A remarkable 23 wickets fell on the first day of the second Test in Cape Town, with South Africa bowled out for just 55 and India succumbing to a shocking collapse of their own.

More wickets have fallen in a single day just four times in the history of Test cricket, with ball dominating bat throughout three breathless sessions that ushered the game towards a rapid conclusion at Newlands.

At stumps South Africa were 62 for three in the second innings, only 36 behind after India had lost their last six wickets for no runs in the space of 11 deliveries. From 153 for four they were rounded up in successive overs by the inspired pairing of Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada without adding to their total.

Dean Elgar, South Africa’s retiring stand-in captain, suffered the ignominy of ending his international batting career with two dismissals on the same day but at least shared that pain with team-mates Tony de Zorzi and Tristan Stubbs.

Elgar had won the toss and opted to bat in the morning but saw his decision blow up spectacularly as India skittled the hosts for their lowest Test score in 92 years.

Mohammed Siraj did most of the damage with figures of six for 15, with two apiece for Jasprit Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar, the latter without conceding a run, as the innings subsided in less than 24 overs.

India took the lead in just 10 overs after lunch, Rohit Sharma taking the attack to the home seamers with a rapid 39. The tourists were primed to hammer home a big advantage at 105 for two with Shubman Gill (36) and Virat Kohli (46) at the crease, but there was another twist in the tale.

Things took a huge handbrake turn in the 33rd over when Ngidi dismissed KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah in a triple-wicket maiden.

Unbelievably, three more fell in the next five deliveries at the other end, Rabada taking care of Kohli and Prasidh Krishna either side of Siraj’s run out.

The third innings of the day got under way in the evening session, Kumar picking up two more and Bumrah adding a third as Aiden Markram’s 36 not out offered some belated resistance from the Proteas.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has been shortlisted for the Women’s Twenty20 International Player-of-the-Year honours in the International Cricket Council's 2023 awards.

Matthews, the number one-ranked ICC Women's T20I all-rounder put together a remarkable series of performances last year, as she racked up 700 runs in the year, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 in a mere 14 matches for the year.

The 25-year-old Barbadian is up against three high-class players, with, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, the top ranked T20 international bowler, Australia’s Ellyse Perry, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.

Matthews’ stellar display against Australia in a bilateral T20I series in the second half of the year, was one for the ages. During that series, she posted scores of an unbeaten 99, 132 and 79, as she proved to be a thorn to the Australian side.

Matthews’ extraordinary unbeaten 99 in the first game of the series was overshadowed by her mind-blowing 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney. The world-record run-chase in women's T20Is saw Matthews break several records, including that of the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase.

Her overall tally of 310 runs in the series is the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series. Matthews also enjoyed good form in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, where she tallied 130 runs and took four wickets and four catches.

The hard-hitting Matthews produced a match-winning performance in a tight encounter against Ireland at the T20 World Cup. In that contest, she picked up four wickets and made a 34-ball 48, but her remarkable 132 against Australia overshadowed it all.

Having taken three wickets for 36 runs with the ball as Australia made a whopping 212, West Indies were faced with a daunting task in the run-chase, but nothing could have prepared anyone for Matthews’ innings.

She hit two fours and a six in the 17th over of the run-chase to raise her century off just 53 balls, and then clubbed Jess Jonassen for four fours in a row in the 19th over to bring the equation down to eight runs needed off six balls.

While Matthews was dismissed in the over, she had set the stage for one of the most outrageous women's T20I wins of all-time with her blistering 132 off just 64 balls. The innings was studded with 20 fours and five sixes, as 110 of her 132 runs came in boundaries.

Meanwhile, the men’s T20 shortlist includes 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.

Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand), compete for the men’s emerging player.

Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.

England spinner Sophie Ecclestone has been shortlisted for women’s T20 player of the year in the International Cricket Council’s 2023 awards.

The left-armer, the world’s number one ranked bowler in both white-ball formats, claimed 23 wickets in 11 games last year at an average of 10.60 despite spending four months out with a dislocated shoulder.

The 24-year-old was the top wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup in February with 11, but could not inspire England beyond the semi-final stage.

She is up against three high-class all-rounders, with Australia’s Ellyse Perry, West Indian Hayley Mathews and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.

Ecclestone’s team-mate Lauren Bell is also up for an award after making the cut for women’s emerging player of the year. The tall seamer established herself as a first-choice across all three forms, picking up a total of 22 wickets.

