Pakistan are in discussions with England over postponing the opening Test between the pair following illness in the tourists' camp.

The two are set to meet in their first red-ball match in Pakistan since 2005 this week, beginning a three-match series in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

But an infection has swept through England's party, disrupting their preparations, with only a handful of the squad training on Wednesday.

Now, the Pakistan Cricket Board is in dialogue with the England and Wales Cricket Board over delaying the fixture.

"The PCB and ECB are in discussions regarding the commencement of the first Test as some England players are down with [a] viral infection," said the PCB.

"The PCB continues to monitor the situation, is in contact with the ECB and will provide further updates in due course."

England batsman Joe Root, one of a handful of players who trained on Wednesday, suggested a postponement was the right decision to make, stating the tourists did not wish to shortchange the occasion.

"It's such a monumental tour and important series for so many reasons," he told BBC Sport. "We've waited 17 years to come to Pakistan to play a Test match.

"If it means waiting another day, is that the worst thing in the world? We're all desperate to play this game, and we know how important it is to the fans of Pakistan and their team as well."

Root was succeeded by Ben Stokes as captain earlier this year and ruled out leading the side if the latter was indisposed, suggesting Ollie Pope should instead deputise.

"I don't think that's going to be the case," he added when asked if he would skipper England. "Last week Popey did a great job in the warm-up game. I think that might be a better way for the group moving forward."

New Zealand won their ODI series against India after the sides' third and final match saw no result as rain stopped play once more in Christchurch.

The two teams had been hopeful of ensuring the decider would produce an outcome, with the tourists 219 all out at Hagley Oval as Washington Sundar posted 51 and Daryl Mitchell took 3-25.

But with just two more overs needed for the Black Caps to reach the DLS threshold of 20 overs in response, the heavens opened to ensure yet another washout and a 1-0 series win for Kane Williamson's side.

Finn Allen's 57 had helped New Zealand to 104-1, putting them in a strong position to go on and win the match regardless.

Across six limited-overs matches, it marks the fourth instance of rain significantly impacting proceedings, with three no results and a fourth decided by DLS.

India had benefited in the Twenty20 International series, themselves winning 1-0.

Babar Azam has put his success as Pakistan captain down to his attempts to replicate South Africa great AB de Villiers.

Azam will lead Pakistan in a three-match Test series against England, starting this week in Rawalpindi. It is the tourists' first red-ball match in the country since 2005.

The form of the skipper will be key to Pakistan's hopes of marking the occasion with a victory following another impressive year with the bat.

Azam is averaging 73.44 in Tests in 2022 after two centuries and four fifties in nine innings, and ahead of facing England, he revealed his inspiration in an interview with Sky Sports.

"To be honest, my role model is AB de Villiers because I love him and the way he is playing and the way he is playing all the shots," Azam said.

"When I see him on the TV, the next day I am trying every shot in the nets. I try to copy De Villiers and try to look and play like De Villiers because my ideal is everything he is."

De Villiers, who retired from all forms of international cricket in 2018, had a Test batting average of 50.66 and scored 22 hundreds in the longest format.

Meanwhile, Babar is relishing the chance to take on England on home soil, adding: "We are looking forward to a historic series, and first of all, welcome to the England team.

"I know a few of the boys already in T20 format and a few new faces, so I think they will enjoy it a lot. We are looking forward to the series and everyone is ready."

West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite believes maintaining discipline will be crucial for the unit if they are to pose any type of challenge to Australia in the upcoming series.

Despite a relatively solid year in the red ball format, the Windies will start as massive underdogs against the top-ranked Australians on Sunday.  In addition to the fact that West Indies has not secured a win against Australia at home since 1993 the team has won just games in the last 8 Test series.

Having managed solid wins against England and Bangladesh in their last two series, however, Brathwaite will be hoping to spring a surprise.  For that, keeping focus will be crucial.

“We have 10 days of hard Test cricket to play.  We know Australia are a very, very good team, especially at home.  So, the main thing for us is to focus on our discipline,” Brathwaite of the media on Tuesday.

“When we are batting, we want to bat 100 overs plus, when we are bowling, we are looking to get 20 wickets.  So that obviously is to help the team win a game.  We know Australia is a superior team.  We have to play 10 days of hard cricket that’s the focus.”

The West Indies will play Australia in two Test matches.  The first will bowl off in Perth on December 4^th, followed by a trip to Adelaide from December 7^th-12^th.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite believes Tagenarine Chanderpaul can make an immediate impact on his Test debut against Australia in Perth.

