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  • Pakistan recall Amir for South Africa ODI series

    Pakistan recall Amir for South Africa ODI series

    Pakistan selectors on Wednesday recalled fast bowler Mohammad Amir in a 16-man squad for the five-match series against South Africa starting later this month.

    The 26-year-old fast bowler failed to get a wicket in his last five one-day internationals, including three Asia Cup matches in September last year.

    He was left out of Pakistan’s last series against New Zealand but was redrafted for the one-day side on the back of the good form in the ongoing Test series in South Africa.

    The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said there were five changes from the Test side, which is presently in Johannesburg preparing for the third and final Test starting from Friday.

    “Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Abbas and Yasir Shah have been replaced by Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Hussain Talat, Usman Shinwari and Imad Wasim, respectively,” said a PCB release.

    Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said the squad was selected with the World Cup — to be held in England from May 30-July 14 this year — in mind.

    “While selecting the squad, we have tried to maintain consistency, taking into consideration player performances in white-ball cricket as well as looking ahead to the upcoming ODI challenges, including the World Cup,” he said.

    Amir’s strong performance in the Test series made him an “automatic selection”, said Inzamam.

    There were no places for allrounder Haris Sohail — who returned from South Africa without featuring in the Tests due to a knee injury — and fast bowler Junaid Khan.

    Batsman Shan Masood and allrounder Hussain Talat earned maiden calls for one-day internationals.

    The five-match series starts in Port Elizabeth on January 19, followed by matches in Durban (January 22), Centurion (January 25), Johannesburg (January 27), and Cape Town (January 30). 

    Squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari.

    Feature image courtesy: Adrian Dennis/AFP

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    PakistanSouth AfricaMohammad Amir
  • Mitch Marsh ruled out of first ODI due to illness

    Mitch Marsh ruled out of first ODI due to illness

    Australia on Thursday drafted Perth Scorchers batsman Ashton Turner as cover for Mitchell Marsh who was ruled out of the first one-day international against India in Sydney with a gastro bug.

    All-rounder Marsh has spent two days in the hospital with his availability for the other two games in the series — in Adelaide and Melbourne — under a cloud.

    “We’ll see how he goes, but he certainly won’t (play) this first game and we will wait and see how he recovers,” said coach Justin Langer ahead of the opening clash on Saturday.

    It is another blow for Marsh who on Wednesday was axed from the Test squad to play Sri Lanka, along with his brother Shaun.

    Turner, who plays state cricket with Western Australia and for the Scorchers in Twenty20, has scored 43 not out, 47 and 60 not out in his past three Big Bash League matches.

    Revised squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa.

    Feature image courtesy: Saeed Khan/AFP

     

     

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  • Markram, Morris dropped as Amla returns to the South African ODI squad

    Markram, Morris dropped as Amla returns to the South African ODI squad

    South Africa announced their ODI squad on Wednesday for the first two games of their upcoming five-match home series against Pakistan scheduled to begin on the 19th of January. Big names like that of opening batsman Aiden Markram, middle-order bat Farhaan Behardien and all-rounder Chris Morris were dropped from the squad with uncapped Rassie Van der Dussen being included in the squad. 

    Van der Dussen was the top scorer in the Mzansi Super League, scoring 469 runs and helping his team Jozi Stars to clinch the title. Pacer Dane Paterson also makes a comeback to the South African side since his debut series against Bangladesh two years ago.

    “We need to look at all the options available to us as we get closer to the World Cup” said national selector Linda Zondi. He justified the selection of the two relatively new players saying “Rassie and Dane are two players who have been knocking strongly on the door in all formats.”

    JP Duminy and Lungi Ngidi are still recovering from injuries; and have therefore not in contention for selection in this series. 

    South Africa ODI squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen.

     

    Michael Bradley/AFP

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    South AfricaAiden MarkramHashim AmlaChris Morris
  • England cricket boss Giles targets World Cup and Ashes double

    England cricket boss Giles targets World Cup and Ashes double

    England’s new director of cricket Ashley Giles said on Wednesday he believes a World Cup and Ashes double is possible for his side this year.

    England are currently top of the global 50-over rankings and will head into a home World Cup that starts in May as one of the favourites to win a trophy they have never lifted.

    After that tournament, they defend the Ashes in a five-Test series, also on home soil, against arch-rivals Australia.

    It will be the first time the two events have taken place in the same country in the same year since the inaugural 1975 men’s World Cup in England.

    Asked which he would rather win, Giles, most recently head of sport at Warwickshire — the county he represented during his career as an England left-arm spinner — told Sky Sports at Lord’s: “I’ll have both thanks.

    “This year represents a great opportunity for us to do something really special but at the moment that’s all it is. 

    “The train is moving at a hell of a pace down the tracks for the World Cup but my role is to make sure we stay on track and there’s nothing there ahead of us that can derail us. 

