James Taylor Forced to Retire from Cricket

Taylor

England and Nottinghamshire batsman James Taylor has been forced to retire because of a serious heart condition.

Scans have shown that Taylor, 26, has a condition similar to the one which affected footballer Fabrice Muamba.

Taylor, who has played seven Tests and 27 one-day internationals for his country, posted on social media: "Safe to say this has been the toughest week of my life!

"My world is upside down. But I'm here to stay and I'm battling on!"

Taylor felt ill during the first day of his county's pre-season fixture against Cambridge MCCU last week and was taken to hospital.

It was initially thought he had a viral condition, but he has since been diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and needs an operation.

Taylor later posted on Facebook: "Absolutely overwhelmed with all the support I've received. You don't understand how much it means to me and how much it helps! Thank you!"

England team director Andrew Strauss spoke about his "shock" and "sadness" at the news.

"Throughout his career, he has constantly impressed with his determination to make the absolute most of his ability," said Strauss.

"It is immensely cruel that such a hard-working player will be unable to fulfil his great potential in the international arena."

Footballer Muamba collapsed when his heart stopped for 78 minutes while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur in 2012.

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Strauss Sees No Reason to Panic

Captain Andrew Strauss says England will not make any dramatic changes in the wake of the 10-wicket defeat by Pakistan in the first Test in Dubai.

Strauss's side were bowled out for 192 and 160 in a loss that leaves them 1-0 down in the three-match series.

"There's plenty of things to ponder but we won't push the panic button," said the 34-year-old.

"We are disappointed with the way we played but we will show character and come back stronger."

After winning the toss, England slumped to 43-5 at lunch on the first day before partially recovering to 192 all out.

By restricting Pakistan to 338, the tourists looked to have gained a foothold in the game, but again collapsed on the third afternoon.

"We got caught off-guard in the first session," Strauss continued. "All credit to Pakistan, once they got ahead they didn't let us back in.

"Our preparation has been good, we played good cricket in the warm-up games, we just didn't react well enough to the conditions. To lose wickets early against the spinners put our batsmen under pressure."

Much of the talk before the Test surrounded the balance of the England team, with Strauss and coach Andy Flower ultimately opting against picking a second spinner in order to field six batsmen and three seam bowlers.

Strauss felt his decision was vindicated and praised his bowling attack.

"The bowlers did a good job but the batsmen should have done better in both innings," added the Middlesex opener.

"I wouldn't fault what the bowlers did - they did exceptionally well. That's not where we're focusing our attention. The most important thing is that we get big runs on the board."

Broad Keen to Wrap Up Series

Stuart Broad has challenged England to wrap up the Pakistan tail quickly on the third morning of the first Test in Dubai.

England were bowled out for 192 on day one, but late wickets on day two left Pakistan 288-7, a lead of 96.

"It's important we finish them off quickly in the morning," said Broad, who has figures of 2-72.

"If we can get 350-400 in our second innings it will be tough batting last on that wicket."

The Nottinghamshire seamer believes Andrew Strauss's men can draw on past experiences of rescuing draws and even wins after starting poorly.

England salvaged a draw from the opening Test of last winter's Ashes in Brisbane after conceding a first-innings deficit of 221, and last summer beat India at Trent Bridge after being reduced to 124-8 on the first day.

"Last night I think there were a few batters feeling a bit negative in their room, but it [was] important today that we came to the ground with a positive attitude, knowing that we've been in positions like this before," added Broad.

"We can look back to Brisbane and Trent Bridge, when we were behind the eight-ball a little bit but bowled really nicely in our first innings then scored big in our second innings batting.

"So that's what we've got to do here, but more importantly tomorrow morning we've got to come out and finish the tail off."

Mohammad Hafeez, who top-scored for Pakistan with 88, admitted his team had hoped to establish a bigger advantage but said they remain in command.

"We were expecting a bit more, but they bowled really well today," he said. "Their fast bowlers' lines were very good, and Graeme Swann bowled very well as well.

"But we're still in a good position to really dominate this game."

Ajmal Records Career Best

England collapsed to Saeed Ajmal at the start of their first Test series as the world's top team - against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates - but there was hardly anybody there to witness it at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Ajmal removed three batsmen in five balls on his way to a career-best seven for 55 - including five lbws - in a total of 192 all out as only England's number seven wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior (70no) managed to resist for long on day one of this three-match series. 