She goes up against Scotland’s Darcey Carter, who made 224 runs and took 13 T20 wickets in her first six months as a full international, Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield and Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter.

The men’s T20 shortlist included 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.

Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) compete for the men’s emerging player. Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.

West Indies cricket has again found itself in the firing line, as Australian Test legend Steve Waugh has called for the intervention of cricket's world governing body, International Cricket Council (ICC), to salvage the credibility of the game's longest format, after South Africa followed the Caribbean selector’s lead and opted for an understrength Test side.

West Indies recently named seven uncapped players in a weakened 15-man squad for two Tests against Australia later this month, while South Africa also selected seven debutants for their two-Test series in New Zealand next month.

This, as South Africa’s top players have been allowed to focus their efforts on the shorter format, as the New Zealand tour clashes with the country’s premier Twenty20 domestic tournament.

"It's going to happen if the South African Cricket Board are any indication of the future, keeping their best players at home," Waugh said.

"If I was New Zealand, I wouldn't even play the series. I don't know why they're even playing. Why would you when it shows a lack of respect for New Zealand cricket?

"It's pretty obvious what the problem is — the West Indies aren't sending their full-strength side [to Australia this summer]. They haven't picked a full-strength Test team for a couple of years now.

"Someone like Nicholas Pooran is really a Test batsman who doesn't play Test cricket. Jason Holder, probably their best player, is not playing now. Even Pakistan didn't send a full side [to Australia],” he argued.

Both Holder, the Caribbean side's leading all-rounder, and batting all-rounder Kyle Mayers, skipped the Australia tour to explore T20 franchise opportunities.

While he acknowledged there is little financial incentive for smaller nations to play Test cricket, Waugh called for a standardised fee to be implemented by the ICC.

"If the ICC or someone doesn't step in shortly then Test cricket doesn't become Test cricket because you're not testing yourself against the best players,” Waugh said.

"I understand why players don't come; they're not getting paid properly. I don't understand why ICC or the top countries who are making a lot of money don't just have a regulation set fee for Test matches which is a premium so [that] people are incentivised to play Test Cricket. Otherwise, they'll just play T10 or T20.

"The public are the ones who are going to suffer because it's not the full side playing so it's not Test cricket,” he added.

Roland Butcher’s time as a member of the Desmond Haynes-led senior selection panel for the West Indies Men’s teams seems to have come to an end as his contract has not been renewed.

Cricket West Indies, in a letter dated December 12, 2023, informed Butcher of the decision to not renew his contract as a selector.

Butcher, who was born in Barbados and played three Test matches and three ODIs for England from 1980-81, was appointed to the panel in December 2022.

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force leg-spinner Imran Khan has hinted that the 2024 West Indies Championship could be his last.

A stalwart in regional cricket, the 39-year-old Khan has played 113 first-class matches, taking 450 wickets, a milestone he achieved in the final game of the 2023 West Indies Championship against Jamaica Scorpions at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

Khan also had 71 wickets in 53 List A games. With the bat, Khan has 3,622 runs with a lone century of 125. He also has a half-century in List A cricket.

Asked if he was thinking about the time he has left in the game, “I haven’t set a time frame to step away,” was his response in an interview with the Trinidad Express recently.

“I’m still fit and wanting to play. I’ve always put Trinidad and Tobago cricket first for many decades however, I know the time will come soon for me to step down to make way for younger players, but I’ll still like to be around to share my experience and knowledge,” he said.

Khan made his first-class debut as an opening batsman in 2005 and was part of the 2006 T&T squad that won the regional first-class competition, the last time the country has done so to date.

“In 2024, I am looking forward to the four-day and possibly another Super50 tournament, maybe my last, and of course maintaining my fitness and ensuring that I continue to pass each fitness test will be key,” he said.

Despite his regional success, Khan never represented the West Indies at the highest level and accepts that, at 39, that dream is likely over.

“I guess the dream playing for West Indies is over, safe to say...but I’ll like to be around to share my knowledge. Now I’ll like to explore more franchise cricket. Clearly, I have what it takes to perform,” he said.

“Yes, I have achieved being one of the best all-rounders regionally; I have several accolades to prove that, but it always will hurt that I never got the opportunity to play for West Indies. I did everything required of me, but God has a better plan,” he added.

He most recently represented the Manipal Tigers in the Legends League T20 in India from November-December last year, taking nine wickets in five matches for the eventual champions.

