then Callum Wilson did at the World Cup, with it a straight shootout between Aston Villa frontman Watkins and Brentford’s Toney this time. Southgate acknowledged the difficulty of selecting three out-and-out strikers in a 23-man squad, but an increased squad may tempt him to add another specialist.

Sophie Devine struck an unbeaten century to guide New Zealand to a seven-wicket victory over England in the final game of the ODI series in Hamilton.

Captain Devine anchored her side to a comprehensive victory, finishing with 100 off 93 balls in a chase of 195.

She finished the game in style, hitting a six to bring up her ton and secure her side’s consolation victory in the 2-1 series defeat.

England took to the crease first but were dealt an early blow as Tammy Beaumont was lbw to Hannah Rowe.

Maia Bouchier was dismissed just one over later before captain Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt looked to anchor the innings.

With the score 82 for two from 17 overs, Sciver-Brunt was caught off Amelia Kerr for 27.

The captain watched wickets fall around her, with Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt out for one and four respectively.

Knight was the next to go before wicketkeeper Amy Jones and Charlie Dean put together a much-needed partnership of 73, with Jones top-scoring for England with 50.

England finished all out for 194 fter 46 overs, with Jess Kerr and Rowe picking up three wickets each.

England looked in the game after removing both New Zealand openers with only 14 on the board before Amelia Kerr and Devine built a strong partnership.

Sophie Ecclestone had Amelia Kerr lbw for 31, but that was the final wicket, with Maddy Green scoring 38 not out alongside Devine to reach England’s total after 39 overs.

England managing director Rob Key has said that Jofra Archer will not play Test cricket this summer but will hopefully be ready for June’s T20 World Cup.

The Sussex quick is being eased back into action having struggled with stress fractures in his elbow.

His last Test for England was more than three years ago in February 2021, but he has since represented England in white-ball cricket, with his last outing coming in a T20 against Bangladesh last year.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Key confirmed that Archer will not play a part in England’s red-ball summer, when Ben Stokes’ side have Tests against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

“The whole plan with Jofra is he’s going to play white-ball cricket for this summer and going into the winter,” Key told Sky Sports.

“Then hopefully next summer, when we play India and then onto the Ashes, we get him back for Test cricket.

“It’s a slow process to get him back for all forms.”

Although Archer will not be involved in Test cricket for England, the aim is that he can be fit for this year’s T20 World Cup taking place in the West Indies and the United States.

Key is also hopeful the fast bowler can be involved in the T20 series against Pakistan in May.

“Jofra has been out with Sussex in India for pre-season and bowled quickly out there, he bowled really well,” Key added.

“He has now gone back to the Caribbean where he’s going to play a bit of club cricket, all about getting himself ready for that T20 World Cup.

“He’ll hopefully play the Pakistan series, but it’s always fingers-crossed at the moment with Jofra.

“What we’re going to do is take it slower (rather) than trying to go too quickly so that we get him back for not just a short period but we get him for a long period.”

James Anderson does not expect to be available for Lancashire until the end of May at the earliest as he looks to prime himself for the English Test summer.

Anderson became the first fast bowler in history to reach 700 Test wickets last month, joining spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne in an exclusive club, in England’s 4-1 series loss in India.

As he wants to be firing on all cylinders for the first of England’s six Tests this summer, against the West Indies at Lord’s starting on July 10 – three weeks before his 42nd birthday – Anderson anticipates he will sit out the early part of the 2024 Vitality County Championship, which got under way on Friday.

He is set to miss at least the first five rounds and could also skip the visit of Warwickshire, beginning on May 24, although Lancashire’s next fixture after that is not until June 23 at Kent.

“With the Tests being in July, it’s tricky,” said Anderson. “It’ll probably be June before I play, or maybe the end of May.”

Anderson featured four times within the space of a month last year but then suffered a groin niggle which left him touch and go for the start of an Ashes series in which he had an underwhelming impact.

Anderson reducing his county commitments this term means the prospect of him playing alongside Nathan Lyon has receded after Cricket Australia scaled back the off-spinner’s availability for Lancashire.

The pair have been on opposite sides of the Ashes divide over the years but Lyon revealed they had lunch earlier this week and Anderson remains hopeful they can play together at least once or twice.

“It was nice to actually have a civil conversation with him,” added Anderson, speaking following the announcement that £35million will be invested into grassroots cricket.

“I think he plays seven out of the first nine games, so hopefully I’ll play one or two, either at the end of May or in June.”

