AB de Villiers scored 97 on Sunday to give South Africa an outside chance of winning the fourth and final Test against England at the Oval. South Africa, who have already clinched the series 2-0, were dismissed for 316 in their second innings, leaving England 197 to win their first Test with Kevin Pietersen in charge.
Following Rising Pune Supergiants batsman Faf du Plessis's exit, Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com takes stock of the players forced out of the cash-rich Twenty20 extravaganza by injury.
Recalled England fast bowler Steve Harmison took two wickets in two balls and James Anderson captured three to help dismiss South Africa for 194 on Kevin Pietersen's first outing as Test captain on Thursday.
Steve Harmison and Stuart Broad have been recalled to the England team for the final Test against South Africa starting on Thursday at The Oval.
England captain Andrew Strauss and his team did all they could do pull off a series-saving victory over West Indies on Tuesday but had to watch as the Wisden Trophy was handed to their rivals for the first time in 11 years. The 1-0 defeat in the series came down to a batting collapse for 51 that resulted in an innings and 23 run defeat in the first Test in Jamaica.
Shaken by the recent terror attack on Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore, former England captain Kevin Pietersen has hinted that he was considering snapping ties with the lucrative Indian Premier League starting next month.
Western Australia coach Tom Moody said on Thursday he had rejected an offer to apply for the job of England head coach.
Star players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are likely to lead the English influx into the Indian Premier League with its cash-rich franchises lining up six-figure offers for them. England one-day captain Paul Collingwood is expected to sign an IPL deal, too, with Owais Shah, Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara also the subjects of lucrative bids believed to be in the region of $300,000.
The players' auction for the Indian Premier League's second season got underway in Goa on Friday. A look the price list.
England's star duo of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen broke the Indian Premier League record for the highest-paid player after they were sold for US $ 1.55 million each in the players's auction for the second season held in Goa on Friday. All-rounder Flintoff was purchased by Chennai Super Kings, while England former captain Pietersen, as expected, was snapped up Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Former captain Kevin Pietersen helped England recover from early setbacks against the West Indies and reach 236 for five at close on the first day of the first Test at Sabina Park.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said batsman Kevin Pietersen would be the key player for England in their forthcoming Test and one-day series. South Africa have not won a series in England since 1965, but Smith said the hosts may have their minds on selection issues this time around.
Kevin Pietersen smacked a century in his first appearance for England since resigning the captaincy in the opening match of the West Indies tour on Sunday. Pietersen, who quit as captain earlier this month after a disagreement over the coaching of the team, hit 103 from 107 balls as England reached 424 for eight at stumps on day one of the three-day tour match against a St Kitts XI at Warner Park.
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell believes India skipper Virat Kohli's penchant for playing copybook cricketing shots and his incredible fitness make him the world's best batsman across formats among the current generation of cricketers. Kohli, who has scored 70 international hundreds and more than 20,000 runs, averages more than 50 in all three formats.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, the man in the centre of a storm that apparently cost two persons their job, says he wants to train for quite a few month with his county side before staking a claim to the national side.
England have named a provisional 30-man squad for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
Former opener Geoffrey Boycott feels English cricket has become a laughing stock, thanks to the "appalling" way in which the ECB forced Kevin Pietersen to step down from captaincy.
Kevin Pietersen had first offered his resignation as captain after last month's drawn second Test against India in Mohali but he was advised to sleep over it before taking a final call, disclosed England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) vice-chairman Dennis Amiss. Amiss said Pietersen is a "marvellous, exciting" player whose future commitment is strongly welcomed.
Kevin Pietersen said he wants to captain England again despite resigning this week after a fall-out with coach Peter Moores.
England paceman Steve Harmison has urged captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores to settle their differences for the sake of the team. The pair's fractious relationship since Pietersen took over the captaincy in August has come to a head in recent days and a poor series of results since Moores became coach nearly two years ago have not helped the situation.
Tipped to be the next England cricket coach, Graham Ford will have no problem leaving his current employers county side Kent, which has promised not to come in the way if its director of cricket gets the high-profile job. The South African is the bookies' favourite to replace current England coach Peter Moores, who has fallen out with skipper Kevin Pietersen.
The rift between England captain Kevin Pietersen and head coach Peter Moores is "unhealthy" and must be resolved as soon as possible, Pietersen was quoted as saying on Sunday. Pietersen told the News of the World that he wants the issue sorted out before England arrive in the West Indies for a four-Test tour later this month.