Khan didn’t feature in the Super50 for the Red Force towards the end of 2024 and played four out of five matches for the franchise in the West Indies Championship at the start of the year, grabbing 13 wickets with a best of four for 47.

Off-spinner Bryan Charles was the top bowler for T&T in the four-day competition, taking 21 wickets in five matches.

“I wasn’t selected in the playing 11 for the first four-day game, but I used that to get mentally stronger, which showed in my performance with the bat and ball,” Khan explained.

Having missed the season opener, Khan scored 92, his 15th first-class half-century, against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes.

“I really wanted to score runs this year and I definitely did. Of course, not being selected for the squad for 50 overs was disappointing but I’m happy the team won,” said Khan.

“However, not being selected for that tournament, other doors opened...I had a great Legends League tournament finishing with most wickets and the title. I’ll say 2023 has been good to me,” he added.

David Warner has pleaded for the return of his baggy green Australian cricket cap after it went missing from his bag on the eve of his final Test match.

In a video on Instagram, the veteran batsman said the cap was taken from his backpack during transit to Sydney ahead of Australia’s third Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“This is my last resort to do this,” Warner said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31)

“A couple of days ago, our bags got freighted via Qantas. We’ve gone through CCTV footage, they’ve got some blind spots apparently, we spoke to the Quay West Hotel who we absolutely trust and have gone through their cameras, no one’s come into our rooms.

“But unfortunately, someone has taken my backpack out of my actual luggage, which had my backpack and my girls’ presents in there, inside this backpack was my baggy green.

“It’s sentimental to me, it’s something I would love to have back in my hands walking out there come this week. If it is the backpack you really wanted, I have a spare one here, you won’t get into trouble.

“Please reach out to Cricket Australia or myself via my social media and I’m happy to give this to you if you return my baggy greens.”

The Sydney Test, which starts on Wednesday, marks the 37-year-old’s final red ball appearance for his country after more than a decade as Australia’s linchpin opener.

At a press conference on Monday, Warner announced he was also retiring from one-day cricket, but would still be available for the T20 format.

He said Australia’s upset victory over India in the World Cup final in November was his last 50-over match on the international stage.

He told reporters: “That was something that I had said through the World Cup, get through that, and winning it in India, I think that’s a massive achievement.

“So I’ll make that decision today, to retire from those forms, which does allow me to go and play some other leagues around the world and sort of get the one-day team moving forward a little bit.”

David Warner has pleaded for the return of his baggy green Australian cricket caps after they went missing from his bag on the eve of his final Test match.

In a video on Instagram, the veteran batsman said the caps were taken from his backpack during transit to Sydney ahead of Australia’s third Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“This is my last resort to do this,” Warner said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31)

“A couple of days ago, our bags got freighted via Qantas. We’ve gone through CCTV footage, they’ve got some blind spots apparently, we spoke to the Quay West Hotel who we absolutely trust and have gone through their cameras, no one’s come into our rooms.

“But unfortunately, someone has taken my backpack out of my actual luggage, which had my backpack and my girls’ presents in there, inside this backpack was my baggy greens.

“It’s sentimental to me, it’s something I would love to have back in my hands walking out there come this week. If it is the backpack you really wanted, I have a spare one here, you won’t get into trouble.

“Please reach out to Cricket Australia or myself via my social media and I’m happy to give this to you if you return my baggy greens.”

The Sydney Test, which starts on Wednesday, marks the 37-year-old’s final red ball appearance for his country after more than a decade as Australia’s linchpin opener.

At a press conference on Monday, Warner announced he was also retiring from one-day cricket, but would still be available for the T20 format.

Pelicans, inspired by a sterling captain’s knock by Carlos Brathwaite, lifted themselves from the bottom of the point standing by defeating fellow cellar dwellers Warriors by six wickets on day four of the Dream 11 BIM 10 cricket tournament at the Desmond Haynes Oval on Saturday.

Having been sent in to bat, Warriors rallied to 104 for four from their 10 overs and had placed themselves in a strong position by reducing Pelicans to 55 for four off 5.4 overs when Brathwaite joined the fray.

The former West Indies skipper, with the assistance of Mario Albert, then proceeded to propel his team to 110 without further loss to win with four balls to spare.

Four sixes and three fours were the main scoring shots in the swashbuckling, 14-ball innings, that dominated the unbroken, match-winning partnership of 55 with Albert who finished 33 not out (26 balls, 4 fours 1 six).

