Travis Head earlier completed his maiden first-class double century in a huge South Australia total

Western Australia 2 for 192 (Bancroft 106*) trail South Australia 8 for 510 dec (Head 223, Hunt 10) by 318 runs

Cameron Bancroft scored his second Sheffield Shield century of the season to lead a strong Western Australia reply to a huge South Australia total based around Travis Head‘s maiden first-class double hundred.

Bancroft, who made the most of a life on 13, reached his hundred shortly before the close as he and Cameron Green guided the home side into a position from where they will feel comfortable avoiding any potential follow-on then closing in on the Redbacks’ score.

The third-wicket stand was worth 120 at stumps and ensured Western Australia did not suffer further setbacks after Sam Whiteman was caught at slip off a beauty from Dan Worrall then Shaun Marsh clipped a full toss from the part-time offspin of Will Bosisto to midwicket on the stroke of tea. That would be Bosisto’s only over of the day.

South Australia’s pace attack toiled hard during the final session on a surface that has not offered much for the seamers. Green, as is his style, took time to get his innings up and running – he was 2 off 31 balls early on – but had collected seven boundaries by the end of the day.

South Australia had resumed handsomely placed on 4 for 368 and Head went to his double hundred in the second over of the day with consecutive boundaries off Liam Guthrie. His 245-ball innings was eventually ended when he was superbly caught at slip by Marsh.

The visitor were taken beyond 500 by Worrall and Jake Lehmann, the former hitting 39 off 41 balls before his dismissal brought the declaration.

Allrounder to return for ODI series in March, having played no matches in three countries

England will not be able to call upon Chris Woakes for next week’s fourth Test against in Ahmedabad, after he left the tour on Thursday for his pre-arranged break from the team’s bio-secure bubble.

Woakes, 31, has endured a frustrating winter with England, having been involved in squads in South Africa, Sri Lanka and now India without playing a single game.

He travelled to South Africa for England’s white-ball tour in December, but having sat out the T20I leg (his last such match came in 2015), the ODI series was then cancelled due to concerns over the implementation of Covid protocols in the team hotel.

Next, Woakes’ chances of pushing for a place on the Sri Lanka leg of England’s Test tour were kiboshed from the outset, after his Birmingham-based travel companion Moeen Ali was diagnosed with Covid-19 on arrival in the country in January, meaning that both men were required to undergo an extended period of quarantine.

Woakes was then left out of the first three Tests against India, including this week’s pink-ball Test – which might have been his one realistic shot at involvement, given England’s belief that the conditions may have favoured seam bowling.

However, his prowess with the bat was overlooked in favour of a reunion of England’s old guard, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, neither of whom took a wicket as spin dominated for both teams in the two-day finish.

In keeping with the ECB’s policy for all of their multi-format players, Woakes now returns home to be with his wife Amie and their two young daughters, Ella and Evie-Louise, who was born in October.

Already this year, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have missed the Tests in Sri Lanka, as did Rory Burns, who was on paternity leave, while Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood flew home for the Chennai leg of the India tour.

Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and Moeen are also unavailable for the remainder of the series, but will return to the squad next week to prepare for the five-match T20I series that starts on March 12.

Former England captain and record run-scorer replaces Graham Gooch at helm

Charlotte Edwards, the former England captain, has become the first female president of the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) after being elected as Graham Gooch‘s successor in the role.

Edwards, who captained England Women between 2005 and 2016 and is their all-time leading run-scorer across formats, is head coach of both Southern Vipers and Southern Brave, and will continue in both roles alongside her PCA duties.

She was elected to the role by the players’ committee at the PCA’s annual general meeting on Thursday, and is set for an initial two-year role. Her election comes soon after the introduction of 41 new female PCA members, who signed full-time domestic contracts as part of the ECB’s revamped domestic structure.

“I’m hugely honoured to be given such a prestigious title in being the President of the PCA,” Edwards said. “It’s an exciting time for women’s cricket and I’m really excited about what I can bring to the role. I think the introduction of 41 new female members to the PCA has shown it’s the right time to have a female PCA President, but I’m passionate about looking after the interests of the men’s game as well in order to help cricket thrive as a whole.

“I’ve done a lot of work with the PCA, on and off the field, and it’s been quite the journey from being an amateur, to becoming a PCA member in 2011 and now helping to support the next generation of players in this role.

“I’ve always followed what the PCA are doing for the game, and in particular the work of the Professional Cricketers’ Trust, and I really do want to be as involved as I can be. The game has given me so much and now this is the perfect opportunity for me to give something back.”

The PCA’s members also ratified the election of James Harris as chair and Anuj Dal as vice-chair at Thursday’s AGM, and added four new female reps to the players’ committee: Sophie Luff, Tara Norris, Alex Hartley and Naomi Dattani. A new women’s players’ committee has also been created, which will include the four new reps and three other players, who will have voting rights on “specific women’s only issues”, according to a press release.