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Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that an expert medical panel had advised him rest with the aim of getting fit for the South Africa tour in December, after a scan showed multiple leg injuries

Sa'adi Thawfeeq25-Oct-20162:37

‘We are all behind Herath’ – Mathews

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has said he pulled out of the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe because an MRI scan revealed several injuries to his leg. He said the decision was taken to help him recover in time for the tour of South Africa in December.”I had about one-and-a-half months to recover and I was preparing myself to be ready for the Zimbabwe tour,” Mathews, who had torn his calf during the ODIs against Australia in August and September, said. “Unfortunately there has been a setback.”We did an MRI scan, which revealed that I had multiple injuries on the same leg. I had to pull out after the expert medical panel advised me and [told] SLC not to send me to Zimbabwe because it might jeopardise my chances of playing in South Africa. We are planning to take a closer look at why this is happening. The doctors have advised rest, and the recovery can be earlier than that or more; we will have to play it by ear.”Mathews had been named in the original squad for Zimbabwe, but was ruled out last week. He is expected to be out of action for three weeks and is doubtful for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, also involving West Indies, that follows the Tests.Rangana Herath was appointed captain for the Tests in Zimbabwe, while batsman Upul Tharanga took Mathews’ place in the squad.Sri Lanka have a depleted team for Zimbabwe. Vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal, and fast bowlers Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera were also ruled out due to injuries. The pace attack in Zimbabwe will be led by Suranga Lakmal.Chandimal was unavailable for the Tests due to a thumb injury for which he underwent surgery in September, but was hopeful of playing the tri-series, which starts from November 14.Herath, who will be only the second bowler to lead Sri Lanka in Tests, said the team was confident of a good performance in Zimbabwe after a 3-0 series sweep of Australia at home in August.”If you take our performance in the recent Test series against Australia, the confidence we gained from the 3-0 win will be very beneficial to us,” Herath said before the team’s departure. “The team’s confidence levels are very high after that victory. The team that I have I am confident can perform well in Zimbabwe.”SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala blamed the spate of injuries on poor player management and said the board will address the issue of workloads.Suranga Lakmal’s workload is worrisome, says SLC president•AFP

“We have not managed our players properly for the last three years,” Sumathipala said. “We have good cricketers who have come in from Under-19, U-23 and club level, but once they reach the top level they can’t sustain their physical condition because they have been badly managed.”Mathews is a world-class allrounder and there is so much demand and so much of pressure on his body that it’s not easy for a person like him to be without an injury unless he has a proper scientific approach.”Mathews had the highest number of match days in the past 18 months. At this level a player simply cannot go on. He has to pull out and take a genuine break for the body to recover. We don’t have enough recovery time.”Sumathipala said the possibility of Lakmal going on the South Africa tour without a proper break highlighted how important workload management was for players, particularly bowlers.”You have to make an assessment of the player and then based on the assessment you make a permanent study of the player, which you call player management,” Sumathipala said. “If there is a fast bowler who has bowled 100 overs, there should be a study saying that after 18-20 overs you have to stand him down and pull him out of the game to let him recover physically, which we don’t do. We never had proper player management.”Someone like Suranga Lakmal is being excessively used. Our most important tour is definitely to South Africa. Can we go on this tour without Lakmal being given a break?”Sumathipala said SLC was studying players during matches and practice sessions and would give them a programme to follow. He also said poor practice facilities resulted in injuries to fast bowlers.”We don’t have a single strip in this country with the impact pads on the bowlers’ run-up,” Sumathipala said. “The indoor nets have normal concrete run-ups and the bowlers go and land their foot at such speed and with so much weight of the body every day. This is one way they get injured. We have to change all the run-ups and have impact pads on them.”Sri Lanka’s first Test against Zimbabwe will be played in Harare from October 29, while the second match is scheduled to start from November 6. The two teams last played a Test in May 2004 in Bulawayo.

