Proteas Test captain, Faf du Plessis, returns to lead the squad for the first Sunfoil Test match against Australia starting at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday. The captain has recovered from the finger injury that side-lined him for the limited-overs series against India.

His return is a welcome boost to the injury-free list, with AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock also making full recoveries ahead of the match. Temba Bavuma has not recovered satisfactorily from the hand fracture, and is not available for selection for the match.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) today named Multiply Titans wicketkeeper/batsman Heinrich Klaasen and bizhub Highveld Lions all-rounder Wiaan Mulder as new caps in the Standard Bank Proteas squad for the first two Sunfoil Test matches against Australia to be played next month.

They take the places of Andile Phehlukwayo and Chris Morris from the squad that played against India.

Bevan Condon, who’s batsmanship and captaincy helped put New Zealand on the world cricket map in the 1970s, has passed away in Auckland following a long illness.

The man who captained New Zealand to its maiden Test win over Australia, at Christchurch in 1974, died one day short of his 80th birthday, and on the fortieth anniversary of the start of the Test which brought New Zealand’s maiden win over England – in which he featured.

Former Australian captains Ricky Ponting and Karen Rolton and celebrated batsman Norm O’Neill will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame (ACHoF) at the 2018 Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on 12 February.

ACHoF chairman and Melbourne Cricket Club chairman of cricket, Peter King, today announced that O’Neill, Ponting, and Rolton were the selection committee’s choice for induction this year.