New Zealand announce squad for first Test against South Africa
Cam Fletcher and Blair Tickner have earned maiden Test call-ups as New Zealand announced a 15-member squad for the first Test of the two-match series versus South Africa. Kane Williamson has not recovered from a recurring elbow injury, and Tom Latham will continue to lead the side in his absence.
New Zealand squad for the first Test: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Cam Fletcher (wk), Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Will Young.
ECB ropes in Collingwood as interim head coach
England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has appointed Paul Collingwood as interim head coach of the Men's senior team. Earlier, they sacked Chris Silverwood as head coach and Ashley Giles as Director of Cricket. Collingwood was also in charge of the English side that lost the recently concluded T20I series in West Indies by a 2-3 margin.
'I am genuinely excited to be leading the Test team for the tour of the Caribbean,' said Collingwood. 'I can't wait to get started. Having a challenging Test series against the West Indies straight off the back of the Ashes disappointment gives us a chance from now to reset and rebuild.'
Daniel Sams added to the Australia squad
Daniel Sams has been added as replacement for Travis Head in Australia's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting 11 February. Head will miss the first three games as he will play for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield.
Australia squad for T20I series: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Daniel Sams, Moises Henriques, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa
Rahane to play for Mumbai under Shaw
Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) will persist with Prithvi Shaw as the captain for the forthcoming edition of the Ranji Trophy. Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane will be the vice-captain. Mumbai are pooled in Group D, along with Saurashtra, Odisha and Goa.
'Captaincy is not important for someone like Ajinkya, who has achieved what was considered to be impossible for a cricket captain,' said an MCA official to Cricbuzz.