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Former Australian Batsman Bard Hodge has been appointed as the new head coach of the Indian Premier League outfit Kings XI Punjab on a three-year contract. The 42-year-old held a similar role with Gujarat Lions for the last two campaigns and will now report to KXIP's mentor-cum director, Virender Sehwag. "We have signed a three-year agreement with Brad, who will be our head coach," Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. Hodge continues to play for Melbourne Renegades in the forthcoming season of the Big Bash League before joining KXIP as the head coach.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes will be playing for the Canterbury one-day team after signing with New Zealand province Canterbury. The 26-year-old, who is set to return to competitive cricket, has been cleared to play for Canterbury on Sunday. He was omitted from the England Ashes squad to Australia and remains suspended from the cricket subject to a police investigation into an incident outside a Bristol nightclub back in September. However, Canterbury Cricket Association have confirmed the Englishman had signed as an overseas player and would be available for a limited over match to be played against Otago on this Sunday. “After the approach from Ben’s representatives everything has happened very quickly for us to the extent that we are now delighted to welcome Ben into the team,” Canterbury Cricket Association (CCA) Director of Cricket Gary Stead said in a statement on Thursday. “While Ben awaits the outcome of an investigation underway in the UK, he wants to maintai...

The Wellington Firebirds have announced the signing of former England international Samit Patel for the upcoming Twenty20 season. The 32-year-old, who was in impressive form for Nottinghamshire earlier this season, and named the Professional Cricketers' Association's player of the year after leading the Notts to success in all formats. Wellington head-coach Bruce Edgar pleased to Patel's quality. He said , "Our aim is simple: we're looking to play entertaining, positive cricket. As we saw last year, that recipe leads to success when it's well-executed." "For the upcoming campaign, we identified a need to complement our squad with a quality all-rounder. With a career featuring more than 200 T20 matches, including 18 internationals, and impressive strike rates with both bat and ball, we're excited to have Samit joining the team to fill that role." Very excited to play for @wgtnfirebirds in the super smash this year hopefully we ca...

Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah has been signed up as a replacement player by Brisbane Heat for the upcoming season of the Big Bash League. It will be Yasir's first involvement with the BBL, having previously played T20 in Pakistan and West Indies. The 31-year-old is the 2nd Pakistan leg-spinner the Heat have secured this year, having also signed the teenager Shadab Khan. Double Pakistan 🇵🇰 delight for the Brisbane Heat with leg-spinner @Shah64Y joining us for #BBL07 ! Story https://t.co/WNF9Zd8FFy . #TurnUpTheHeat pic.twitter.com/6gB1uANE3P — Brisbane Heat (@HeatBBL) 15 November 2017 However, Pakistan's tour of New Zealand later this year, which means Shadab may not be available for the Big Bash League for a significant chunk of the season. Brisbane Heat will play their first match of the season against Melbourne Stars at the Gabba on Wednesday 20 December .

The uncapped seamer Tom Curran has been called up to England's Ashes 2017-18 squad. Surrey all-rounder will travel to Australia in the next 24 hours as a replacement for injured Steven Finn, after the 28-year-old has been ruled out of the Ashes tour due to a torn left knee cartilage. The Middlesex seamer was ruled out of the entirety of the Ashes tour in Australia on Tuesday morning due to a knee injury. England have quickly called up another option, with Curran is yet to earn his first Test cap but his ODI form has impressed enough for the management to fly him out to Down Under. The 22-year-old has earned plenty of praise from coach Trevor Bayliss in the recent, following impressive showings in Twenty20 and one-day international games earlier this year. Curran is expected to terminate his deal with the Big Bash League outfit Hobart Hurricanes, who he was due to play for in this year tournament. England's first Test gets underway in Brisbane on November 23.

The England and Wales Cricket board have announced that Essex head coach Chris Silverwood will take over as England fast bowling coach early next year. The former England seamer, who led Essex to their first County Championship for 25 years last season, has been appointed as the Lions' fast-bowling coach. The 42-year-old will become the full-time replacement for Ottis Gibson, who left to become South Africa head coach. Silverwood will begin his coaching stint early next year on the limited overs series at the tour to Australia.

Bangladesh have announced their 14-man squad for the two-match T20 series against South Africa, starting October 26. The 30-year-old Shakib is set to begin a new stint as team captain after Mashrafe Mortaza had retired from T20Is back in April. Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Liton Das, Nasir Hossain, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin

India have recalled wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik and a left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting later this month. Karthik, 32, who was left out for the recent series against Australia, he had a prolific season in the Duleep Trophy where he scored two centuries in three matches. Meanwhile, Dhawan, 31, also returns to the One Day International squad in the place of Lokesh Rahul, who had a poor performance in the ODI series in Sri Lanka. Indian selectors have also retained the spin trio Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel while the 31-year-old all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin continues to remain on the sidelines. The three-match ODI series against the Black Caps to be played between 22nd and 29th October. India squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav...

India's veteran speedster Ashish Nehra has decided to hangs up his boots from international cricket after the first Twenty20 match against New Zealand on November 1. The 38-year-old left-arm fast bowler intimated his decision to coach Ravi Shastri and team's captain Virat Kohli. Nehra made his international debut against Sri Lanka in 1999, has claimed 44 Tests wickets, 157 in ODIs and 34 in T20s. The Delhi-born pacer, who was part of the ODI World Cup winning squad in 2011, has played 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 26 T20I for India. As soon as Nehra decided to retire, here’s a look how Twitter reacted to the news. No more IPL as well, confirmed that Ashish Nehra will retire from all Cricket after the first T20 vs New Zealand on November 1 in Delhi — Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) 11 October 2017 We'll miss you and your airplane celebration, #NehraJi ! — asif khan (@_asif) 11 October 2017 Nehraji has some unbelievable comebacks...a true player. a gifted...

Former New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan has signed up with Sydney Thunder in the Australian twenty20 Big Bash League. The 31-year-old bowler turned down his NZ contract in August to focus on playing in the twenty20 leagues around the world. The Left-arm paceman has plenty of experience in T20 format, having played with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, Durban Qalanders in South Africa's T20 league, and St Lucia Stars in the Caribbean Premier League. "I spent some time at the St Lucia Stars with Shane Watson and got to know his outlook on the game and hear his passion for Sydney Thunder and the organisation," McClenaghan told Cricket.com.au . "I've admired watching his career and seeing how it's progressed. I enjoyed playing alongside him in St Lucia and I think I'll learn a lot from him during my time with Thunder. "I grew up in Australia and watched a lot of Aussie cricket and to have the opportunity to play in the Big ...