Cricket news round-up – January 9: Injured James Anderson out of South Africa tour, Zimbabwe to host Sri Lanka for Test

James Anderson is out of South Africa tour due to a rib injury. Zimbabwe will host Sri Lanka for two-match Test series. Chris Green has been suspended from bowling for illegal action.

Injured James Anderson ruled out of South Africa tour

James Anderson will miss the remainder of the tour of South Africa following a left rib injury that he picked on the final day of the Cape Town Test. He continued to bowl even after sustaining the injury without understanding the worsening impact of it. A scan on Wednesday eventually confirmed the bone-related issue that would take six to eight weeks to recover.

Anderson will return to England in the next few days for rehab and Craig Overton will stay with the team as cover. Anderson who returned to the international scene after missing the Ashes due to a calf injury shared his disappointment on social media. He wrote, “Frustrating to be missing the rest of this series with a broken rib but hopefully will be healed in a few weeks! Will be supporting the boys from home.”

Zimbabwe to host Sri Lanka for Test series

Zimbabwe will host Sri Lanka for a two-Test series towards the end of January starting from January 19. The first match will be held between 19-23 January and the second between 27-31 January at the Harare Sports Club. Zimbabwe last played a Test match in Bangladesh in October 2018. This will be their first international tournament since their reinstatement as an ICC member.

Zimbabwe head coach Lalchand Rajput said, “Sri Lanka are always a very competitive team who have been playing well and I am looking forward to the Test series. For us, it’s a new beginning, a new chapter, and it’s good that we are starting off with the long version which always brings the best out of players.”

Chris Green’s bowling action found illegal

Due to illegal bowling action, Chris Green was withdrawn from Sydney Thunder’s squad in the Big Bash League yesterday. After the match between Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars on January 2, he was reported by on-field umpires Nathan Johnstone, Mike Graham-Smith and third umpire Paul Wilson. Further, a scan at the National Cricket Centre on January 5 as per protocol suggested Green to have an illegal bowling action.

This means the off-spinner will not be able to bowl for a minimum of 90 days in any Cricket Australia-run competitions with immediate effect. But the Thunder and New South Wales can opt for his service as a batsman.

In a media release by Cricket Australia, Peter Roach, Cricket Australia’s Head of Cricket Operations, said, “We’d like to commend Chris and the Thunder for the way they have approached this process with complete cooperation and respect, Chris undertook testing at the earliest possible time and satisfactorily replicated his bowling action in the controlled environment. We look forward to working with Chris in the coming months and conducting further testing once the suspension period has elapsed.”

Eoin Morgan to lead Middlesex

Eoin Morgan is set to lead Middlesex in T20 cricket this season. Morgan’s appointment as a captain comes after Dawid Malan’s move to Yorkshire. Last season saw Morgan smashing 341 runs for the team that included an unbeaten 83 off just 29 deliveries.

After the confirmation, Morgan said, “I’m delighted to be awarded the T20 Captaincy. The role is one that I have really enjoyed. We’ve got an exciting group of players here at Middlesex, with plenty of talent and a good blend of youth and experience, and I’m really looking forward to helping the club build on the improvements we made in this format last year.”

On behalf of the club, Middlesex head coach Stuart Law said, “I’m really excited to have Morgs at the helm for our T20 campaign. He is currently the best white-ball captain around and will offer a great deal of experience on and off the field to the team in this format. I can’t wait to start working with him to build a squad of players to challenge in this format.”