Cricket

England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the two Tests against New Zealand next month after a recurrence of his elbow problem. Archer was unable to bowl on Saturday during Sussex's County Championship match with Kent, and did not bowl in the game's final day on Sunday either. The England and Wales Cricket Board said the 26-year-old "was suffering from pain in his right elbow". The first Test against New Zealand at Lord's starts on 2 June. "The England and

LONDON: New Zealand's most successful test wicketkeeper BJ Watling will retire from all forms of cricket after their upcoming tour of England, the country's cricket board (NZC) said on Wednesday. Watling, 35, has been an integral part of New Zealand's test team since debuting in 2009, and holds the Black Caps' record for test dismissals with 249 catches (excluding 10 as a fielder) and eight stumpings. Watling, who also represented New Zealand in 28 one-day internationals and five Twenty20s, said the time had

England expect players to be available for their Twenty20 World Cup build-up if there is a clash with the rescheduled Indian Premier League. One possible window for the postponed IPL is before the T20 World Cup in October, when England are due to tour Bangladesh and Pakistan. "If those tours go ahead I'd expect them (players) to be there," said England managing director Ashley Giles. "We're planning on involvement of England players in England matches." The IPL was postponed last week amid the

The remainder of the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) season will have to be played outside the country, the organising Indian cricket board said, though it is unclear whether a window can be found to play the outstanding 31 games. The popular Twenty20 league was suspended indefinitely last week after several personnel tested positive for COVID-19. India reported 366,161 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, taking the caseload to 22.66 million. Sourav Ganguly, head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),

Star batsman David Warner and former Australia opener turned commentator Michael Slater have clearly denied that the duo were involved in an altercation inside a Maldives bar. SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Warner and Slater, who was commentating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, along with the Australian contingent are staying in the Maldives before they all leave for Australia. The rumour of physical exchange between the duo in the Maldives was first reported by the Daily Telegraph as cited by foxsports.com.au. The former Australian

Rain is affecting Saturday's County Championship fixtures with six matches abandoned without a ball bowled. Yorkshire against Kent was called off shortly after 11:00 BST and the games at Lancashire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Northants and Nottinghamshire followed. Play did start at Lord's between Middlesex and Gloucestershire at 13:10. Hampshire and Somerset began the third day of their Group Two encounter at The Ageas Bowl at 17:30 BST. But while Group Two leaders Gloucestershire managed to beat Middlesex by seven wickets, only 9.3 overs were possible in

NEW DELHI: The Indian cricket board faces losing about US$270 million in revenue after its lucrative and star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL) was halted by the COVID-19 crisis in the country, a senior official told Reuters on Wednesday. The world's richest Twenty20 league was approaching its halfway stage before it was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday following bubble breaches in two venues. "The ballpark figure for revenue loss would be to the tune of 2000 crore rupees (20 billion)," Arun Singh Dhumal, treasurer of

Australian police on Wednesday arrested four men in connection with the armed kidnapping of former Test bowler Stuart MacGill. The men were detained in a pre-dawn raid in Sydney, following the kidnapping of the cricketer in the city's affluent Lower North Shore last month. MacGill was lauded as a talented bowler and played 44 Tests for Australia, but was unlucky that his career coincided with that of Shane Warne, ranked by many as the best spin bowler of all time. Police said that

Some of England's 11 IPL players are already on their way home following the indefinite suspension of the tournament. It is understood Sam Billings, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow have managed to secure flights back to the UK earlier than initially expected. It had been anticipated that all IPL players would be required to self-isolate in India and test negative before leaving the country. The players will still have to quarantine for 10 days at a government-approved hotel upon arrival in UK, as

Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 has been suspended for a week, said BCCI sources, after many players tested positive for COVID-19