After Pakistan responded with an untroubled 42 without loss at stumps, the indications were that England might be significantly under-par on a pitch yet to misbehave. 

Prior dug in against type and showed great resilience and technique amid his team-mates' failures, finding significant assistance only from Eoin Morgan and then Graeme Swann - with whom he added 57 for the eighth wicket. 

Andrew Strauss' tourists lost Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott in the first hour even before the intervention of Ajmal, who had taunted them with talk of a new mystery delivery in the build-up to this tough examination of their new world-beating credentials. 

Whether the off-spinner was profiting from those mind games was a moot point. But either way, clever disguise of his off-breaks, doosras - and maybe even a 'teesra' or two - proved too much for a succession of England batsmen. 

Once he entered the attack at 42 for two, he bowled 16 overs unchanged almost until tea - and then returned to finish the job, leaving only Prior unbeaten. 

In their first attempt to consolidate since reaching the top of the International Cricket Council world table against India last summer, England found themselves playing a stone's throw from the world governing body's headquarters. 

In front of a paltry crowd of hundreds rather than thousands at the 25,000-capacity Dubai International Cricket Stadium, almost exclusively English in this neutral territory for Pakistan's 'home' series, they appeared to be set for a low-key start to this first of 15 Tests this year. 

But Cook soon departed, to only the third delivery of spin after Pakistan had turned for the first time to one of their slow bowlers in only the sixth over. 

England chose to select just Swann as their spin option, with Kevin Pietersen also able to bowl part-time off-breaks. 

Pakistan, meanwhile, named two frontline slow bowlers. But it was neither of them, but instead occasional off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez, who struck. 

Cook went back to cut, and a small amount of turn was enough to take the edge for caught-behind. 

Strauss was joined by Trott, who registered England's first three boundaries before going too far across to Aizaz Cheema to edge behind down the leg-side - the only batsman to be dismissed by pace, and departing exactly as he did in his first innings of this tour against an ICC Combined XI during England's warm-up schedule. 

But it was the introduction of Ajmal, Pakistan's fifth bowler used, which spelled real trouble for England. 

Strauss paid for an apparent misjudgement, attempting to pull off the front foot and bowled by a ball which did not seem to be short enough. 

Ian Bell then went for a first-ball duck, in Ajmal's next over, pushing forward in defence only to get a thin edge behind to a delivery that appeared to have spin imparted but barely moved off the straight.

Three balls later, Pietersen was lbw - via the series' first DRS ruling - to one that snaked past the outside edge and hit him low on the front pad. 

Ajmal ought to have had his fourth wicket almost immediately when Morgan survived an obvious stumping chance on three, and England reached the end of a tortured session with no further losses.

Morgan and Prior were threatening to also negotiate the first hour after lunch, and had almost doubled the score, when the left-hander missed a sweep at Ajmal and was lbw. 

England failed with a DRS attempt to overturn that decision from Bruce Oxenford, and the Australian was proved right again after Stuart Broad made the same mistake. 

Swann drove well, kept Prior company for much of the latter's richly-deserved 115-ball 50 and could hardly be blamed for losing his off bail to a perfectly-pitched delivery from Abdur Rehman which also turned sharply. 

Prior grabbed another 41 for the last two wickets as numbers 10 and 11 lent fair support until succumbing, almost inevitably, to Ajmal in England's first sub-200 total since their Ashes defeat in Perth more than a year ago.

England Suffer India Whitewash

England suffered a spectacular collapse to hand India a 95-run win - and with it a 5-0 series whitewash - in the final one-day international at Eden Gardens.

Set a target of 272, openers Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter hit half-centuries and England were cruising at 129-0 in the 21st over.

But Cook was bowled by Varun Aaron for 60 and Kieswetter followed lbw for 63 to Ravindra Jadeja in the next over.

That double blow was the start of a meltdown that saw the tourists lose all 10 wickets for just 47 runs as they were bowled out for 176 in 37 overs.

Left-armer Jadeja finished with figures of 4-33 to claim the man-of-the-match award - and he was well supported by fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who picked up 3-28 in the carnage.

