Month: May 2019

4:56 AM ET Liam Brickhill The South African Cricketers Association (SACA) has threatened legal action against Cricket South Africa (CSA) over alleged breaches of agreement related to CSA’s decision to radically restructure domestic cricket. From 2021, CSA is planning to scrap the franchise system, reverting to the provincial model in domestic cricket as part of austerity measures designed to offset projected losses of R 654 million (USD 45 million approx)…

4:29 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff England and India are firm favourites going into the 2019 World Cup, according to Yuvraj Singh, Player of the Series in the 2011 edition of the tournament. Speaking at a promotional event on Saturday, Yuvraj also included Australia among his favourites. “My first two teams are England and India,” Yuvraj said. “Obviously with [David] Warner and [Steven] Smith coming back [from their ball-tampering bans], Australia…

We weren’t up to the mark this year – R Ashwin (2:11) Kings XI captain R Ashwin discusses their failure to qualify for the playoffs and pinpoints where they lost the game to Knight Riders (2:11) 10:13 PM ET ESPNcricinfo staff After Kings XI Punjab’s failure to qualify into the IPL 2019 playoffs, their captain R Ashwin said that injuries to key players, the ineffectiveness of their overseas fast bowlers…

5:24 PM ET Ben Foakes admits he has little chance of breaking into England’s limited-overs team despite leading them to victory on debut in Dublin. Foakes made an unbeaten 61 – the only half-century of the match – to help England secure a win that looked unlikely when they subsided to 66 for 5 within 15 overs of their reply. Keeping wonderfully calm despite the apparently hopeless position, Foakes added…

2:13 PM ET Jon Culley Nottinghamshire have offered England outcast Alex Hales an arm round the shoulder as he seeks to rebuild his shattered career, while at the same time making it clear that he needs to deliver on the field if he is to secure his future at the county. Hales saw his desire to be back on the field after his expulsion from England’s World Cup squad thwarted…

11:51 AM ET It’s been a familiar story for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2019. Start the season full of promise and fire, stumble from one defeat to the next, end it to avoid finishing at the bottom. In the auctions before IPL 2019, the franchise spent most of its purse on Shimron Hetymyer and Shivam Dube – a combined INR 9.20 crore (USD 1,330,000 approx.). They’ve both played only…

3:00 AM ET Toss Kolkata Knight Riders chose to bowl v Kings XI Punjab Kolkata Knight Riders put Kings XI Punjab in to bat after winning the toss in Mohali. It is a game that’s almost a must-win for two sides who began the tournament superbly but have since fallen on hard times. Kings XI must look to snap a three-match losing streak, and currently sit on ten points from…

The Sunrisers Hyderabad players congratulate Manish Pandey after a difficult catch  3:00 AM ET Big picture One team has everything on the line. The other team has nothing to aim at. If Sunrisers Hyderabad had won their Super Over against Mumbai Indians, they would have been sitting pretty on 14 points and a net run-rate far in excess of what any of the teams that can get to 14 points…

9:47 AM ET ESPNcricinfo staff Somerset have agreed a deal to bring in Pakistan batsman Babar Azam for the Vitality Blast later this summer, subject to receiving a No-Objection Certificate. Babar, currently ranked the No. 1 T20 batsman by the ICC, will join in July and be available for the entire group stage as well as a possible quarter-final. This will be a first stint in county cricket for Babar,…