David Warner remains content to be a leader "without having a title" but would be open to discussions with Cricket Australia to remove his lifetime ban from holding a captaincy position.

Opening batter Warner was embroiled in controversy back in 2018, partnering with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft as the trio were punished for their involvement in a ball-tampering scandal against South Africa.

All three players were handed a year-long ban for their role in the Newlands Test scandal, though Warner was punished the most severely as he was banned from holding a leadership position ever again.

The 35-year-old expressed fears he would never play for his country again but has since returned to enjoy T20 World Cup success, coupled with an Ashes demolition of England.

While Warner has quietly returned to the fore both nationally and domestically, growing calls have suggested his ban should be removed so he can replace Usman Khajawa as Sydney Thunder captain in the Big Bash League.

"That hasn't really been brought to the table," he said on Sunday when asked if there could be a change of heart at Cricket Australia. 

"As I've said plenty of times off the record, it's upon the board to reach out to me and open their doors. Then I can sit down and have an honest conversation with them.

"The board has changed since back in 2018 and when all those sanctions were dealt. It would be great to have a conversation with them and see where we are at."

Regardless of whether Warner holds a position within Pat Cummins' Australian leadership team or with the Thunder, the left-handed opener believes he can still play a role without a title.

"I've got the experience, I'm a leader in the side anyway without having a title," he added.

"That's what I'm about, giving back, so if they [younger players] can pick my brains in any way, my phone is always there, they have my number, and they can see me when I'm at the practice facilities."

West Indies spinner Yannic Cariah insists the team must find a way to see off the first 10 overs from New Zealand’s front-line bowlers if they are to have any chance of winning the ongoing three-match One Day International (ODI) series.

After losing the opening match, the Kiwis came roaring back into the series with a dominant 50-run (DLS) win over the Windies on Friday.  The team would have taken plenty of encouragement after bowling out New Zealand for 212, led by Kevin Sinclair’s industrious 4 for 41.

In their turn at the crease, however, the Windies batsmen could not come to grips with the duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee.  Together, the two combined for a relentless opening spell that left the home team six wickets down in the 10th over.

Overall, the duo finished with seven wickets and ended the Windies response before it began.  Southee finished with 4 for 22 and Boult 3 for 18. 

Cariah, however, did play his part in making a contest of things.  He provided the majority of the little resistance getting his maiden half-century in an 85-run partnership with Alzarri Joseph.  With the series and possibly an automatic spot at the ICC World Cup on the line the bowler knows the team can’t afford a repeat performance at the crease.

“We need to find a way to bat the first 10 overs from Southee and Boult, keep them out of the game in the wickets column and we will be fine,” Cariah said ahead of Sunday’s decider.

“I just think with the new ball is we had faced some balls and bat some overs and get ourselves in it would have been easier for us,” he added.

Stubborn lower-order resistance from bowlers Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph proved insufficient as devastating spells from Trent Boult and Tim Southee led New Zealand to a series-levelling 50-run (D/L) win over the West Indies on Friday.

In the rain-affected fixture at Kensington Oval, the West Indies, chasing New Zealand’s first innings total of 212, looked in real trouble at 27 for 6, and then 63 for 7 when the rain intervened.

On the resumption, Cariah and Joseph buckled down to steer the team into a much more competitive tally.  Cariah scored his maiden half-century with 52 from 84, while Joseph added 49 from 31.  The pair combined for 85, the highest partnership of the West Indies' innings.

Their brave resistance and the Windies' faint hope were ended when Joseph was bowled by Southee.   Cariah was the last man to go after being caught by Finn Allen off the bowling of Mitchell Santner.

Earlier, Southee and Boult had ransacked the Windies batting line-up as the pair eventually combined for 7 wickets.  Southee ended with 4 for 22 and Boult 3 for 18.  The pair’s early assault left the Windies six wickets down by the 10^th over.

In New Zealand’s turn at the crease, Allen only narrowly missed out on a maiden century, after leading the team out of trouble at 31 for 3.  He was eventually dismissed on 96.

