Steyn to miss Test series with England
Dale Steyn has ruled himself out of the Test series against England this summer after failing to recover from a long-term shoulder injury.
The South Africa pace bowler has not played since fracturing his shoulder against Australia in November. He had already been left out of his country’s Champions Trophy squad to give him more time to be fit for the four-test series against England, but the 33-yearold has said he will not make it.
“My recovery is going well but it is taking a little longer than I expected it to,” he said. “I am able to do a lot of things – running, hiking, gym work. But bowling is not one of them and I won’t be ready in time. I just have to be patient.”
Steyn has hinted he could play county cricket towards the end of the summer to build up his fitness. His loss is a big blow for South Africa after AB De Villiers also ruled himself out of the series.
Steyn broke down in the 2015 Boxing Day Test against England and missed the rest of the series. He returned for the World Twenty20 in March and looked back to his best when he took eight wickets in a Test against New Zealand before the Perth Test against Australia.
In his absence, Kagiso Rabada has emerged to become the leader of the South Africa attack and their seam bowling will still be strong this summer. Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Chris Morris will be dangerous in English conditions.
South Africa won in Australia in November and have not lost a Test series in England since 1998.
The tension between Australia’s cricketers and their board is close to breaking point over a new pay deal that will no longer earn players a percentage of Cricket Australia’s revenue. The long-standing row es- calated this week when James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, told players their contracts would not be renewed if they did not agree new terms.
Mark Taylor, the former Australia captain who sits on CA’S board, said: “I have had players say to me in January that we could well be on strike in July.”
Ben Stokes ended his impressive Indian Premier League stint by helping Rising Pune Supergiant reach the play-offs. The all-rounder is heading home as England prepare for the Champions Trophy, but his team will go on after claiming victory in a winner-takes-all clash with the Kings XI Punjab.
Stokes became the most expensive overseas player in the IPL when Pune splashed £1.7million on him, and he lived up to the hype.
He became only the 10th player to score over 250 runs and take more than 10 wickets in the competition, while he hit his first Twenty20 century against Gujarat Lions this month.
His side did not need him to bat, while he was wicketless as they beat the Kings XI by nine wickets.