Division One leaders Surrey mustered a nervy 70 for four in reply to Lancashire’s 274 during an intriguing opening day of LV= Insurance County Championship action at the Kia Oval.

Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Tom Latham and Ben Foakes each fell for the reigning champions in the final 20 overs of the day after Lancashire recovered from 119 for five thanks to a lower-order rally which included 56 from Phil Salt.

Four dismissals apiece for Jordan Clark and Sean Abbott looked to have secured first-day honours for Surrey but two wickets from Will Williams and one each for Tom Bailey and Jack Blatherwick turned the contest back towards the visitors.

At Chelmsford, Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence combined for a double-century stand which put Essex firmly in control against second-placed Warwickshire on 391 for seven.

Lawrence, who is on standby for England’s Ashes campaign, registered an immaculate 152 – his second century of the season – during five-and-a-half hours at the crease.

The third-wicket pair put on 227 in 59 overs until Westley dragged Ed Barnard to short midwicket to depart on 114 from 193 balls, while Lawrence was eventually removed by Dom Bess.

Nick Gubbins marked his first appearance against boyhood club Middlesex by grinding them down with an unbeaten 98 as he and centurion Liam Dawson wrestled control for Hampshire at 284 for four.

Gubbins batted for six hours and 262 balls on a dry and flat pitch, while Dawson added 111 not out in four hours.

The pair put on 190 to break a 100-year record for the fifth wicket for Hampshire against Middlesex, beating the 149 scored by Lord Tennyson and Tom Jameson in June 1923.

Brett Hutton claimed a five-wicket haul to help Nottinghamshire trail Somerset by just 18 runs following the opening day at Taunton.

The hosts managed only 163 all out after winning the toss before Ben Slater’s unbeaten 67 helped the visitors to 145 for four.

Kent’s Australia international Wes Agar claimed the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career to restrict bottom club Northamptonshire to a modest 237.

Rob Keogh hit 97 for the hosts, who closed with a lead of 127 runs after Tawanda Muyeye’s unbeaten half-century (58) and 48 not out from Daniel Bell-Drummond helped Kent to 110 for one in 26 overs.

Centuries from Ollie Robinson and Alex Lees put Division Two leaders Durham in a commanding position at 422 for four against third-placed Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Robinson (113 not out) shared an unbroken 221-run fifth-wicket partnership with Graham Clark, who is 15 away from a hundred of his own.

Leicestershire, who are without a head coach after Paul Nixon was placed on gardening leave, were on the back foot following a first-wicket stand of 145 from openers Lees (101) and Michael Jones (78).

Fin Bean and George Hill posted centuries of 114 and 101 respectively to help Yorkshire dominate against Gloucestershire at Headingley.

Opener Bean and Hill shared a stand of 153 for the fourth wicket as the hosts closed on 393 for six from 91 overs.

Anuj Dal took five wickets as bottom-placed Derbyshire put their injury problems in the bowling department behind them to bring about a Worcestershire collapse.

The hosts were dismissed for 237 in 83.3 overs at New Road before Derbyshire lost openers Harry Came and Luis Reece inside 10 overs to close on 32 for two.

Sussex trail Glamorgan by 177 runs with nine wickets remaining of their first innings.

Billy Root’s 66 was the mainstay of Glamorgan’s 242 all out as Sussex all-rounder Nathan McAndrew took four for 58, while off-spinner Jack Carson posted figures of three for 45.

England were left in a spin by Ashleigh Gardner as their hopes of victory in the lone Women’s Ashes Test drastically receded despite the indefatigable Sophie Ecclestone’s 10-wicket match haul.

The slow left-armer claimed back-to-back five-wicket hauls to finish with astonishing figures of 77.1-16-192-10 this week and restrict Australia to 257, which left England requiring 268 for victory.

Despite Emma Lamb and Tammy Beaumont putting on opening stand of 55, Gardner’s introduction to the attack was the catalyst for a top-order collapse as England ended day four on 116 for five.

Gardner’s wily off-spin bagged first-innings double centurion Beaumont, star all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt and captain Heather Knight, leaving England needing an improbable 152 to win on the final day on a Trent Bridge pitch that has shown several signs of keeping low and had appreciable turn.

Australia require five wickets to collect a first Ashes Test triumph since 2015 and seal a sizeable four points that would go a long way to helping them retain the urn in this multi-format series.

They had been under the cosh as Lamb (28) and Beaumont (22) started the chase well. But Gardner had bowled Beaumont with her last ball in England’s first innings and struck immediately in the second to remove the same batter, whose attempt to dig out a fuller, flighted delivery ended up at first slip.

Australia got the benefit of the umpire’s raised finger after Tahlia McGrath thudded into Lamb’s front pad as a review showed the ball would have trimmed leg stump.

Knight got off nought with a heave for six but, in attempting something similar later in the over, Sciver-Brunt, who had earlier fallen in a heap at the end of an over while bowling amid concerns about her right knee, got a top-edge off Gardner which looped to short leg.

