Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has been hit on the helmet by a ball and was forced to cut short a nets session ahead of Australia’s Third Test against India on Boxing Day.
Watson was knocked to the ground during a training session in the Melbourne Cricket Ground when a short ball from James Pattinson hit him flush on the helmet.
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India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been ruled out of the final two Tests of the four-match series against Australia due to a shoulder injury.
December 25, 2014, 11:30pm
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Lasith Malinga is set to return to action for Sri Lanka next month after his lay-off following surgery on his left ankle in September.
The 31-year-old paceman, who spearheads the Sri Lanka attack, is recovering well from the operation that ruled him out of the one-day series against India and England.
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South Africa have called-up uncapped batsman Rilee Rossouw to replace injured Quinton de Kock for the second Test against the West Indies.
The 25-year-old has yet to play a Test, with his international experience limited to nine one-day games and three Twenty20 matches.
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Pakistan veteran Shahid Afridi has announced he will retire from one-day internationals after next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Afridi told a news conference on Sunday that he will focus on T20 matches after the tournament is over, as Pakistan look ahead to the ICC World Twenty20 in India in 2016.
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Pakistan veteran Shahid Afridi has announced he will retire from one-day internationals after next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Afridi told a news conference on Sunday that he will focus on T20 matches after the tournament is over, as Pakistan look ahead to the T20 World Cup in India in 2016.
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Jason Gillespie says new England one-day captain Eoin Morgan has every chance of playing himself into form for the World Cup while on Big Bash League duty for the Sydney Thunder.
Morgan – confirmed as Alastair Cook’s successor in the 50-over format on Saturday – made the most of a brief bat in the Thunder’s 56-run win over Brisbane Heat, striking 12no off five balls.
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Kevin Pietersen remains determined to reclaim his place in the England set-up despite comments made by England officials over the weekend.
After Alastair Cook was replaced by Eoin Morgan as skipper of England’s ODI side on Saturday, Paul Downton and James Whitaker both made it clear that the change of captaincy did not pave the way for Pietersen to rejoin the team.
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Australia have been fined for a slow over rate during the second Test against India in Brisbane which concluded on Saturday.
The elite panel of ICC referees found Steven Smith’s side were three overs short of their target and the skipper was fined 60 per cent of his match fee and his team-mates docked 30 per cent of their fees.
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Join us for a feast of cricket on Sky Sports this Christmas!
The action comes thick and fast this festive time – not least on Christmas Day when we’ll bring you coverage of the opening day of the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports 2 from 9.30pm.
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Ravi Bopara believes Eoin Morgan is the perfect man to lead England into the World Cup.
Morgan, 28, will captain England in January’s Tri-Series against Australia and India before the tourmament begins in February, after replacing Alastair Cook as one-day skipper following a meeting of the selectors on Friday.
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Batsman Joe Burns is a surprise addition to Australia’s squad for next week’s Third Test which starts on Boxing Day in Melbourne.
The 25-year-old Queensland right-hander was named as a replacement for injured Mitchell Marsh with in-form Australia already holding a 2-0 lead in the series.
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The West Indies have followed England in replacing their one-day captain less than two months before the World Cup after replacing Dwayne Bravo with Jason Holder.
Holder, who turned 23 last month, has been named to lead the squad in the five ODIs in South Africa next month.
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Dale Steyn is the finest seam bowler on the planet, says Bob Willis.
South Africa star Steyn produced a breath-taking spell of bowling at Centurion on Saturday morning, taking 6-34 to help the Proteas skittle out West Indies and win the first of three Tests by an innings and 220 runs.
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Eoin Morgan’s first act as England captain should be to push himself back up the ODI order, says Bob Willis.
Morgan was the regular incumbent at No 5 prior to the recent tour of Sri Lanka but dropped below Ravi Bopara during the 5-2 series loss Angelo Mathews’ side.
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South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock is a doubt for the World Cup after being ruled out of the rest of the series against the West Indies due to injury.
De Kock injured his left ankle while warming up before play on the third day of the first Test and a scan revealed a torn ligament.