  Despite Allen’s heroics, the West Indies had another strong outing with the ball, which was led by spinner Kevin Sinclair’s maiden four-wicket haul.  Sinclair ended with 4 for 41 while all-rounder Jason Holder ended with 3 for 24.  

Dean Elgar declared "you do not want to poke the bear" after "angry man" Anrich Nortje played a big part in South Africa's thrashing of England at Lord's.

The tourists took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series inside three days, bowling Ben Stokes' side out for 165 and 149 to win by an innings and 12 runs.

England were unable to live with a hostile Proteas pace quartet, spearhead Kagiso Rabada named man of the match after he took 5-52 in the first innings and 2-27 on Friday.

Marco Jansen (2-13) and Lungi Ngidi (1-15) also did damage after spinner Keshav Maharaj took 2-35, as England meekly folded to lose their perfect record under captain Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

It was the rapid Nortje who was South Africa's main man on the third day, though, making an unbeaten 28 as he was peppered with short balls before charging in to take 3-47.

Proteas captain Elgar said of the fast bowler's performance: "It was some of the quickest bowling I have seen.

"The catch our keeper [Kyle] Verreynne took to get rid of Jonny Bairstow was one of the quickest balls he has ever had to catch and it was a pretty big wicket at the time.

"It was a hostile spell of bowling. He is an angry man and you don't want to poke the bear. He bowls at 90 mph. It's great to have him in my changing room."

Elgar was surprised to wrap up the victory just over halfway through the match and vowed to celebrate in style.

He added on the BBC's Test Match Special: "I can't [believe it has finished so quickly] but I think I will when I wake up tomorrow with a hangover.

"It was a team effort. There were a few standout performances but everyone played their part, including the guys who weren't playing. So it is a pretty good squad effort."

Much has been made of England's new aggressive approach to Test cricket, but Elgar will be sticking to his tried and tested formula.

He said: "I'm still a purist when to comes to Test cricket. I don't stuff around with too many styles of play. I think the game demands and kinda deserves it."

Brendon McCullum says England have not become a bad team overnight after they were thrashed by South Africa in the first Test at Lord's.

England had started a new era under head coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes by whitewashing New Zealand 3-0 and beating India in a rearranged match at Edgbaston to draw the series.

They were brought crashing back down to earth six weeks after that win over India, as the tourists hammered them by an innings and 12 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

England were thrashed inside three days, failing to live with a potent Proteas pace attack in a one-side match that saw them fold to 165 all out in the first innings and only 149 in the second.

McCullum says they must take the chastening defeat on the chin and hit back at Old Trafford next week.

"South Africa deserved the victory. We have a little bit of work to do, but you don't go from being a good team to a bad one overnight." the former New Zealand skipper told Sky Sports.

McCullum felt if anything England were too "timid' rather than overly aggressive.

He said: "It was the type of wicket that the boys reflected that you get in, then you got a cracking delivery from nowhere. I thought our approach was alright

"I think over the last four wins we've had there have been times where we have been behind then able to absorb it and turn it back on the opposition. We couldn't do that today.

"As we said at the outset, you have to buckle up for the ride. We'll come back stronger."

McCullum added: "The wicket was challenging at times and some of the balls were too good for us. If anything I thought some of the dismissals were a bit timid today. We won't overreact after this."

Alex Lees and Stuart Broad top scored with 35 apiece. The hostile pace quartet of Anrich Nortje (3-47), Kagiso Rabada (2-27), Marco Jansen (2-13) and Lungi Ngidi (1-15) tore through England after spinner Keshav Maharaj took 2-35 on Friday.

South Africa emphatically consigned England to a first Test defeat of their new era as Ben Stokes' side were thrashed by an innings and 12 runs inside three days at Lord's.

The potent Proteas pace attack did much of the damage once again, bowling a fragile England out for only 149 in 37.4 overs on Friday.

Dean Elgar's men dominated from start to finish in London, taking a first innings lead of 161 by posting 326 all out in reply to England's 165.

