SAN JUAN, Argentina (AP) — England hooker Jamie George will fly to Australia on Sunday to join the British and Irish Lions as concussion cover for countryman Luke Cowan-Dickie.
Cowan-Dickie was knocked out after attempting a tackle in the first half of the Lions' 48-0 win over an Australia and New Zealand Invitational side in Adelaide on Saturday.
Lions coach Andy Farrell said after the match that Cowan-Dickie was feeling “good” but suffered a concussion, a week out from the first test against the Wallabies.
England announced hours later that George was being drafted into the Lions squad, so would miss Saturday's test match against Argentina in San Juan. He was set to start and will instead watch the match before departing for Brisbane on Sunday, England said.
Theo Dan came into the England team as George's replacement.
“We’re absolutely delighted for Jamie’s selection,” England coach Steve Borthwick said.
Aside from the three tests against the Wallabies on consecutive Saturdays, the Lions have just one remaining midweek assignment — against a First Nations and Pasifika XV in Melbourne on July 22. That could be George's only game on this tour, though he did go on the 2017 and 2021 tours.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Luke Cowan-Dickie, left, of the British & Irish Lions and David Havili of the AUNZ Invitational XV compete for the ball during the rugby match between the Lions and the AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
Luke Cowan-Dickie of the British & Irish Lions receives treatment during the rugby match between the Lions and the AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.
India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.
His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.
Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.
Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.
Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.
The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.
Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)