Alec Stewart is braced for the “toughest” season yet, but has still set Surrey the target of winning a third consecutive Vitality County Championship title.

It was confirmed last month that Stewart would leave his director of cricket role at the end of 2024 in order to spend more time with his family following 11 years in the post.

Stewart signed his first contract with the county in 1981 and has been involved in six Championship successes, but he is striving for one more.

While there have been multiple back-to-back Division One winners in recent seasons, Brian Close’s Yorkshire side from the 1960s are the last team to win three Championships in a row.

Chelsea-fan Stewart is well aware of how difficult that will be, especially with a T20 World Cup in June, but has challenged Surrey to go up a level in the longest format and to fulfil their potential in white-ball cricket with an overdue Vitality Blast win.

“It’ll be the hardest year because of the World Cup,” Stewart reflected.

“We’ll have players who will go from the IPL (Indian Premier League), straight into the World Cup or near enough.

“This season is the toughest because it’s an extra month or six weeks that we won’t have those players for, but we’ve known that, so therefore you try and plan for that.

“I’m greedy, I want to win everything. We won it (Vitality Blast) in 2003, the first year, and we’ve got to Finals Day since but we haven’t won it.

“So, of course I’d like to win it, but so would 17 other counties.

“The Championship is still, for me, the pinnacle. The fact we’ve won it two in two is fantastic. Can we do it three in three? That’s what we’re going for.

“And then it’s how do we play, because the champions are always the side to beat and have we got the skillsets? And can we up our game enough?

“We were good last year, but I didn’t think we were great last year.”

Surrey players are determined to give Stewart a fitting farewell, but even the former England captain knows it will not really be goodbye.

The Kia Oval has largely been Stewart’s home for the best part of five decades and even longer for the family given his father Micky made his debut for the county in 1954.

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Stewart acknowledged: “It’s never going to end. Formally, yes, but I’ll still be coming to this place or still feel a part of it.

“They want me to try and stay in some role but I’ve said, I’m never going to walk away completely, but they’ve got to get the person in place first, because that person may not want me hanging about, which I fully understand.

“So, yep, I’m stepping down from a role I have thoroughly enjoyed and continue to enjoy. And then in December or whenever it will be, then I’ll drive out and say goodbye.

“Whatever job you’re in, you want to leave it in a better shape than when you took it over. That’s for others to judge, but we’ve certainly made progress.

“I want to win every trophy, but I get as much enjoyment seeing a (Ollie) Pope, (Will) Jacks or (Jamie) Smith come through our system as youngsters, come into our first team and then going to play for England because that to me counts as success.

“The trophy cabinet has the Championship in it at the minute, but if you have another cabinet, it’d be full of Surrey players that have come through the pathway then got England caps.”

England coach Sarina Wiegman believes Leah Williamson is ready to make her long-awaited return in Friday’s Euro 2025 qualifier against Sweden.

Williamson trained on her own on Tuesday after coming off at half-time of Arsenal’s Conti Cup final win over Chelsea on Sunday.

But she trained with the group on Wednesday and if she makes it through Thursday’s session unscathed she will be in contention to make her first international appearance in 12 months as the Lionesses begin their qualification campaign.

She has not featured for her country since suffering an ACL injury last April, having pulled out of a training squad in March with a hamstring strain.

“We need to manage it a little bit. She had a full training session on Wednesday, she will be on the pitch today (Thursday), so that looks really good,” Wiegman said.

“We know where she has come from, she is still building but she is in a good place and she is ready, if she comes through today OK.

“It’s just really good that she is back, first of all for herself because she is so excited to come back, that means she is fit, it is good to have a quality player in the squad.

“We are in a good place already and now we are in an even better place.”

Williamson, who returned to club duty in January, captained the Lionesses to glory in Euro 2022 and Wiegman said she would resume her leadership duties if she was selected at Wembley.

“We have another training session. Leah is our team captain – that will not change, but we want to get through this training session first and then see what final decision we make tomorrow,” the Dutchwoman added.

“If she plays, she would be captain, we just want to get through the training session and see how she is and how the team is. She needs that team environment from where she has come.”

Wiegman was asked for her opinion on Emma Hayes’ confrontation with Gunners counterpart Jonas Eidevall after that final at Molineux.

The Chelsea boss said after the game that male aggression was a problem in the women’s game, but Wiegman did not bite.

“It was a great final, very competitive, so the emotion builds up,” she said.

“I haven’t been there in that situation so I really don’t want to comment about that one day before the most important game in a couple of months for us.”