Indian allrounders Krunal Pandya and Nitish Rana were sought after by RCB and RR

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-20242:04

Moody: Curran poses a left-hand conundrum with bat for CSK

Bhuvneshwar Kumar emerged as the most expensive player sold in the early bidding on day two of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) buying him for INR 10.75 crore (US$ 1.28 million approx.).Fast bowlers were in high demand with Deepak Chahar going to Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 9.25 crore ($1.10 million approx.), Akash Deep to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for INR 8 crore ($0.95 million approx.), Mukesh Kumar to Delhi Capitals (DC) for INR 8 crore ($0.95 million approx.), pace-bowling allrounder Marco Jansen to Punjab Kings (PBKS) for INR 7 crore ($0.83 million approx.), and Tushar Deshpande to Rajasthan Royals (RR) for INR 6.50 crore ($0.77 million approx.).RCB and RR also went up against each other for Indian spin allrounders, with RCB snapping up Krunal Pandya for INR 5.75 crore ($0.68 million approx.)and RR getting Nitish Rana for INR 4.20 crore ($0.50 million approx.).Related

• The surprises: No takers for Warner, Thakur

• Suryavanshi becomes youngest IPL player at 13

• Who is Priyansh Arya, PBKS' new big buy?

A large number of players were unsold in the early bidding, including established IPL names like Shardul Thakur, Kane Williamson and Ajinkya Rahane. There were no takers for Prithvi Shaw either, despite his base price being only INR 75 lakh. On day one, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were among the high-profile players to go unsold.Records were broken on day one of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, when PBKS first bought Shreyas Iyer for INR 26.75 crore and then LSG bought Rishabh Pant for INR 27 crore, making them the most expensive players in the history of the league.

They gave away 61 runs and took no wickets in the powerplay in conditions that were offering swing

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-20231:05

Bishop: Arshdeep will find his way again

Shikhar Dhawan, the Punjab Kings captain now left hoping for other results to go their way to make the playoffs of IPL 2023, rued the lack of execution from his bowlers as they were bested by Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala on Wednesday.In conditions that offered help for the quick bowlers, the Kings were unable to close out the powerplay properly. Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh and Nathan Ellis were hit for seven fours and three sixes between the third and sixth overs. Capitals benefited from that period of profligacy, going from 11 for 0 to 61 for 0 in just 20 balls.”We didn’t bowl really well in the first six overs,” Dhawan said at the presentation. “We should’ve taken some wickets out there, the way the pitch was offering the swing.”Capitals posted 213 for 2 and won a tight game by 15 runs.Kings have had a particularly difficult time bowling in the first six overs this season. They have taken a mere 14 wickets in this phase of play – the second worst in the league behind Lucknow Super Giants – while also conceding 9.20 an over – again the second worst behind Kolkata Knight Riders.”Our bowlers didn’t pitch the ball up, whereas they should have been,” Dhawan said. “That was the plan. Unfortunately they couldn’t implement it. Whether we take wickets or not, that’s a different thing. But we should bowl in the right areas, which we have not been doing for quite a long time and that’s hurting us because in powerplay we are always giving 50-60 runs. And that’s fine but we should be taking wickets as well.”Dhawan’s concern over his quick bowlers’ performance forced him to take a big call at the death. He brought left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar into the attack in the 16th over and had him bowl the 18th and the 20th as well. This was a time when the Capitals had a well-set left-hander at the crease as well and with many of the balls spinning into him, Rilee Rossouw took full toll, especially in the final over, which yielded 23 runs and pushed Capitals’ total above 200.”Even my decision of bowling the spinner in the last over backfired,” Dhawan said. “I feel the momentum went there. Before that also, my fast bowler [Ellis] also got hit for 18 runs [in the 19th over]. Those two overs cost us the game.”Kings are only barely hanging on in the IPL. They have 12 points and a game in hand, which means they can get to a maximum of 14. But their rivals – Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians – are already on 14 points or more with a game in hand. And, Royal Challengers Bangalore have 12 points and two games in hand along with a healthy net run-rate. Dhawan’s men will need several results to go their way to make it to the final four.

Western Australia roll over for 147 in their second innings to go down by an innings and 51 runs

Alex Malcolm26-Feb-2019A five-wicket haul from Steve O’Keefe helped New South Wales to an innings victory over Western Australia despite another defiant innings from Cameron Bancroft.O’Keefe took 5 for 52 in 33.2 overs on a crumbling Bankstown Oval surface to bowl WA out for 147 in their second innings with more than hour left on the final day.

