4:59 PM GMT George Dobell Matt Roller Close Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @mroller98 The ECB has announced a £61 million financial support package in a bid to ensure that cricket can withstand what chief executive Tom Harrison has described as “the biggest challenge” the governing body has faced

8:57 AM GMT The ECB has tightened up its anti-corruption guidelines by banning players from wearing smartwatches on the field of play in all fixtures. Previously, the governing body had allowed players to wear smartwatches on the field of play, under the proviso that communication or data transmission facilities would be switched off in televised

5:00 PM GMT Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has admitted that he is prepared for the possibility that there is no cricket played at all during the 2020 summer, with the UK currently under lockdown as it battles the coronavirus outbreak. Root also said that he expects conversations to take place “in the coming weeks”

2:44 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff David Hodgkiss, the Lancashire chairman, has died at the age of 71 after contracting coronavirus. Hodgkiss, who had been on the board at Emirate Old Trafford for 22 years, is understood to have had underlying health issues. Having previously served as treasurer and vice-chairman, he took over from Michael Cairns

3:25 AM GMT Contingency planning to prepare for the possibility of a severely affected home summer has forced a delay in the release of Cricket Australia’s annual contracts for men and women, with state and Big Bash League contracts also uncertain. Contracted players were informed on Friday that the annual contract rankings for the national

10:21 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Former England captain Alastair Cook has said that he would prefer a season without the County Championship to playing a greatly reduced version of the competition. The first seven rounds of Championship cricket have already fallen victim to the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic, with the ECB announcing last week that

12:33 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic has led to the start of the English season being put back until at least May 28, and left many counties facing a potentially damaging shortfall in finances. How has your club responded to the situation? Here we will keep track of ongoing developments. Derbyshire

Heather Knight looks on © Getty Images England captain Heather Knight has signed up to be a National Health Service (NHS) volunteer during the coronavirus outbreak. Knight only returned from Australia, where she led England to the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup, 10 days ago and is now living under the UK’s lockdown

11:19 AM GMT Andre Russell is one of the most valuable players in T20 cricket, and now his West Indies team-mate Dwayne Bravo has likened the Jamaican to “our Chris Gayle, our Brian Lara” in T20Is. Bravo’s praise came in the wake of Russell’s impactful return during the two-match T20I series in Sri Lanka, which

Mar 27, 2020 The COVID-19 lockdown could provide a new generation of cricketers the time and space required to hone the mental side of their game, according to John Gloster, the Rajasthan Royals’ physiotherapist. He believes that some lasting benefits could yet arise from cricket’s globally enforced break, in spite of the cramped conditions that

6:38 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff The cricket world has come to a standstill with all international and domestic fixtures being called off due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) across the globe, but according to India coach Ravi Shastri this break is a “welcome rest” as far as India players are concerned. Talking to

Babar Azam taps one on the off side © PCB The PCB has confirmed a massive change to their policy, allowing both international and domestically contracted players to take part in a maximum of four T20 leagues around the world, including the PSL. The earlier policy, which was introduced in 2018, had restricted player participation

2:16 PM GMT Dane Piedt, the nine-times capped South African Test offspinner, still harbours hopes of playing at a 50-over World Cup, albeit not for the country of his birth. Piedt will move to the USA in the next few months to be part of the new Minor League T20 tournament, which is due to

5:04 PM GMT Iain O’Brien, the former New Zealand fast bowler, has launched a funding page in a bid to return to his family. O’Brien, who now lives with his wife and two daughters near Matlock in England, was visiting his parents in New Zealand when the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic struck. While he has

6:01 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Ollie Rayner, the offspinner who won the County Championship with Middlesex in 2016, has confirmed his retirement from cricket at the age of 34 after his release at the end of last season. Rayner, a tall spinner with an orthodox action, took 51 wickets at 23.56 in Middlesex’s title-winning team

Rajasthan Royals’ English imports Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in Jaipur © PTI Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler have both said they are training as though the IPL will start in the second half of April, despite both suggesting that a further delay to the tournament’s start date is likely due to the COVID-19 (novel

4:46 AM GMT Annesha Ghosh Mithali Raj, Indian Women’s ODI captain, believes the BCCI should not “wait forever” to organise the women’s IPL, and wants the inaugural tournament to be held in 2021. Raj, currently the most experienced player in women’s cricket, said that the women’s IPL could initially be on a “smaller scale”. “I

8:59 PM GMT Pakistan 249 for 6 (Imran 72, Miandad 58, Pringle 3-22) beat England 227 (Fairbrother 62, Akram 3-49, Mushtaq 3-41) by 22 runs In the end, it had to be Imran. Pakistan’s captain, leader, talisman and icon is into his 40th year and will surely never be seen again on a cricket field