England expect most players will choose country over IPL for West Indies ODIs
England expect most of the five Indian Premier League players picked for their one-day international series against West Indies to report for international duty rather than complete the rescheduled tournament,The IPL’s league phase will now conclude on 27 May, two days before England play their opening game against West Indies at Edgbaston, meaning that Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton, whose teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention, will certainly be free to play for their country,The playoffs begin on 29 May, with the final to take place on 3 June, the day of the final ODI,Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks, whose sides are towards the top of the table, could all find their allegiances tested, but the England and Wales Cricket Board is confident that at least the latter two will prioritise England’s first white‑ball games on home soil since Brendon McCullum took over as coach of the limited-over sides and Harry Brook as captain,It is not certain that all of the 10 English players who had been at the IPL before its suspension last week will choose to go back at all, and with some teams not playing again until next Wednesday there is still time for them to make up their minds.
But Buttler is expected to arrive on Wednesday in the country and the ECB has promised to “facilitate players’ return should they choose to go back”.Two members of the West Indies squad play for teams that look likely to be involved in the playoffs, and while both the ECB and Cricket West Indies had agreed to let any players involved in the tournament stay in India for its duration, the new schedule has made that stance more difficult.In a statement the ECB said that No Objection Certificates, which must be issued by a player’s home association before they are allowed to play in a foreign league, had “been granted based on the original IPL dates” and that they would “need to review any potential extensions”.The new IPL dates also affect the preparations of the two World Test Championship finalists, with that title to be decided when South Africa and Australia meet at Lord’s, starting on 11 June.ODI squad: Harry Brook (Yorkshire, captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Tom Banton (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Tom Hartley (Lancashire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey).
T20 squad: Harry Brook (Yorkshire, captain), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Matthew Potts (Durham), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Luke Wood (Lancashire),While Cricket Australia has said it would “support players in their individual decisions” and “work through preparation implications for the WTC final for those players who choose to play in the remaining IPL matches”, Cricket South Africa has indicated that it expects the eight members of its squad who are involved in the IPL to report for duty in England as planned on 31 May,Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionUnder a new rule brought in last September overseas players who withdraw from the IPL for any reason except illness or injury are automatically banned from playing in the tournament for two years, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India has not yet announced that it intends to waive it given the tournament’s suspension,On Tuesday Tom Moffat, chief executive of the World Cricketers’ Association, said players should not be punished given a lack of clarity over the security situation has left them unable to make “fully informed decisions”,“We know there are differing levels of comfort from individual players and given the unique circumstances there would be an expectation from all reasonable people in our sport that any decision made by players should not be held against them,” he said.
Archer was not included in England’s squad for the three T20s that follow the ODIs, and is expected to play for England Lions in their four‑day game against India A at Northampton from 6 June as he builds up his workload ahead of a possible Test return.Phil Salt is named only in the T20 squad, while Liam Livingstone, who captained his country as recently as November, has been left out altogether.
Bentley warns its car sales to US still frozen amid tariff cut confusion
The British luxury carmaker Bentley has said sales to the US remain frozen as customers wait for lower tariffs from the UK’s trade deal – with no sign yet of when the rates will start.The UK last week agreed a 10% tariff on 100,000 car exports to the US as part of a limited trade deal with Donald Trump. That would be significantly below the 25% extra levy imposed by the US on the rest of the world, but neither government has yet detailed how the deal will work in practice.Frank-Steffen Walliser, Bentley’s chief executive, said the wait for lower tariffs was “super-harming the business at the moment – nobody is moving”.Manufacturers still have no idea when the lower tariffs will be implemented or how the 100,000 cars allowed into the US at the lower tariff will be shared out among UK carmakers
M&S says some personal data was taken in cyber-attack
Marks & Spencer has revealed that some personal information relating to thousands of customers was taken in the cyber-attack that has crippled its online operation for more than three weeks.Since the retailer’s IT systems were hit by a ransomware attack over the Easter weekend, it has not been taking online orders, and the availability of some products in its stores has been affected after it took some of its systems offline in response.The company said on Tuesday that it now realised that some customer data had been accessed but this did not include usable payment or card details, or any account passwords. The Guardian understands the details taken are names, addresses and order histories.M&S said personal information had been accessed because of the “sophisticated nature of the incident”
US monthly inflation rate slows amid Trump tariffs
The pace of inflation slowed in April, the month that Donald Trump announced his sweeping “liberation day” tariffs on the US’s largest trading partners.The annual inflation rate was 2.3% in April, down from an annual rate of 2.4% March, according to a new inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, hit an annual rate of 2
Thames Water finances were ‘hair raising’, chair tells MPs
The chair of Thames Water has admitted its finances were “hair raising”, as he said bosses were in line for “substantial” bonuses linked to an emergency £3bn loan.The UK’s biggest water company came within just five weeks of running out of money, Adrian Montague told MPs on Tuesday.“Thames in the last year has come very close to running out of money entirely,” he said. He added there were times when it only had weeks’ worth of cash left. “Running a £20bn corporation on five weeks’ liquidity, honestly, it’s hair raising
Gold fever makes a comeback as buyers and bankers recoil from uncertainty
New York’s famous Diamond District was teeming last week. But the subject on many minds in the city’s jewelry district was not diamonds but gold.Covid, Ukraine and now Donald Trump’s trade wars have all sparked new interest in gold – which can trace its history as a currency back to 600BC.On West 47th Street, gold trader Becky Algozhoeva at GT Findings was showing coins and ingots stamped with the Roman goddess Fortuna, also known as “Lady Fortuna”, to customers.“Regular people are thinking gold is the key
Nissan to shut seven factories, cutting 20,000 jobs worldwide
Nissan is to close seven factories with the loss of 20,000 jobs around the world, after a tumultuous year for the Japanese carmaker.As it slims down production, Nissan will make a further 11,000 job cuts, after 9,000 job losses announced in November, collectively reducing its workforce by 15%. The decision will affect staff and contractor jobs across manufacturing, sales and administration, as well as research and development.Nissan did not say which factories were due to shut. However, its factory at Sunderland in north-east England, the carmaker’s only factory in Europe and where it employs 6,000 people, is not thought to be a likely candidate for closure
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