The 26-year-old son of Windies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul will make his bow in the five-day game on Wednesday, and Brathwaite suggests he could soon be setting the standards.

Chanderpaul made a century and a fifty against a Prime Minister's XI in Canberra as West Indies prepared for this series, leaving no doubt he will open the innings as the two-Test series begins.

"I think it was great to see. He'll do extremely well at this higher level," Brathwaite said. "He has a lot of patience, he has good defence, and in Test cricket that's the basics you want, and from there you can always branch off and play a few shots.

"He was an example for us in the first game, and if we take a leaf out of his book for this series I think we'll be in good stead as batsmen.

"I didn't open with [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul, but I played with him. Obviously he was a great, so it's not shocking he had a son that's playing. I think 'Tage' will do a fantastic job and let's hope he could even do greater things, like his father would have done."

Australia's men have not lost any of their last 11 Test series against West Indies (W10, D1) and have won their last eight in succession, last suffering a defeat in the format in 1993 against the Caribbean opposition.

Brathwaite appreciates the scale of the challenge this time, saying: "We know Australia is a superior team. We've got to play 10 days of hard cricket, that is the main focus."

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon has taken a standout 14 wickets at an average of 15.5 at Perth Stadium in Tests against India and New Zealand, and now he gets a third outing at the venue.

Lyon told cricket.com.au: "I'm pretty excited to be honest. There's something about the ground. I used to enjoy bowling at the WACA as well, where you're able to use the breeze to your advantage and get some drift. Drift and bounce are the big things over here, and they are my biggest weapons."

Recent form provides hope for Windies

While Australia have dominated this rivalry of late, the current year has been a strong one for West Indies in Tests, with the team winning series against England and Bangladesh without losing a match.

The successive series wins followed a run that saw them win only one of their eight series prior (D2, L5), and West Indies have not won three in succession since a run of success from August 2012 to March 2013.

Cummins closing in

Home captain Pat Cummins (199) is one away from becoming the 19th player to take 200 wickets for Australia in men's Tests. This will be his 44th Test, and if he takes that wicket in Perth it will mean Cummins becomes the fifth-fastest player to reach 200 for Australia (Clarrie Grimmett – 36 matches, Dennis Lillee – 38, Stuart MacGill – 41, Shane Warne – 42).

Carlos Brathwaite produced another fine all-round effort to help the Chennai Braves get a six-wicket win over the Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 League in the UAE on Tuesday.

The former West Indies T20 captain took 1-25 from his two overs with the ball to help restrict the Gladiators to 108-3 from their 10 overs after the Braves won the toss and bowled first. Englishmen Jason Roy (57) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (40) top-scored for the Gladiators.

With the bat, Brathwaite hammered 27 from just seven balls, including four sixes from an Andre Russell over, to help propel the Braves to 109-4 from 9.3 overs.

Dan Lawrence (40) top-scored as the Braves got their second win of the season.

Cricket fans in Victoria were treated to the full Chris Gayle experience at a T20 exhibition between Endeavour Hills and Queensland team Western Districts at Shepley Oval in Dandenong on Sunday.

Gayle was one of several headliners to line up for Endeavour Hills with former Pakistan international Shoaib Malik and ex-Sri Lankan star Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The West Indies legend rolled back the years, batting the entire 20 overs on his way to an unbeaten 95 runs from 65 balls, with eight sixes to guide Endeavour Hills to a total of 4-167.

It was a continuation from the night before, as Gayle revealed he was out on the town in Melbourne on Saturday night with Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt.

However, the festivities will be short-lived as the 43-year-old revealed he will only be in Australia for two games.

“It’s good to be here,” he told Australian newspaper The Age.

“I’m here for a good time, not a long time. I’m just here for two games and then that’s it.”

Gayle and some of his teammates’ involvement in the T20 exhibitions for Endeavour Hills has been shrouded in controversy after Victorian Police announced they charged a 35-year-old with 18 alleged theft and deception offences in relation to $250,000 stolen from a company with ties to the event.

Steve Waugh has backed Australia to enjoy a winning run in the final months of the year as they build up confidence ahead of the Ashes, where he is fearful of a returning Jofra Archer.

Three consecutive victories in ODIs against England have put Australia in a better spot heading into a series of Tests against the West Indies and South Africa either side of the new year.

The Ashes then follows in June, with the World Cup in India to close out the year, and former Australia captain Waugh is confident about his side's chances.