Bancroft’s feat

He faced a total of 621 deliveries across two innings
Fourth instance of a batsman facing 600-plus deliveries in a Shield game
Steve Waugh holds the record – 649 balls for NSW v Queensland in 1996
Bancroft held the previous WA record too, having faced 567 balls v NSW in 2015
He is the only one to face 550-plus balls in a Shield game twice
He scored 52.58% of WA’s runs in the game; the highest ever when they have batted twice

But Bancroft did cause the Blues a headache. The WA opener faced 263 balls for 86 runs as he stonewalled the New South Wales charge to victory while his teammates collapsed at the other end.The Warriors had slumped to six for 98 before Bancroft finally found an ally he could bank on in Joel Paris. The pair put on 47 in 22 overs and weathered a difficult period against the second new ball.Bancroft reached 620 balls for the match without being dismissed, having faced 358 of them in the first innings for his 138 not out. He did have a fair amount of luck to stay alive before O’Keefe finally found the kryptonite on the 621st. He spun one sharply past Bancroft’s outside edge in the 90th over of the innings and the opener was stumped by Peter Nevill as he overbalanced.WA only lasted ten more balls after that. Trent Copeland dismissed Paris in the next over before O’Keefe took the last two wickets with the first two balls of the 92nd over to complete his five-for.Earlier, WA’s top order found some unusual ways to get out in their efforts to save the game. Josh Inglis and Hilton Cartwright both fell to the part-time leg spin of Jason Sangha. Inglis was caught at cover driving on the up, while Cartwright fell in bizarre fashion when he pulled a long-hop into Nick Larkin at short leg and the ball ricocheted off the fielder’s body and popped straight up in the air for Sangha to complete the catch.New South Wales are on second spot on the Sheffield Shield table with their third win of the season.

“I never knew if I would actually be able to get one Test hundred, let alone be where we are now”

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Mar-2023New Zealand fight, and find ways to win. This was part of Daryl Mitchell’s appraisal of New Zealand on day three at Hagley Oval, when they came roaring into the Test. Mitchell was the top-scorer, hitting 102 off 193 balls, as New Zealand recovered from 188 for 6 to post 373.This was Mitchell’s fifth Test hundred, in 25 innings, and his second in his hometown of Christchurch. Since making his international debut in 2019, Mitchell – now 31 – has become an integral part of the national side, across formats.”To do it at home here in front of my family is pretty cool, and to do it in the circumstances where those runs were needed,” he said after the day’s play. “I never knew if I would actually be able to get one Test hundred, let alone be where we are now. Every one is special.”I guess I’m a late bloomer in international cricket. To represent my country across all the formats is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.”

Sri Lanka assistant coach Naveed Nawaz:

On the key passage of day three:
“The New Zealanders played very well in the second session today and swung the game their way. It was that 25 overs when Daryl Mitchell and Matt Henry’s partnership took the game away from us. And after that, Neil Wagner as well. It looked like a 50-run lead for us at one stage.”

On Sri Lanka’s prospects:
“We have to back ourselves that a couple of batsmen will go in there and get some big runs, to swing back to our side. The wicket is still good to bat on. It gives a little to the fast bowlers still. Anything above 275-300 would be a good score.”

Although New Zealand at times looked in danger of conceding a lead of perhaps 100, Mitchell lauded the fight, which he said is just part of the way his team plays. Through the course of his innings, Mitchell put on significant stands with Tom Latham, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee, and Matt Henry. But before all that, he had had to battle through some incredibly probing bowling in the third session of day two.”It’s a typical Hagley wicket in that it has got pace and bounce there,” Mitchell said. “I thought the Sri Lankans bowled extremely well last night. They built a lot of pressure and were relentless. You needed a little bit of luck to get through that patch as well. That was nice. And then to put on partnerships with the boys and get us to a total that put us ahead of the game was awesome.”Henry was the other standout batter on day three. Coming in at No. 9, he struck a bruising 72 off 75, which featured ten fours and three sixes. His 69-run partnership with No. 10 Neil Wagner was in fact the best of New Zealand’s innings, and saw the hosts move past Sri Lanka’s first-innings total. They eventually established an 18-run lead.”I thought Matt Henry’s knock was special. He has obviously got great hand-eye coordination, and some of the sixes he hit were massive. Every run is really important in a Test like this. For him to go out and get 70-odd at his home ground is pretty cool.”We know as Kiwis we’ll keep fighting and keep trying to find ways to win. We back each other to do a job, and it was awesome to see Henry go out and play his natural game, and more importantly build partnerships and get us to a total that we thought was perfect for that first innings.”

