Chris Woakes may risk rehab over shoulder surgery in bid to be fit for Ashes

  • England bowler ‘waiting to see extent of the damage’ first

  • Recurrence a chance he’d be ‘willing to take’ to make tour

The England bowler Chris Woakes has not given up on playing in the Ashes this winter after he revealed rehabilitation rather than surgery on his dislocated shoulder is being considered.

Woakes produced an astonishing display of bravery in England’s six-run loss to India in the fifth Test of a thrilling series earlier this week when he decided to bat at No 11 with his arm in a sling after a dislocation of his left shoulder on day one of the match.

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Yorkshire and Glamorgan wins shake up tables: county cricket – as it happened

Yorkshire routed Sussex to move away from relegation danger while Glamorgan earned a rare win at Old Trafford

The groundstaff are peeling back the covers here, an inspection at 11.45. Rain also at New Road, Cheltenham and Northampton.

Paul Edwards, sitting next to me at OT, is purring about watching Dan Lawrence. He references Pinter, That beautiful evening Compton made 70 – “I’d never seen anything to compare it to until Lawrence made 78 off 77 balls at Scarborough. And again, his 88 off 116 balls at the Riverside. Magnificent.”

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Nottinghamshire v Somerset, Durham v Surrey, and more: county cricket day three – live

They’re up and running at Chelmsford and Canterbury – where Kent – buttressed by Ben Compton - had an unexpectedly good Wednesday against Leicestershire.

Fifty for Revis – who the Yorkshire cognoscenti consider to be the best of the batting bunch (though I feel I’ve written that about various others in the top five over the last few years). The Yorks lead is currently 113 and you’d think they’ll bat till tea if they last the course.

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‘The risk was way too high’: Ben Stokes ruled out of fifth Test with India

  • Shoulder tear likely to need seven weeks of rehab

  • Ollie Pope will lead England while Jofra Archer is rested

Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the final Test match of England’s international summer with a grade-three muscle tear in his shoulder, sustained during the drawn fourth game against India at Old Trafford. Ollie Pope will captain the side in his absence as England seek to defend their 2-1 lead and complete a series victory.

Recovery from a muscle injury of such severity is estimated to take between six and 10 weeks, though England’s medical team have estimated Stokes’s likely recovery time at around seven weeks. England are due to arrive in Australia for the start of their Ashes preparations in just over 14 weeks, with their captain optimistic that he will have fully recovered in time for a potentially career-defining series.

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India’s head coach clashes with Oval staff before fifth Test as tempers flare

  • Gambhir engages in angry exchange with groundman

  • Fortis tells Gambhir: ‘You can’t tell us what to do’

The spicy spats that have increasingly been a feature of the action in the England-India Tests so far this summer spilled on to the training pitch on Tuesday when the tourists’ head coach, Gautam Gambhir, had a row with Surrey’s head groundsman as his team prepared for the latest clash at the Oval on Thursday.

Ben Stokes’ squad were enjoying a break, but with the series still to be decided in the final Test and India 2-1 down after their fightback at Old Trafford the visitors’ work in the nets was far from straightforward as tensions surfaced in angry exchanges between the pair at the centre of the dispute.

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Sheepishness may follow sour grapes in handshakes row as England near end of brutal series | Ali Martin

Ben Stokes and his team got it wrong on graceless end to final day that showed their vulnerability and India’s unity

India spent a day with Manchester United’s squad before the fourth Test, only to then pull off the kind of collective defensive effort rarely seen at the other Old Trafford in recent seasons. But they were not alone in veering away from their pre‑match preparations.

Gilbert Enoka, the All Blacks adviser who made famous their “no dickheads” policy, did some work with England on the training days, only for them to act briefly like … well, let’s just say their adoption of something similar remains a work in progress.

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Joe Root hits new milestones as century cements England dominance against India

Friday in Manchester belonged to Joe Root as 20,000 people inside Old Trafford watched a master at work. Inevitable is a dangerous word in a fickle sport like cricket and yet the events that transpired felt as close to this as is possible: the likeliest of outcomes once Root gambolled out to the middle first thing under an azure blue sky.

The first expectation was that England, trailing India by 133 runs on 225 for two, would take control of this fourth Test and, sitting 2-1 up, the series as a whole. Ben Stokes, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had inflicted such damage on day two that it was going to take something remarkable from the tourists to turn their fortunes around.

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Rehan Ahmed sends Ashes message as Leicestershire march on – as it happened

The young spinner took 13 wickets and scored a century as the Division Two leaders eased past Derbyshire, while Essex routed Sussex in the top tier

My Friday brain hadn’t clicked that Glamorgan were already in a run chase – 143 more needed, seven wickets in hand. Parky M, 2-13, has already removed nightwatchman James Harris this morning.

In other chase news – Warwickshire, 71-2, need another 322 to beat Worcs and Derbyshire, 119-4, another 327 to beat Leicestershire.

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Rishabh Pant’s wounded foot trips up India’s solid start against England in fourth Test

After the row about time-wasting at Lord’s came an unscheduled 10-minute delay on the opening day in Manchester, but this time no one was grumbling. Rishabh Pant was being driven off on a golf buggy nursing a suspected broken foot, the agony on his face as clear as the egg that had swollen up within seconds.

This was a very Pant way to get injured, India’s zany wicketkeeper having attempted a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes only to bottom-edge the ball on to his right boot. England burned a review for the lbw but it was as good as a wicket, Pant retiring on 37 and his further participation in this pivotal fourth Test left very much in doubt.

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Liam Dawson’s selection an about-face from England and a reward for county form

Spinner may have thought his Test days were gone, but consistent performances for Hampshire have been recognised

As the one enforced change in England’s XI for the hotly anticipated fourth Test against India at Old Trafford this week, Liam Dawson replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir represents a 180-degree turn on pretty much every metric.

Bashir has been the long-term investment this past year: a 6ft 4in right-arm off-spinner who, aged 21, struggles to get a look-in at Somerset and has instead been honing his craft at the highest level. His ceiling is fancied to be higher than his towering release point, even if he is a No 11 with the bat and a competent fielder at best.

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