If that was something of a gift, Gardner found prodigious turn to trap Knight on the crease. While there was some suspicion she might have been outside the line, the impact went with the umpire.

Knight’s downfall meant England had lost four wickets in 29 balls to lurch to 73 for four and they lost another before the close as Kim Garth found the outside edge of Sophia Dunkley.

Test debutant Danni Wyatt made it to stumps unbeaten on 20 with nightwatcher Kate Cross (5no) seeing out 12 deliveries to ensure there were no further alarms.

Earlier, Cross required strapping after injuring her left thumb when shelling a waist-high chance to reprieve Phoebe Litchfield on 42 as Australia resumed on 82 without loss and a lead of 92.

But Cross atoned for a mistake that yielded just four runs with a delivery that jagged back and took out out off-stump as Litchfield was out again offering no shot.

Sciver-Brunt got both hands to a return chance after Beth Mooney had passed 50 but could not cling on before Lauren Filer took the fielders out of the equation as Ellyse Perry chopped on for 25 to fall for the second time to the England debutant, who then beat McGrath for pace by uprooting leg-stump.

The strikes in consecutive wicket maidens gave England a fillip ahead of lunch before the metronomic Ecclestone got into the act upon the resumption as Jess Jonassen had her bails disturbed after missing a full-blooded slog-sweep to a delivery that turned and snaked under her bat.

Annabel Sutherland was promoted two spots to six and the first-innings centurion had a life on nought when Wyatt spilled a difficult chance at square-leg, but Mooney was on her way for 85 after an attempted cut off Ecclestone took the under-edge before dislodging the stumps.

Gardner lasted just three balls as a low edge off Cross was held by a juggling Knight while Sutherland’s streaky innings concluded on 14 after she tamely lobbed to Wyatt.

Australia had stretched their lead to above 200 but they almost lost their fourth wicket in 13 deliveries as Alyssa Healy, who had demoted herself to eight after three successive Test ducks, got a thin edge to her first ball which brushed the glove of Amy Jones before rolling away.

The Australia captain rebuilt alongside Alana King in what may yet be a crucial 59-run stand either side of tea.

Healy was the aggressor but King’s departure after being squared up and edging to slip in Lauren Bell’s first over of the day marked the beginning of the end as Australia lost their final three wickets in seven balls.

Ecclestone grinned sheepishly and had her head in her hands after Healy bunted a rank full toss to Lamb, who took a catch above her head, before whirling away in celebration as Darcie Brown was lbw when she missed a forward prod to finish with second-innings figures of 30.5-7-63-5.

England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed has been backed to relish the big stage if selected to make his Ashes debut in next week’s second Test at Lord’s.

Leicestershire leg-spinner Ahmed has been called up to the England squad after the thrilling curtain-raiser at Edgbaston, which saw Australia win by two wickets to move 1-0 up in the series.

Teenager Ahmed, the youngest man to play Test cricket for England after his December appearance in Pakistan, was drafted into the set-up owing to concerns over Moeen Ali’s injured finger.

Moeen reversed his decision to retire from red-ball cricket to feature in the series opener – after Jack Leach was ruled out of the Ashes with a stress fracture – but a burst blister on his right index finger troubled the off-spinner in Birmingham.

The wound is being monitored by England’s medical staff ahead of Wednesday’s start and while there is optimism Moeen will be passed fit, Leicestershire’s director of cricket Claude Henderson knows the county’s talented prospect will be ready if called upon.

Henderson told the PA news agency: “Rehan is one of those characters: the bigger the game, the more he wants to stand up.

“He loves the big stage so let’s see what happens. I don’t know what the situation is like with him yet regarding the next Test but he joined them today and let’s see where that goes.

“He loves a challenge. He doesn’t play names, he plays the ball. He loves cricket and just wants to compete against the best players in the world, which is a great attitude to have.”

If Moeen does not recover in time, England could still leave Ahmed out of their XI and go with an all-seam attack at Lord’s supplemented by Joe Root’s off breaks.

Ahmed is not short of match practice though, having featured in seven of Leicestershire’s red-ball fixtures in Division Two.

Four half-centuries have followed and the 18-year-old reserved his best display for Headingley, home of the third Ashes Test, where he claimed three for 89 and smashed 85 in a memorable three-wicket win for his county.

“He has played a massive role for us in the County Championship. He came in at number seven, got good runs, got a 90 (against Glamorgan) and got a hundred at the back end of last year, so he is a really promising batter,” Henderson added.

“His bowling has shown a lot of good signs as well. April and May can be tricky in county cricket for leg spin but he stuck at it, has shown progress and is just a wonderful character to have in the changing room.

“It is important from us on Rehan’s development to keep getting him overs, which is great. We’ll keep doing that to try and create opportunities for him to develop as the final cricketer.”

