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Durham skipper Paul Collingwood has penned a new contract extension, keeping him at the Chester-le-Street until the end of the 2015 season. Collingwood had recently hinted that the may retire at the end of the current County Championship campaign, but the 38-year-old has decided to carry on as the county's captain by a further 12 months. "You're a long time retired and I've still got ambitions to take this team forward," the former England all-rounder told the county's official website . "It really is a special group of guys to be involved with and I don't want to give that up too early.” Collingwood has scored 13,759 first-class runs for the County champions.

Sydney Sixers have announced the signing of West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith for the upcoming Big Bash League in December. #BREAKING We're excited to announce our latest signing DWAYNE SMITH! http://t.co/VLrzVla5fX #smashemsixers pic.twitter.com/9PCX7z4gOY — Sydney Sixers (@SixersBBL) August 22, 2014 The 31-year-old all-rounder has signed a two-year deal with Sydney Sixers. "I'm going to come and give it my best and hopefully we can see plenty of sixes when it is my turn to play for the Sixers," Smith said . Smith has played 20 Tests, 91 ODIs and 29 T20s for his country. He has a wealth of Twenty20 experience - played in Indian Premier League for Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians and in English County cricket for Sussex.

Nottinghamshire star Alex Hales has been named in the 15 man one-day squad for England’s five match series against India , starts on Monday. The 25-year-old, who is a regular in the England Twenty20 International side, has had a wonderful season in all formats. The Right-handed batsman will be joined by team-mate Harry Gurney, Eoin Morgan and James Tredwell. Meanwhile England’s fast bowler Stuart Broad is set to miss the ODI series as he receives treatment on his injured right knee. The five-match ODI series begins in Bristol on Monday 25 August, followed by a T20 international at Edgbaston on 7 September. Schedule: 1st ODI - Mon 25 Aug, Bristol 2nd ODI - Wed 27 Aug, SWALEC Stadium 3rd ODI, Sat 30 Aug, Trent Bridge 4th ODI, Tue 2 Sept, Edgbaston 5th ODI, Fri 5 Sept, Headingley T20, Sun 7 Sep, Edgbaston England squad: Alastair Cook (Capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hale

Australia’s all-rounder Shane Watson has been ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour due to an ankle injury, Cricket Australia said on Saturday. Watson picked up the injury after stepping on a ball during training session on Saturday. The 33-year-old will be replaced by top-order batsman Phillip Hughes in the 14-man squad. Injury-prone Watson confirmed on Twitter. Disappointed to roll my ankle at training today and now miss the Zimbabwe tour. Hopefully I'll be back training soon. #GoodluckboysinZim — Shane Watson (@ShaneRWatson33) August 16, 2014 Australia will leave on Wednesday for a Triangular one-day series against Zimbabwe and South Africa , starting on August 25.

Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul is considering to take retirement from Test cricket due to his knee injury. Gul, 30, who picked up the injury during Pakistan’s tour of South Africa in March 2013. Since then he hasn't featured in team’s Test squad since last after undergoing a knee surgery in May 2013 . “Right now, I don’t know what lies ahead for me because I am still not comfortable with the knee,” espncricinfo.com quotes Gul as saying. “I am hoping to make a comeback in the Tests against Australia but if that doesn’t happen I could quit Tests”, he added. The Peshawar-born seamer has claimed 163 wickets in 47 Test appearances at an average of 34.

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has made a comeback as a skipper in the One Day International series against Bangladesh, later this month. The 30-year-old had been sidelined since this year’s IPL season 7 after getting injured. West Indies will play the first of three ODIs on 20th August in Grenada and a single T20 International. WI Squad : Dwayne Bravo (capt), Darren Bravo, Jason Holder, Nikita Miller, Kirk Edwards Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Kemar Roach

India have announced the 17-man limited over squad for the ODI’s and Twenty20 international series against England, starting from August 25 to September 7. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson and Railways leg-spin-bowling allrounder Karn Sharma has been named in India’s squad. The 19-year-old Samson has been selected on the basis of his impressive form on the recent India A tour of Australia, scoring 244 runs in seven matches. While the selectors have decided to drop the most experienced pair - Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir for the ODI series against the hosts England. Schedule: 1st ODI: Bristol (Aug 25) 2nd ODI: Cardiff (Aug 27) 3rd ODI: Nottingham (Aug 30) 4th ODI: Birmingham (Sep 2) 5th ODI: Leeds (Sep 5) Twenty20: Birmingham (Sep 7) India Squad:  Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suresh Raina, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohammed

Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan has been struggling with his latest injury - a side strain, due to which he wasn’t able to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last season as well as India’s current tour of England. The 35-year-old is currently working on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore in the hope of playing in the Champions League Twenty20 for the Mumbai Indians. The left-arm seamer, who has 311 wickets in 92 Tests, has been battling to regain his place in the squad. "This is going to be another battle for me. Playing for India was never easy in the first place. It was an impossible dream. Things are always difficult at that level, and injuries add to it," Zaheer said . "The first phase of rehabilitation [post injury] is now over. In the first week of August, I'll start bowling again. And then, it [playing for the national side] has to happen on its own, " he added. Zaheer's last appearance for his cou