The Ashes | Day-Night Test, Day 5: Hit wicket ends Jos Buttler's resistance of more than 200 balls

SJN Report fall out: CSA to launch inquiry to investigate conducts of Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher

Taking cognisance of the findings of the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) report, Cricket South Africa has decided to launch an inquiry over the behavioural conduct of Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher, who were the captain and wicketkeeper-batsman of the South Africa side for a long time before their retirement. However, there is not an immediate threat to their current roles in South Africa cricket. Both of them still hold crucial positions with South Africa cricket with Smith being the Director of Cricket at CSA while Boucher being the head coach of the Proteas side. “The Board has decided to institute formal enquiries into CSA employees, suppliers or contractors who are implicated by the SJN report. The Board has done so mindful of its duty to treat allegations of racism or discrimination with the utmost seriousness and in a manner that ensures fairness and due process in terms of South Africa's labour legislation and the Constitution,” CSA said in its statement. The SJN report was made public last week and claimed that former greats of South Africa such as Smith, Boucher and AB De Villiers were involved in “prejudicial and discriminatory” conduct with other players on the basis of race. Both Smith and Boucher haven’t made any statement yet in response to the findings of the SJN report but de Villiers took to his Twitter timeline to refute any allegations of misconduct on the basis of race.

BBL 2021-22: Sydney Thunder rope in Mohammad Hasnain

Pakistan pacer Mohammad Hasnain has been roped in by the Big Bash League side Sydney Thunder. Thunder are known for their overseas riches in the fast bowling department and have housed players like Chris Jordan and Saqib Mahmood in recent times. Hasnain is an up and coming quick from Pakistan who is known for the ability to generate raw pace. The 21-year old was most recently seen playing for Pakistan against West Indies. Talking about the express pace that he generates, Thunder allrounder Ben Cutting lauded him. “He bowls fast, easily at 150 km/h," Cutting said. "He's a lovely young kid, and his team back home is keen for him to learn about the game and to also come out here and bowl fast.” "[Mohammad] is going to love bowling in Australia. We have faster pitches and bigger boundaries - conditions that are far more conducive to bowling fast than they are in Pakistan.” The right-arm bowler has played 8 ODIs and 18 T20Is so far where he has 12 and 17 wickets to his name respectively. The Thunder will next play in the Sydney Derby against the Sixers on Sunday (December 26, 2021). The side has so far won two matches and have suffered defeats in two in the four matches that they have featured in and have 9 points to their name.

The Ashes | England considering big changes to bolster squad, may call up Saqib Mahmood for 3rd Test

In a bid to arrest the downward slide in the ongoing Ashes series in Australia, England are likely to bring their cricketers playing in the Big Bash League to bolster the squad, The Cricketer magazine reported. Most prominent of them all is the pacer Saqib Mahmood and he has been put on stand by the tourists and could well earn a call up before the third Ashes Test scheduled for a Boxing Day Test, the report added. Apart from James Vince, Sam Billings and Ben Duckett are also in the reckoning to get back into the Test side however there is no certainty about their place in the side. The possibility of Mahmood in the England pace bowling lineup appears to be stronger on merit as England bowlers have been forced to toil hard both at the Gabba and at the Adelaide Oval in the first two Tests of the series. On the other hand, if the likes of Vince, Billings and Ducketts are actually called up, it could well be the end of the road for the likes of Rory Burns and Ollie Pope, who have had struggled so far in the series. Both the batsmen have been found out especially by Mitchell Starc while Pope has been struggling against the off-spin of Nathan Lyon as well. England are pushed against the wall to save the second Test of the series and the duo of Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes are doing their best to rescue them on the final day of the Day-Night Test.

First Test between India & South Africa to be played behind closed doors: Reports

The first Test between India and South Africa might be played behind closed doors as per some reports. "Please note, no announcement has been made regarding ticket sales for the upcoming Test match at the #ImperialWanderers Stadium between South Africa and India," the official Twitter account of the stadium said. "At this point, it isn't clear if fans will be allowed. We will make further announcements in due course." The first match is slated to begin on December 26 in Centurion. South Africa has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks. In fact, the CSA on Sunday also postponed the domestic fixture as a precautionary measure. The Indian team is touring South Africa for three Tests and three ODIs. The ODI series will commence on January 19, 2022 in Paarl. The visitors will be without the services of the new Test vice captain Rohit Sharma for the Test series as he was ruled out of the fixtures due to a hamstring injury. Batsman KL Rahul was named Virat’s deputy for the series in place of Rohit. The Indian team has started with the preparations.