Six wickets at an average of 67.66 and an economy rate of 4.01 in Division Two this season may not strike fear into the Australians, but Ahmed showed on his Test debut with five for 48 in Karachi the difficulty of picking up his leg breaks.

At the age of 11, Ahmed had bowled to future captain Ben Stokes in the nets and two years later left the late Shane Warne in awe of his wrist spin.

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England’s decision to again go bold and call up the teenager to cover Moeen over more experienced options suggests even if there is no Ashes debut at Lord’s, Ahmed could break Brian Close’s record as England’s youngest player in the men’s Ashes later this summer.

And if not, Henderson feels the all-rounder can continue to aid Leicestershire’s promotion charge.

He said: “Look, let’s see what happens. We never know with Lord’s, Lord’s can spin.

“It depends on the weather and what they want to do but he just offers so much in the changing room, with the bat and he is the whole package.

“We’ll see what England say. I know they do send back some players when they are not playing, they ask them to go back and play county cricket.

“I think it would be healthy for Rehan to keep playing cricket, not sit on the bench but there are always opportunities and it is just great for us to see him back in the mix with England.”

Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets to lead England’s fightback on the penultimate afternoon of the Women’s Ashes Test but Australia increased their lead to 264 at Trent Bridge.

Australia were cruising on 149 for one but then lurched to 198 for seven, with Ecclestone to the fore as the tourists lost four wickets in 34 balls at a hectic juncture in the afternoon session.

Lauren Filer bowled Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath in the morning, but there were a few let-offs for Australia’s batters as England dropped six chances of varying degrees of difficulty.

Beth Mooney’s 85 plus 47 from Alyssa Healy underpinned Australia’s teatime 254 for seven on day four in what is effectively a one-innings shootout at the start of this multi-format series.

Mooney put on 99 with fellow opener Phoebe Litchfield (46) and 50 with Perry (25) and was the beneficiary of being dropped on 55 as Nat Sciver-Brunt spilled a difficult return catch with her first delivery in Australia’s second dig.

Sciver-Brunt went off before tea after falling in a heap at the end of her ninth over, having been restricted in Australia’s first innings because of a jarred right knee.

Despite Tammy Beaumont’s historic double century on Saturday, Australia had edged ahead through Mooney and Litchfield, who outlined her intentions on the penultimate morning with an uppish drive at Ecclestone. She was reprieved after Cross spilled a simple waist-high chance at extra cover.

Cross required strapping on her left thumb but was able to continue bowling, and the England seamer’s drop proved not to be too costly as she got a delivery to jag back alarmingly towards Litchfield, who offered no shot and lost her off stump.

There was movement and spin in sunny and blustery conditions but England were largely unable to take advantage. Mooney offered a sharp caught and bowled chance after passing 50 but Sciver-Brunt could not cling on in her follow-through despite getting both hands to the ball.

Heather Knight’s off-spin drew the outside edge of Perry on 21 but the ball flew between wicketkeeper and slip. The talismanic Australia all-rounder’s luck ran out soon after as, leaning back and shaping to cut, she merely inside edged on to her stumps.

Cheered on by the Nottingham crowd, Filer struck in her next over as a fuller, pacy delivery proved too much for McGrath, whose leg stump was flattened, in a second successive wicket maiden.

Australia progressed to 178 for three post-lunch before Jess Jonassen saw her bails dislodged after missing a full-blooded sweep at Ecclestone, with the ball snaking under her bat, while Mooney’s cross batted shot to the slow left-armer ended with her under-edging on to her stumps.

Ashleigh Gardner lasted just three balls as a low edge off Cross was held by a juggling Knight while Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt put down difficult chances off first-innings centurion Annabel Sutherland, who was out for a streaky 14 after lobbing Ecclestone tamely to square-leg.

Healy demoted herself to number eight and might have recorded a fourth successive Test duck after getting a thin edge to her first delivery but the ball brushed the glove of Jones, standing up to the stumps, before rolling away.

Healy (47 not out) and Alana King (9no) steadied Australia following the flurry of wickets with an unbroken 56-run partnership but a few minutes before the end of the session there were England concerns as Sciver-Brunt limped off the field after falling to the ground in her follow-through.

Australian batter Travis Head has laughed off sledging from England during and since the thrilling Ashes opener at Edgbaston – and has sent a word of warning to Ollie Robinson.

Robinson is viewed in some quarters down under as the pantomime villain following his expletive-laden send-off to Usman Khawaja, with Australian greats Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting rounding on the Sussex seamer in the wake of the tourists’ two-wicket win.

It has not deterred Robinson, who – in a column for Wisden.com this week – expressed his surprise at how “defensive” Australia were, and claimed England’s opponents must change their style to come out on top during the five-match series.

England opener Zak Crawley, meanwhile, predicted on Times Radio recently that the hosts would win the upcoming second Test at Lord’s by 150 runs.

“We’re only going for the lunch, apparently,” Head told 9News Sydney. “Yeah, they have got this mantra they’re going at.