Shikhar Dhawan's delightful 69 dwarfed Mayank Agarwal's unbeaten 99 as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets in the IPL, on Sunday to go atop the points table. Agarwal, leading the side in the absence of regular skipper K L Rahul, used the straight bat effectively in his lone hand to take Punjab Kings to 166 for six. Delhi Capitals hardly broke a sweat in the run chase, cantering to victory in 17.4 overs overs, their sixth win in eight matches. For

This year's Twenty20 World Cup could be moved to the United Arab Emirates if India continues to suffer with a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament is due to begin in October, but the Covid death toll in India has passed 200,000, with at least 300,000 new infections every day in the past week. Last week, India joined the UK's travel red list - effectively banning travel to and from the country. Other countries - including Australia - have also closed their

LONDON: India batting great Sachin Tendulkar has donated 10 million rupees (approximately US$135,000) to a fundraising campaign that is helping hospitals treating COVID-19 patients procure oxygen concentrators. Mission Oxygen, which describes itself as a non-for-profit, charitable initiative, said it has placed an order for 1,365 concentrators from China and thanked Tendulkar for his donation. "His donation of rupees 1 crore to Mission Oxygen in its endeavour to procure and provide life-saving oxygen concentrators to hospitals across the nation in this time of need

Opener Prithvi Shaw smashed six fours in the first over in a stunning batting display on his way to a blistering 82 as Delhi Capitals (DC) crushed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Chasing 155 for a win, Shaw sent all the six legal deliveries from opening bowler Shivam Mavi to the boundary, driving, punching and sweeping at will. Mavi's first delivery saw Dinesh Karthik diving full-length to his left to take

LONDON: Seamers Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali took four wickets each as Pakistan seized control of the first test against Zimbabwe on the opening day at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday. The pair helped the tourists dismiss their hosts for 176 in the first innings, before Pakistan reached 103 without the loss of a wicket in reply at the close to trail by 73 runs in the first game of the two-match series. Openers Abid Ali (56 not out) and Imran Butt

Defending champions Mumbai Indians will look to sort out their middle-order woes and bring their campaign back on track when they take on an inconsistent Rajasthan Royals in an IPL game, on Thursday. MI are coming into the match after suffering back-to-back losses, the last one being a nine-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings in Chennai and need to start the Delhi leg afresh. The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan have lost thrice in the tournament so far and will seek to build on the six-wicket

NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings beat bottom side Sunrisers Hyderabad to go top of the IPL on Wednesday as the big-money tournament staged its first game in India's coronavirus stricken capital. Scores of police guarded the barricaded gates around the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Dehli during the match which Chennai won by seven wickets in 18.3 overs. Normally the stadium would be packed with 40,000 people for major cricket games. But with Delhi accounting for more than a tenth of the 3,200

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) rode on an AB de Villiers special and a solid final over from Mohammad Siraj to inflict a one-run defeat on Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The ever-reliable De Villiers scored an unbeaten 42-ball 75 to power RCB to 171 for five before their bowlers, led by Harshal Patel (2/37), Mohammed Siraj (1/44) Kyle Jamieson (1/32), restricted DC to 170 for four. Needing 14 off the final over, DC fell agonisingly

Eoin Morgan guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a much-needed victory over Punjab Kings in a low-scoring Indian Premier League contest in Ahmedabad. The KKR skipper came in with his side 17-3 early on in their chase of 124 but was typically calm under pressure, putting on 66 with Rahul Tripathi (41 from 32 balls) as he batted through to the end, finishing unbeaten on 47 from 40 balls. Kolkata's bowlers, led by Prasidh Krishna (3-30), had restricted Punjab to 123-9 and it took

A stunning performance from Ravindra Jadeja helped Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and go top of the Indian Premier League. Jadeja, who was dropped on nought, equalled the IPL record for most runs by a batsman in an over when he hit 37 off the final over of CSK's 191-4. He then took 3-13 with the ball and had a direct-hit run out as RCB could only reach 122-9 from their 20 overs. The win moves CSK top at the expense