Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, has called on the ICC to "deliver on their own rules" when it comes to women's rights in Afghanistan*, as he weighed into the row over England's scheduled Champions Trophy clash with the country's cricketers next month.

The UK government says the International Cricket Council should "deliver on their own rules" relating to women's participation as the England men's team resist calls to boycott their upcoming match against Afghanistan.

Downing Street asks ICC to ‘deliver on own rules’ over Afghanistan boycott calls - The terms of ICC membership have been directly breached by the abolition of women’s sport in Afghanistan.

Former Australian cricketer Tim Paine slammed the pitch for the final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground. The Test ended up in two-and-a-half days with none of the teams reaching the 200 run-mark. The surface was seaming around throughout the Test match and showed signs of inconsistent bounce as the cracks opened up.

However, former Australia captain Michael Clarke was highly critical of the surface. "The SCG is my favourite ground in the world, it is my home ground, and I hate saying this out