“Not just on the field but off the field they are throwing some nice chat out, but this team is truly just worried about what we need to do to win the second Test to go 2-0 up and put some pressure on them.”

Middle-order batter Head hit 50 at Edgbaston and put on 79 for the fourth wicket with Khawaja, who faced plenty of verbals from Robinson in Birmingham.

Robinson ended Khawaja’s marathon knock and claimed five wickets during the first Test, but Head insisted the England bowler will have to improve if he wants to retain his position in Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ team.

Head added: “I find it pretty fun. I had a few quiet words, jovial words, to him out there.

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“It all makes for good fun and we’ll see where the next four Tests go.

“It didn’t go his way in the first one but he’s very competitive and he will want to step up. But if he doesn’t, I think they have got a few people at home that might want to get up his back.”

Head trained with his Australian team-mates at Lord’s on Sunday ahead of the second Test getting under way on Wednesday.

Fellow batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were also present, having spent their Saturdays at the Home of Cricket in the nets following their low scores at Edgbaston.

Labuschagne took a painful blow to a finger on his right hand during his Saturday net session, but was fine to carry on after being checked over by team doctor Leigh Golding.

As if to run salt into the already gaping wound of an embarrassing 35-run loss to Zimbabwe in the ICC World Cup qualifier on Saturday, the West Indies have been fined 60 per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate.

Muhammad Javed of the ICC International Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanctions after the West Indies were ruled to be three overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined 20 per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.

Captain Shai Hope pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.

On-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Ravindra Wimalasari, third umpire Roland Black and fourth umpire Allahudien Palekar levelled the charge.

Lauren Filer made a crucial double breakthrough for England but Australia stretched their lead to 167 in the one-off Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

Cross atoned for dropping Phoebe Litchfield minutes into the fourth morning by uprooting the off-stump of the Australia opener, out leaving for the second time in the match on her Test bow.

England debutant Filer, meanwhile, accounted for the highly-rated Ellyse Perry and then took out the leg stump of Tahlia McGrath, but Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 73 helped to lift Australia to 157 for three.

Mooney put on 99 with Litchfield (46) and 50 with Perry (25) and was the beneficiary of being dropped on 55 as Nat Sciver-Brunt, having only bowled five overs in the first innings before a sore knee, spilled a difficult return catch with her first delivery in Australia’s second dig.

Despite Tammy Beaumont’s historic double century on Saturday, Australia had edged ahead through Mooney and Litchfield, who outlined her intentions on the penultimate morning with an uppish drive at Sophie Ecclestone. She was reprieved after Cross spilled a simple waist-high chance at extra cover.

Cross required strapping on her left thumb but was able to continue bowling, and the England seamer’s drop proved not to be too costly as she got a delivery to jag back alarmingly towards Litchfield, who offered no shot and lost her off stump.

There was movement and spin in sunny and blustery conditions but England were largely unable to take advantage. Mooney offered a sharp caught and bowled chance after passing 50 but Sciver-Brunt could not cling on in her follow-through despite getting both hands to the ball.

Heather Knight’s off-spin drew the outside edge of Perry on 21 but the ball flew between wicketkeeper and slip, but the talismanic Australia all-rounder’s luck ran out soon after as, leaning back and shaping to cut, she merely inside edged on to her stumps.

Cheered on by the Nottingham crowd, Filer struck in her next over as a fuller, pacy delivery proved too much for McGrath, whose leg stump was flattened, in a second successive wicket maiden for the England youngster.

James Anderson expects England to double down on their aggressive brand of cricket despite defeat in the opening Ashes Test earlier this week.

Debates over the wisdom of ‘Bazball’ returned in earnest after England lost a tense series opener by two wickets at Edgbaston, having declared in the first innings on 393 for eight.

But Anderson, 40, said England and captain Ben Stokes will only look to push things in one direction when the series resumes at Lord’s on Wednesday.

“I think we’ll go more positive, more aggressive, more entertaining,” the veteran paceman said. “We want to try and make sure people go home happy as they did each day at Edgbaston.

“Just because we’re 1-0 down I don’t think we’ll try anything different. I think we showed enough last week to show we can win the next four if we keep playing like that and iron a few things out. We’ll go exactly the same.”

Anderson was speaking as he swapped Bazball for baseball at the London Stadium on Saturday. As the Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals faced off in the first of two regular-season games in Stratford this weekend, Anderson threw out the ceremonial first pitch alongside Australia rival Nathan Lyon.

Anderson’s daughter had spent their journey down from Manchester showing him videos of the 10 worst ceremonial pitches in history but he managed to get his over the plate.

Anderson admitted he had not practiced the pitch, but he believes cricket is learning a lot from the American past time – particularly when it comes to more aggressive hitting.

“I think you see the way cricket has developed, the way guys try to hit the ball, I think they take a lot from the guys here,” he said.

“I don’t know how much knowledge there is about cricket in America, I don’t think the baseball players are trying to block anything, but for me I’ve always watched the fielding and thought it was something we could do better.

