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Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Klaasen's SA retirement should ring alarm bells in international cricket
MUMBAI: Apart from India, one of the main attractions of the 2023 ICC World Cup was South Africa in the league stage of the competition. If it was India's pace bowling, South Africa's batting captured the imagination of fans. In a series of dazzling performances, the Proteas' batters entertained the Indian crowd with their power-hitting. Along with top-order batters Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen, there was the explosive Heinrich Klaasen to boost the middle-order. After starting the tournament with 428/5 in 50 overs against Sri Lanka, they lit up the event with 300-plus totals six times in 10 games in the run-up to the semi-final. When the bounce is true, there is no better sight than Klaasen in full flow. During the tournament, the pitches at the Wankhede Stadium helped bring the out the best in him as he smashed a 67-ball 109 (vs England) and a 49-ball 90 (vs Bangladesh) in back-to-back matches. Again, in the 2024 T20 World Cup, he was South Africa's impact player. He almost took the final away from India with a belligerent 27-ball 52. On Monday, the 33-year-old Klaasen announced a shock retirement from international cricket, the latest in a growing list of top all-format players seeking to concentrate on professional T20 leagues around the world. One of the game's most fearsome hitters, he is one of the most sought-after players on the T20 franchise circuit. Apart from the Indian Premier League (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Klaasen is signed up for the Major League Cricket (for Seattle Orcas) and The Hundred (Manchester Originals). 'It is a sad day for me as I announce that I have decided to step away from international cricket,' Klassen, who played four Tests, 60 ODIs and 58 T20Is, said in a statement. 'It took me a long time to decide what's best for me and my family for the future. It was truly a very difficult decision but also one that I have absolute peace with. 'To have played with the Proteas badge on my chest was and will always be the biggest honour in my career. I look forward to spending more time with my family as this decision will allow me to do so.' With a host of professional T20 leagues across continents paying big money, it's become a trend for top players to give them preference over international cricket. Due to a packed schedule, the clash of fixtures between T20 Leagues and bilateral series has players in a fix. Last season, South Africa faced an embarrassing situation when they were forced to take a Test squad without most frontline players to New Zealand because of a clash with SA20. There is a clash of schedules this season as well. South Africa play two Tests and a T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe in July and three T20Is and ODIs each in Australia and England in August and September. Those series, however, clash with MLC, The Hundred and the Caribbean Premier League. Klaasen is following in the footsteps of fellow South African Quinton de Kock. The dashing left-handed opener was the star of the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups. De Kock had won over Indian fans in the 2023 World Cup by smashing four centuries. De Kock though chose to retire from ODIs after the tournament. In late 2021, he had announced a shock retirement from Tests. He has not played T20Is either after last year's World Cup final. Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi have also opted out of central contracts but remain available for South Africa. After Australia, India and England, South Africa continues to produce exciting cricket talent. The latest example is Dewald Brevis, 22, who played for Chennai Super Kings this IPL season and is in big demand among franchises. It is seen in the results. SA play the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's this month, after finishing runners-up in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Players making a beeline to T20 leagues by ditching national teams should worry the International Cricket Council. West Indies and New Zealand players have also prioritised franchise cricket over internationals. In fact, New Zealand's premier batter Kane Williamson last year rejected a central contract. New Zealand's all-time leading Test run-scorer said he wanted to play for his country but wished to 'pursue an overseas opportunity' during the home summer. Left-arm pacer Trent Boult was among the first Kiwi players to opt out of a central contract. Missing such high-profile cricketers will affect the quality of international competitions as national squads get depleted. The concern is that soon the franchise teams will look stronger than most national outfits.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
‘It would be better as a T20': Welsh Fire's Sanjay Govil questions Hundred format
Before stakes in the Hundred franchises were sold in February it was widely assumed that Welsh Fire would be the cheapest off the peg. Based in Cardiff, where bums on seats can be a challenge, and lacking Welsh representation on the field, they have been the butt of a few jokes during the tournament's short history. But for Sanjay Govil, an IT entrepreneur and the owner of Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket (MLC), the appeal of 'one team, one country' was too great, likewise the 'chemistry' during talks with the top brass at Glamorgan. Though he was on a plane when the auction took place, he secured a 49% stake in Welsh Fire, later raised to 50%, that valued the team at £84.6m, more than Trent Rockets or Birmingham Phoenix. As Govil outlines his vision for Welsh Fire the most eyebrow-raising remark arguably comes when discussing the future of the Hundred at large and whether, like a number of observers, he believes the 100-ball format is simply one too many for an overstuffed sport. 'I absolutely see it the same way,' he says. 