The tourists wrapped up the victory just over two-and-half days into the first of three Tests in the series to go 1-0 up, with the wickets shared between magnificent quicks Anrich Nortje (3-27), Kagiso Rabada (2-27), Marco Jansen (2-13) and Lungi Ngidi (1-15) after Keshav Maharaj took 2-27.

It was a chastening defeat for England, Stuart Broad and Alex Lees the joint top-scorers with 35 as they lost their perfect record since Stokes was appointed captain and Brendon McCullum head coach.

Broad took a brilliant one-handed catch for Matthew Potts to dismiss Rabada after South Africa resumed on 289-7, before claiming two wickets of his own to end the innings and leave Nortje unbeaten on 28.

Spinner Maharaj had England in trouble on 38-2 at lunch, dismissing the out-of-sorts Zak Crawley (13) leg before and trapping Ollie Pope (five) in front with the last ball of the morning session.

The Proteas pace attack again came to the fore in the afternoon session, Ngidi getting rid of Joe Root (six) before a fired up Nortje had Jonny Bairstow (18), Lees and Ben Foakes (nought) caught behind.

Broad came out swinging (35) as he put on 55 with Ben Stokes for the seventh wicket before he was deceived by a slower ball from Rabada and Jansen cleaned up Potts.

Stokes (20) picked out Maharaj in the deep knowing he was almost out of partners to become Rabada's second victim and Jansen bowled James Anderson with a quick yorker to put England out of their misery.

Proteas fire to blow England away

England had won all four Tests under their new coach and captain, whitewashing New Zealand 3-0 and beating India in a rearranged match at Edgbaston.

They were brought down to earth by a ruthless South Africa, who showed why they are top of the World Test Championship. Their fast bowlers fired on all cylinders as England were beaten by an innings at Lord's for only the second time in 52 Tests since June 1993.

Left-arm tweaker Maharaj was not required to bowl in the first innings, but he set the ball rolling in England's second innings before the quicks ripped through the hosts.

Crawley could pay the price

Opener Crawley has been backed by Stokes and McCullum, but he could pay the price for two more failures.

England must regroup before the second Test at Old Trafford, where Crawley may have to step aside. 

Andre Russell has once again demonstrated why he is among the most sought-after players in short-form cricket when has blasted a quick-fire half-century and took a wicket as Manchester Originals crushed Southern Brave by 68 runs in Southampton on Thursday.

Russell, 34, smashed an unbeaten 23-ball 64 that included six fours and five sixes in Manchester Originals' mammoth score of 188-2. He was given the perfect platform after openers Joss Buttler (68) and Phil Salt (34) gave the side a solid start with a stand of 64.

Buttler clubbed three fours and five sixes in his 42-ball knock while Salt found the boundary ropes on four occasions and cleared it once is his innings that lasted 22 balls. However, while both knocks were impressive, they paled in comparison to the mayhem that Russell produced scoring at a rate of 278 per cent to drive Manchester to within 12 runs of the 200 mark.

Jake Lintott, who dismissed Salt was the best of the Brave bowlers with 1-28 from 20 balls while Michael Hogan took Buttler’s wicket to finish with 1-48 from his 20 ball allotment.

Faced with a daunting target, Southampton crumbled under the scoreboard pressure, capitulating to 120 all out.

Openers Quinton de Kock (21) and James Vince (20) gave them a good enough platform with an opening stand of 36 but Southampton Brave were simply unable to maintain the scoring rate of 1.88 runs per ball.

George Garton’s 25 from 14 balls and Ross Whiteley 21 from 12 attempted a short-lived late-order revival that would invariably come to nought.
Russell picked up the wicket of the dangerous Tim David, who made a run-a-ball 10 to finish with figures of 1-7 from five balls.

It was Paul Walter, though, who did the most damage with 3-20 from 15 balls. Mark Pattinson and Tristan Stubbs took two wickets each for the Manchester Originals.

For his heroic efforts with bat and ball, Russell was named Player of the Match.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell insists he remains very interested in being part of the team’s ICC T20 Cricket World Cup plans but expects Cricket West Indies (CWI) to also respect his terms.