    “We’ve probably never been in such a strong position to challenge for both,” he added, with England second only to India in the Test standings. 

    Giles is filling a vacancy left by the departure of Andrew Strauss. The former England captain stood down after his wife, Ruth, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that eventually led to her death in December.

     ‘Feel for Strauss’

    “Obviously, the circumstances of the position becoming available are not great at all. I honestly feel for Straussy and the family,” said Giles.

    “But the opportunity for me was great heading into a really exciting year.

    “Straussy has done a lot of good work. He redressed that balance between white ball (limited-overs) and red-ball cricket, which I think was important and of late we’ve started to see the Test team flourish as well.”

    Giles had an 18-month spell as England limited-overs coach that ended in a humiliating defeat by minnows the Netherlands at the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.

    But he was always confident of a return to the England and Wales Cricket Board set-up.   

    “I think I actually said at the time, I’d come back and do this job, perhaps a bit flippantly,” Giles explained.

    “I’ve always been driven to work at the highest level and test myself as much as I can. I’m fully aware of the pressure that can come but 2014 was a long time ago.”

    One of Giles’s main tasks will be to find a replacement for current England coach Trevor Bayliss, with the Australian stepping down at the end of the 2019 season.

    Giles said he remained open to the idea of having specialist Test and one-day coaches despite his own experience when he and Andy Flower split the jobs.

    “The benefits of two coaches are clearly (sharing) the workload. The disadvantages are two different voices,” he explained. 

    “I think we always imagined when Andy and I took the roles on that we’d see two different squads developing. We are actually seeing those squads come together now.”

    Giles said he was determined to clamp down on the kind of incidents that led to star all-rounder Ben Stokes facing an affray charge last year following a late-night drinking session in Bristol. Stokes was acquitted.

    “I have a reputation for being a bit of disciplinarian but you also have to accept these guys are human and are going to make mistakes,” said Giles.

    “Everyone needs boundaries, guys need to know where they stand and what’s right and wrong. 

    “It’s important to me, how we look to our supporters and how we are respected. It’s almost as important as actually winning.

    “A big part for me is us being the best and most respected team in the world.”

     

    Feature image courtesy: Ben Stansall/AFP

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  • Disrupted South Africa seek clean sweep

    Disrupted South Africa seek clean sweep

    Despite being without suspended captain Faf du Plessis, South Africa will be pushing for a clean sweep when they play Pakistan in the third and final Test starting at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.

    Opening batsman Dean Elgar was announced as stand-in captain on Wednesday after Du Plessis was suspended for one match after South Africa fell short of the required over rate during their nine-wicket win in the second Test at Newlands.

    Feature image courtesy: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP

    The loss of Du Plessis will inevitably disrupt South Africa’s plans. He has led South Africa to 17 wins in his 27 Tests in charge and was named man of the match after scoring a century at Newlands. Speaking on Sunday before the ban was announced, Du Plessis said South Africa were determined to keep the pressure on Pakistan and win the series 3-0.

    Du Plessis is likely to be replaced in the batting order by Zubayr Hamza, 23, who will become South Africa’s 100th Test player since the country returned to international cricket in 1991.

    Hamza has been part of the squad throughout the series, primarily to gain experience in the national team set-up. He got a taste of Test cricket in front of his home crowd at Newlands when he took a good catch at fine leg as a substitute fielder. Hamza has a career first-class batting average of 49.29.

    A second change in an already fragile batting line-up may be necessary, with opening batsman Aiden Markram facing a fitness test on Thursday after suffering a right thigh injury which prevented him from batting in the second innings at Newlands. Uncapped Pieter Malan, a teammate of Hamza at the Cape Cobras franchise, is on standby.

    Du Plessis’s ban may also cause South Africa to question the wisdom of fielding an all-seam bowling attack, which inevitably puts pressure on over rates. The Wanderers is the ground where South Africa have most often fielded four fast bowlers and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has only played in one of a possible three Tests at the ground since becoming a regular member of the squad.

    The pitch received a “poor” rating from the International Cricket Council after a Test against India last season.  A repeat would cause the ground to be barred from staging international matches for a year and it seems unlikely the surface will again be prepared to give an undue advantage to fast bowlers.

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    PakistanSouth Africa
  • Bancroft keen to resume opening with Warner despite scandal

    Bancroft keen to resume opening with Warner despite scandal

    Tainted Australian cricket Cameron Bancroft insists he holds no grudges against David Warner and is keen to resume their opening partnership for Australia that was derailed by the ball-tampering scandal.

    The 26-year-old Bancroft, who has completed his nine-month ban for the cheating, confirmed in an explosive television interview last month it was Warner who asked him to alter the ball. 

    Feature image courtesy: Greg Wood/AFP

    Warner and Steve Smith still have three months of their suspensions left to run over the incident last March in South Africa that rocked the game.