“The speed they get to the ball, the speed they release the ball and the speed of the throw. I know it’s a different ball but I think it’s something we could learn from.”

The baseball gave both Anderson and Lyon a bit of mental relief after the stresses of Edgbaston, where the game remained in the balance until the very end.

Lyon said throwing the first pitch was the first time he had picked up a ball since leaving Birmingham as he tried to get away from what he called a “mental rollercoaster”.

But with a 1-0 lead in the series, the Australians are understandably in buoyant mood.

“It was an absolutely incredible Test win and to be able to play a part in that was extremely special,” the 35-year-old spinner said. “It is going to go down as one of the best Test matches I’ve played in.

“The mood has changed. There’s a lot of work we need to do. We feel like we can still get a lot better, and we need to get a lot better if we want to compete against England and the brand of cricket they’re playing.

“It’s business as usual for us. We can’t control what they’re doing. We’ll sit down as a team and identify areas where we can be better and where we believe we need to get better, so just focus on what we can do.

“There’s no point worrying about what everybody else is doing.”

Tammy Beaumont believes her historic 208 in the lone Women’s Ashes Test may have been inadvertently aided by being axed from England’s T20 set-up last year.

After breaking Betty Snowball’s 88-year record for the highest score by an England woman in going past 189, Beaumont became her nation’s first double centurion and just the eighth female overall in Tests.

Her epic knock – which helped England to 463 and a 10-run deficit before Australia got their noses in front by closing on 82 without loss to lead by 92 at Trent Bridge – raised the question as to whether Beaumont can slot back into the T20 side after being dropped ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

While Beaumont was coy at the suggestion, the England opener, who has featured in 99 T20 internationals, admitted being discarded led to her working hard to seek advancements in her batting.

“It’s certainly not been on my mind in the last three or four days, Test match cricket is very different to T20 cricket – even though the England men try to make it look pretty similar,” she joked.

“How I’ve worked this winter on my game, that probably has had an impact on me trying to find that motivation to get better and improve.

“I’ve worked on trying to not get hit on the front pad so much and get out lbw. That came about from trying to be more aggressive in the T20 game and access midwicket and because of that, I’m defending the ball better.

“In an indirect way, it’s definitely played a part but it’s also reminded me that I’ve got a lot of cricket left that I want to play for England. Whether that’s in T20 cricket or not, who knows?”

Beaumont, who batted for more than eight hours across two days and struck 27 fours, revealed she was unaware she had eclipsed Snowball’s innings against New Zealand in Christchurch in February 1935.

“No, not at all,” she said. “I think when I hit the ball, it was announced and Sophie Ecclestone was desperate to give me a hug. But I was like ‘no, no, the job’s not done here’, so I just sent her away.

“I guess I was in the zone and I wasn’t thinking about records. I’d been really calm and tried to not show any emotion for two days but when I hit that run (to get to 200), it all came out.

“If you’re going to score 200 for England, you might as well celebrate it properly.”

England’s seamers were leggy and wayward at the outset of Australia’s second innings, with Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield putting on a 50-stand in just 55 balls as boundaries proved easy to come by.

With an enviable pool of batting talent to come – Annabel Sutherland scored a century from number eight first time around – Australia are already flying in a Test that is effectively a one-innings shootout.

Beaumont, though, feels England will be seeking to disrupt their progress on what remains a flat pitch at the start of the penultimate day.

“We’ve got to come out fighting and knock a few over,” she said. “Whoever comes out and seizes the moment in the morning and early afternoon session will be the one in charge.”

One prospect is Australia trying to bat England out of the game then declare ahead of or early into day five but Beaumont insisted that scenario would not be followed by the hosts just going for a draw, with captain Heather Knight and head coach Jon Lewis having emphasised an attacking approach this summer.

“It’s still a good track to bat on,” she said. “There are plenty of runs out there to get and we want to push ourselves and we want to try and get a result, no one came here for a draw.

“If they set us a target I have a feeling we’ll be giving it a good old crack.”

Off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner, who was the pick of the Australia bowling attack with four for 99, was adamant the tourists do not have a total in mind before declaring.

“I would certainly say there’s probably going to be a result and that’s what we’re going to be pushing for,” she said. “But I don’t think there’s a real target in mind that we’ve spoken about as a group.”

Tammy Beaumont’s historic 208 underpinned England’s highest-ever Test total against Australia to set up what is effectively a one-innings shootout in this Women’s Ashes series opener.

After breaking Betty Snowball’s 88-year record for the highest score by an England woman in going past 189, Beaumont became her nation’s first double centurion and just the eighth female overall in Tests.

Her epic knock lasted more than eight hours across two days and included 27 fours before she was bowled after missing a sweep at Ashleigh Gardner, last out to abruptly end England’s first-innings on 463.