The 34-year-old has been one of the most controversial names when it comes to West Indies cricket team selection over the past few years.  The player has not represented the team since last year’s ICC T20 World Cup, with the unit having played several series since.  Despite taking part in several T20 leagues around the world, Russell has not been available to represent the West Indies.

The issue has been a source of frustration for fans as well as Windies coach Phil Simmons who recently expressed his discontent with the issue.  While insisting that he remains eager to represent the team, Russell pointed out that there is also the interest of both himself and his family to consider.

 "I always want to play and give back. But at the end of the day, if we are not agreeing on certain terms...they (CWI) have to respect my terms as well. At the end of the day, it is what it is,” Russell told Sky Sports.

 "We have families and we have to make sure that we give our best opportunity while we have one career. It's not like I can start over again. I'm 34 and I want to win another World Cup -- or two more -- for West Indies because at the end of the day, I'm here now, and I'm just taking it day by day," he added.

"Of course, of course. The maroon is all over. Honestly, I have two franchise hundreds and I wish those hundreds were actually playing for West Indies. I don't regret saying this just now. I really enjoyed playing for Jamaica Tallawahs but those two hundreds, it would be more special coming in international cricket.”

Russell is expected to return to the Caribbean to take part in the upcoming edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).  It remains to be seen whether the player will then be included as a part of the T20 World Cup squad for the tournament in Australia later this year.

West Indies batsman Shamarh Brooks has credited the team’s determination to put in the hard yards early on as crucial to earning a 5-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening One Day International (ODI) on Wednesday.

Brooks was deservedly named man-of-the-match, in large part due to compiling a steady 79 from 91, which underpinned much of the West Indies' success in responding to the New Zealand total.

The player's efforts were all the more impressive after the Kiwis struggled to come to grips with a difficult surface, where Kane Williamson had the highest score with 34.

Brooks, however, had plenty of support, particularly from Windies skipper Nicholas Pooran who was uncharacteristically restrained in a knock of 28 from 47.

“It was just getting the start, that was ideal.  As I said before the wicket wasn’t the easiest to bat on but the longer we spent out there is the easier it got,” Brooks said in assessing the situation.

“I told him (Pooran) that we had never had a partnership in this form of cricket and that I was looking forward to it.  So, we just put our heads together, as I said it was tough going at the start but Nicky put down his head.  It was a bit out of character because he is normally very fluid and plays a lot of shots but it was very good in the end.”

Stuart Broad reached 100 wickets in Lord's Tests, but it was emphatically South Africa's day at Lord's as England suffered a dose of their own medicine.

On day two of the first Test, South Africa clipped the English tail to turn an overnight 116-6 into 165 all out, before going on to reach 289-7 themselves by stumps.

South Africa's lead of 124 runs came about largely thanks to Sarel Erwee's 73 and a seventh-wicket flurry that came with a hint of 'Bazball' about it.

That is, of course, the nickname that has been afforded to England's vivacious batting approach since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum became the captain and coach partnership, and the ball repeatedly raced away to the boundary as South Africa showed off their own attacking flair.

On Friday, the hosts must step up, or they will soon slide 1-0 behind in this three-match series.

After Wednesday's play was curtailed by rain, South Africa should have seen the back of England anchorman Ollie Pope in the first over of Thursday's action, but Erwee made a laughably bad attempt to cling to an edge off Kagiso Rabada at first slip, juggling before the ball hit the deck.

Rabada had a stroke of luck in removing Pope soon afterwards, with an inside edge into his stumps accounting for the batsman, whose 73 provided the only substantial home resistance.

Broad also fell to Rabada, fooled by a slower ball, and after Jansen bowled Jack Leach, Rabada completed figures of 5-52 by pinning James Anderson lbw.

Captain Dean Elgar looked sharp with the bat at the outset of South Africa's reply and had reached 47 when Anderson struck in bizarre fashion, the ball trickling onto the stumps after hitting the Proteas skipper on the pad and arm.

Keegan Petersen and Aiden Markram fell for modest scores, the latter prised out by Leach after a snick to Ben Foakes from the first ball after tea.