The result provided sweet revenge for India, who failed to win a match against England on their tour earlier in the year.

England's habitual stumbling block Mahendra Singh Dhoni (75no) had earlier rescued a viable total of 271-8 after Cook asked India to bat.

Cook and Kieswetter then crashed 17 fours - and a six for the latter - as they tucked into India's seamers, and consolidated initially with the pace off in near run-a-ball half-centuries.

But their departures were the start of five wickets going down for 12 runs in 35 balls.

Ian Bell, playing for the first time in the series because of the thumb Kevin Pietersen broke in Sunday's Mumbai defeat, nicked behind a doosra from Ashwin; and Jonathan Trott edged the slow left-armer to slip.

The damage continued when Jonny Bairstow tried to hit against Jadeja's spin and was caught at point, and there was simply no way back for England as their collapse duly careered further out of control.

It became a matter of if, not when, England would surrender - and when the end came with 13 overs unused, it was to the delight of a crowd which filled barely a third of this famous venue but nonetheless made plenty of partisan noise.

India's innings had been a stop-start affair - featuring an opening stand of 80, three wickets for no runs in the next 10 balls and then Dhoni's apparently inevitable virtuoso display.

The man who has stood without fail between England and even a modicum of success on this tour kept India competitive with only three fours but also four sixes from 69 balls, and much industrious scurrying as well.

He dispatched two towering sixes in one Swann over, and blitzed two more among 39 runs off the 49th and 50th as he cranked up a late charge.

England had bowled acceptably but not penetratively with the new ball, after Cook had again won the toss, and India's opening pair Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir appeared untroubled and unhurried as they progressed smoothly through the first 17 overs.

A quick outfield gave the batsmen impetus. But when Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn returned out of necessity in the bowling powerplay, they briefly transformed events.

Gambhir aimed to cut Finn and got an inside edge on to his stumps as a ball slanted naturally across him seamed marginally in off the angle.

It was lateral movement too which then saw off the dangerous Virat Kohli for a fifth-ball duck in the same over.

Kohli had wafted and missed at a slightly wider delivery, then chose to leave alone one that snaked back into him and knocked back an unguarded off stump.

Bresnan was not to be outdone and ousted Rahane in the next over, via an edge trying to drive a full ball outside off-stump and a memorable, diving catch by Kieswetter - who has veered to extremes with his wicketkeeping on this tour.

India had therefore made 10-3 in the powerplay, and it ought to have got even better for England had Swann not spilled a routine catch at second slip off Finn to reprieve Suresh Raina on one.

The left-hander stayed long enough to share useful stands with Manoj Tiwary - who edged Stuart Meaker behind, pushing forward - and then Dhoni before being run out by Ravi Bopara.

An excellent pick-up and throw from midwicket did the trick, Raina's bat over the crease but in the air as he dived in for a single.

Dhoni, who has made 340 runs in six innings dating back to the Oval on September 9 since England last managed to dismiss him, got under way with an aerial chip for four off Meaker which traced a thin line between midwicket and mid-on.

But he assessed requirements expertly and - even as wickets fell at the other end - provided his own spinners with more than enough runs.

Broad Urges Twenty20 Focus

England captain Stuart Broad has urged his squad to retain the focus of their Test whitewash of India in Wednesday's Twenty20 international at Old Trafford.

"It's a fresh start but it's important we play with the same authority as we did in the Test series," Broad said.

Broad lost his first game as Twenty20 skipper to Sri Lanka in June,but uncapped Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Alex Hales have since joined the squad.

Batsman Gautam Gambhir has become the latest plyer on India's injured list.

Gambhir visited a specialist as he was still troubled by the concussion he suffered in dropping a catch in the final Test at The Oval, and was complaining of impaired vision.

He has been advised to rest and will now fly home.

The depleted tourists, who already have hard-hitting batsmen Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, and bowlers Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh on the sidelines, were soundly beaten in all four Test matches.

Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar has retired from Twenty20 international cricket and with the large number of absentees, veteran Rahul Dravid is poised for a remarkable international debut in the shortest form of the game at the age of 38.

"We don't want to be a batter light, in this format you want your full top seven batsmen which means Rahul will most likely get a chance," said skipper Mahendra Dhoni, who led the team to the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 title in 2007 and the 50-over World Cup earlier this year.

