Proteas duo upset coach with Kolpak signings
SOUTH Africa coach Russell Domingo has hit out at Rilee Rossouw after the top-order batsman joined Kyle Abbott in signing a Kolpak deal with Hampshire.
Rossouw, 27, and fast bowler Abbott, 29, have effectively ended their international careers after signing respective three and four-year deals with the English county.
Cricket South Africa announced it had terminated Abbott’s national contract by mutual agreement and with immediate effect, and that it was in the process of following a similar process for Rossouw.
Abbott faced the media after South Africa’s Test victory against Sri Lanka in Cape Town to explain his decision but Domingo revealed Rossouw had only informed CSA about his decision via email.
Domingo told a press conference broadcast on Cricket South Africa’s Twitter feed: “We got an email off his iPhone yesterday telling us he has signed Kolpak. He spelt my name wrong for starters - he put one ‘l’ instead of two. So that’s where we are. I’m very disappointed in him.
“He toured Australia as the backup Test batsman, he was the next batsman in. He’s played in most of the one dayers and a lot of T20s. He’s a guy we backed after five noughts (early in his international career).
“We said this is a guy who can play the closest level to AB de Villiers in the one day teams. We invested massively in him and we’re very disappointed in his decision.”
Ross Taylor has returned to the New Zealand squad for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
The 32-year-old underwent surgery to remove a growth on his eye before Christmas just after scoring a Test century against Pakistan. He missed the one-day internationals against Australia and Bangladesh as he recovered from the surgery.
But he made an impressive return to domestic 20-over cricket and has now been drafted into a 13-man squad for matches which start on January 12 and 20.
Trent Boult returns following a knee injury, with Doug Bracewell dropping out.
Former New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin has signed a new two-year deal to stay with Middlesex.
Franklin captained Middlesex to their first County Championship title since 1993 last year, taking the reins for most of the season due to regular skipper Adam Voges’ commitments with Australia.
The 36-year-old, who also led the Royal London One-Day Cup side last summer, joined the London county in 2015 and has registered nearly 2,000 runs as well as 60 wickets in 70 appearances across all formats.
Four wickets in seven overs from Kagiso Rabada helped South Africa wrap up a series victory over Sri Lanka with one Test to spare.
Rabada’s opening spell of the day in Cape Town was instrumental in the Proteas completing the win by a massive 282-run margin.
One of his victims on Thursday morning was Angelo Mathews, who top-scored for the tourists with 49 in a second-innings total of 224, chasing 507.
The series concludes with a third match in Johannesburg which starts on January 12.
Rabada, who took six for 55 in the innings overall, also accounted for Dinesh Chandimal (30), Upul Tharanga (12) and Suranga Lakmal (10) on the final day.
Rangana Herath (35 not out) ran out of partners as Nuwan Pradeep’s dismissal at the hands of Vernon Philander brought the match to a close.
Younis Khan propped up Pakistan with a landmark century but Australia continued to dominate the third Test in Sydney.
On day three, Khan achieved the feat of becoming the first player to score a Test hundred in 11 Test match host nations, including Pakistan’s current home base of the United Arab Emirates.
His 136 not out helped Pakistan reach 271-8 in their first innings but the tourists still trail Australia by 267 runs and risk being forced to follow on.