New Zealand’s record in World T20s has been disappointing, but with a promising squad coming off dominant T20 wins at home, they will be confident of their chances this time

Brydon Coverdale14-Mar-20167:08

O’Brien: Taylor’s form will be pivotal to New Zealand’s campaign

Big picture

At the 50-over World Cup, New Zealand are often a bridesmaid, never the bride. Seven times they have reached the semi-finals, though not until last year did they win one and gain maid-of-honour status. But at the World T20, not since the first tournament back in 2007 have they so much as passed the group stage. Forget being a bridesmaid, New Zealand go home before the speeches even begin. It is a surprising record for a team like New Zealand, a side that generally boasts a few big hitters, some canny bowlers, and is viewed as a perpetual danger at world events. At least they enter the 2016 World T20 with some sort of form behind them, having won their past two series, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, albeit in home conditions.This is also the start of a new era for New Zealand after the retirement of Brendon McCullum last month. He farewelled international cricket in front of a sparse crowd on the fifth day of a Test against Australia in Christchurch. The post-McCullum age begins on Tuesday, half a world away in Nagpur, where Kane Williamson will lead his country in a T20 against India. Not that New Zealand should be unprepared for change. In fact, McCullum had not played a T20 international since June last year, Williamson having led the side to six wins from their past eight matches.They have batsmen capable of quick scoring – Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi and Williamson himself. They have all-round talent – Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner. They have quality specialist bowlers – Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Ish Sodhi. But the challenge is to transfer their recent form to spinning conditions against quality teams – India, Pakistan and Australia – in the group stage. New Zealand are No.4 on the ICC’s T20 rankings, and will feel they have something to prove.

At the helm

No one could accuse McCullum of going with the flow as captain. He instilled in his team a distinct ethos and was always trying new tactics on the field. He is a hard act to follow. Williamson might be the best batsman New Zealand will ever produce, but how will he lead? Will we see a less adventurous New Zealand? Will the spirit of the side carry on as if nothing has changed? Williamson has stood in as captain on many occasions, but this is the beginning of his own era. And he is only 25, so it could be a long one.

Key Stat

11That’s the number of wins New Zealand have managed in World T20 matches, from 25 games. Among ICC Full Members, only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have had fewer victories than New Zealand at the past five tournaments. Incidentally, New Zealand have a remarkable habit of tying T20 matches. There have been nine ties in the history of T20 international cricket, and New Zealand have played in five of them.Martin Guptill – with the bat – and Kane Williamson – as captain – will play decisive roles in New Zealand’s campaign•Getty Images

Leading Men

Martin GuptillOnly McCullum and Tillakaratne Dilshan have scored more T20 international runs than the 1666 Guptill has made. Notably, though, his best work has been done in bilateral series rather than at the World T20, where he has managed only 269 runs at 19.21 and has yet to score a half-century. He has the potential to dominate a tournament like this and at 29 years of age, the time is now to do so. In the absence of McCullum, New Zealand need Guptill to step up.Grant ElliottAt the World Cup last year, Elliott showed that he can rise to the occasion. When he launched Dale Steyn for a six from the penultimate ball of New Zealand’s semi-final chase against South Africa in Auckland, he lifted a giant weight off the collective shoulders of New Zealand cricket. Before that moment they had appeared in six World Cup semi-finals for six losses. How New Zealand would love Elliott to bring his big-moment mentality to the 20-over version as well.Adam MilneTrent Boult and Tim Southee might be the big names in New Zealand’s attack but in conditions that are unlikely to offer much swing or seam, Milne’s pace through the air could be key to New Zealand’s hopes of restricting their opponents. A fast bowler who can crack the 150kph mark, Milne also has recent form on his side, as New Zealand’s leading T20 international wicket-taker over the last 12 months.

Burning Question

How will New Zealand go without Brendon McCullum?
It is one thing to lose McCullum the captain, quite another to lose McCullum the batsman. McCullum is the all-time leading run scorer in T20 internationals, the only man with 2000 runs in the format, the only man with two centuries. He chose to depart from international cricket in what he called “the purest form of the game”, but New Zealand could really have used him in this tournament. Williamson’s class will be important to New Zealand’s hopes, but there can be no passengers among the rest of the batting order. There will be plenty of pressure on Guptill, Williamson, Taylor and their more junior colleagues to cover for the loss of one of the shortest format’s finest exponents.

World T20 history

If New Zealand often perform above themselves at the 50-over World Cup, you would have to say they have underachieved at the World T20. Only once have they progressed past the group stage, and that was at the very first tournament back in 2007, when they lost a semi-final to Pakistan.