"We've got a good cricket side, there's no doubt about that. We got a really good bowling attack, so they're capable of winning matches," he told Stats Perform.

"I think we'll beat West Indies pretty convincingly. Then we've got three Tests against South Africa, an emerging test side with a really good bowling attack. But I think they're batting is not quite up to standard.

"I think Australia will win most Test matches. But then they've got some hard Test matches coming up overseas. It's a long difficult period. It's 12 months of non-stop cricket for Australia."

Waugh highlighted the importance in getting wins on the board now to build up momentum for the Ashes, where Australia are looking to retain the urn.

"The Ashes is a big tournament for Australian cricket that's coming up in about less than 12 months now. We're looking towards that," he added.

"But in the meantime, they've West Indies and South Africa. I think will win those series, then we've got India away, which is really hard, and then the Ashes.

"The Ashes is hard to win. It's a tough assignment, but the guys are capable of winning.

"It's a long way off, and it might come down to which sides have fewer injuries to key players. If England have Jofra Archer playing, they're going to have a chance of winning."

Waugh also sprung to the defence of captain Pat Cummins, who has been outspoken on climate change and has come under the spotlight for his stance.

"He's realising that captaincy can be a difficult assignment. One minute people love you, the next minute they don't like you and your opinions matter," he explained.

"He's bought into the climate change issues and sponsorship. And yes, there's a few issues that have been around the side. I guess he's realised that maybe he's got more power than he thought he has.

"Whatever he says carries a lot of weight. And sometimes you've gotta be pretty careful what you say. But I think he's done a very good job as a captain on the field.

"He's learning as he goes along, which is only natural. He's pretty young for a captain."

Steve Waugh is an ambassador for the Laureus Challenge 2022, presented by Sierra Space.

Nicholas Pooran’s purple patch with the bat continued on Sunday as the Deccan Gladiators notched a close 18-run win over Delhi Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10.

Pooran, who came into the match with scores of 77 and 80, scored 34 from just 17 balls as Gladiators posted 140-2 from their 10 overs.

After losing Jason Roy for four in the first over, Pooran hit three fours and two sixes as he and opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore added 122 for the second wicket. Pooran was eventually dismissed in the ninth over by Waquas Maqsood, who took 1-21.

Meanwhile, Kohler-Cadmore blasted his way to an unbeaten 82 with eight fours and six sixes.

He and Andre Russell put on 12 in the final eight balls with the Jamaican scoring 10 that included a six over extra cover off Shimraz Ahmed, who conceded 11 in the over.

Imad Wasim had figures of 1-17.

Delhi Bulls made a good fist of it to score 122-4 from their 10 overs.

They owed their solid effort to a 24-ball 48 from Tim David and Rilee Rossouw, who scored 28 from 15. However, needing to score 14 an over proved too much for Delhi Bulls despite a gallant 14 not out from eight balls from Keemo Paul at the end.

David and Rossouw put on 79 for the third wicket after Tom Banton (12) and Rahkeem Cornwall (2) were back in the hutch in the third over with 26 runs on the board.

Russell got rid of the dangerous David in the ninth over effectively swinging the pendulum in Gladiators’ favour for the remaining 10 balls from which the Delhi Bulls could only muster 17 runs.

Russell’s two overs cost 26 runs but Josh Little proved much more effective with the wickets of Cornwall and Rossouw to return figures of 2-11.

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes Justin Langer's acrimonious spat with Cricket Australia could damage the team's international brand, calling for both to be wary of their words.

Langer, who departed the top job in February, accused sources within his camp of being "cowards" over leaking stories to the media on the Back Chat podcast.

That prompted criticism from Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley, while Langer subsequently denied a rift with players and bowler Mitchell Starc defended his relationship with the former coach.

Now Taylor, who captained the Test team between 1994 and 1999, has called for consideration from all parties, arguing any feud is likely to reflect poorly on the Australian game as a whole.

"If he's got a cross to bear, he wants to let people know, so he comes out with it," Taylor told Nine's Sports Sunday.

"The only thing I would say to Justin, or to players, or to administrators in general, is I'd like to see everyone just think a little bit more about Australian cricket.

"I don't mean Cricket Australia, I mean Australian cricket [itself], before they make comment. It's not great for the brand.

"Let's have a bit more positivity around Australian cricket. Less thought about individual brands, and a bit more about the team brand or the national brand."

