England vs New Zealand LIVE: Cricket result from third Test as Bairstow and Root fire England to victory

Members of BBC staff have written a letter condemning the broadcaster’s decision to stand by Michael Vaughan in the wake of the Yorkshire racism scandal.

The letter, written by the BBC Sport BAME Advisory Group and 5 Live Diversity Group, strongly criticises the BBC’s handling of Vaughan and brands the move to recall the former England cricket captain for coverage of the current series with New Zealand as “totally inexcusable” and a “shocking miscalculation”.

Earlier this month the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that Yorkshire and “a number of individuals” had been charged over an investigation into allegations of racism at the county, and how the club had handled those allegations. As detailed in the BBC staff letter and widely reported at the time, Vaughan is thought to be among those charged by the ECB.

Former Yorkshire bowler Azeem Rafiq has previously alleged that Vaughan said to a group of players of Asian ethnicity in 2009 that there were “too many of your lot” at the county and that “we need to do something about it”.

Vaughan has categorically denied making such a comment. He was dropped by the BBC in November but returned to its TMS team following the Ashes series.

Good news from Leeds - the rain has stopped and the umpires are out to take a look. Lunch ends at 1.10pm and although we won’t be starting then, perhaps there’s a chance of getting some play in soon after.

England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes has tested positive for Covid-19, with Kent’s Sam Billings taking his place for the remainder of the Headingley Test.

Foakes did not take the field on the third afternoon against New Zealand after complaining of back pain, but later returned a positive test after a check up at the team hotel in Leeds.

Jonny Bairstow deputised with the gloves during the tourists’ second innings but Billings, who made his Test debut in the final match of the Ashes, has been drafted to take over for the rest of the match.

A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board read: “Ben Foakes was unable to keep wicket on day three of the Third LV= Insurance Test at Headingley suffering from back stiffness. On a further medical assessment yesterday evening, he subsequently tested positive after administering an LFT Covid-19 test.

“Details of his return to the England set-up will be announced in due course. However, it is hoped he will be fit for the LV= Insurance Test against India starting next Friday at Edgbaston.”

There is some Test cricket happening in England today as England Women are taking on South Africa in Taunton.

England have made a great start, restricting the tourists to 64-4 after 23 overs with Kate Cross, Nat Sciver, Issy Wong and Lauren Bell taking a wicket apiece.

The rain is persistent (and irritating) at Headingley, so they’ve taken an early lunch, at 12.30pm. That will end at 1.10pm although it would be an opimistic person to suggest play will start then.

The forecast in Leeds suggests drizzle until about 2pm, so hopefully play can start soon after that. We’ll keep you updated.

Jack Leach praised captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum for giving the confidence boost he needed to drive England’s victory push on another heady day at Headingley.

The Somerset spinner had not played a Test match on home soil since the summer of 2019 until England’s new leadership team put their faith in him at the start of the New Zealand series.

He then suffered a concussion while fielding on the very first morning at Lord’s, a misfortune that could have cost him his place after Matt Parkinson was drafted in as an emergency replacement for that match.

But Stokes and McCullum have held the line, picking him at Trent Bridge and again at Leeds, trusting him at key moments of the game and insisting on the kind of attacking fields that maximise his wicket-taking potential rather than minimise risk.

The rewards have come rolling in over the past four days, with Leach taking the first 10-wicket match of his Test career with five in each innings.

Jack Leach completed a career-best 10-wicket match at Headingley to set England on course for another fearless run chase and a series whitewash over New Zealand.

The left-arm spinner followed up his first-innings haul of 5-100 with even better figures of 5-66 as New Zealand set their hosts a target of 296 on day four of the third and final Test.

Ordinarily that would look like a huge ask but, having chased down 277 at Lord’s and 299 at Trent Bridge, England went about their business with a flourish to reach 183-2 at stumps.

Ollie Pope stroked a fluent 81 not out as he continued to grow into his new role at No 3 and Joe Root was at his unflappable best with an unbeaten 55. A sense of inevitability settled over proceedings as they piled on 132 together, leaving an apparent victory lap on day five.

Yorkshire have thrown their doors open to spectators for free, replicating Nottinghamshire’s successful initiative last week, and will hope to fill the stands for a triumphant conclusion to a gripping month-long contest.

The hover-cover was coming off to get the pitch ready to start play but they’ve stopped the removal, the covers are back on and play won’t get underway at 12pm. There’s no new time set to resume yet, so we play the waiting game.

It’s been something of a frustrating Test, and series as a whole, for New Zealand as the reigning World Test champions have been caught out by England.

Wicketkeeper Tom Blundell has had a great series on a personal level however, sharing four century partnerships with Daryl Mitchell in just three Tests. He made an unbeaten 88 in the second innings of this Test and spoke about the state of the game at the end of play on dya four.

“This team has been known to fight and we’ve got to come out there and do that tomorrow,” Blundell said. “You put a couple of wickets on there and you just never know. Obviously you’ve got two guys out there in good form but if we get one of those, who knows.

“The wicket is deteriorating. A little bit of variable bounce, obviously with the spin as well. It’s quite hard to drive with that older ball. It looks like it’s going to deteriorate even more and hopefully we can utilise that tomorrow.

“It’s obviously disappointing: as a group we probably haven’t been quite there. Who knows tomorrow. On a personal note, it’s been fantastic to bat with Daryl and have those partnerships, it’s just unfortunate that a couple of results haven’t really gone our way.”

England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan is set to announce his retirement from international cricket.

The PA news agency understands Morgan, 35, will officially call time on his England career on Tuesday, with Jos Buttler primed to take over as skipper of the Twenty20 and ODI teams.

Morgan, who oversaw the transformation of England’s white-ball side from also-rans in 2015 to 50-over world champions at Lord’s four years later, has been struggling for form and fitness in recent times.

He led a one-day series in the Netherlands this month but his dual issues were exposed as he was dismissed twice for nought in high-scoring matches before missing the concluding game with a groin niggle.

Morgan had hoped to stay the course long enough for one last tilt at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia this October, a final shot at unifying cricket’s two biggest trophies, but he has now accepted his time is up.