South Africa pace bowling legend Dale Steyn has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

The 38-year-old took 439 wickets across 93 Tests to become South Africa's all-time leading wicket-taker in the longest format, adding a further 260 dismissals across 172 limited-over international fixtures.

His returns in Test cricket ranks him eighth for all-time dismissals and his strike rate of 42.3 is the best of any player to take 250 wickets, though he did announce his retirement from red-ball internationals in 2019.

However, Steyn continued to operate as a white-ball specialist and, despite missing out on a central contract with South Africa, wanted to play in the T20 World Cup before the coronavirus-enforced delay.

He may have been considered an outsider for the rearranged T20 World Cup this year but he will not feature for South Africa again after taking to social media to announce his retirement.

"It’s been 20 years of training, matches, travel, people, wins, losses, strapped feet, jet lag, joy, and brotherhood," Steyn wrote on Tuesday as he prefixed his post with lyrics from the Counting Crows.

"There are too many memories to tell. Too many faces to thank. So I left it to the experts to sum up, my favourite band, the Counting Crows.

"Today I officially retire from the game I love the most. Bitter sweet but grateful.

"Thank you to everyone, from family to teammates, journalists to fans, it’s been an incredible journey together."

Steyn has not featured in franchise T20 cricket since March in the Pakistan Super League, though he remains one of the pioneers of the shortest format.

The South Africa bowler appeared in leagues across England, Pakistan, India, the West Indias, Sri Lanka and Australia, but pulled out of this year's Indian Premier League, insisting he was not retiring.

However, with Tuesday's announcement, an international in February 2020 and his final franchise appearance in March prove to be his last.

Former team-mate and fellow South Africa legend, AB de Villiers quickly responded to Steyn's post, adding: "Great player, great man, amazing memories! You picked a good song to sign off my bud. Legend forever!"

Coming off a successful series against Pakistan, West Indies Women Head Coach Courtney Walsh is expecting greater levels of consistency from his players when they take on South Africa in the first of three T20 Internationals in Antigua on Tuesday.

During the series that the West Indies won 3-2 over Pakistan, the Caribbean women benefitted from players like Kyshona Knight and Britney Cooper stepped up with the bat to support Captain Stafanie Taylor and Hayley Matthews, especially in light of Deandra Dottin’s poor form.

On the eve of the series against South Africa, Walsh says he expects even better performances from his players against a tough South African contingent.

“We are looking to execute a lot better than we did against Pakistan. Obviously, South Africa being ranked above us we have to be a lot more consistent than we were against Pakistan, so we will be looking to execute a lot better and improve. We know that they are a decent team and we have to be ready for that,” said Walsh.

He said it was a good sign to see players other than the ‘big three’ step up and wants to see more of that against South Africa.

“That’s the only way we are going to get the team where I think we can compete against the top teams and give ourselves a chance of winning major competitions.

“We have to move away from one or two players consistently getting us out of trouble so it was very good to see all the other players who performed well in the last series and we want that to continue and to try to extend that consistency from them, and once we can complement it with both departments, batting and bowling it will be good for us.

“And then, if we can complete the whole thing when we are in the field it would be excellent. So we just need to keep improving, raising the bar in those areas that we have to. It’s good to see other players putting their hands up and we want to see more of that.”

England's Ben Stokes and his mother Deborah have received an apology and been paid damages by The Sun newspaper for the reporting of a family tragedy.

The newspaper published an article in 2019 depicting alleged events that took place three years before Stokes was born, which he described at the time via Twitter as "heartless" and "totally out of order".

Stokes claimed the story contained "serious inaccuracies" and had "grave and lifelong consequences" for his mother, while the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) stated it was "disgusted and appalled" by the reporting.

On Sunday, The Sun published a short statement on its website, apologising to Stokes and his mother.

"On September 17 2019 we published a story titled, 'Tragedy that Haunts Stokes' Family' which described a tragic incident that had occurred to Deborah Stokes, the mother of Ben Stokes, in New Zealand in 1988," the statement read.

"The article caused great distress to the Stokes family, and especially to Deborah Stokes.

"We should not have published the article. We apologise to Deborah and Ben Stokes. We have agreed to pay them damages and their legal costs."

Deborah Stokes said, as per The Guardian: "The decision to publish this article was a decision to expose, and to profit from exposing, intensely private and painful matters within our family. The suffering caused to our family by the publication of this article is something we cannot forgive.

"Ben and I can take no pleasure in concluding this settlement with the Sun. We can only hope that our actions in holding the paper to account will leave a lasting mark, and one that will contribute to prevent other families from having to suffer the same pain as was inflicted on our family by this article."

