Month: November 2016

West Indies 337 (Brathwaite 142*, Chase 50, Wahab 5-88) and 154 for 5 (Brathwaite 60*, Dowrich 60*, Yasir 3-40) beat Pakistan 281 (Aslam 74, Misbah 53, Bishoo 4-77) and 208 (Azhar 91, Sarfraz 42, Holder 5-30) by 5 wicketsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Kraigg Brathwaite spent virtually the whole match on the field, having been unbeaten in both innings as opener © AFP Kraigg Brathwaite was unbeaten for the entirety of…

‘The 104 in the second Test is most valuable among my hundreds against England, considering the conditions and the fact that we won the game’ – Tamim Iqbal © Getty Images Pitches that start turning quite early could become the norm in the Test matches Bangladesh play at home. The series against England was played on such surfaces, and Bangladesh competed admirably. They came within 23 runs of victory in…

Lunch South Africa 4 for 78 (Du Plessis 37*, Bavuma 17*) v AustraliaLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details Mitchell Starc struck in the first over of the match © Getty Images At 10am, Faf du Plessis was pleased to win the toss on what looked a good batting pitch at the WACA. An hour later, du Plessis had a mountain of work ahead of him, his top order having struggled against…

Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo are among the two players to decline contracts offered by the WICB © AFP Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo and Carlos Brathwaite have declined central contracts offered by the WICB for the period 2016-17. The list of centrally-contracted players with the WICB depleted to 12 after the board had increased it from 12 to 15 earlier this January, for the period 2015-16. Some of the other…

Lahiru Thirimanne has not played for Sri Lanka since the end of the England tour in June © Getty Images Lahiru Thirimanne, the Sri Lanka batsman, might need a break from cricket to sort out his problems, said the A team coach Avishka Gunawardene. Thirimanne had played in the four-day matches against West Indies A in October and averaged 9.83 from six innings, continuing his struggles in long-form cricket. Since…

Morne Morkel has spent time on the sidelines because of a back injury © Getty Images Fast bowler Morne Morkel was left out of South Africa’s XI for the first Test against Australia at the WACA because he wasn’t 100% ready to bowl long spells, according to his captain Faf du Plessis. Although du Plessis had declared Morkel “fit and in contention,” the day before the match, at the toss…

Sam Billings has been backed as a potential Test batsman by Michael Vaughan © Getty Images Sam Billings, the Kent batsman whose technique against spin bowling is considered one of the best among England’s coming generation of batsmen, says he is flattered to have been talked up by Michael Vaughan as a potential reinforcement for the Test tour of India, but insists that he remains a work in progress in…

Sri Lanka 537 (Kusal Perera 110, Tharanga 110, Cremer 4-142) and 247 for 6 dec. (Karunaratne 110, de Silva 64, Mumba 4-50) beat Zimbabwe 373 (Cremer 102, Moor 79, Lakmal 3-69, Herath 3-97) and 186 (Cremer 43, Dilruwan 3-34, Herath 3-38) by 225 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Graeme Cremer followed his hundred in the first innings with a dogged 43 © Associated Press Graeme Cremer soaked up 175 balls and…

Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in harness for England © Getty Images Reg Dickason, England’s security advisor, has played down any concerns that England’s Muslim players, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, may have about touring India after media reports that Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar would not stand in the series because of the further potential for nationalist protests. Dar was never scheduled to stand in the India vs England Test…