Tag: headlines

With the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Jasprit Bumrah, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi and Shardul Thakur - especially after his last series here - in the mix, you would expect the series between South Africa and India to be headlined by bowlers. But South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma has a different idea."We understand conditions a lot better so you'd expect us to adapt a lot better but their bowling is quite strong," he said in Centurion, where the first Test starts on Boxing Day. "The fact that they've been able to achieve such success is because of their bowling attack and that kind of nullifies the advantage we have. It's more between the batters and how the batters take on that challenge."And it could make one of the most interesting storylines of the series, e...

Dean Elgar's decision to retire from Test cricket was the result of detailed discussions with red-ball coach Shukri Conrad, who was full of praise for the player who was removed as captain when Conrad took over.While the reasons Elgar has chosen to end his international career after the New Year's Test against India have not been explicitly stated, it is understood Elgar was not part of Conrad's longer-term plans in a scant Test schedule. But Conrad said the calendar was only partly responsible for Elgar's decision."The fact that we haven't got much Test cricket is part of the reason we arrived at the decision we arrived at," Conrad said in Centurion, where South Africa will take on India from Boxing Day. "Ideally, we would like to play more Test cricket because the more Test cricket we p...

Waqar Younis has voiced his alarm at the lack of pace in Pakistan's Test attack as they search for a way back into their Test series against Australia.Pakistan were comprehensively beaten by 360 runs, bowled out for 89 in their second innings, and to compound their woes have lost Shahzad, who impressed on debut, to a series-ending rib injury. It will mean an enforced change at the MCG with either Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr or Mir Hamza coming into the attack, but Waqar remains unconvinced."Another thing that I'm worried about is that always when we come to Australia, one thing that excites is the fast bowling and this time around I'm not seeing that," he said on ESPN's Around The Wicket show. "I'm seeing medium-pacers or slow-medium-pacers, allrounders, there's no real pace. People used...

Pakistan's bowling absentee list continues to swell, with Noman Ali the latest to be ruled out of the series. He was diagnosed with acute appendicitis after complaining of "sudden and severe" abdominal pain, according to a statement put out by the PCB. Scans confirmed the diagnosis, and he spent Friday night in hospital.Noman underwent laparoscopic appendectomy in the morning, a surgery deemed to be successful. The PCB said he was stable and doing well, and expected to be discharged in the afternoon.Noman was included in the original squad to tour Australia as back-up spinner to Abrar Ahmed. However, Abrar picked up an injury in the tour game that ruled him out of the first Test that took place last week; he is unlikely to feature in the remainder of the series. The PCB flew in Sajid Khan...

Jamaica Tallawahs, the 2022 Caribbean Premier League champions, will not feature in the tournament's 2024 season and will be replaced by a new franchise based in Antigua and Barbuda.Kris Persaud, a Guyanese businessman based in Florida, owned the Tallawahs franchise but has sold it back to the CPL. "The owners were left with no option but to sell the Tallawahs back to CPL as they could not find a way to operate the team sustainably," a CPL spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo.They will be replaced by an Antigua-based franchise in 2024, which does not yet have a name. The island hosted a franchise named Antigua Hawksbills in the first two CPL seasons, but they won only three matches and were replaced by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2015.Daryll Matthew, the minister of sports in the Antigua and...

Martin Guptill will have his illustrious career celebrated at Auckland Aces' men's Super Smash T20 game against Wellington Firebirds on January 4 at the Eden Park Outer Oval.The 'Thank You, Gup' day will honour the 37-year-old's contribution to both New Zealand and Auckland cricket. As part of the celebrations, the Eden Park Outer Oval will become 'The Martin Guptill Oval' for the testimonial game.Guptill's contribution will also be recognised at the grassroots level. Auckland's Men's Premier Club T20 competition is set to be named the Martin Guptill Cup from the 2024-25 season.Guptill has insisted that this will not be his retirement party and will continue to play in franchise T20 - and T10 - leagues around the world. Guptill, though, has not featured for New Zealand since October 2022....

Perth Scorchers have suffered a significant blow to their BBL title defence with captain Ashton Turner ruled out for the remainder of the tournament following surgery on his knee.Turner limped off the field after bowling one delivery against Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday, but initially the prognosis had sounded reasonably hopeful. However, he underwent surgery on Friday morning to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee and won't feature again in this BBL campaign."The incident saw him leave the field and take no further part in the match, with subsequent scans revealing surgery was required," a Scorchers statement said. "An exact timeframe for Turner's return will be determined in due course."Turner had been managing the knee problem throughout the season and did not feature in Western...

Kane Williamson, the designated captain, and Kyle Jamieson have been withdrawn from New Zealand's T20I squad to take on Bangladesh at home later this month. Mitchell Santner, who has led both the New Zealand white-ball sides in the past, will be captain in Williamson's absence.Rachin Ravindra and Jacob Duffy have been called up as replacements, with NZC saying the decision on Williamson and Jamieson was made following "medical advice and consideration of the team's upcoming schedule, with a focus on this summer's Test series against South Africa and Australia".Williamson, who missed seven months of competitive cricket earlier this year after sustaining a right knee injury during the IPL, "will undergo a period of knee rehabilitation and strengthening following his recent return to play in...

Allrounders Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta have been suspended with immediate effect by Zimbabwe Cricket for "allegedly breaching anti-doping rules". They have been suspended from all cricket activities, pending a hearing, after they tested positive for a banned recreational drug in an out-of-competition case during a in-house dope test recently.They have been charged under the ZC Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials, and will appear for a disciplinary hearing soon, which will likely decide the length of their suspension.Both Madhevere and Mavuta were part of the Zimbabwe side that faced Ireland in a home series until last week. Madhevere played all three T20Is while Mavuta played just the third T20I and the three ODIs after that.Mavuta made his international debut in 2018,...

A year ago, Spencer Johnson hadn't played a professional T20 match and it wasn't long since he had been working as a landscape gardener. He still only has 20 official games under his belt and 17 wickets. But on Tuesday he became an IPL millionaire.While Mitchell Starc took the headlines for his record-setting price tag, it is a tale such as Johnson's that is arguably more extraordinary as he went to Gujarat Titans for AU$1.78million. He had gone in with base price of 50 lakhs which is approximately AU$90,000."Eighteen months [ago] I didn't have a state deal or a Big Bash contract," he told reporters on Wednesday. "I was working as a landscaper and greenskeeper. So fast-forward 18 months, yeah it's definitely different situations."There was a time, not too long ago, when it looked like Joh...