Month: January 2016

South Africa captain AB de Villiers believes the key to winning the fourth Test and ending the series on a high is to keep the pressure on England throughout the five days in Centurion. Alastair Cook‘s men took an unassailable 2-0 lead with a thrilling seven-wicket win in Johannesburg which extended South Africa’s winless streak to nine Test matches. De Villiers has urged his side to take control from the first ball tomorrow in a…

By Steven Jones The wonderful series win away from home over the number one team in the world has already been secured – outstanding performances from Stuart Broad and Joe Root obliterated South Africa in three days at the Wanderers – but England go again at Centurion tomorrow. A measure of just how good Broad and Root were in Johannesburg is that their respective contributions of 6-17 and 110 are…

The ICC gave the Masters Champions League the go-ahead on the understanding that only retired players would take part in it © MCL At least three Full Member boards have written to the ICC expressing concern over their current players asking for no objection certificates to participate in the Masters Champions League (MCL), which was approved as a Twenty20 event meant strictly for retired players. The ICC has warned that…

AB de Villiers has indicated he wants to remain South Africa’s Test captain – at least in the short term © Getty Images AB de Villiers‘ captaincy aspirations remain alive although he is unsure how long he wants to spend in the leadership role. De Villiers will be in charge of South Africa for the Centurion Test and the ODIs that follow and has indicated he would consider the Test…

Warwickshire have appointed Ian Bell as their new skipper after Varun Chopra stepped down from the role in order to concentrate on his batting. Chopra deputised as skipper for the injured Jim Troughton in 2014 and led Birmingham Bears to NatWest T20 Blast glory on home soil at Edgbaston and the Royal London One-Day Cup final. Having been appointed on a permanent basis following the retirement of Troughton, Chopra guided…

Saimoni Tuitoga – “We are very excited to be in this big event. Back at home, everyone knows that we are going to take part in the biggest event of the U-19 level” © AFP Fiji Under-19 captain Saimoni Tuitoga has spoken of his excitement in taking part in what he believes is “a big opportunity” for the team. Fiji are competing in the Under-19 World Cup for the very…

Nasir Hossain had been excluded from Bangladesh’s squad for the ongoing series against Zimbabwe © AFP Nasir Hossain remains in contention for a spot in Bangladesh’s playing XI after being named in the team’s 25-member preliminary squad for the Asia Cup T20 and World T20. Nasir is among seven players in the list who are not part of the squad for the ongoing four-match T20 series against Zimbabwe. Nasir was…

AB de Villiers suggested England were “not unbeatable” © Getty Images Even though England have already won the series against South Africa, AB de Villiers has declared them “not unbeatable” in a feisty press conference ahead of the final Test. “There’s no hiding from the fact that they seem to know what they are doing. But there’s also no doubt that there are weaknesses there, and we’ve exposed some of…