    Despite some pundits suggesting their relationship was now untenable, Bancroft said he held no ill feeling and was in touch with both Warner and Smith.

    “Absolutely,” he told reporters when asked if he would want to play with Warner again. 

    “We’re good people, very honest and passionate people. Dave, like Steve, all of us, we’ve all gone through our challenges, haven’t we?”

    Bancroft, who has admitted he nearly walked away from the game to become a yoga teacher in the wake of the vitriol that met the tampering scandal, added that “we’ve all been there for each other”.

    “And I look forward to a day like that where I can go out and play cricket with Dave again. He’s a quality cricketer and someone who’s achieved so much in that cricket team.

    “As a player like myself, you strive to be around players like that. For my own learning as a cricketer, I’d love for that to happen.”

    Bancroft is now back playing with the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League, stroking a match-winning half century on Wednesday evening.

    He is due for a county cricket stint with Durham later this year, and has an eye on the Ashes tour of England, with Australia’s opening batsmen struggling in the absence of himself and Warner.   

    “I just love playing cricket, regardless of the Ashes, it was something I was really keen to do,” he said of the Durham move.

    “I’ve missed a chunk of domestic cricket and come the end of the cricket season I’ll just be keen to get over there and continue to improve and enjoy this great game.”

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    AustraliaDavid WarnerCameron Bancroft
  • Australia’s tour to India set to start on the 24th of February

    Australia’s tour to India set to start on the 24th of February

    Australia’s limited overs tour to India is scheduled to begin on the 24th of next month, the Board for  Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed on Thursday. The tour comprises of two T20 Internationals and five fifty over games.

    The first T20 is scheduled to be played in Bangalore, with the second at Visakhapatnam. The ODI’s are scheduled to be played in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ranchi, Mohali with the final game at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on the 13th of March.

    This series will be the final ODI’s for team India ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup in England while the Aussies are scheduled to play Pakistan. India’s pace talisman Jasprit Bumrah will be expected to make a comeback to the ODI squad in this series after being rested for the away leg of the limited overs game as well as the tour to New Zealand.  

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  • Albie Morkel announces retirement from all forms of cricket

    Albie Morkel announces retirement from all forms of cricket

    South African all-rounder Albie Morkel on Wednesday announced retirement from all forms of cricket at the age of 37. The speedster took to Twitter to announce his retirement saying he’ll “enjoy the game now from the other side”. He said “That’s the end for me and what a journey it’s been! Plenty of memories good and bad, but I was blessed with a very long career.”

    The left-handed batsman thanked the South African cricket association and his local club Titans in his retirement tweet. He played 58 ODIs and 50 T20 Internationals for the Proteas, in a career that cumulatively spanned almost two decades. The 37-year-old was revered for his explosive batting, often capable of changing the course of games with his aggression. 

    Morkel was also a massive fan favourite in the Indian Premier League, where he played for Chennai Super Kings from 2008-2013 and helped them win back to back titles in 2010 and 2011. He last featured for South Africa in a T20 game against India in 2015. 

    Feature image courtesy: Seshadri Sukumar/AFP

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  • Team goes from 35/3 to 35 all out in Indian domestic game

    Team goes from 35/3 to 35 all out in Indian domestic game

    In a comical turn of events, an Indian Ranji trophy game between Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh ended a tad prematurely than expected with seven Madhya Pradesh players scoring ducks as the team tottered from 35/3 to 35 all out at the Holkar cricket stadium in Indore. 

    Image Credit: Unsplash

    Chasing a massive fourth innings target of 343, only two players for Madhya Pradesh, Aryaman Birla and Yash Dubey, managed to hit double figures as they crumbled to a tame defeat against Andhra Pradesh. The last six players got out without troubling the scorers as Madhya Pradesh went from 35/3 to 35 all out in a little less than 17 overs to hand the visiting team a 307 run victory.

    KV Sasikanth was the pick of the bowlers for Andhra Pradesh, ending with figures of 6 for 14 in his eight overs. 

  • Sri Lanka recalls Perera for Australia Tests

    Sri Lanka recalls Perera for Australia Tests

    Sri Lanka on tuesday recalled batsman Kusal Perera to a 16-member squad for the two-match Test series against Australia starting later this month.

    Injuries kept Perera out of the New Zealand Test series which Sri Lanka lost 1-0, but he was included in the shorter formats of the game. 

    He takes his place back in the Test squad for Australia as selectors dropped Dhanushka Gunathilaka over his poor form in New Zealand.  

    Following the Test defeat, Sri Lanka also lost the just concluded three-match one-day international series to New Zealand 3-0. A one-off T20 match is due to be played on Friday in Auckland.

    The first Test against Australia opens on January 24 in Brisbane and the second starts on February 1 in Canberra.

    Sri Lanka Test squad for Australia: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera and Kasun Rajitha.

    Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP

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    AustraliaSri LankaKusal Perera