South Africa have named an unchanged 16-man squad for the last two Tests against England. Fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Kyle Abbott were ruled out of the drawn match in Cape Town through shoulder and hamstring injuries respectively, but will join the team in Johannesburg and both are expecting to be available. Their replacements in the XI for the Cape Town Test, Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris, have been retained,…
Afghanistan hold nerve to clinch thriller in high-scoring clash
Toss Afghanistan 187 for 7 (Ghani 42, Naib 37, Cremer 3-17) beat Zimbabwe 182 fpr 7 (Waller 49*, Masakadza 33, Zadran 3-32) by 5 runsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details Mohammad Shahzad’s 63-run opening stand with Usman Ghani set the base for Afghanistan’s imposing 187 © Chris Whiteoak Gulbadin Naib and Mohammad Nabi are as different as chalk is to cheese. Naib is all muscle and brute force, while Nabi is…
Stokes 'better than I was at 24' – Botham
Play 00:50 ‘Extra pace and bounce in Johannesburg’ – Butcher Ian Botham has hailed Ben Stokes‘ “enormous potential” and suggested he may be a better player than he was at the same age. Stokes broke Botham’s record for the quickest Test double-century by an England player in the game at Cape Town – a moment Botham compared to his exploits in the Headingley Ashes Test of 1981 – and, despite…
Waqas targeting return after kidney transplant
Ali Waqas hopes to return to playing after receiving a kidney transplant © PCB Sui Northern Gas and Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), who retained the Quaid-e-Azam trophy earlier this week, have dedicated their title to Ali Waqas, their middle-order batsman who collapsed last year due to kidney disease. Waqas missed the 2015-16 season to undergo a successful kidney transplant in Rawalpindi. Waqas, 26, was among the leading run-scorers with 1065 in…
Waqas targeting return after kidney tranpslant
Ali Waqas hopes to return to playing after receiving a kidney transplant © PCB Sui Northern Gas and Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), who retained the Quaid-e-Azam trophy earlier this week, have dedicated their title to Ali Waqas, their middle-order batsman who collapsed last year due to kidney disease. Waqas missed the 2015-16 season to undergo a successful kidney transplant in Rawalpindi. Waqas, 26, was among the leading run-scorers with 1065 in…
High-flying Afghanistan opt to bat; Tiripano debuts
Toss Afghanistan chose to bat v ZimbabweScorecard and ball-by-ball details Afghanistan would be hoping for Mohammad Shahzad to continue his good run of form in the two T20Is in Sharjah © Chris Whiteoak Asghar Stanikzai won the toss as Afghanistan opted to bat in the first of two T20s against Zimbabwe in Sharjah. Afghanistan are high on confidence following a 3-2 ODI series win that helped them enter the top…
Worcestershire snap up Henry
Worcestershire have secured the services of New Zealand paceman Matt Henry as their overseas player for the first half of the 2016 campaign. The 24-year-old, whose deal is subject to receiving a no-objection certificate from New Zealand Cricket, will arrive at New Road in early April. He will then depart at the end of June to make way for South Africa international Kyle Abbott to fill in for the rest…
Cook omission raises doubts about domestic quality
Play 01:35 Selectors keep faith in South Africa squad Stephen Cook‘s continued omission from South Africa’s Test plans, in spite of his consistent form in domestic cricket, has reawakened concerns about the quality of the Sunfoil Series, the country’s first-class franchise competition, with the implication being that performances in A team matches are the only benchmark that the selectors can trust when it comes to promoting new players to the…
Dhawan, Kohli hit form before spinners dismantle WA XI
Indians 4 for 192 (Kohli 74, S Dhawan 74) beat Western Australia XI 6 for 118 (Birt 74*, Axar 2-13, Jadeja 2-13, Sran 2-24) by 74 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details “It was good to spend some time in the middle. We got what we wanted out of this match,” said Dhawan after the match. © AFP The Indians started their limited-overs tour of Australia with a comfortable 74-win over Western…
Sushma Verma back in ODI squad, Deepti Sharma dropped
India will play three ODIs and two T20Is in Australia © PTI Wicketkeeper-batsman Sushma Verma was recalled to the ODI squad, while Shubhlakshmi Sharma and Latika Kumari were left out of the T20 squad that will travel to Australia for the limited-overs series later this month. Sushma, who last played an ODI in 2014, impressed in the T20 series against New Zealand. Interestingly, R Kalpana, the wicketkeeper, who made her…