Cricket

1:53 AM GMT Alex Malcolm The Australia selectors have dropped Glenn Maxwell from the ODI squad to tour India in January despite him being available to play following a mental health break. Marnus Labuschagne has been called up to his first ODI squad following his outstanding form in Test cricket and an impressive Marsh Cup

8:00 AM GMT Firdose Moonda in Paarl Paarl Rocks 148 for 2 (Davids 77*, Pretorius 43) beat Tshwane Spartans 147 for 6 (De Villiers 51, Udana 2-24, Shamsi 2-26) by eight wickets Paarl Rocks were crowned champions of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) after a convincing eight-wicket win over Tshwane Spartans in front of a

9:55 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Starc have achieved their career-best ICC Test rankings, breaking into the top five of the batting and bowling charts respectively. For Labuschagne, the rise has been meteoric. He is just 12 Tests old, and had an unremarkable run in the first five of those, between October

11:48 PM GMT The signs, it has to be said, were translucent from the outset, from Gary Lineker’s introduction of cricket’s man of the moment as the “main award-winner” a full hour before the voting was due to open, to the presence at the ceremony in Aberdeen of the man himself – kept back from

1:41 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff South Africa have suffered a blow ahead of their Test series against England after fast bowler Lungi Ngidi was all but ruled out of the opening match starting on Boxing Day with a hamstring injury that has also sidelined him for the Mzansi Super League final. Ngidi is in doubt

8:00 AM GMT New Zealand 166 need 468 runs to beat Australia 416 and 9 for 217 dec (Burns 53, Labuschagne 50, Southee 5-69, Wagner 3-59) New Zealand need 468 to win the Perth day-night Test match after Australia’s captain Tim Paine declared with one wicket remaining at the end of an innings where the

12:57 PM GMT The stars are aligning for West Indies’ T20 World Cup defence. Phil Simmons, who had coached them to the title more than three years ago, is back at the helm. Kieron Pollard has taken over the limited-overs captaincy, Lendl Simmons is back in form, and Dwayne Bravo has come out of retirement,

9:10 AM GMT Former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has officially come out of international retirement, making himself available for selection in the West Indies T20I side in the lead-up to their men’s T20 World Cup defence in Australia next year. Bravo, however, confirmed that he didn’t want to play any other format. “I would

8:00 AM GMT Tshwane Spartans 166 for 4 (van Biljon 48*, Wiese 31*, Nabe 2-24) beat Nelson Mandela Bay Giants 144 for 8 (Morris 42, Dunk 35, Wiese 3-30, Morkel 2-22) by 22 runs The Tshwane Spartans will play the Paarl Rocks in the Mzansi Super League (MSL) final, after beating the Nelson Mandela Bay

4:57 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Sam Billings will not put his name forward for any T20 franchise action this winter after missing out on England’s white-ball squads in South Africa, but says that his disappointment will provide an opportunity to “freshen up” ahead of the new English season with Kent. Billings has endured a chastening