Albert’s crucial innings began after three wickets tumbled with the score on 15. He and opening bat Shian Brathwaite rebuilt the innings in adding 40 before the latter’s dismissal for 25 brought the captain to the crease.

Warriors, who maintained a sluggish rate of scoring at the beginning were given a late boost by Yvan Grant who pounded 20, inclusive of back-to-back sixes off the last over bowled by pacer Chemar Holder. He remained unbeaten on 32 off 17 balls after Zidane Harewood (27), Marradon Bend (17) and Jonathan Carter 12 provided the platform.

In the second match, Voyagers proved no match for a powerful Titans unit who required just 5.2 overs to wipe off the meagre total made by Voyagers who were invited to bat.

The Dwayne Smith-led Voyagers hobbled to 77 for six with medium pacer Kemar Harte (2 for 5 from 2 overs) leading the stifling bowling effort.

Nyeem Young, in the unusual position of opening bat then hit seven maximums in 47 off 17 balls to formalise the second win from three matches for the Titans, with new captain, Aaron Jones coming 18 not out.

Summarised scores:

Match #7: Warriors 104-4 in 10 overs (Yvan Grant 32*, Zidane Harewood 27, Marradon Bend 17, Jonathan Carter 12) Pelicans 110-4 in 9.2 overs (Carlos Brathwaite 42 n.o. (14 balls, 3×4, 3×6), Mario Albert 33* (26 balls, 4×4, 1×6), Shian Brathwaite 25) Pelicans won by six wickets.

Match #8: Voyagers 77-6 in 10 overs (Giovonte Depeiza 16, Akeem Springer 11, Rashawn Worrell 10) Titans 78-1 in 5.2 overs (Nyeem Young 47*, 17 balls, 7×6), Aaron Jones 18*) Titans won by nine wickets.  

The year 2023 was a good one with the gloves for West Indies Test wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva.

The 25-year-old Trinidadian, who made his debut back in 2020 against New Zealand, recorded an impressive 31 dismissals in just six matches.

Overall, Da Silva has 98 dismissals in 24 Tests.

Of the 31 dismissals, 29 were catches and two were stumpings. Only Australia’s Alex Carey ended 2023 with more dismissals in Test matches.

Carey played 13 matches for the World Test Champions, recording 54 dismissals (44 catches and 10 stumpings).

The rest of the top five includes England’s Jonny Bairstow (30 dismissals in six matches), New Zealand’s Tom Blundell (29 dismissals in seven matches) and Pakistan’s Sarfaraz Ahmed (14 dismissals in four matches).

David Warner has announced he has already played his final one-day international for Australia as he prepares for his Test cricket swansong.

Warner, 37, will continue to be available for T20 cricket but has said Australia’s upset victory over India in the World Cup final in November was his last 50-over match on the international stage.

He is due to play in his final Test when Australia play Pakistan in Sydney, starting on Wednesday.

“I’m definitely retiring from one-day cricket as well,” Warner said at a press conference on Monday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31)

“That was something that I had said through the World Cup, get through that, and winning it in India, I think that’s a massive achievement.

“So I’ll make that decision today, to retire from those forms, which does allow me to go and play some other leagues around the world and sort of get the one-day team moving forward a little bit.”

Warner ends his one-day career as a two-time world champion, having scored 6,932 ODI runs at an average of 45.30 with 22 centuries.

Warner now plans to focus on the T20 format, and will hope to play for Australia in the World Cup campaign in June.

The West Indies Test squad successfully arrived in Australia on Saturday to begin preparation for their two-test series against the reigning ICC World Test Champions and World Cup winners.

The first Test will begin on January 16 in Adelaide before the teams move to Brisbane for the second Test to begin on January 24.

The ‘Men in Maroon’ will then turn their attention to three ODIs from February 1-5 and three T20Is from February 9-13.

The West Indies last won a Test against Australia way back in 2003 and their last series win came in 1993.

Full squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Alzarri Joseph (VC), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin greaves, Joshua Da Silva, Akeem Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Zachary McCaskie

The Jamaica Tallawahs are one of only two Caribbean Premier League (CPL) teams, alongside the Trinbago Knight Riders, with at least three titles to their name.

They won the inaugural tournament in 2013 before doing so again in 2016 and 2022.

In the next edition of the Caribbean’s biggest T20 showcase, the Tallawahs will not be present.