Stokes then dismissed Erwee with a snorting delivery that might have hurt the batsman's chin had he not put the bat there in self-defence, the ball looping up for Foakes to take safely.

The home skipper had Rassie van der Dussen pegged lbw moments later, and Broad reached his Lord's wickets century when Foakes held on to remove Kyle Verreynne.

Stokes broke up the entertaining 72-run seventh-wicket alliance between Marco Jansen (41 not out) and Keshav Maharaj (41) as the light began to fade, but it was resoundingly South Africa's day.

Broad's 100 puts him in familiar company

Broad is the second member to enter the Lord's 100-wicket club, joining Anderson (117 wickets) in getting to three figures.

It was the sixth instance overall of a bowler taking 100 Test scalps at a single venue, with Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan responsible for three of those ton-up feats, with centuries of wickets in Kandy, Galle and Colombo.

Muralitharan's compatriot Rangana Herath also managed 100 Test wickets at Galle.

The West Indies will commence the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the period 2023-27 with a full home series against India in July and August 2023 followed by a white ball tour by England in December 2023. These form part of over 150 international matches that West Indies will play home and away within the new FTP.

Fans can now start to look forward to planning for home fixtures and away tours over the next five years, starting with India’s all-format tour in 2023 which will feature two Test matches as West Indies’ first home fixture in the new 2025 World Test Championship (WTC). India will also play three One-Day Internationals (ODIS) and five T20 Internationals (T20Is).

England will return to the West Indies in late 2023 for an eight-match white-ball series with three ODIs and five T20Is with a second white-ball tour of the Caribbean in 2024.

The new FTP features an ICC World tournament every year including the ICC T20 World Cup for the West Indies and USA in 2024 and two World Test Championships. West Indies will be playing India, South Africa and Bangladesh at home, and Australia, England and Pakistan away as part of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship. The full West Indies FTP can be found here https://bit.ly/3QSaIXi

The ICC FTP is a result of a collective effort of Full Members with ICC’s coordination and support. The FTP ensures a level of certainty of bilateral cricket fixtures across the three cricket formats. The exact dates and venues for each Series will be announced in due course by Cricket West Indies (CWI) following consultation with each ICC Member nation.

The West Indies have home fixtures against India, England (twice), South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, Pakistan before the end of 2025 with an enticing schedule away fixtures around the world including defending the Richards-Botham Trophy in England in the summer of 2024.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Ricky Skerritt, and CEO Johnny Grave welcomed the announcement of the new FTP.

“Cricket West Indies (CWI) is pleased that the new Men’s (2023-2027) and Women’s (2023-2025) FTP have been finally agreed. They provide some operational and financial certainty of our medium-term bilateral tours and matches across all formats, against all other Full Member nations. I want to thank our CEO Johnny Grave, and those several other Executives and Chairmen representing the various other Boards, who put many valuable hours into these negotiations,” Skerritt said.

“The major highlight during the period will be our joint hosting of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June 2024, where we will partner with the USA to deliver an event of the highest quality on and off the field. The hosting of the Men’s T20 World Cup should help to inspire the next generation of young West Indians and re-ignite the cricketing passion of our fans in the Caribbean and around the world. Hopefully it will also provide a legacy and catalyst for growth of the sport within the USA. We are also pleased that we have once again been able to secure full windows for the Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League for our players as we try to find a balance between our international commitments and the significant earning opportunities for our players from Domestic Leagues,” Grave said.

India eased to victory in the first ODI against Zimbabwe, winning by 10 wickets in Harare on Thursday.

The hosts began poorly as they found themselves 31-4 after the first ball of the 11th over, with none of the top four batsmen scoring double figures.

They continued to struggle up to 110-8 after less than 30 overs, before a partnership of 70 from Brad Evans (33 not out) and Richard Ngarava (34) put some respect on the eventual total of 189 all out, captain Regis Chakabva top scoring with 35.

It did not seem like 190 would be enough to repel India, and sure enough the tourists made light work of it as openers Shikhar Dhawan (81 not out) and Shubman Gill (86 not out) chased it down themselves off just 30.4 overs.

