De Villiers news didn’t have a huge impact on us – du Plessis (1:25) South Africa captain Faf du Plessis says he warned de Villiers that his U-turn on his retirement was just too late (1:25) 2:42 PM ET Faf du Plessis insists that the furore surrounding AB de Villiers‘ proposed return from international retirement has not been a factor in the team’s disjointed display in the World Cup to…
Durham batsman Ben Raine © Getty Images Durham 209 for 7 (Raine 75*, Carse 47*) v Northamptonshire Ben Raine is the sort of cricketer who can make Durham feel Ben Stokes’ absence a little less intensely. To call him a ready-made replacement would be asking too much because there are few players in the world with Stokes’ prodigious ability. But at his best he has the same combative, dog-with-a-bone qualities…
Archer made his choice – West Indies coach coy on country convert (1:00) Floyd Reifer wouldn’t say if he’d rather have the England fast bowler on his team for Friday’s game. (1:00) 1:51 PM ET As if Friday’s fixture in Southampton was not tantalising enough, there will be an extra piquancy in England and West Indies’ World Cup match-up, given the reunion between Jofra Archer and the team for whom…
1:39 PM ET It’s been a tournament of mixed emotions for Faf du Plessis, so it was fitting that his relief at finally getting “the horse out of the shed” in registering South Africa’s first point in four attempts should be tempered by frustration on a rain-wrecked day in Southampton that denied his side the chance to get into a proper World Cup dogfight. That said, by the latter stages…
3:00 AM ET South Africa 29 for 2 (de Kock 17*, Cottrell 2-18) v West Indies (No result) South Africa took on West Indies in Southampton, but it was rain that prevailed, with the match being abandoned at 4:15 pm, nearly six hours after rain had first arrived. Only 7.3 overs of play were possible in the South Africa’s innings. Both teams picked up a point each. West Indies had…
Sri Lanka batting coach Jon Lewis talks to the press © AFP Angelo Mathews has batted 11 balls at this World Cup, and made a grand total of zero runs. Kusal Mendis has faced all of three deliveries, getting out to two of those, and hitting a streaky two past slip off the other. Together, the pair are supposed to comprise Sri Lanka’s middle-order engine room, but in both matches…
3:00 AM ET ECB Reporters Network Worcestershire 98 (Anderson 4-24, Onions 4-55) v Lancashire Lancashire new ball duo James Anderson and Graham Onions inflicted more misery on Worcestershire, who were bowled out for 98 on a rain-hit opening day in the Specsavers County Championship match at Blackfinch New Road. Anderson and Onions had been the destroyer in chiefs last month in reducing Worcestershire to 38 for 7 on the opening…
Mohammad Shahzad was out for a three-ball duck against Australia © Getty Images Afghanistan have been plunged into controversy with talismanic wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad claiming that he was incorrectly declared unfit and omitted from the World Cup squad. However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board insists that Shahzad was indeed unfit, which is why he has been replaced by Ikram Alikhil. Shahzad, 32, retired hurt during Afghanistan’s warm-up game against Pakistan on…
Bangladesh fall just short © Getty Images Big picture When the two teams get to the ground on Tuesday, they’ll have one eye on the 22-yards, for sure, but they’ll also keep an eye out on the weather. Last weekend, Bristol was the venue of the only washout of the World Cup so far, which has meant that Sri Lanka haven’t played a game for six days. But that washout…
The umpires inspect the field as rain washes out day one of Surrey v Yorkshire at Guildford 3:00 AM ET Paul Edwards SurreyYorkshire All day it has rained, and we on the edge of the field Sprawl in our press-tent, gloom quite unconcealed, Laptops and notebooks spread on tables round And from our first grey wanderings we have found No refuge from the skirmishing fine rain And the breeze that…