9:49 AM ET Australia’s captain Tim Paine has pointed to his side’s mauling in Johannesburg – their second heaviest of all time – as a harsh reminder of exactly how much the rest of the team will have to step up without the batting skills of Steven Smith and David Warner for at least the next 12 months. Even after accounting for the emotional turmoil of the past week, and…
9:40 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Alastair Cook, in need of early-season runs to strengthen his conviction that he still has a Test future, will miss the first two Specsavers Championship games of the season before returning for the defending champions, Essex, against Yorkshire at Chelmsford on April 27. Cook’s return against a Yorkshire side also likely to include Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow is one of the stand-out fixtures in…
9:31 AM ET Morne Morkel will not miss strapping his ankles every time he prepares for an international game. He will not miss having wickets chalked off for overstepping, and he will not miss reading the papers and his critics, but he will miss every other thing about playing for South Africa. He will miss warm-ups and long training sessions, he will miss singing the national anthem and leading the…
Play 01:19 Indian cricket’s rags-to-riches broadcast rights story The highest bid for the television and digital rights to Indian cricket from 2018 to 2023 has already passed the winning bid for the previous cycle by over 11%, and the bidding hasn’t finished yet. The top bid in the e-auction stands at INR 4303 crore (USD 660 million approx.) in the Global Consolidated Rights (GCR) category, which comprises the global television…
Ish Sodhi is embraced by his captain Kane Williamson after salvaging a remarkable draw for New Zealand 6:49 AM ET Kane Williamson had never bagged a golden duck in Test cricket. When he edged his first ball from Stuart Broad on the final day in Christchurch, it meant New Zealand had lost two wickets off the first two balls of the day – just the fourth time that had happened…
6:36 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Pakistan wristspinner Shadab Khan has been fined 20% of his match fee after being found guilty of verbal abuse during the second T20 international against West Indies in Karachi. Shadab’s offence amounted to a Level 1 breach of the ICC’s code of conduct, which also earned him one demerit point. The incident occurred in the ninth over of the West Indies chase, when Shadab dismissed…
3:00 AM ET South Africa 488 (Markram 152, Bavuma 95*, de Villiers 69, Cummins 5-83, Lyon 3-182) and 344 for 6 dec (Du Plessis 120, Elgar 81, Cummins 4-58) beat Australia 221 (Paine 62, Khawaja 53, Cummins 50, Philander 3-30, Rabada 3-53, Maharaj 3-92) and 119 (Burns 42, Philander 6-21) by 492 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Vernon Philander belts out an appeal Getty Images It’s always challenging for a captain…
Babar Azam celebrates his half-century © AFP Babar Azam has made a name for himself in the last couple of years with his strokeplay and consistent scores. A batting average of 53.15 in T20Is is compelling in the format. He endured an underwhelming start to his career in 2015 but is now seen as a level-headed batsman in Pakistan’s top order. Even though his strike rate in T20s has been…
3:00 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff The first round of Sri Lanka’s Super Four Provincial Tournament – the first of its kind since 2013 – produced two draws, with Roshen Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Ashan Priyanjan, Niroshan Dickwella, Mahela Udawatte and Sachithra Senanayake making hundreds in batting-friendly conditions. Among the major criticisms of Sri Lanka’s club-based first-class tournaments is that bowlers are not often made to toil long in the field, so…
3:00 AM ET Tea New Zealand 278 and 191 for 6 (de Grandhomme 27*, Sodhi 16*) need another 191 runs to beat England 307 and 352 for 9 dec (Vince 76, Stoneman 60, Root 54, Malan 53, de Grandhomme 4-94)Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details England were in a race against the setting sun in their bid for a rare overseas Test victory on the final day at Christchurch, as New…