England's Joe Root hopes to build on Lord's success
by AFP
Leeds: Joe Root said on Wednesday that England would look to carry on from where they left off against New Zealand at Lord's during the second and final Test at his Headingley home ground.

England skittled out New Zealand for just 68 at Lord's on Sunday to secure a 170-run win that left them 1-0 up in a two-match series heading into the second Test, which starts on Friday.

"The guys played exceptionally well over the week," England batsman Root told Sky Sports on Wednesday. "That last day was really good so we are taking a lot of confidence from that into this week. We want to win and we will definitely be going out there to do that. We want to prepare as best we can and hopefully we can get things right and start off well," he added.

Last week's match was Root's first Test in England and he responded with knocks of 40 and 71, valuable innings in the context of a low-scoring clash. Now he is looking to follow that up with more runs on his Yorkshire home ground, where pitches have generally aided batsmen so far this season....more    
09:31 PM, May 22, 2013

New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling ruled out of Headingley Test
by AFP
Leeds: New Zealand wicketkeeper BJ Watling was ruled out Wednesday of the second and final Test against England at Headingley starting Friday. Watling injured his knee during New Zealand's 170-run first Test defeat at Lord's last week. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who deputised behind the stumps at Lord's, will keep at Headingley with Martin Guptill coming into the team to bat at number six, a Black Caps statement issued...  
08:31 PM, May 22, 2013

New Zealand: 4 Indian-origin men face gangrape charges Melbourne: Four Indian-origin men accused of gangraping a young girl today appeared in a court in New Zealand. The men - Amir Chand, 25, Harvinder Singh, 22, Kamaljeet Singh, 27, and Sumit Vermani, 26 - are defending the charges of raping the girl in April 2011, Fairfax NZ News reported. The woman, then aged 19, was raped on the day of the famous racing event in Hamilton, she said during...  
07:18 PM, May 21, 2013

Ian Bell declared fit for Headingley Test London: England named an unchanged squad for the second Test against New Zealand starting on Friday after batsman Ian Bell was declared fit following a bout of tonsillitis. Bell climbed out of his sick bed to take his place at the crease in the first Test won in stunning fashion by England on Sunday but had been a doubt for Headingley. Yorkshire batsman Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root will get...  
03:06 PM, May 21, 2013

Vettori set to replace injured Martin for 2nd Test
by AFP
London: New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori could return to action in the second Test against England this week after Bruce Martin was ruled out of the rest of the tour with a calf injury. Vettori has not played for the Black Caps for almost a year because of a hamstring injury and was left out of the squad for the two-Test series in England. But with Martin sidelined by the...  
07:15 PM, May 20, 2013

New Zealand media muted in critique of first Test loss Wellington: New Zealand's media were muted in their reaction to their side being bundled out for just 68 runs to give England a 170-run victory in the first Test at Lord's on Sunday, instead turning their focus towards the second match in Leeds. Their second innings score, sparked by Stuart Broad's career-best figures of seven for 44, was New Zealand's ninth-lowest in their 83-year Test history. Unlike the furore that...  
11:25 AM, May 20, 2013

Cook satisfied as England hit the ground running London: England captain Alastair Cook was satisfied with his team's performance after they beat New Zealand by 170 runs in a fluctuating first Test at Lord's on Sunday. Widely criticised following the recent 0-0 series draw in New Zealand against a side ranked six places below them, England produced a disciplined bowling display to skittle the touring side for 68 in their second innings. "It was a good Test win...  
09:45 PM, May 19, 2013

Stuart Broad sets up huge win for England at Lords London: With nearly two days to beat England in the first Test at Lord's, New Zealand looked like they might not last two hours after reaching lunch at 29-6 on the fourth day. Tasked with defending 238 to prevent their first loss to the Kiwis in 14 years, England were set to win big and with more than a day to spare. Stuart Broad caused most of the carnage, snaring...  
07:22 PM, May 19, 2013

As it happened: England vs New Zealand, 1st Test, Day 4. CLICK HERE for live ball-by-ball updates from day four of the first Test between England and New Zealand being played at Lord's in London. Day 3 Round-up: James Anderson and Steven Finn continued the good work from the previous day and bowled out New Zealand for 207. England's second innings did not get the start it needed as both openers Alastair Cook and Nick Compton departed in quick successions. Joe...  
02:48 PM, May 19, 2013