Graham Ford, who turned down an offer to work with the Indian cricket team in 2007, might replace Peter Moores as the new England coach even though retired spinner Ashley Giles is also in the race for the job, according to media reports in London. The Sunday Telegraph claimed England captain Kevin Pietersen has no trust in Moores' capability as a strategist or analyser and believes the coach does not have the vision required to make England a champion team.
Controversial England batsman Kevin Pietersen will be one of the first players to go under the hammer, along with senior India discards Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, when the two-day auction for the cash-rich IPL commences in Bangalore on February 12. The initial list of 651 players was pruned to 514, including 219 capped players, by the IPL governing council.
As if losing the Test series against India was not enough, England's cricket team was on Wednesday fined five per cent of its match fee while skipper Kevin Pietersen was docked 10 per cent of his earnings for maintaining a slow over-rate during the first match in Chennai.
Kevin Pietersen believes his first major away tour as England captain would help him mould the team with a demanding 2009 season ahead.
England captain Kevin Pietersen on Sunday expressed disappointment over the leg before decision that ended his epic 144-run knock, insisting he played it down the leg side and still got out.
England skipper Kevin Pietersen struck a majestic 15th Test century of his Test career before India fought back to take two late wickets on the third day of the second and final Test on Sunday.
England captain Kevin Pietersen does not believe his batting colleagues were negative in their approach in the first Test in Chennai and insists the visitors need not change their game in the second and final Test against India, starting on Friday. The England captain expressed confidence that his team would rise up to the challenge and break their run of defeats in India which started with the 5-0 drubbing in ODIs.
With a new-found aura of invincibility around them, a domineering India will seek to plot a second whitewash of England when the two teams clash in the second and final Test in Mohali on Friday. Apart from hearts -- by defying terror and continuing with the tour -- the team under Kevin Pietersen has not won anything in India. An Indian win in Mohali would be a double blow for the Englishmen who were blanked 5-0 in the ODI series on the other side of the Mumbai attacks.
Former captain Michael Vaughan backed England to bounce back from the bitter loss in Chennai, saying that Kevin Pietersen and his men have the "bulldog spirit" to square the Test series against India in Mohali. Vaughan admitted that the six-wicket loss in Chennai was a bitter pill to swallow, considering the way England dominated most part of the match.
Yuvraj Singh returned to the Indian side for the first Test after an eight-month hiatus.
Former England batsman Mike Atherton felt Kevin Pietersen and his team was in all probability being benefitted more than affected by the Mumbai terror attack as it save them from lot of criticism and gave them a chance to visit home in the middle of a series.
With no match practice at all and the the fact that none in the England squad has played first-class cricket in last four months, former England batsman Mark Butcher warned Kevin Pietersen's team to be prepared for tricky readjustments to a Test mind-set. The England team, who were not released to play for their counties at the end of the summer, have played only limited-overs matches since the final Test against South Africa, four months ago.
England's decision to tour India within a fortnight of the Mumbai mayhem was not driven by their urge to stand by a terror-stricken country but by a business deal, according to media reports in London. Apparently, it took lot of deliberation and persuasion on England and Wales Cricket Board's part to convince Kevin Pietersen and his men to tour India for the two-Test series.
Kevin Pietersen and his men should call off their tour of India because the situation there is far from safe, former England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Lord MacLaurin said on Tuesday. MacLaurin said it would be sad if the ECB, which is awaiting a report from its security adviser Reg Dickason, eventually gives its go-ahead for the two-match Test series.
England's ODI captain Paul Collingwood wants the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to relax its stance and let the country's top players turn out in the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League. Collingwood came out in support of views expressed by Test captain Michael Vaughan and star batsman Kevin Pietersen who argued there is no reason for England stars to miss out on the Twenty20 extravaganza.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels it will be tough for Kevin Pietersen and his men to return to India for next month's Test series as playing there would be like being in a "military camp" after the ghastly Mumbai terror attacks. Vaughan said it is hard to say whether the Indians would be prepared to play after the mayhem that left close to 200 dead.
England captain Kevin Pietersen says his team may have to play the Test series against India in blue. That's because its kit was left behind at the Taj hotel, in Mumbai, which came under the just-ended terrorist attack. The English players had left their Test kits at the hotel before the seven-match ODI series, which they abandoned while trailing 0-5 because of the mayhem in Mumbai.
Kevin Pietersen and his men should not be forced into returning to India for next month's Test series if their security fears don't subside, said former England captain Nasser Hussain as he urged the ECB to take a call on the matter without delay.
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