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The former England all-rounder Kevin Pietersen has urged Alastair Cook to relinquish England's ODI captaincy following the team's eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka. The Essex county player was appointed as 50-over skipper in 2011, who has contributed just 22 runs as the tourists were bowled out for 185 in Colombo. As a result - The Three Lions have lost five of their previous six one-day internationals, which has provoked Pietersen urging the 29 year old to step down from the captaincy. Pietersen tweeted: Dear Alastair, if you care about England's chances this winter, pls resign and just concentrate on Test cricket... #getHalesin — Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) November 29, 2014 Cook has been in his worst form throughout this year, scoring just one fifty in his last 18 ODI games.

Sport is adept at finding positives among defeat and England’s One Day cricketers are masters of securing plucky losses against better opposition. Moeen Ali’s first ODI hundred and Ravi Bopara’s 65 gave supporters some hope for the rest of the long Sri Lankan series but with Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan failing, there are evident problems regarding team selection. Nailing down a crucial slot Prior to these seven games in Sri Lanka, it had been widely assumed that Alex Hales would be the one to partner Cook at the top of the order and go on to become a key performer in the run in to the World Cup. In their warm up match with Sri Lanka A however, the selectors produced a surprise by including Moeen who hit six straight fours from the first six legitimate deliveries that he faced. From that moment, the Worcestershire player’s inclusion in the side for the first ODI in Colombo was assured and the decision was vindicated as the 27 year old went on to make 119 in quick time

The world of cricket were left shocked when Australia batsman Phil Hughes remains in critical condition after undergoing surgery on a head injury suffered during the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The 25-year-old left-hander collapsed at the SCG after after being hit by bouncer - a delivery from Sean Abbott. Here are some of the tweets to the incident, offering their support to the great batsman. Thoughts are with my little mate Hughsy and his family. He is a fighter and a champion and he will get through this. Praying for you buddy. — David Warner (@davidwarner31) November 25, 2014 Our thoughts and prayers are with phil and his family! He is a great fighter and a great young man! — Darren Lehmann (@darren_lehmann) November 25, 2014 Never have I met a stronger more determined person. Fight hard my little brother like I know you can. Love you — Daniel Smith (@13DSmith) November 25, 2014

The Guyana batsman - Assad Fudadin has been added to the Caribbean Test Squad for the tour to South Africa, starting next month in December. #156017886 / gettyimages.com The 29-year-old Left-handed batsman has made three Tests appearances for West Indies and will replace Darren Bravo, who withdrew because of his personal reasons. Test Schedule: Dec 17: First Test, Super Sport Park Dec 26: Second Test, St George’s Park Jan 2: Third Test, Centurion West Indies will play three Tests, three T20 and five ODI’s in South Africa. West Indies Test squad : Denesh Ramdin (capt), Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Assad Fudadin, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Leon Johnson, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton.

The Indian cricketers - Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir will have to prove the selectors that they are still capable of playing in the 2015 World Cup. Probably it will be their last chance to prove themselves when Delhi takes on Mumbai in the pre-quarterfinals of Vijay Hazare trophy at Rajkot in-order to get selected for the World Cup, which begins on February 14 in Australia and New Zealand. It is understood If both Sehwag and Gambhir manage to score a decent runs on scoreboard, the possibilities for their return to national team. In Yuvraj’s case - Punjab will have to face Gujarat in Rajkot. Despite had a poor performance in the North Zone qualifiers - all eyes will be on the 32-year-old allrounder and the spinner Harbhajan Singh, who will look to improve on their game in order to earn a ticket to the World Cup. It might be the last opportunity for all these four player to convince the selectors for the World Cup selections. 

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have announced their 13-man squad for the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe, starting on November 21. Uncapped Legspinner Jubair Hossain and all-rounder Sabbir Rahman has been included for the first two ODIs series against Zimbabwe. Schedule: Nov 21: 1st ODI at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong Nov 23: 2nd ODI at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong Nov 26: 3rd ODI at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur Nov 28: 4th ODI at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur Dec 1: 5th ODI at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur *All the ODIs encounters are day and night, 07:30 GMT. ODI squad: Masrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-capt), Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shabbir Rahman, Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Al-Amin Hossain, Jubair Hossain. #BANvsZIM : The Tiger squad for the 1st two ODI's have been announced. To have a look, follow

Sussex opening batsman Luke Wells has penned a new two-year deal with the Division One club, that will keep him at Hove at the end of the 2016 season. We're delighted to announce that LUKE WELLS has signed a new two-year contract with Sussex @luke_wells07 #GOSBTS pic.twitter.com/xcOPRcDDhV — Sussex CCC (@SussexCCC) November 11, 2014 The 23-year-old, who joined Sussex in 2010 has scored 942 runs in the County Championship last season and helped the county to finish third in this summer. "I'm obviously pleased to finally put pen to paper and get things sorted," the left-hander revealed in a statement . "I absolutely love the club and I've been walking round here for as long as I can remember. "I'm very proud to represent Sussex and hope I will be able to do so for many years in the future, to bring success to both the club and myself." Sussex have secured a couple of good signing for the upcoming season, with Tymal Mills and A

Somerset have re-signed the services of Pakistani spinner Abdur Rehman as their overseas player for the 2015 season. The 34-year-old returns to Taunton after enjoyed a successful spell with Somerset in 2012, took 27 wickets at 14.18 in four Championship matches in 2012. The slow left-armer told the club website : "I am very happy to be going back to play for Somerset. I hugely enjoyed my time at the County Ground two years ago and I look forward to playing for the county again.” Rehman has claimed 99 wickets in 22 Test matches for Pakistan since his debut against South Africa. He has also played in 31 ODIs and 8 Twenty20 internationals for his country.

The 8th edition of the Indian Premier League will be played between April 8 and May 24, next year, the IPL Governing Council announced on Twitter. The 2015 season of the #PepsiIPL will commence on Wednesday, 8 April and conclude on Sunday, 24 May. Full Story - http://t.co/JhedOGkpz0 — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 4, 2014 The first trading window of the grand Twenty20 tournament will close on December 12. Meanwhile, two players have been traded so far - Mumbai Indians have signed Unmukt Chand from Rajasthan Royals and R. Vinay Kumar from Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively and have released Michael Hussey and Praveen Kumar, who will now enter the Pepsi IPL 2015 Player Auction. Welcome aboard @UnmuktChand9 & @Vinay_Kumar_R . #Paltan lets welcome our new lads the MI way. #IPL2015Transfers pic.twitter.com/49CcqZ4z1P — Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 4, 2014