England will also have a some alterations to their side in Manchester, with only five of the team who beat Australia in the final of the 2010 World T20 in the 13-man squad.

Of the debutants Broad said: "I've seen them on television in the hotels when travelling around, so I am well aware of what they can do.

"What has shone about Jos Buttler is he can calmly flick the ball over the keeper's head and next ball hit it straight 20 rows back."

"Stokesy is a strong guy, a big hitter of the ball. He certainly showed his power in training today, while I know Alex well from Notts.

"He's a tall guy, 6ft 5in, and strikes the ball hard. He has an extremely high strike rate in the Twenty20 format and he's done really well in red ball and white ball cricket. He's an exciting talent."

Regarding the heavy defeat on his captaincy debut, he said: "That game didn't go to plan. We didn't get enough runs on the board. If we get the opportunity to bat first we'll have to set a more competitive total.

"We've talked about ways of doing that as a team and it's about players standing up and taking responsibility.

"We learned from the Sri Lanka defeat and as international cricketers it's exciting to have fresh challenges against a strong Indian team.

"I would expect India to come very hard at us. As you would expect they are a world class ODI side. That is something to be aware of but not something for us to worry about because we need to focus on what we do well as an England team. We are T20 World Champions and we need to look at our strengths and stick to them."

After the one-off international the teams contest a five-match 50-over series, starting at Durham on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kevin Pietersen, who has been left out of that series, is expected to play on Wednesday despite being hit in the neck by a short delivery from Broad in practice.

England (from): Stuart Broad (capt), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann.

India (from): Mahendra Dhoni (capt & wk), Varun Aaron, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh.

Umpires: Rob Bailey and Richard Illingworth

Third umpire: Nigel Llong

Fourth umpire: Michael Gough

Match referee: Jeff Crowe

Cook Shares Batting Frustrations

Cook in 3rd Test

Captain Alastair Cook said England's batting was the chief disappointment after a six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka left the hosts trailing 2-1 in the five-match one-day series.

"I think we were about 30 or 40 runs light," the opener said after his team had set Sri Lanka 247 to win in good batting conditions at Lord's.

"It's been a tough day. We kept losing wickets at the wrong time.

"There are lots of areas we can improve on but we didn't get going at the top."

The teams face each other again in a day-night match at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, and England may decide to change their side following two comprehensive defeats.

Cook, who took over the captaincy of the one-day international side on a permanent basis at the start of the series, at least answered those questioning his batting ability in 50-over cricket with a century.

However, former England players Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher have questioned the balance of the side with Jonathan Trott batting at number three and Ian Bell at six in the order.

Asked if there were too many conservative batsmen in the side, Cook replied: "Like who?

"Trotty's had a quiet couple of games, but he averages 50 and strikes at 80 at number three, which are pretty good stats.

"We'll all take collective responsibility in the batting line-up for not scoring enough runs. That's the reason why we didn't win this game.

"It's nice for a bit of confidence to score runs, but it's never nice to do it in a losing cause."

Former captain Stewart, speaking on the BBC's Test Match Special, said England needed to change the batting order and freshen up the bowling attack.

England's problem in one-day cricket has always been that they don't have the impact players, the players that can win you matches with a burst of wickets or runs with the bat

"They need to play without fear and they they need to find a method to be successful in all conditions across the world."

His view was backed up by former England opener Butcher, who was also summarising on Test Match Special.

"England's problem in one-day cricket has always been that they don't have the impact players, the players that can win you matches with a burst of wickets or runs with the bat," he said.

Sunday's match at Lord's ended in bizarre fashion when Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews refused a succession of runs to ensure Chandimal, 21, could reach a century at Lord's.

Mathews finished unbeaten on one not out from 21 balls, having defended the 47th over of the innings for a maiden in a period of play which perplexed both captains.

"It was different. I've never seen that before," said Cook. "They're perfectly entitled to do it if they want. It's just slightly strange and you never know, the cricketing gods might look down in a bit of disgust. It was getting close, wasn't it?"

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan looked visibly irritated on the balcony but said afterwards: "We won comfortably in the end. I was a little upset that it came down to the last overs, but they are youngsters, they are learning, and I'm really happy because we got a good win.

"We are very confident after the last two games and looking forward to winning the series."