In their place will be a not-yet-named Antigua-based franchise. This won’t be Antigua’s first time hosting a franchise as, for the first two editions of the CPL, they were the home of the Antigua Hawksbills who won only three of their 16 games before eventually replaced by the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

After acquiring the team in 2017, Guyanese businessman Kris Persaud sold the Tallawahs back to the CPL ahead of the 2024 season because he said he was unable to sustain the team given a lack of support from the Jamaican Government.

Former Tallawahs CEO, Jeff Miller, shed more light on this lack of support from the Government.

“Over the years, we have failed to get any backing or support from the Jamaican Government. We have submitted proposals over the years requesting Government support and we have failed to reach some kind of agreement to say that the Government is supporting the franchise,” Miller told SportsMax.tv in an interview on Wednesday.

“The business plan of CPL entails that the Governments play a major role in financial support of the franchises and that’s what the other franchises are receiving from their respective countries and Jamaica has failed to participate in those environs,” he added.

In fact, Jamaica, one of the regions proudest cricketing nations, has not hosted a CPL game since September 2019 when the Tallawahs lost by 20 runs to the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

“Unfortunately, the franchise cannot be sustained in Jamaica. We cannot have a franchise where we don’t have home games,” Miller said.

“When you don’t have home games, you’re losing ticket sales, you’re losing merchandising, you’re losing concession, you’re losing sponsors. So, it’s not only the government support, you’re losing others as well because what business would want to support a franchise and they can’t get any benefits from the franchise playing within the country? For what we see, there were no games scheduled for 2024 either! It’s unsustainable,” Miller added.

This was due to the reluctance of the Government to pay the CPL hosting fee for the last four years. When asked why this was, Miller said he wasn’t privy to those discussions but always had promises from Jamaica’s Minister of Sport, the hon. Olivia “Babsy” Grange regarding financial support.

“I’m not at privilege to those conversations. Those conversations would’ve been between them and CPL. I’m not sure what transpired but from the Tallawahs standpoint, we know that the minister was very graceful in her discussions with us but when it came to funding that’s when things would go off track. We were promised on numerous occasions that there would be something in the budget, nothing substantial but even a small gesture, we were not able to receive those funds,” he said.

Persaud and Miller will lead the new Antigua-based franchise which will be part of next year's competition, replacing the Tallawahs in the six-team Twenty20 tournament. The CPL is in search of new owners for the Jamaica-based franchise.

Miller said they have gotten commitments from the Antiguan Government and are looking forward to a fruitful partnership in the future.

“We have commitments from the Antiguan Government. We can’t disclose any information, per se, but it’s substantially more than what we were getting from Jamaica,” he said.

“We can’t tell the players; Jamaica’s not supporting us so we can’t pay your salary. All of those things have to be taken care of so we’re looking forward to greener pastures and Antigua seems to be in a better position to support and seems to want to have a CPL team back in Antigua. We think it’s a good fit for the franchise,” Miller added.

Announcements related to the branding of the new Antigua franchise will come next month, according to Miller,

“I’m engaging the fans in Antigua to participate in the naming of the franchise. That deadline should be around January 20^th or so. Then, we will announce the name as well as the colors and logo,” he said.

West Indian cricket and broadcasting icon Michael Holding has blasted the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to charge Australian opener Usman Khawaja for wearing a black armband during the Perth Test against Pakistan.

Khawaja has been told by the ICC to keep his humanitarian appeal for the people of Palestine away from the cricket field. He was officially warned for wearing a black armband during the first Test between Australia and Pakistan in Perth.

He wanted to sport a black dove on his shoe and bat in the upcoming Boxing Day Test but even that was rejected by the ICC, and Holding says he is not “surprised” by their stance of “hypocrisy”.

“The ICC regulations say re messaging ‘approval shall not be granted for messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes,” Holding explained.

“So how the f*** people were allowed to take a knee for BLM (Black Lives Matter), and stumps were covered with LGBTQ colors?” Holding questioned while speaking to The Weekend Australian.

Holding argued that the ICC has not made their stance clear.

“If it would have been some other organisation with a consistent track record, I would have been surprised, but not the ICC," he declared.

The fast-bowling legend accused the ICC of being “hypocrite” and have shown again that “they lack spine as a governing body”.

Like Holding, other observers believe that by banning Khawaja's move, as well as his subsequent request to adorn his bat with the peace symbol of a dove holding an olive branch, the ICC has inadvertently boosted his message, while revealing its own hypocrisy.