England lost their last four wickets for just 15 runs as Australia held a lead of 10 at the halfway mark of a contest that starts the multi-format series, which they upped to 92 after closing on 82 without loss to get their noses in front at stumps on day three.

But this one-off Test still being in the balance is largely thanks to the excellence of Beaumont, who made 201 in a warm-up against Australia A last week and registered her maiden Test ton on Friday.

Beaumont had a couple of let-offs in reaching three figures but was seldom troubled when she resumed on 100 on Saturday, her only scare coming on 152 as she overturned an lbw verdict against her after leg-spinner Alana King’s delivery was found to have fractionally pitched outside leg stump at Trent Bridge.

She settled by driving, steering then pulling Darcie Brown for three fours in an over as she and Nat Sciver-Brunt continued to pile up the runs. Sciver-Brunt might have been dismissed without adding to her overnight 41 after missing a flick at Brown and being given lbw, but she reversed the decision.

Australia’s seamers initially struggled on a flat deck so it was a surprise they waited 75 minutes into the opening session to turn to the spin of Gardner, who dashed Sciver-Brunt’s hopes of following Beaumont to a hundred when the all-rounder leaned back to cut but got a thick edge to Alyssa Healy.

Sciver-Brunt’s dismissal for 78 ended a freeflowing 137-run stand in just 187 balls with Beaumont that relied on timing and orthodoxy.

Sophia Dunkley, though, was unable to get going and the pressure told, dismissed for nine off 51 balls after lunch when she missed an uncontrolled heave at Gardner to lose her off-stump.

Having passed 150, Beaumont might have followed after missing a sweep at King as she was rapped on the front pad. Replays did not look promising but DRS was marginally in her favour.

With Gardner putting the squeeze on alongside King then slow left-armer Jess Jonassen as Australia declined to take the second new ball until the end of the 99th over, Beaumont used the sweep and moved her feet well to keep ticking over, helped by a quickfire cameo 44 on Test debut by Danni Wyatt.

Selected because of her proficiency against the slow bowlers and for her attacking nature that captain Heather Knight and head coach Jon Lewis want the England side to adopt, Wyatt fulfilled her brief with some fine drives, pulls and a couple of scoops as she drew on her considerable white-ball experience.

She edged Brown when the seamers returned while Amy Jones came and went once England had moved past 400 after tamely lofting to mid-on, but Beaumont remained and a cute late cut off Perry for four before tea saw her eclipse Snowball’s storied innings against New Zealand in Christchurch in February 1935.

From then on, she relied on singles to inch closer to 200 and got over the line in the final session after clipping Australia’s first-innings centurion Annabel Sutherland for one into the leg-side before taking off her helmet, raising her bat and soaking up the applause from a bumper crowd.

However, she was fast running out of partners as Tahlia McGrath – Australia’s eighth bowler in England’s innings – had Sophie Ecclestone lbw with a yorker, castled Kate Cross when she played down the wrong line before Lauren Filer nicked off.

While Australia added 235 for their last four wickets, England slumped in a hurry as Beaumont was finally dismissed from her 331st ball – for the fifth highest score in women’s Tests of all-time – in the search for quick runs to give impressive off-spinner Gardner figures of four for 99.

England’s seamers were leggy and expensive – having bowled 124.2 overs in the first innings – at the outset of Australia’s second dig, with Beth Mooney (33 not out) and Phoebe Litchfield (41no) putting on 50 in 55 balls.

A tough, low return chance when Litchfield was on 10 burst through Cross’ hands but Australia’s openers were otherwise untroubled. Slow left-armer Ecclestone was tight while Sciver-Brunt’s continued bowling absence because of a knee knock meant Knight turned her arm over for a couple of overs.

All-rounder Sikandar Raza was, once again, the star of the show as hosts Zimbabwe beat the West Indies by 35 runs to move to 3-0 in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers and hand the West Indies their first loss in six ODIs.

The hosts posted 268 all out from their 50 overs after the West Indies won the toss and elected to field first at the Harare Sports Club.

After a 63-run opening stand between Joylord Gumbie and Captain, Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe quickly lost four wickets for 49 runs to be reeling at 112-4 at the halfway point of their innings.

Half centuries from Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl then rescued Zimbabwe from what looked to be a spot of bother.

Raza, coming off a century against the Netherlands in their last game, led the way with a 58-ball 68 including six fours and two sixes while Burl made an even 50 off 57 balls including five fours and a six.

Earlier, Ervine made 47 while Gumbie scored 26.

The Zimbabweans were helped by the West Indies dropping five catches. Raza was dropped three times.

Keemo Paul led the way with the ball for the West Indians with 3-61 from his 10 overs while Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph both took a pair of wickets, each.

The West Indies then started their chase relatively well with openers Brandon King and Kyle Mayers putting on 43 for the first wicket in just six and a half overs before King was dismissed for a rapid 20.

Johnson Charles fell soon after for just one before Captain, Shai Hope, joined Mayers at the crease.