Zimbabwe have lost their last 13 men's ODIs against India, which was already their longest losing streak against them in the format, having last beaten them in June 2010.

India have now won their last five away men's ODI matches. The last time they won as many consecutive matches on the road was a stretch of five in June 2019.

The second of the three-match series takes place in Harare on Saturday.

West Indies spinner, Yannic Cariah, revelled in a successful debut after doing his part in an impressive team bowling performance that helped secure a crucial One Day International (ODI) win over New Zealand on Wednesday.

After receiving his debut cap at the Kensington Oval, ahead of the first ODI in the series, Cariah finished with figures of 1 for 49 in 9 overs.  The spinner accounted for the wicket of Michael Bracewell who was dismissed lbw.

The 30-year-old player, a regular in the region’s A-Team, was added to the squad after Gudakesh Motie failed to fully recover from a fractured thumb, which he sustained during the ODI series against India last month.

“It was a great feeling, I worked very hard to reach here.  It took longer than I expected but I’m grateful to finally have the opportunity and I’ve enjoyed it so far,” Cariah said of his debut.

Another debutant Kevin Sinclair also reaped success after taking 1 for 37 in the bowling unit's overall strong performance.  The charge was led by Akeal Hosein’s 3 for 28 and Alzarri Joseph’s 3 for 36.  All-rounder Jason Holder also chipped in with 2 for 39.

“I think we utilized the wicket well.  I think Akeal bowled, Sinclair bowled well and all the bowlers, in particular, bowled well.  We set up a good chase.”

A classy half-century from West Indies batsman Sharmarh Brooks anchored the team to a five-wicket win over New Zealand and a 1-0 series lead at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday.

Chasing 190 to win, Brooks put together a responsible 79  from 91 deliveries and formed part of a crucial partnership with Windies captain Nicholas Pooran.  The pair put on 75 for the fourth wicket, with Pooran getting 28 from 47.  

In pursuit of the total, New Zealand struck an early blow after removing Kyle Mayers for 6.  Shai Hope blasted an aggressive looking 26 off 24 but was eventually caught by Tom Latham off the bowling of Tim Southee.  Kacey Carty then struggled to 11 from 22 before being mopped up lbw by Mitchell Santner.

Pooran then combined with Brooks to push the score to 149 for 4.  After several rain interruptions, Brooks was dismissed shortly after the third time the teams re-took the pitch.  The batsman was finally out after edging to Latham off the bowling of Trent Boult.  Pooran perished a few overs later but with the damage done Jermaine Blackwood (12) then combined with Jason Holder (13) to see the Windies easy over the line at 193 for 5, with 66 balls remaining.

Boult and Southee took two wickets each for New Zealand.

Earlier after winning the toss and choosing to field Akeal Hosein led a stifling spell by the Windies bowlers, who took wickets at crucial points to ensure New Zealand never got momentum.  Hosein picked up figures of 3 for 28, with Windies pace bowler Alzarri Josephs also claiming 3 for 36.

West Indies batsman Jermaine Blackwood admits he is over the moon to be back in the One Day International (ODI) set-up for the first time in almost 8 years.

The stylish 30-year-old batsman has evolved as a red ball specialist over the last few years but was called into the team after recently returning Shimron Hetmyer pulled out of the squad due to personal reasons and allrounder Keemo Paul was ruled out with an injury.

The aggressive batsman has only ever played two ODIs and has a high score of 11 but has long been proposed as an option for the format because of his aggressive scoring instincts.  In Test cricket, he averages 31.29 and has three half centuries.

Blackwood is ever to prove that he has improved much as a batsman since his previous two appearances.

“I was over the moon.  I’ve always been telling myself that I wanted to come back into the team and make a difference, so right now I have the opportunity to do just that,” Blackwood said.

“My game has developed a lot.  I haven’t played regional 50 over cricket in three years because of West Indies duties but in-between that I’ve played a bit and I’ve scored some 100s batting at the top of the order and at number three.  So, I have the experience batting the new ball and the old ball.”