Worcester,England

WORCESTER, England (AP) — Ben Stokes marked his first innings since being appointed England test captain by smashing 17 sixes, a record in English county cricket.The match on Friday was a breathtaking return to the pitch by Stokes since a knee injury he aggravated in March during England’s third-test defeat to the West Indies.Stokes, announced as Joe Root's successor last week, walked to the crease with his Durham side in the ascendancy on 360-4 on the second morning of their division two clash against Worcestershire at New Road. The left-hander took just 47 balls to reach his half-century but went into overdrive thereafter as his second 50 took only 17 deliveries, with England Under-19 left-arm spinner Josh Baker coming in for punishment.The first five balls of Baker’s 20th over were muscled over the boundary rope by Stokes, the second time he has hit the first five balls of an over for six, having done so against Hampshire in 2011.Stokes' fifth six took him to a century in 64 balls, shattering the Durham record for the quickest first-class ton as former teammate Paul Collingwood’s 75-ball knock against Somerset in 2005 was put in the shade.Stokes was one blow away from emulating Garfield Sobers, the only batter in championship history to hit six sixes in an over, for Nottinghamshire in 1968. But another clean strike bounced just short of the long-on boundary and Stokes thumped his pads with his bat in despair.His 17th six broke the county record held jointly by Andrew Symonds and Graham Napier, and he eventually holed out to deep midwicket on 161 from 88 deliveries, ending a 220-run stand alongside David Bedingham (135) in 28 overs.It was good fun,” Stokes said.___More AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Stokes hits 17 sixes in comeback match

England

BenStokes

PaulCollingwood

NORTH SOUND, Antigua (AP) — Seamer Ollie Robinson was ruled out of England’s first test match against West Indies because of a back problem, with uncapped seamer Saqib Mahmood stepping into the squad.Robinson pulled up midway through an over during the warmup match against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI and was unable to take part in practice on Sunday.England was already unlikely to gamble on the 28-year-old Robinson’s fitness for the match, which starts Tuesday, but the latest injury settled the issue and allowed Mahmood to take his spot in a 12-man squad for the three-test series.England interim head coach Paul Collingwood and captain Joe Root must now decide whether to hand the Lancashire quick a debut in an all-seam attack or stick with the variety of Jack Leach’s left-arm spin.The starting lineup will be confirmed at the toss.___England squad: Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.___More AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Robinson out of England's 1st test against West Indies

JoeRoot

JackLeach

WestIndies

Robinson

JonnyBairstow

Sucharita Ganguly

London, UK

After being named as a stand-in by Andrew Strauss, the ECB's temporary managing director of men's cricket, Paul Collingwood will be England's head coach for their Test series against the West Indies next month. After just over two years as head coach, Chris Silverwood was fired last week, paying the price for England's latest hammering in an away Ashes series. Following the 4-0 series loss, Ashley Giles was fired as managing director. Also read: ‘Dream come true moment to receive cap from Virat Kohli bhaiya’: Deepak Hooda,Collingwood, who joined the England team as an assistant coach in late 2019 after several years as a consultant, took over as head coach when Silverwood was unavailable for an ODI series against Ireland in 2020 and recently oversaw a 3-2 loss to the West Indies in a T20I series in Barbados. He's been on vacation in Barbados and will join the Test squad when they arrive in Antigua on February 25. On March 1, England will play a four-day warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, their first since the controversial Stanford 20/20 for $20 million in 2008, ahead of the first Test at North Sound on March 8. Also read: Couldn’t have missed his debut: Irfan Pathan watches Deepak Hooda’s knock while stuck in traffic,The ECB is likely to name the squad for the tour on Tuesday, with Alex Lees, James Bracey, and Josh Bohannon among those vying to improve England's batting after failing to hit 300 in five Ashes Tests. Last week, Strauss, who is on the interim selection panel with Collingwood and national scout James Taylor, declared that Joe Root will remain captain, maintaining that he was 100% the right person to take this team forward. I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean, Collingwood said. I can't wait to get started. Having a challenging Test series against the West Indies straight off the back of the Ashes disappointment gives us a chance from now to reset and rebuild.”,Playing Test matches for England is the highest accolade in the game. My objective is to give players clarity, direction and encouragement for them to start building something special,” he added. Also read: IND vs WI: Gavaskar issues Kohli huge warning after poor outing in 1st ODI,He continued, I have spoken to Joe Root and Ben Stokes, and both are excited and passionate to take the team forward in this new cycle. Although they know it won't be easy, they have the desire and bravery to do things differently to ensure the team can prosper. We have an opportunity to get back on track. Collingwood might be a full-time candidate for the position of England's head coach. His lack of experience in a similar post at the county or franchise level works against him, especially after the experiment to elevate Silverwood from within backfired, but if the positions are split, as Strauss indicated last week, he will be a good candidate for white-ball coach. Collingwood was the first England men's captain to win an ICC trophy, the World T20 in 2010, and has worked closely with Eoin Morgan since his retirement from international cricket in 2011. Also read: West Indies captain Kieron Pollard says toss, batting played big role in loss vs India,He raised eyebrows last month when he claimed that players deserved medals, not condemnation for getting it through the Ashes series, but given England's demanding schedule, his attention on player welfare and mental health should be seen favourably. Marcus Trescothick, England's other assistant coach, is expected to join Collingwood's backroom staff for the Caribbean tour this week, with more appointments to be announced later this week. The visiting party is scheduled to include Richard Dawson, the elite performance pathway coach who guided England to the Under-19 World Cup final.

