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The 29th of March is when the current champions Chennai Super Kings start their defense of the IPL trophy against Sun Risers Hyderabad in the opening game. The opening game will take place in M.A Chidambaram Check Stadium, Tamil Nadu. Will the Super Kings make it to the final again this year, if they are then they need to clear their diary for the 12th of May where it will be played at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai. The Top 5 Contenders Hyderabad Sunrisers are current favorites at 9/2 to go one better than the 2018 season where they were beaten by Chennai Super Kings who are 5/1 to hold onto to the IPL trophy. Since 2015 Mumbai Indians have won the IPL twice and will be fast out the gates to make it 3 times in 6 years. Kolkata Knight Riders are 11/2 to add their name to the list of winners, with Royal Challengers Bangalore also in at 11/2. Hyderabad Sunrisers 9/2  Chennai Super Kings 5/1  Mumbai Indians 5/1  Kolkata Knight Riders 11/2  Royal Challenger...

South African all-rounder Albie Morkel has brought his 19-year glittering career to an end after the hard-hitting batsman announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, on Wednesday. The 37-year-old, who made his ODI debut against New Zealand in 2004 - has played a single test, 58 ODIs and 50 Twenty20 matches for the Proteas. He has a vast of T20 experience, having played for Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Morkel also had spells in county cricket with Derbyshire, Durham and Somerset.

Australia have announced their 14-man squad for the three-match ODI series against India starting on January 12 in Sydney. The 34-year-old seamer Peter Siddle has been included in the revamped 14-member squad. He made a comeback to the ODI squad for the first time since 2010, while Nathan Lyon and Usman Khawaja both were also recalled to the team, led by Aaron Finch. Siddle played his last ODI against Sri Lanka in 2010 and his inclusion will allow Aussies to rest the pace trio Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood keeping the Test series against Sri Lanka in mind. The remaining two matches of the three-ODI series will be held in Adelaide (on January 15) and Melbourne (January 18). Squad: Aaron Finch (C), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (WK), Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa

Essex County Cricket Club have announced the signing of South African batsman Cameron Delport for the 2019 and 2020 T20 Blast seasons. Delport, 29, will join the Eagles for a two-year spell starting from July 1 and will be available for the finals day at Edgbaston on September 21 - should the county club advance that far into the competition. "I'm so happy to be joining Essex. The club has such an amazing history and tradition so I'm proud to be given the opportunity to get involved," the batsman told the county's website . "There is a strong squad at Chelmsford and I hope to play my part in getting the Eagles to Finals Day come September. I can't wait to get started." Delport has a vast of T20 experience from all around the world, including Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League and Paarl Rocks in the Mzansi Super League.

Sussex have announced the signing of SA Redbacks and Adelaide Strikers batsman Jake Weatherald for their 2019 campaign. The 24-year-old has established himself as one of the hottest batting prospects in Big Bash League. He scored a match-winning century (70-ball 115) in the BBL in February 2018. The highly-rated opening batsman has been one of the most dominant batsmen in Australia since his debut 2015/16 season. In first-class cricket, he scored 270 runs at 38.57 (2015/16), 634 runs at 31.70 (2016/17), 765 runs at 38.25 (2017/18). Weatherald follows in the footsteps of Sam Whiteman, Jeet Raval, Keshav Maharaj, SJ Erwee, Will Somerville and Jordan Silk, to name but a few of Cuckfield’s signings over the years.

Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara has signed a one-year contract extension at Essex until the end of the 2019 season. The 33-year-old, who last played for England in 2015, first represented the County Championship First Division side in 2002, and was a part of the winning team of 2017. The all-rounder is thrilled to have extended his stay at the Cloudfm County Ground until the end of 2019. “I’m glad to have signed a new one-year deal with Essex County Cricket Club,” said Bopara. “I’m excited for the upcoming season, which will be my 18th year with the club and at 33, I still have plenty of years left.” Essex head-coach Anthony McGrath emphasised on the importance of Bopara’s contract extension. “Ravi is an integral part of the and will have a big role to play for us next year.” Bopara has played 13 Tests, 120 ODI and 38 T20 games for England.

England wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings has expressed his happiness after being retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the next season. He expresses his excitement on Instagram, starting "Can’t wait to wear the @chennaiipl yellow again for @iplt20 2019!". View this post on Instagram Can’t wait to wear the @chennaiipl yellow again for @iplt20 2019! 🦁 #Yellove 🏏 A post shared by Sam Billings (@sambillings) on Nov 14, 2018 at 5:21am PST The 27-year-old Englishman, who plays for Kent County Cricket Club, was considered a winner after CSK bought him in last year’s auction of the Indian Premier League for INR 1 crore. Billings though did not play well in the previous season, scoring just 108 in 10 fixtures, but Chennai outfit have clearly chosen to invest more time in the talented batsman and retained him for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League, starting in March 2019.

The Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians have emerged as rumoured suitors for Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Shikhar Dhawan, according to Mumbai Mirror . It is understood that if the negotiations between the two parties goes well, the 32-year-old batsman could open for Mumbai Indians in the next season of IPL. The report claims that the left-handed batsman is not happy with the Sunrisers and has expressed his desire to look somewhere else. Although his contract with the franchise is valid for three years. Dhawan has scored 497 runs from 16 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2017.

Ireland's right-handed opening batsman John Anderson has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35. The South-African born batsman, who made his international debut for Ireland in 2012 - has made 26 appearances including eight in ODIs and four T20Is for the national side. He last played for his country in 2017, while his career-best performance of 127 runs against the Netherlands in an Inter-Continental Cup in 2013. The 35-year-old said , “It has been an honour and privilege to play for Ireland and it is one of the proudest achievements of my life. I am immensely proud of all my contributions to the team, especially those in the I-Cup. I’d like to thank those at Cricket Ireland who believed in me and gave me the chance to play international cricket.” As well as retiring from all forms of international cricket, Anderson has also hung up his boots from Inter-Provincial cricket in Ireland. “I have also decided to step away from all Inter-Provin...

England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has agreed a new one-year contract to play in all formats for Yorkshire in 2019. The 30-year-old had been on a limited-overs-only deal at the start of the year. Rashid's future at Headingley had been in doubt after he was selected in England's Test squad for the recent series against India. BREAKING: Leg-spinning all-rounder Adil Rashid has today agreed a new one-year all-format deal with the Club. #YourYorkshire pic.twitter.com/3kVnNoK9AP — Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) 24 September 2018 The all-rounder, who began his first-class career with the White Rose in 2006, was recently told by England national selector Ed Smith that he must be available from the start of next summer for Test cricket. Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon said in a statement : "I think we've been clear from the outset that we wanted to keep Adil at the club. "When it became known he had to have a red-ball contract, we were more than ...