'The Hundred should at some point follow the T20 format because you already have one-day cricket, you have T20, you have Test cricket, right? And just having one more variation, which is off from any other strategy … from a longer-term perspective it would just be better as a T20. But that is something for the future. And [the counties] already have a T20 tournament.' Govil is reluctant to call himself an owner just yet, with the new model not kicking in until 2026 and investors still to sign the contracts with the England and Wales Cricket Board. The delay, he says, comes down to the number of lawyers involved, even if the sticking points reportedly centre on broadcast money, sponsorship and representation on the Hundred's governing body. This impasse is expected to be resolved soon, after which Govil, a tech magnate who made his fortune founding Infinite Computer Solutions in the US will formally become a major player in English cricket. Born in Canada and raised in India, Govil says that alongside a love of Test cricket – plus India's era-defining World Cup win in 1983 – he grew up following county cricket scores in the newspapers. 'Being associated with the Hundred is a dream come true,' he says. This investment in Welsh Fire is a passion project, it appears, but Govil stresses that passion has always underpinned his work. As for the lack of Welsh players in the two squads – and the fact that the last England men's player produced by Glamorgan was Simon Jones more than 20 years ago – he says he has 'not given it much thought' due to his focus on getting the deal done. More broadly, he prefers to leave the cricket to the coaching staff and take a 'back seat'. That said, as the owner of Washington Freedom, a team coached by Ricky Ponting and featuring Steve Smith, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell during last year's title win, the vision for the men's team is clear. In time Govil wants to marry up the two 'WF' franchises – the initials are a happy coincidence, he says – and secure players to feature in tournaments that currently run back-to-back. 'Smith is playing for Welsh Fire this summer, so that is the first player from Washington Freedom,' says Govil. 'We have tremendous talent in our [Washington] team and they have expressed great interest in playing in the Hundred. With MLC and the Hundred so close to each other, we have an opportunity to sign up players for multi-league. It is important to build local talent also but these things don't change overnight.' The notion of tournament-hopping players flags the broader direction of travel for the sport and as a self-professed Test cricket lover one would assume Govil to have concerns. There are only 12 months in a year and the squeeze created by the franchise world's tractor beam means something will have to give. 'Cricket might go the way of football in Europe, where they play for the clubs but then play for the country when required,' he says. 'There is still going to be Test cricket, but maybe – again, I'm just thinking through it – it is played just three months a year in two blocks of six weeks. Then X amount of time for the IPL, MLC, the Hundred etc. And not all players overlap. But I see the calendars evolving.' Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion As well as the broader plan, what comes across is just how collegiate the Hundred team owners are despite four coming from established Indian Premier League teams and four relative newcomers. They are rivals, clearly, but Govil says they are also 'a family' who happily offered him guidance when first setting up his MLC team. It makes sense. A rising tide lifts all boats. It will be interesting to discover whether Govil's view on the 100-ball format is shared by others; whether they have simply bought stakes in English cricket and plan to shape what this means at a later date. Another question is whether TV rights for the Hundred will be sold separately in future. The current deal has the English summer bundled up as one product and means Test cricket – still the No 1 format in the UK – could even be subsidising the thing that threatens to strangle it. 'You will only know if they are split up, right?' says Govil. 'I am a very firm believer in the market determining your price. And so I believe the TV contract should be separate. Or we're guessing. Maybe it is correct that Test cricket is subsidising the Hundred. But maybe it is the other way around. The TV money [from Sky] went up when the Hundred came in, no? But I like objectivity. Everything should be simple.' A laudable sentiment – although when it comes to the Hundred, a tournament that has split opinions and looks likely to change, simplicity has been a rarity.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Big-hitting Klaasen ends South Africa career
South Africa batter Heinrich Klaasen has retired from the international game. The 33-year-old is one of the world's most destructive middle-order batters and will continue to play franchise cricket around the world. Advertisement He last played for South Africa in their defeat against New Zealand in the semi-final of the Champions Trophy in March. The wicketkeeper-batter made his debuts in both white-ball formats in 2018 and played in 60 one-day internationals and 58 T20s. He played the first of his four Tests against India in 2019. "It is a sad day for me. It took me a long time to decide what's best for me and my family for the future," Klaasen said in a statement on social media. "It was truly a very difficult decision but also one that I have absolute peace with. "From the first day, it was the biggest privilege representing my country and it was everything that I have worked for and dreamed about as a young boy." Advertisement Klaasen is playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and will represent Manchester Originals in The Hundred this year, having previously been with Oval Invincibles. Klaasen was not included on Cricket South Africa's list of centrally contracted players when they were announced in April, having previously been on a white-ball only deal.