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Following the 4-0 series loss, Ashley Giles was fired as managing director.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/english/dream-come-true-moment-to-receive-cap-from-virat-kohli-bhaiya-deepak-hooda\\\">‘Dream come true moment to receive cap from Virat Kohli bhaiya’: Deepak Hooda</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Collingwood, who joined the England team as an assistant coach in late 2019 after several years as a consultant, took over as head coach when Silverwood was unavailable for an ODI series against Ireland in 2020 and recently oversaw a 3-2 loss to the West Indies in a T20I series in Barbados.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He's been on vacation in Barbados and will join the Test squad when they arrive in Antigua on February 25. On March 1, England will play a four-day warm-up match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, their first since the controversial Stanford 20/20 for $20 million in 2008, ahead of the first Test at North Sound on March 8.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/english/couldnt-have-missed-his-debut-irfan-pathan-watches-deepak-hoodas-knock-while-stuck-in-traffic\\\">Couldn’t have missed his debut: Irfan Pathan watches Deepak Hooda’s knock while stuck in traffic</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"The ECB is likely to name the squad for the tour on Tuesday, with Alex Lees, James Bracey, and Josh Bohannon among those vying to improve England's batting after failing to hit 300 in five Ashes Tests.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Last week, Strauss, who is on the interim selection panel with Collingwood and national scout James Taylor, declared that Joe Root will remain captain, maintaining that he was \\\"100% the right person to take this team forward.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean,\\\" Collingwood said. \\\"I can't wait to get started. Having a challenging Test series against the West Indies straight off the back of the Ashes disappointment gives us a chance from now to reset and rebuild.”\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"\\\"Playing Test matches for England is the highest accolade in the game. My objective is to give players clarity, direction and encouragement for them to start building something special,” he added.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/english/india-vs-west-indies-sunil-gavaskar-issues-virat-kohli-huge-warning-after-poor-outing-in-1st-odi\\\">IND vs WI: Gavaskar issues Kohli huge warning after poor outing in 1st ODI</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He continued, \\\"I have spoken to Joe Root and Ben Stokes, and both are excited and passionate to take the team forward in this new cycle. Although they know it won't be easy, they have the desire and bravery to do things differently to ensure the team can prosper. We have an opportunity to get back on track.\\\"\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Collingwood might be a full-time candidate for the position of England's head coach. His lack of experience in a similar post at the county or franchise level works against him, especially after the experiment to elevate Silverwood from within backfired, but if the positions are split, as Strauss indicated last week, he will be a good candidate for white-ball coach.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Collingwood was the first England men's captain to win an ICC trophy, the World T20 in 2010, and has worked closely with Eoin Morgan since his retirement from international cricket in 2011.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Also read:&nbsp;<a href=\\\"https://opoyi.com/english/west-indies-captain-kieron-pollard-says-toss-batting-played-big-role-in-loss-vs-india\\\">West Indies captain Kieron Pollard says toss, batting played big role in loss vs India</a>\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"He raised eyebrows last month when he claimed that players deserved \\\"medals, not condemnation\\\" for getting it through the Ashes series, but given England's demanding schedule, his attention on player welfare and mental health should be seen favourably.\"}},{\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"data\":{\"text\":\"Marcus Trescothick, England's other assistant coach, is expected to join Collingwood's backroom staff for the Caribbean tour this week, with more appointments to be announced later this week. The visiting party is scheduled to include Richard Dawson, the elite performance pathway coach who guided England to the Under-19 World Cup final.\"}}]}

<ul>
  <li>Paul Collingwood will be England's head coach for their Test series against the West Indies</li>
  <li>Chris Silverwood was fired last week, paying the price for England's latest hammering in an away Ashes series</li>
  <li>Collingwood joined the England team as an assistant coach in late 2019</li>
</ul>

#PaulCollingwood

Stokes hits 17 sixes in comeback match

Robinson out of England's 1st test against West Indies

Paul Collingwood named England men's team head coach against West Indies