The pair put on a further 64 before Mayers fell in the 21^st over for 56.

Nicholas Pooran joined Hope at the wicket and the two centurions from the last game plotted to continue from where they left off in the last game.

That was not the case, however, as Hope fell for 30 just three overs into their partnership.

Pooran (34) and Rovman Powell (1) then fell in quick succession to leave the West Indies 180-6 in the 33^rd over.

Jason Holder then came to join Roston Chase, who was batting well in the midst of the carnage at the other end, and the pair looked comfortable, adding a further 37 runs before Holder fell for 19 in the 41^st over.

Keemo Paul then came and went for just one before Chase’s resistance was ended for 44 to leave the West Indies on the brink at 224-9 in the 43^rd over.

With the score on 233 in the 45^th over, Alzarri Joseph chipped a ball to Sikandar Raza at short mid-wicket to confirm the 35-run win for Zimbabwe.

Tendai Chatara led the way with the ball with 3-52 off 9.4 overs while Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Sikandar Raza all took two wickets, each.

Both teams have already advanced to the Super 6 stage. Zimbabwe will play the USA in their last group game on Monday while, on the same day, the West Indies will face the Netherlands.

Tammy Beaumont broke an 88-year record for the highest Test score by an England woman as her 195 not out gave Heather Knight’s side real hope of a first-innings lead against Australia.

Betty Snowball’s 189 against New Zealand in February 1935 was the previous benchmark but Beaumont made history by overtaking the record shortly before tea on day three of the lone Women’s Ashes Test.

She requires just five more for a historic double hundred – a week on from making 201 against Australia A in a warm-up – as England ended the session on 428 for six – their highest ever score against Australia – in reply to 473 all out at Trent Bridge.

Beaumont, who successfully overturned an lbw decision given against her on 152, put on 72 with Test debutant Danni Wyatt (44) on Saturday afternoon as Australia huffed and puffed in the field, rotating their eight bowlers but struggling to create consistent wicket-taking chances on a flat pitch.

There was a hint of turn on offer so it was a surprise Australia waited more than an hour to introduce their spinners, after Beaumont and Natalie Sciver-Brunt (78) had made hay, extending their stand to 137 from just 187 balls as they resumed their innings with England on 218 for two.

Sciver-Brunt might have been dismissed without adding to her overnight 41 after missing a flick and being rapped on the front pad by Darcie Brown but England’s star all-rounder reviewed the lbw decision and was vindicated as Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have gone on to drift past leg stump.

It was a nervy start from Sciver-Brunt, who also edged Kim Garth just out of the reach of the slips on 42 but Beaumont settled by driving, steering then pulling Brown for three fours in an over.

Sciver-Brunt was soon into her stride with three successive fours off Annabel Sutherland after going past 50. With Australia’s seamers struggling to exert control, it was a surprise the tourists waited 75 minutes to turn to spin – and their folly was exposed as Gardner struck with her ninth ball.

Backing away for an attempted cut, Sciver-Brunt, who showed no sign of a minor knee injury which restricted her to bowling just five overs in Australia’s innings, got a thick edge to a flatter delivery and Alyssa Healy held on.

Sophia Dunkley was bogged down by Australia’s spinners either side of lunch and was eventually put out of her misery after missing a heave across the line to Gardner and losing her off stump.

Gardner especially was challenging both edges as she and Alana King tried to stifle England. Leg-spinner King thought she had snaffled Beaumont, who was given lbw on 152 after missing a full-blooded sweep but vindicated by a review as Hawk-Eye showed the ball pitched fractionally outside leg stump.

Wyatt fulfilled her brief with an adventurous innings as both she and Beaumont used their feet expertly against Australia’s spinners. Drawing on her significant white-ball experience, Wyatt had a sparkling cameo which led to Australia belatedly taking the new ball in the 100th over.

Her favoured cut shot was fed but she then hung her bat out once too often and edged to a diving Jess Jonassen while England were six down after passing 400 when Amy Jones limply miscued to mid-on.

But Beaumont moved to within one run of Snowball by tickling Ellyse Perry off her hips for four before setting a new record with a late cut off Sutherland that bisected second slip and gully for her 26th four.

BCCI on Friday announced India's Test and ODI squads for their upcoming tour of the West Indies.

The selection committee's patience with veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav finally ran out as the duo were dropped from the Test side after a disappointing WTC final.

Pujara's dwindling returns ever since his return to the Test side a year ago were always a concern while Umesh Yadav's lackluster show against Australia in the WTC final put the writing on the wall.

Young top-order batter Yashasvi Jaiswal and pacer Mukesh Kumar earned their maiden Test call-ups while Navdeep Saini returned to the scheme of things after a long gap.

Jaiswal was always on the selector's radar after his fantastic show in IPL 2023, where he scored 625 runs at a strike rate of 163. What also went in the left-hander's favor was his staggering record in first-class cricket. The Mumbai cricketer has an average of 80.21 in 15 matches with 9 centuries and a highest score of 265.