In their Own Words

“It’s important that we adapt. We’ve been playing some good T20 cricket but at the same time you want to play smart, and over here cricket can be quite different to our conditions.”

Ben Duckett continued his prolific form as Northamptonshire reignited their Royal London Cup campaign with a 23-run victory against Worcestershire at New Road

ECB Reporters Network27-Jul-2016
ScorecardBen Duckett made more important runs at New Road•Getty Images

Ben Duckett continued his prolific form as Northamptonshire reignited their Royal London Cup campaign with a 23-run victory against Worcestershire at New Road. An eye-catching knock of 86 from 75 balls took the 21-year-old’s nine-day tally to 631 from seven innings for his county and England Lions but it was a close-run thing as Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s first List A century kept the home side in contention for their 320 target.It was not until the 45th over that left-arm spinner Graeme White landed the knockout blows in three balls. The dangerous Ross Whitley was caught on the long-on boundary for 22 and Kohler-Cadmore was effectively yorked for 119 after hitting 11 fours and a six from 126 balls.Duckett, fresh from his undefeated scores of 163 and 220 on international duty, returned to county action on Tuesday by making 46 in a defeat by Warwickshire at Edgbaston and then moved 35 miles down the road to lead Northants to an imposing 319 for 7.On a damp morning, skipper Alex Wakeley may have feared the worst on losing the toss for the seventh time in seven matches in the 50-over competition, but Duckett and Adam Rossington, who played equally well for 87, corrected an early wobble. Their partnership of 99 in 16 overs gave the innings shape and substance before the big hitters, Steven Crook (52 not out) and Rory Kleinveldt smashed 76 in nine overs.The late charge, which ended in the last over when Kleinveldt holed out to deep square leg after hitting two sixes and four fours, meant that for Worcestershire to win they would have to surpass their chasing record in List A cricket.They made a bold attempt. After a bright 43 by Daryl Mitchell, Kohler-Cadmore and Tom Fell broke the back of the target in a relatively trouble-free partnership of 125 in 18 overs. Northants were in need of inspiration when Richard Gleeson broke through by bowling Fell for 54, a well-crafted, unflustered innings with only four boundaries from 50 deliveries.Wickets then began to fall. White, who finished with 3 for 59, held a straightforward return catch from Alexei Kervezee and Brett D’Olveira played on to Kleinveldt. Whiteley rattled the pavilion roof with one of his two sixes but momentum was lost with White’s double intervention and the challenge petered out with the last three wickets in five balls giving Gleeson 5 for 47, his best in professional cricket.The match began 10 minutes late because of rain and Northants lost a wicket in the Joe Leach’s first over when Josh Cobb angled a catch to D’Oliveira at point. Rob Keogh and Wakely later went in quick succession and Worcestershire miss an opportunity when Jack Shantry was unable to hold a low, one-handed chance from Duckett. The batsman was then on 33 and the cost quickly multiplied until he finished with one six and 12 fours when mistiming a pull off Leach.

He will link up with the squad ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Christchurch, having signed a contract that will expire at the end of 2019 World Cup

Madushka Balasuriya08-Dec-2018Steve Rixon has been appointed Sri Lanka’s fielding coach in their lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed. He will link up with the Sri Lanka squad on December 24, ahead of their second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.The move for a new fielding coach has long been mooted, with Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusingha having grown visibly frustrated at his team’s propensity to squander potentially match-winning opportunities on a nearly game-by-game basis.These frustrations were brought to a head during the recent home series against England, when the visiting side’s consistent game-changing excellence in the field only served to exacerbate Sri Lanka’s deficiencies.In Rixon, Sri Lanka have hired one of world cricket’s pre-eminent fielding specialists. He was most recently credited for Pakistan’s stark fielding improvements during his stint as fielding coach there, while prior to that he had worked as Australia’s assistant coach and also coached New Zealand – both stints coincided with the sides becoming among the best fielding outfits in the world.He has also coached domestic teams in Australia and sides in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League and the Indian Premier League.Rixon will officially take over duties ahead of the Boxing Day Test, having signed a contract that will expire at the end of 2019 World Cup in England.Outgoing fielding coach Manoj Abeywickrama will remain with national side for the duration of the first two Tests in New Zealand to oversee the transition, after which he will return home to take up a position in the Sri Lanka A set-up.