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Alex Hales must replace Alastair Cook at the top of England’s ODI batting order for the World Cup, says Sir Ian Botham.
Cook has been removed as captain and left out of England’s 15-man squad for next year’s tournament following a barren run of form with the bat that has seen him pass fifty just once in 20 ODI innings in 2014.
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Jonathan Trott has been named as captain of an England Lions squad to tour South Africa early next year.
Trott was named in a provisional touring party back in October less than a year after a stress-related illness caused him to quit the senior England side’s Ashes series.
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Alastair Cook says it will take him a long time to get over his removal as England’s one-day captain.
A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board on Saturday confirmed Eoin Morgan’s appointment as the new skipper ahead of next year’s World Cup.
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Gary Ballance has been recalled to a 15-man England World Cup squad that includes neither Ben Stokes nor outgoing captain Alastair Cook.
Cook’s fate was sealed once Eoin Morgan’s appointment as the new one-day skipper was decided at Friday’s selection meeting, while all-rounder Stokes pays the price for a recent record of four wickets and 84 runs in eight games.
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Steven Smith has eliminated any doubts over his captaincy credentials by guiding Australia to victory over India in the second Test at The Gabba, says Mark Butcher.
Smith stood in as skipper for the injured Michael Clarke and as well as leading his side to a four-wicket triumph also plundered his second century of the four-match series.
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Alastair Cook says it will take him a long time to get over his removal as England’s one-day captain.
A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board on Saturday confirmed Eoin Morgan’s appointment as the new skipper ahead of next year’s World Cup.
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Mitchell Johnson was delighted to carry out his “job” and fire Australia to victory over India in the second Test in Brisbane.
The left-arm quick bulldozed India’s middle-order on Saturday morning – taking 3-10 in 11 balls – before finishing with figures of 4-61 as Australia dismissed the tourists for 224.
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Gary Ballance is set for a recall to England’s one-day squad this morning as the Eoin Morgan era begins.
Morgan will be confirmed as the replacement for outgoing captain Alastair Cook when a 15-man squad is named for January’s three-team series against Australia and India.
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Kevin Pietersen has paid tribute to England’s prospective one-day captain Eoin Morgan and revealed he hopes to play under him one day.
Sky sources revealed on Friday afternoon that Alastair Cook is to be removed as captain of England’s 50-over side and replaced by Morgan ahead of the World Cup – a move due to be confirmed at an ECB press conference on Saturday morning.
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Eoin Morgan is the right man to revitalise England’s World Cup bid if he is named as the new one-day captain, say Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton.
Morgan is the favourite to succeed Alastair Cook, who according to Sky Sources will no longer lead his country in the 50-over format following a selectors’ meeting on Friday.
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Bob Willis believes England have made the right decision in dropping Alastair Cook now rather than risk looking like a laughing stock at the World Cup.
Despite ECB managing director, Paul Downton, saying as recently as Monday that he’d be surprised if Cook wasn’t captain come the tournament’s start on February 14, the selectors have made the change.
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Alastair Cook will not captain England at the World Cup, according to Sky sources.
Eoin Morgan, the Middlesex batsman, will captain England in the forthcoming tri-series with Australia and India, and then at the World Cup, which takes place in Australia and New Zealand.
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Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal made his return to competitive cricket on Friday and hopes to play in next year’s World Cup.
Ajmal has spent the last three months remodelling his action after being suspended by the International Cricket Council.
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Nottinghamshire have signed South Africa Test star Vernon Philander and Australia’s Ben Hilfenhaus as their overseas players for the 2015 season.
Philander, 29, a key component of South Africa’s feared pace attack, has previous county experience with Kent, Middlesex and Somerset.
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Andrew Flintoff has urged the ECB to fully explain the reason for Kevin Pietersen’s sacking.
“It’s time the ECB told us, the paying public who are missing out on watching Kevin, what went on.”
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Steven Smith heaped praise on Mitchell Johnson after the left-hander’s brutal 88 helped Australia secure a first-innings lead over India in the second Test.
“I said before the Test match that I wanted to lead from the front with my performances, so hopefully I’ve done that.”
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