Mohammed Shami was given a break from both Tests and ODIs. Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur and Ajinkya Rahane held on to their places in the Test squad and so did spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel.

Interestingly, Rahane, who was nowhere in the scheme of things for about 15 months, was named as the vice-captain of the Test side following a successful WTC final where he ended up as India's top run-getter riding on the back of a gritty 89-run knock in the first innings.

As far as the ODI squad is concerned, Sanju Samson was named as wicketkeeper-batter along with Ishan Kishan. In the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the selectors quite understandably decided to back Suryakumar Yadav at No.4, who has had a forgetful run in the 50-over format so far.

Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace battery. He will have Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat for support. Umran Malik made his comeback into the side while Mukesh Kumar was named in ODIs too.

For the spin department, there were no surprises as Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja picked themselves.

The three-match ODI series will begin on July 27 in Barbados.

India’s Test squad for West Indies series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.

India’s ODI squad for West Indies series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.

Nat Sciver-Brunt fell for 78 but Tammy Beaumont helped England surge past 300 to eat into Australia’s lead on the third morning of the lone Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.

Beaumont advanced her overnight 100 to 144 not out as England went to lunch on 308 for three to trail by 165, although Sciver-Brunt was unable to join her team-mate into three figures as she nicked off.

However, the pair’s stand was worth 137 in just 187 balls as Australia struggled to make inroads on a flat pitch despite rotating their options – having used eight bowlers in this England innings.

They resolutely stuck with seam for more than the first hour of the day before off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner made Australia’s sole breakthrough of the session after drawing a mistake from Sciver-Brunt.

She might have been dismissed without adding to her overnight 41 after missing a flick and being rapped on the front pad by Darcie Brown but England’s star all-rounder reviewed the lbw decision and was vindicated as Hawk-Eye showed the ball would have gone on to drift past leg stump.

It was a chancy start from Sciver-Brunt, who also edged Kim Garth just out of the reach of the slips on 42 after England had added just one run to their overnight 218 for two in the first three overs.

In the next over, Beaumont settled by driving, steering then pulling Brown for three fours in an over while Sciver-Brunt was soon into her stride with three successive fours off Annabel Sutherland.

Beaumont and Sciver-Brunt were rarely troubled by Australia’s seamers so it was a surprise the tourists waited 75 minutes to turn to spin – and their folly was exposed as Gardner struck with her ninth ball.

Backing away for an attempted cut, Sciver-Brunt, who showed no sign of a minor knee injury which restricted her to bowling just fiver overs in Australia’s innings, got a thick edge to a flatter delivery and Alyssa Healy held on.

Seamer Tahlia McGrath offered some control with her tight lines, conceding just 13 runs in seven overs, while in the over before lunch leg-spinner Alana King found prodigious turn with one delivery, which may offer Australia some cheer heading into the next session.

Steve Smith says he felt like he had drunk “a dozen beers” last time he played at Lord’s, as he prepares to return to the venue for the second Ashes Test.

The Australia batsman became the first cricketer to be formally substituted out of a Test match with concussion when he withdrew from the second Test at Lord’s in 2019.

Smith initially passed concussion testing before returning having been struck on the neck by England pace bowler Jofra Archer on day four.

Yet he was ruled out on the final day – with the match drawn – and also missed the following Test at Headingley.

Smith recalled the incident ahead of the second Test, which starts on Wednesday. Australia lead the series following their two-wicket victory in the opener at Edgbaston.

The 34-year-old explained: “It was just a day that I wasn’t quite seeing the ball as well as I would have liked from that end.

“Archer was bowling 93 to 96 miles an hour at stages. And the wicket felt like it was a little bit up and down. So it certainly wasn’t easy.

“It was a very difficult period to get through, and obviously I caught one on the arm, got away with a few pull shots that are top edge and a couple in the gaps. And then I caught one in the back of the head, which hurt a fair bit.

“At that stage, I didn’t realise I was getting concussed. I went off and did all the tests, passed all the tests.

“It wasn’t until I came back out and half an hour after, when the adrenaline sort of went out of my system and I started to feel quite groggy, probably like I’d had a dozen beers to be honest. That lasted for a little bit. It was a difficult period and he bowled really nicely.”

Smith scored 92 in the first innings, which had been delayed due to rain, before he was dismissed lbw by Chris Woakes.

“I remember spending a lot of time in the nets and even the day before the game, I think I had a really long net, I just couldn’t find a rhythm. And then finally, something just clicked and I started to feel good,” he said.

“That was probably after two and a half hours in the net. So I’d say after that I was probably a little bit mentally fatigued from having such a long hit the day before the game, but I also felt like I was prepared and ready to go. And then it was just about going out in the middle and playing.

“We were losing a lot of wickets at the other end throughout that innings. I was just trying to stay in the present as much as possible, probably up until we’re about eight down, which was when I started to probably play a few more shots.”

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