Fast bowler Kesrick Williams has been called into the West Indies T20 squad for the three-match series against Pakistan beginning on September 23 in Dubai as a replacement for allrounder Andre Russell

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2016Fast bowler Kesrick Williams has been called into the West Indies T20 squad for the three-match series against Pakistan beginning on September 23 in Dubai as a replacement for allrounder Andre Russell. According to a release sent out by the West Indies Cricket Board, Russell “asked to withdraw from the series to attend to a personal matter”.

West Indies T20 squad

Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams
In: Kesrick Williams
Out: Andre Russell

Despite playing just nine first-class games and six List A matches in his career, the last of which came in 2014, Williams emerged as a consistent threat in this year’s Caribbean Premier League, playing for the champions Jamaica Tallawahs. Williams, 26, was a bargain after being drafted in the 13th round for a price of just $5000 before going on to finish third overall with 17 wickets in the competition behind only Sohail Tanvir and Dwayne Bravo.Russell was set to face a Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) on September 19 and 20 for allegedly missing three tests but it is not known if this is the reason for his decision to withdraw from the Pakistan series.Russell, 28, has been a leading player in the T20 format in recent times. He played a crucial role in West Indies winning the 2016 World T20 title in March and April, and is a key performer in domestic leagues around the world. Russell was part of winning campaigns for Sydney Thunder in the 2015-16 Big Bash League, for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League in February, and Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL in August.

Tahir, Shamsi to play for Guyana Amazon Warriors; Kuggeleijn returns to St Lucia Kings

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2022Barbados Royals have signed up South African heavyweights Quinton de Kock and David Miller for the upcoming season of the CPL.It will be de Kock’s maiden appearance at the CPL, while for Miller, Royals will be his third franchise in the competition after stints with Jamaica Tallawahs and St Lucia Kings [earlier St Lucia Zouks]. Royals also have in their line-up Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the Afghanistan spinner who has previously played with Jamaica Tallawahs, as well as Pakistani batter Azam Khan and South African allrounder Corbin Bosch. They still have five more spots to fill at the players’ draft tomorrow.Tallawahs, meanwhile, have roped in Mohammad Amir for the upcoming season. The Pakistan fast bowler had turned out for Royals last year, when he claimed 11 wickets at an average of 13.54. Sandeep Lamichhane, Imad Wasim, Chris Green and Migael Pretorius are the other four overseas signings by Tallawahs. All four players have represented the franchise in earlier editions.Guyana Amazon Warriors have added a rich South African flavour to their set-up. They have signed up Imran Tahir, the leading bowler for the franchise with 60 wickets from 43 outings for a fifth successive season. Additionally, they have also included wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, batter Colin Ingram and wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen for the upcoming season alongside Paul Stirling, the Ireland opener.Related

• CPL 2022 – Patriots, Knight Riders the teams to beat; new-look Royals hope for turnaround

• CPL 2022 draft: Shai Hope moves to Warriors; Rahkeem Cornwall joins Royals

• CPL 2022: Russell to join Pollard, Pooran, Narine at TKR

• Hasaranga, Theekshana, Brevis set for maiden CPL stints

• Daren Sammy appointed head coach of St Lucia Kings

St Lucia Kings have brought on board New Zealand’s Scott Kuggeleijn after releasing him last year. Kings are now left with just one more overseas spot left to fill, with last year’s captain Faf du Plessis, Tim David and David Wiese in their ranks as well.Kuggeleijn, who played for Kings in 2020, was the leading wicket-taker that season. He was, however, released by the franchise last season along with the Afghanistan pair of Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran.Kings’ other big acquisition is Johnson Charles, who had represented Barbados Royals in 2021, scoring 216 runs in ten games at a strike rate of 122. Charles came on board as a pre-draft signing.Among players from the islands, Roston Chase, Kesrick Williams, Alzarri Joseph, Mark Deyal and Jeavor Royal have been retained by the franchise. Kings have seven spots left to fill now, including the one for an overseas player, and those are expected to be announced soon.The notable omissions from last year’s squad are Rahkeem Cornwall, who was recently dropped from the list of CWI’s centrally contracted players, Wahab Riaz, Andre Fletcher – who has been signed by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots – and Keemo Paul, who has returned to Guyana Amazon Warriors.Kings finished runners-up, losing to Patriots in the final, last season. That made it back-to-back final appearances for them – they had lost to Trinbago Knight Riders in 2020 – after failing to make the title round in the first seven editions of the tournament.