The Sun's story came shortly after Stokes' Ashes heroics at Headingley, with the New Zealand-born all-rounder having also helped England win their maiden ODI World Cup in July of that year.

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots maintained their unbeaten start to the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a dramatic six-wicket victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

President of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Ricky Skerritt and Vice President Dr Kishore Shallow have offered words of encouragement and support to the members of the West Indies Rising Stars U19s ahead of their tour of England. They spoke to the squad via Zoom meeting before their departure for the trip, which will feature six Youth ODIs.

Skerritt also congratulated the players on their selection to the 18-member squad. He also reminded them of their responsibility to represent the people in the West Indies and to be ambassadors for the region on and off the field.

“We congratulate you on your selection to the West Indies Rising Stars U19 team for this tour. You have been chosen to represent the people of the West Indies and this is a great honour. This is a stage in your development we want to assure you that you have our full support as you embark on this stage of your journey,” Skerritt said.

“We want you to work hard, to support each other and always give us your best. You are from different countries, but you are now representing the West Indies and that is the most important thing.”

The West Indies Rising Stars U19s will be led by Ackeem Auguste, a left-handed top-order batsman. The vice-captain is Giovonte Depeiza, a right-handed middle-order batsman who also bowls left-arm spin. The six matches will be played at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17. This is part of their preparations for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup to be hosted by CWI from January 4 to February 3, 2022.

England will change a winning team for the fourth Test against India, with Jonny Bairstow taking over wicketkeeping duties from the absent Jos Buttler.

Buttler is skipping the Oval clash as he and his wife await the birth of their second child, meaning batsman Bairstow will take the gloves, and England have called in Sam Billings as cover.

It means at least one change will be made to the XI that beat India by an innings and 76 runs at Headingley to square the series, and it appears likely Ollie Pope will be the beneficiary, coming in to fortify the middle order in a match that gets under way on Thursday.

Chris Woakes is another option for head coach Chris Silverwood, who has recalled the Warwickshire all-rounder after he recovered from a heel injury.

Paceman Mark Wood also comes into contention, as he shows signs of recovering well from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the Headingley match, but Saqib Mahmood has been released to Lancashire duty.

Silverwood said: "It is very pleasing that we have Chris Woakes returning to the Test squad. He has bowled well over the past week with Warwickshire without any real concerns with his heel injury.

"He is an asset we have been missing both with the ball and his ability to score runs in the middle order. We are looking forward to seeing him prepare at The Oval as we go into back-to-back Tests.

"Mark Wood is making excellent recovery from his jarred right shoulder. He bowled in the middle on the last day at Headingley with our bowling coach Jon Lewis and was starting to get through his spells pain-free.

"For the first time in this series, it is pleasing to have several options with our bowling stocks as we approach the latter stages of the series.

"We would like to wish Jos and his family all the very best for the impending birth of their second child. Unfortunately, he will miss this Test, and we'll then see if he returns for the final Test at Emirates Old Trafford.

"Jonny Bairstow will take over wicketkeeping duties, which he is relishing. As we all know, he has the skills to seamlessly take over from Jos and the ability to score crucial runs in the middle order if called upon.

"Sam Billings, who was in the Test squad for the New Zealand series earlier this summer, returns as reserve keeper. He understands how we want to approach our cricket and is a popular member of the group. He will fit in well with the rest of the group."

The absence of Buttler means England lose their vice-captain, and his replacement in that role has not yet been specified.

England squad for the fourth Test against India at The Oval: Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Barbados Royals got their first win of the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a comfortable 15 run victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs.

The Royals won the toss and opted to bat first and Glenn Phillips ensured that they put a competitive total on the board with an unbeaten 56 from 46 balls.

In reply, the Tallawahs chase was over before it really began as they lost four wickets in the PowerPlay and as a result never kept pace with the run rate.

The Royals opted to make a change to their opening pair – with Shai Hope partnering with Johnson Charles and it appeared to work with them putting on a 32-run partnership from 20 balls.

However, once Hope was dismissed it sparked a flurry of wickets that left Barbados teetering at 48 for 3 at the end of PowerPlay. It should have been even worse but Haider Ali dropped Glenn Phillips when he was on 2 runs.

 Phillips punished that mistake in the back end of the Barbados innings hitting a half-century with 56 runs from 46 balls and he was ably assisted by Raymon Reifer as they put on a partnership worth 79 runs.

