Aaron Finch will bring his illustrious T20 career to a close after announcing his retirement from the BBL at the end of the current season with Melbourne Renegades. Although Thursday’s announcement only relates to the BBL, it’s understood that Finch is unlikely to play in any mainstream leagues overseas but may continue to take part in legends tournaments. Finch had recently indicated in an interview with Channel 7 that this…
Sri Lanka’s chief Selector Upul Tharanga has confirmed that Dhananjaya de Silva will replace Dimuth Karunaratne as their Test captain, and thus become the 18th player from his country to lead in Tests. Karunaratne had held the post for 30 Tests, winning 12, losing 12 and drawing six games. Sri Lanka’s most notable wins under his leadership came in his first two matches in charge, as they secured a memorable…
CA will push for series in the World Test Championship (WTC) to be of a minimum of three matches each amid the increasing debate about the health of the format. CA chief executive Nick Hockley admitted the situation with South Africa sending a severely weakened team to New Zealand had been a “wake-up call” and that Test cricket was operating in a “two-speed economy”, but he retained the belief there…
Pakistan not taking all their chances in a Test series doesn’t come as a surprise, but even by their historical standards, the bedlam at first slip through this series has been a low water mark. Abdullah Shafique put down three across the first two Tests in that position, two of them about as easy as slip catching gets. Ever since, Pakistan moved the cordon around, with Agha Salman taking a…
Lunch Australia 78 for 1 (Khawaja 35*, Warner 34, Salman 1-4) trail Pakistan 313 by 235 runs Retiring Australia opener David Warner rode some luck before falling on 34 late in the first session on day two in a much-needed boost for Pakistan in the third Test at the SCG. Warner had looked set to bat through to lunch after being badly dropped on 20 at first slip by debutant…
Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson believes Cameron Green has all the tools to be successful as a Test opener and says previous experience at the top of the order isn’t required as Australia’s selectors continue to mull over their options to replace the retiring David Warner for the West Indies series starting in mid-January. Coach and selector Andrew McDonald first raised the prospect of Green coming in as Warner’s replacement…
South Africa were surprised by the pace of the Newlands pitch on the first day of the New Year’s Test but both stand-in captain Dean Elgar and batting consultant Ashwell Prince stopped short of out-and-out criticism of the surface. “It (The pitch) generally plays a little bit slower and as a batter you can adjust to that. This one just seemed to get quicker as the session went on,” Elgar…
South Africa 62 for 3 (Markram 36*, Mukesh 2-25) and 55 (Verreynne 15, Siraj 6-15, Mukesh 2-0) trail India 153 (Kohli 46, Rohit 39, Ngidi 3-30) by 36 runs As many as 23 wickets tumbled on a chaotic opening day in Cape Town, including a never-before-seen collapse of 6 for 0. It was the first time in 2522 Tests that a team had lost six wickets for no runs. India…
Sri Lanka’s new selection committee, in their first assignment since being appointed, have made eight changes to the side that finished second-last at the ODI World Cup, with Wanindu Hasaranga, Pramod Madushan, Janith Liyanage, Nuwanidu Fernando and Sahan Arachchige also coming into the squad. Making way are Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha. There was also no room for Chamika…
Perth Scorchers 211 for 4 (Evans 85*, Thornton 2-31) beat Adelaide Strikers 169 all out (Short 74, Morris 5-25) by 42 runs A match-winning spell from Lance Morris helped Perth Scorchers clinch a 42-run win against Adelaide Strikers in their BBL clash at the Optus Stadium. Scorchers set a target of 212 as Laurie Evans smashed an unbeaten 85 off 28 balls, but had to hold off a Strikers’ counter-attack…