SPORTS

Fifties from Steve Smith, Travis Head and David Warner helped Australia end Day 1 at 339 for 5 against England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's London. While Warner's 66 set the tone for Australia, Smith's 85 not out held the fort for the Pat Cummins-led side. Travis Head's 77 off 73 only added to the problems of England. Josh Tongue and Joe Root claimed two wickets apiece while Ollie Robinson scalped one wicket. England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bowl. 

The officials of major cricket centres, which have not been allocated an ODI World Cup matches, have expressed their disappointment at missing out on an opportunity to host games of the ICC event in October-November. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and host BCCI announced the World Cup schedule on Tuesday, finalising 10 venues for the event beginning October 5.

The established cricket centres that have missed out include Mohali, Indore, Rajkot, Ranchi and Nagpur. The chosen venues include Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata. The metro cities usually get to host the World Cup games and apart from that, the matches are allocated zone wise and in some cases personal preferences come into play.

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor has defended Ben Stokes' call to declare early in the first innings during the Edgbaston Test and said it was a brilliant decision. 

England had put on 393/8 at Edgbaston on day one when they decided to declare the innings, with Bazball in full flow. The hosts were looking to put pressure on the Australian openers with less than half an hour's play left and looking to get a few wickets.

Team India selectors faced scrutiny for ignoring Sarfaraz Khan once again for the Test team. The BCCI announced the Test squad for the West Indies tour on Friday where they made some tough calls by dropping Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav. Young players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad got their maiden Test call-ups while Sarfaraz failed to make the cut despite scoring plethora of runs in domestic cricket.

Australia opener Usman Khawaja has credited the improved dressing room environment for his personal and the team's success in the recent past, saying professional cricketers are being treated like adults for the first time in a very long time. Khawaja's comments came after Australia outclassed England in a last-day thriller in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday, June 20.

Usman Khawaja hit a match-winning 141 in the first innings, helping Australia close in on England's first innings total of 393 for 8 declared. Australia narrowed down England's lead to just 7 runs after Khawaja played a marathon knock, holding one end. In the second innings, Khawaja stood like a rock, hitting a patient 65 as Australia won a last-session thriller in Birmingham, successfully chasing 281.