161 always looked like 15 runs too many and the Tallawahs got their chase off to the worst possible start losing four wickets inside the PowerPlay.

Some good bowling and electric fielding by Hayden Walsh Jr had the Tallawahs on the back foot throughout.

Carlos Braithwaite and Shamarh Brooks threatened to bring them back into the game with a 66-run partnership but a double strike from Reifer got rid of Braithwaite and Andre Russell in the same over.

Despite some late blows from Miguel Pretorius that made the last few overs interesting there was always too much for the Tallawahs to do once Russell had departed.

A solid opening partnership between Evin Lewis and Devon Thomas helped St Kitts & Nevis Patriots make light work of an insufficient total from Guyana Amazon Warriors to secure an 8-wickets win at the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Saturday.

 Batting first, the Warrior put up 146 for 8 in their 20 overs, but in pursuit, the Patriots, who were anchored by a stunning opening stand of 113 between Lewis and Thomas, only lost two wickets to secure an easy second win.

The Warriors won the toss and elected to bat, but they struggled to get their innings underway in the face of some tidy bowling from the Patriots. Dominic Drakes was the star but there were excellent spells inside the PowerPlay from Sheldon Cottrell and Paul van Meekeren.

It was Cottrell who got the first breakthrough when he had Brandon King caught by Sherfane Rutherford off a leading edge. The Warriors once again pushed Odean Smith up the order as a pinch hitter but he didn’t have the same success as in the first game against the Knight Riders, falling for a seven-ball duck.

  Wickets continued to fall throughout the Warriors innings, and they found themselves 75 for 5 in the 12th over with Drakes finishing with 3 for 26 and Fawad Ahmed claiming 2 for 33.

However, some lusty blows from Nicholas Pooran and a measured innings from Mohammad Hafeez got them to a respectable total. 

In pursuit, Thomas and Lewis were in fine form, and they made the Guyana total look under par as they batted with controlled aggression to put the Patriots in complete control of the chase.

There were few stumbles for the Patriots as Evin Lewis top-scored with 62 from 39 balls, an innings that guided his team to an eight-wicket victory with eight balls to spare.

 Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders got their 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign up and running with a six-wicket victory over the Barbados Royals.

The Royals won the toss and opted to bat first but the decision didn’t go their way as an excellent Trinbago bowling display, led by Isuru Udana’s 5 for 21, restricted them to 122 all out.

In reply Trinbago initially made hard work of the chase before the experienced duo of Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin saw them home with ease.

The Royals had got off to a steady start reaching 37 runs at the end of the PowerPlay for the sole loss of Johnson Charles.

However, they could not build on the foundation as Udana’s double strike removed Jason Holder and Glenn Phillips in quick succession. 

A counter-attacking 30 runs from Azam Khan briefly threatened to help Barbados set an imposing target but Udana’s re-entry into the attack led to the dismissal of both Khan and Thisara Perera to complete the first five-wicket haul of the 2021 Hero CPL.

The remaining Royals wickets fell like dominoes to leave them on 122 all out.

Trinbago stuttered in their chase of the target losing three wickets in the PowerPlay as Mohammed Amir started his spell with laser-like accuracy and Oshane Thomas followed that up by getting Tim Seifert to top-edge a rising delivery to deep square leg.

At 38 for 4 the Knight Riders were in a perilous situation, but captain Pollard took on the responsibility to take the drama out of the chase with a brilliantly constructed 58 runs from 30 balls.

Along with the experienced Denesh Ramdin, the pair put on an 87-run partnership from 57 balls to see Trinbago home comfortably.

Records tumbled at Warner Park as the Jamaica Tallawahs destroyed the Saint Lucia Kings by 120 runs, the biggest win in Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) history.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma made half-centuries as India showed resistance to hold up England on day three of the third Test at Headingley.

England held a mammoth first-innings lead of 354 after being bowled out for 432 early in the morning session.

India, leading the five-match series 1-0, had been humiliatingly skittled out for 78 on day one, but closed on 215-2 after England were only able to remove KL Rahul (eight) Rohit (59) on Friday.

Pujara returned to form with an unbeaten 91 and Virat Kohli was 45 not out at stumps, with the tourists trailing by 139.

England added only nine runs to their overnight total after resuming on 423-8, Mohammed Shami (4-95) dismissing Craig Overton leg before wicket for 32 and Ollie Robinson cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah without scoring.

The India openers showed great application as the England seamers probed with the new ball and it took a moment of brilliance from Jonny Bairstow on the stroke of lunch to end a stand of 34.

