Jimmy Anderson put England in firm control on the second day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Saturday, with his four wickets leaving South Africa trailing by 142 runs with just one first-innings wicket remaining.
Toby Roland-Jones saw his dream debut continue as he completed a five-wicket haul to end South Africa's belated resistance and ensure England maintained their domination of the third Test at The Oval on Saturday.
Alastair Cook marked The Oval's 100th Test match with a familiarly stubborn unbeaten half-century, standing firm as the home side battled to 149 for four against South Africa at tea on an absorbing first day of the third Test on Thursday.
Hashim Amla's third double-ton for South Africa and Stiaan van Zyl's unbeaten century on debut against West Indies helped the hosts declare on 552 for five before rain brought an early end to day two of the first Test on Thursday.
Having missed a few international games in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka owing to a recurrent hamstring injury, India opener Murali Vijay has said he wants to attain peak fitness before the upcoming home series against South Africa.
'I think it's a great reality check for us. It is about each and every player seeing themselves in the mirror and how they can improve, to try and stake a claim for that 15-man squad in a year's time'
Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa starting on Wednesday after a slow recovery from a calf injury.
England will play four Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches on a 10-week tour of South Africa during the 2015/16 summer season.
South Africa were 123 for four in the third Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday before rain forced the abandonment of the first day's play after 41 overs.
South Africa have named an unchanged squad for the remaining two Tests against England as AB de Villiers prepares to lead the five-day team for the first time in Johannesburg on Thursday.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis lauded his "relentless" bowlers for their match-winning performance against Australia in Hobart on Tuesday and dedicated the series win to absent Proteas Dale Steyn and AB De Villiers.
Any hopes that the issue of race in South Africa's sport was fading were damaged this week when the government banned its national cricket, rugby, athletics and netball federations from bidding for international tournaments due to a failure to increase their number of black players.
A venomous spell of fast bowling from Stuart Broad led England to an emphatic seven- wicket win over South Africa in the third on Saturday to clinch the series. Broad's brilliant return of 6-17 on a lively wicket skittled the Proteas for 83 in their second innings on the third day. England reached their modest victory-target of 74 with relative ease as captain Alastair Cook (43) top-scored in guiding them to 77 for three from 22,4 overs under gloomy skies. The tourists now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series, with the final game to be played in Pretoria. South Africa bowled out England for 323 in the morning session for a slender first-innings deficit of 10 runs, but were no match for the bounce and movement of a rampant Broad as they crumbled to their second lowest score since returning to international cricket in 1991.
Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has been called into the squad for the remainder of the One-day series against South Africa to give Mitchell Johnson time to rest up before next month's Test series against India.
'In a way, making me feel that we are responsible. I was quite upset about that. I don't know what else I can say, I was pretty upset. It's done and dusted now, nothing happened, there were no fines given or anything like that'
Images from Day 4 of the fourth Test between India and South Africa in New Delhi, on Sunday.
Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur believes that international cricket teams can learn from India on how to nurture young players and empower them with responsibilities at critical junctures. Be it in the bowling or batting department, cricketing powerhouse India has built a solid bench strength for all formats under Virat Kohli's leadership, which has left Arthur impressed.
Manoj Tiwary and Manish Pandey missed out on three-figure marks but their contrasting innings were enough to guide India 'A' to a comprehensive 70-run victory over South Africa 'A' in the second match of the quadrangular series in Darwin on Tuesday.
Newly-appointed Test skipper AB de Villiers has it in him to become one of South Africa's greatest captains, says Cricket South Africa (CSA) supremo Ali Bacher.
Under Kohli, the Indian team ended a 22-year wait for a series win on Sri Lankan soil before battering World No.1 South Africa 3-0 to hand the Proteas their first overseas loss in nine years.
Vernon Philander's brilliant all-round show played a major role in South Africa's recovery against India on the second day of the first Test.
Hashim Amla's blistering stroke-play and Morne Morkel's fearsome bowling put South Africa in control of the second Test against Australia as they closed the third day on 192 for four on Saturday.
'Let them sit in Australia and talk about their pitches. Tell them not to waste their time about Indian tracks. Come and play here'
The talented Punjab youngster Gurkeerat Singh Mann was selected for the upcoming One-day International series against South Africa.
Cricket South Africa Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said the franchise based league will have teams from top cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town and that they are looking at potential Indian investors.
Unceremoniously dethroned as the world's top-ranked Test team, an embarrassed South Africa are in a race against time to find answers to their steady decline before they begin the final Test against England on Friday.
Australia's selectors sprung a major surprise on Friday by naming uncapped fast bowler Joe Mennie in a 12-man squad for the first two matches of a three-test series against South Africa beginning in Perth next week. Mennie was part of an inexperienced bowling attack that was humbled by the Proteas batsmen in the recent one-day series in South Africa, which the hosts won 5-0. Despite accumulating figures of 0-82 on debut, the 27-year-old was preferred to Jackson Bird, who toured New Zealand and Sri Lanka as part of the Australian test squad.
Tiny Temba Bavuma scored his maiden Test century for South Africa on Tuesday and suggested English sledging helped him reaching the landmark.
Facing the toughest phase of his cricketing life, an underfire Mahendra Singh Dhoni will seek to revive his career and change the fortunes of a dispirited Indian team when the hosts take on an unbeaten South Africa in the second cricket one-dayer in Indore on Wednesday.
South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, on Wednesday, said it was important to find runs on a bowling friendly pitch like the one used for the third Test against India in Johannesburg.
Australian opener David Warner and veteran fast bowler Ryan Harris have moved up to career-high positions in the ICC Test player rankings following their impressive contributions in Australia's series-winning third Test defeat of South Africa in Cape Town.
New Zealand continued their invincible run by notching up a comfortable seven-wicket win over South Africa to seal their semifinal spot at the ICC Women's World Twenty20, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
The Men in Blue won the first T20I at Johannesburg by 28 runs and a victory on Wednesday will see them wrap up another series win on this tour.
Hardik Pandya stood tall amid ruins with his all-round prowess but hosts South Africa were still very much in command with a current lead of 142 runs against India after an enthralling second day in the first Test in Cape Town
