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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Thursday January 7, 2016
Amla quits as South Africa captain By Mark Gleeson
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) Hashim Amla said yesterday he was stepping aside as South Africa’s Test captain with immediate effect - a day after a double-century rescued his country from possible defeat in the second Test against England. The 32-year-old made the surprise announcement just minutes after the Test at Newlands ended in a draw and after Amla had led a fightback to haul his team from a precarious position. AB de Villiers will take over as captain for the last two Tests against England. “Naturally this decision is not an easy one but the more I think about it the
more I believe I can be of greater value to the Proteas as a fully focused batsman and senior player at this time of rebuilding our team,” Amla told reporters. “I will continue to give my all to the team.” Amla said he had been considering quitting over the last fortnight, even before the start of the series against England and the loss of the first Test by 241 runs in Durban last week. “It’s a bit of relief,” he said. Amla captained South Africa for 14 Tests with four wins, six draws and four defeats. South Africa, despite being the topranked Test nation, have not won in their last eight Tests sketching back to
… AB deVilliers takes over for last two Tests
more than a year and Amla’s form has suffered. He scored 251 Test runs in 2015 but seemed to have got right the balance of making runs and captaining the team with a double-century on Tuesday as his stoical performance rescued his side from the possibility of going 2-0 down in the series. “We respect Hashim’s decision and the manner in which he thought about it and then communicated with me. He still has a huge role to play in shaping the success of our team without the need for a leadership title. He is just that type of a person and we are very
Australia’s Starc writes off World Twenty20 chances By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Fast bowler Mitchell Starc has all but written off his chances of making a faster-than-expected recovery from ankle surgery and playing a part in Australia’s bid for a first World Twenty20 title. The 25-year-old left-arm quick had surgery on ankle spurs after sustaining a stress fracture in his foot during the inaugural day-night Test against New Zealand in November. Starc, the player-of-the-tournament at last year’s 50-overs World Cup, was always an outside shot to make the March 11-April 3 World Twenty20 in India due to the estimated recuperation period and he was unable to offer a better prognosis yesterday. “It’s very unlikely,” he told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground. “Everything would have to go perfectly to be any chance. I won’t know until I can start doing some stuff on it. “I don’t want to rush it. I want to make sure it’s 100 percent because I’ve rushed back before and been dropped after a game. “I’ve played probably nonstop for two years and the silver lining is I get to give the body a bit of a break and rebuild that strength. Make sure everything is 100 percent before I go again.” Starc said the operation had gone well but it would be a while before he was bowling in excess of 150 kilometres per
Australia’s Mitchell Starc uses crutches as he walks to the presentation ceremony after the third day of the third cricket Test match against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, in South Australia, November 29, 2015. (Reuters/David Gray) hour as he did in the second Test against New Zealand in Perth in November, when one delivery was clocked at 160 kph. “Everything had felt great on that day, so I think it just comes back to the rhythm and smoothness in my action on any given day,” said Starc, sporting a ‘moon boot’ to stabilise the injured joint. “It’s going to take a while to get back to my bowling workload and get that rhythm back after spending some time out. “It always takes some time to get that pace back. You obviously are not going to bowl at full pace soon as you come back; it takes a bit of time, so I’m not sure how it’s going
to go.” Starc will miss Australia’s one-day series against India, February’s two-Test series in New Zealand and is not even certain he will be fit to play in the Indian Premier League in April and May. It was probably modesty, however, that led him to question whether Australia’s main strike bowler would not ease straight back into the national side once he was fit again. “I don’t think you can ever say 100 percent that you’ve cemented a spot,” he said. “I’m still going to have to work my butt off when I get back to bowling to get my spot back. But I’d like to think in the last 10-12 months I’ve come a long way in all forms of cricket.”
Hashim Amla
fortunate to have him in our stable,” Cricket South Africa chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat said. South Africa lost the first Test against England last week by 241 runs and will play the next two in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The third Test at the Wanderers starts on January 14. “It’s a bit of a shock. I haven’t got anything to say,” England captain Alastair Cook said, reacting to the news.