England lead NZ by 205 after 3 days at Lord's London: After two days of being oppressed by New Zealand, England broke the stranglehold in impressive style to take charge halfway through the first Test at Lord's on Saturday. First, New Zealand was dismissed for 207 to give England a first-innings lead of 25, a significant amount on a tricky, soft pitch. That lead was then boosted from 25 to 205, as Joe Root and Jonathan Trott found runs easy...  
11:36 PM, May 18, 2013

As it happened: England vs New Zealand, First Test, Day 3 CLICK HERE for live ball-by-ball updates from day three of the first Test between England and New Zealand being played at Lord's in London. Day 2 Round-up: James Anderson took his 300th Test wicket and then ended a bold counter-attack by New Zealand's Ross Taylor as England fought back in the first Test at Lord's. The two players lit up a Lord's bathed in artificial floodlight to counter the overhead...  
03:06 PM, May 18, 2013

James Anderson joins England 300 club
by AFP
London: James Anderson became only the fourth England bowler to take 300 Test wickets when he dismissed New Zealand's Peter Fulton on the second day of the first Test at Lord's on Friday. Lancashire seamer Anderson joined Ian Botham (383), Bob Willis (325) and the late Fred Trueman (307), the first man in history to take 300 Test wickets, in a select quartet of England bowlers. The 30-year-old Anderson started...  
12:02 AM, May 18, 2013

James Anderson bowls England back into first Test
by AFP
London: James Anderson took his 300th Test wicket and then ended a bold counter-attack by New Zealand's Ross Taylor as England fought back in the first Test at Lord's. The two players lit up a Lord's bathed in artificial floodlight to counter the overhead gloom of Friday's second day which ended with New Zealand 153 for four in reply to England's first innings 232, a deficit of 79 runs. Anderson...  
11:50 PM, May 17, 2013

As it happened: England vs New Zealand, First Test, Day 2 James Anderson took his 300th Test wicket and then ended a bold counter-attack by New Zealand's Ross Taylor as England fought back in the first Test at Lord's. The two players lit up a Lord's bathed in artificial floodlight to counter the overhead gloom of Friday's second day which ended with New Zealand 153 for four in reply to England's first innings 232, a deficit of 79 runs. CLICK HERE...  
03:10 PM, May 17, 2013

England crawl to 160/4 on Day 1 against New Zealand London: In the curtain-raiser to an action-packed English summer of international cricket, New Zealand stole the show by limiting England to a plodding 160-4 on the first day of the first Test at Lord's. The stage was set for England to show their true colors on Thursday, with the team back at full strength, at cricket's HQ, and desperate to rectify for a humbling series draw in New Zealand two...  
11:06 PM, May 16, 2013

As it happened: England vs New Zealand, first Test, day 1 New Zealand bowlers kept a check on the run-rate as England batsman got out after getting starts. Trent Boult got 2 two wickets with Martin and Wagner taking one each. CLICK HERE for live ball-by-ball updates from day one of the first Test between England and New Zealand being played at Lord's in London. PLAYING XIs: ENGLAND: 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Nick Compton, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell,...  
02:37 PM, May 16, 2013

New Zealand to make late decision on bowling attack London: New Zealand will assess weather and pitch conditions on Thursday morning before making a final decision on whether to field four pace bowlers in the first Test against England at Lord's. On the eve of the first match in the two-Test series on Wednesday, captain Brendon McCullum said the final place would go to either Doug Bracewell or left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, who played in the drawn three-match series...  
09:32 PM, May 15, 2013

No lack of effort or application in NZ, says Cook London: England were not complacent or under-prepared during their disappointing tour of New Zealand this year, captain Alastair Cook said on Wednesday. England, the world's second-ranked side, were outplayed by their eighth-ranked hosts and only a courageous century by Matt Prior and a rearguard batting effort on the final day secured the draw in the third test that left the series level at 0-0. "It was not a lack of...  
08:31 PM, May 15, 2013

Wasim Akram inspires New Zealand's Boult
by
London: New Zealand's Trent Boult hopes to succeed where cricket hero Wasim Akram failed by getting his name on the Lord's honours board during this week's first Test against England. Left-arm seamer Boult proved a thorn in England's side with six wickets in the drawn third Test at Auckland in March where the tourists hung on to claim a draw with just one wicket standing as a thee-match series ended...  
09:18 AM, May 15, 2013

Broad wants England batsmen back among the runs
by AFP
London: Stuart Broad believes England's top-order batsmen hold the key to victory in their upcoming two-Test series with New Zealand. While it is a truism that pace bowling allrounder Broad and the rest of the England attack must take 20 wickets if they are to win any Test, big scores from the team's batsmen give bowlers runs to play with and put pressure on the opposition. That was certainly the...  
09:00 AM, May 15, 2013