Rain stopped play once again in New Zealand and India's latest white-ball encounter, as the pair saw a no result declared in an abandoned second ODI in Hamilton.

The tourists posted 89-1 off 12.5 overs at Seddon Park before the umpires officially called time on the match amid worsening conditions.

In a game that had already seen a break before five overs thanks to rain, it is the second game of the pair's wider limited-overs series to be washed out by the weather, along with a drawn T20 encounter on DLS.

The result means New Zealand hold a 1-0 lead from the first ODI heading into Tuesday's final game at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Cricket West Indies today paid tribute to David Murray, the former Barbados and West Indies wicket-keeper who passed away on Friday night. He was 72. Murray was the son of West Indies batting great Sir Everton Weekes. Murray’s son Ricky Hoyte, represented Barbados and West Indies ‘A’ Team as a wicket-keeper/batsman. 

Murray’s first tour with the West Indies was in 1973 to England. He made his international debut in the second One-Day International by a West Indies men’s team, which featured Lance Gibbs, Roy Fredericks Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd. His Test debut came in 1978 against Australia in Guyana. Overall, he played 19 Tests, 10 One-Day Internationals and 114 first-class matches.

Ricky Skerritt, President of CWI paid tribute to Murray.

“On behalf of CWI I want to offer my sincere condolences to Ricky, and other members of David’s family and friends. David was a gifted wicket-keeper and a stylish middle-order batsman. He loved the game of cricket, and played with a smile on his face. He will be remembered as a member of the great West Indies squad which dominated world cricket for over a decade. Devoted West Indies Cricket fans still remember David’s fantastic glove work and footwork behind the stumps to Michael Holding and other members of the fearsome West Indies fast bowling attack of his time.”

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons admits to some disappointment with a draw in the final four-day tour game against Prime Minister’s XI at Manuka Oval but believes it has been adequate preparation ahead of the two-Test series against Australia, which begins next week.

Chasing a total of 309 runs for victory, on the final day, a win seemed possible when the team entered the final break at 221 for 5, needing another 88 runs to claim victory.

 The West Indies had a less-than-ideal start to the final session, however, and found themselves reduced to 273 for 8, following the dismissals of Roston Chase, Alzarri Joseph, and then Kemar Roach, in fairly quick succession.

 Raymon Reifer and Joshua Da Silva then combined to help West Indies fight for the draw, playing out the final eight overs to finish on 277 for 8.

“I’m not happy with the results, we should have won it,” Simmons said following the final ball.

“We have a few misplaced wickets in the middle, while we were controlling the game, so that was a disappointment, but at the end of the day the way how the guys fought is always greatly encouraging,” he added.

With the players getting plenty of opportunities to bat and bowl in pressure situations, Simmons was though satisfied with what the tour match provided, ahead of a difficult series.

“The two games have been very good for us, mind you, flattish wickets, but the bowlers got the overs in their legs and the batsmen got their time at the crease so that was good for us.”

Former West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin was the star of the show as she helped the Adelaide Strikers to their first ever Women’s Big Bash League title with a 10-run win over the Sydney Sixers Women in the final Sydney on Saturday.

The Strikers posted 147-5 after winning the toss and batting first thanks to a top score of 52 not out from Dottin. Her knock came off 37 balls and included six fours and two sixes.

Australian opener Katie Mack also made 31 as English left arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone picked up two wickets for the Sixers.

With the ball, Dottin produced a crucial spell of 2-30 from her four overs, including the wicket of player of the tournament Ashleigh Gardner for a four-ball duck, to set up the win for her team.

Pacer Darcie Brown also took two wickets as the Sixers were restricted bowled out for 137 in 20 overs.

Dottin was named player of the match.

The four-day tour match between the West Indies and the Australia Prime Minister’s XI ended in a draw after Saturday’s exciting final day at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.

The tourists, who began the final day on 35-0 chasing a further 274 runs for victory, ended up 277-8 when the game was called to an end.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul completed an excellent match by top-scoring with 56, to go with his first innings 119, and was well supported by half centuries from Joshua Da Silva (54 not out) and Devon Thomas (55).

Pacer Mark Steketee took three wickets for the President’s XI while Ashton Agar and Michael Neser, who have both represented Australia in Tests, took two wickets each.

Scores: PM’s XI 322 and 221-4 declared, West Indies 235 and 277-8.

The West Indies will now turn their attention to the first test against the Aussies starting Wednesday in Perth at 9:20pm Jamaica Time (10:20pm ECT).