1News
3 days ago
- Sport
- 1News
Kane Williamson unlikely for Black Caps' Zimbabwe tour
Former Black Caps captain Kane Williamson is unlikely to tour Zimbabwe for a two-test series starting in July, after opting out of a central contract for a second year running. However, he says he will continue to be available for the national team without being obliged to play, adding that he is still passionate about playing for his country. Williamson has arrived in London for a stint with Middlesex in the County Championship and the T20 Blast, and with London Spirit in The Hundred. He will be play in at least 10 T20 matches and five County Championship matches, through to September. Black Caps coach Gary Stead has indicated he doesn't expect Williamson to be available for the Zimbabwe tests — in Bulawayo, starting on July 30 and August 7, following seven T20 matches in Harare. In interviews on his arrival at Middlesex, Williamson has indicated that spending time his family with will be his priority outside of his cricket commitments. His wife Sarah, who is English, and their three children are with him in England. ADVERTISEMENT "It worked well last year, and obviously I'm in close conversations with New Zealand cricket, and the relationship is strong, but the landscape's changing really fast." he told The Guardian. The situation of not being on a central contract was still evolving for both parties, he said. "Yeah, we're still learning how to do it," he says. "The landscape keeps changing with the different challenges that we're presented with as cricketers. It's a work in progress. But New Zealand Cricket have been great to work with on it, I've been fortunate with that." Williamson opted out of some Black Caps series in the past year, including the tours of Bangladesh and India. The 34-year-old said he had done reflective thinking following the retirement from test cricket of India star Virat Kohli. The pair, Joe Root and Steve Smith were once dubbed the "Fab Four'' by the late Martin Crowe in an ESPN Cricinfo article. "My first thought was 'oh gosh, there's an end point'," Williamson said. "Because before that, you're on the journey, there's a pursuit there. And it's not connected to those other three, but we've all been playing at the same time, and we've all competed against each other for a long time and we all know each other pretty well. So then you do start to reflect a little bit. "I know Virat pretty well, we've chatted a lot over the years, but you do realise that we're not just cricketers as well, we're human beings and your life situation changes." ADVERTISEMENT
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Knight out of England's home summer with hamstring injury
England batter Heather Knight was ruled out of their home summer programme due to a hamstring injury on Thursday (May 29, 2025) but the country's cricket board hoped she would return in time for the 50-overs World Cup in India in September. The former captain's unbeaten 66 helped England seal a 3-0 Twenty20 series sweep against West Indies at Chelmsford on Monday (May 26, 2025) but Knight looked in discomfort towards the end and did not field in the second innings. "An MRI scan has revealed that Heather Knight has suffered a significant tendon injury to her right hamstring and will be ruled out of home international cricket and The Hundred in 2025," the board said in a statement. "She will now undergo further assessment with the England women's medical team to determine the next steps of her management. "Although no return date can be set at this stage, it is hoped Heather will be available for selection for the ICC Women's World Cup in September 2025." The former England captain will miss the one-day series against West Indies and the tour of India in June and July.