KL Rahul walked off shaking his head after he edged an excellent delivery from Overton and second-slip Bairstow dived to his left to claim a stunning one-handed catch.

Rohit and Pujara played with a mixture of patience and positivity in a wicket-less afternoon session, with the opener appearing to have a stroke of luck on 39 when Joe Root failed to signal for a review in time after Robinson struck him on the pad.

He brought up his half-century from 125 balls before Robinson snared him lbw.

Pujara was untroubled as he serenely eased to a half-century and Kohli also looked very much at home on a good pitch under gloomy skies as England were unable to make further inroads, with the new ball due early on day four.

PUJARA SHOWS HIS CLASS

Pujara's place has been called into question as he has looked totally out of sorts, but he showed his class in Leeds on the third day.

The 33-year-old had failed to make it to 50 in his previous 13 innings before demonstrating what he is capable of with his side on the ropes.

Pujara scored far more freely, driving with finesse and even ramping Robinson for four in a first half-century since making 73 against England in Chennai in February.

KOHLI LOOKING OMINOUS

Captain Kohli has also been short of runs, but that was no evidence of that on a frustrating day for England.

The skipper struck two boundaries in the first over from James Anderson, who dismissed him for the seventh time in the longest format in the first innings.

Kohli, without a Test century since November 2019, ticked along as India put such a dismal display with the bat on the opening day behind them.

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Selection Panel today announced an 18-member West Indies U19 squad for the upcoming tour of England.

Ackeem Auguste hit his second century in a row as he continued his dominance in the Cricket West Indies Rising Stars U19 High-Performance camp. The tall left-hander made 127 on Thursday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground to follow up his 104 last Saturday at the same venue.

He joined Rivaldo Clarke as the other batsman to make two centuries in the ongoing preparations for the upcoming tour of England.

Auguste found the middle of the bat from the start of his innings as his side made 312 off 46.3 overs after they decided to bat first on another very good batting surface. He sustained a blow to the helmet but recovered to hit 19 glorious fours and three sixes off just 91 balls. After reaching triple figures he motored along with his last 27 runs coming off just 10 deliveries. He shared a solid partnership of 79 with Clarke who made 40 off 37 balls, and another of 107 with left-hander Anderson Mahase, who scored 37 off 38 balls, with six boundaries and two sixes – which took the score from 165-5 to 272-6.

In the second half, the strongly-built Giovonte Depeiza struck some massive shots as he cleared the boundary with ease. The skipper smashed four towering sixes and four fours in a run-a-ball 83 before he was out off the third ball of the final over. His team made 263-8 off their 50 overs. Depeiza and opener Shaq Parris saved the innings after they slipped to 68-4 in the 20th over. They added 78 in 13 overs for the fifth wicket before Parris was unfortunately run out for 58 off 94 balls, which included five boundaries, which came mainly from fluent drives through the off-side.

Later, wicket-keeper Carlon Bowen-Tuckett made 45 from 32 balls with a flurry of powerful hits into the on-side but he fell bowled attempting another maximum. He became the third wicket for off-spinner Onaje Amaory, who was again the best bowler with 3-35 off his 10 overs. He was well supported by six-foot-six-inch new ball bowler Johann Layne, who 3-63 off his 10 overs.

The West Indies Rising Stars U19s High-Performance Camp is a key part of CWI’s investment in developing and preparing the players for the ICC U19 World Cup to be hosted by Cricket West Indies from January 4 to February 3, 2022. The West Indies Rising Stars U19 tour of England will feature six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17.

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots got their 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign off to a winning start with a comprehensive 21 run win over the Barbados Royals.

Barbados Royals won the toss and put the Patriots in to bat but despite a flurry of early wickets, a fantastic 115 run partnership between DJ Bravo and Sherfane Rutherford ensured the Patriots set the highest total of the tournament so far with 175-5.

In reply, the Patriots were never under threat as they produced an excellent bowling display to keep the shackles on the Royals throughout.

The Royals took full advantage of their decision to field first by removing both openers, Evin Lewis and Devon Thomas, in the first three overs before Oshane Thomas bowled Chris Gayle to leave the Patriots teetering at 38-3 at the end of the PowerPlay.

Bowling with real zip, Oshane Thomas was to strike once more removing Asif Ali in the eighth over as his hostile spell resulted in exemplary figures of 3-22 from his four overs.

Patriots captain Bravo entered at the fall of the fourth wicket and along with Rutherford, they consolidated the innings before exploding into life in the final seven overs.

Their 115-run partnership in 70 balls ensured the Patriots laid a platform for Fabian Allen to add late fireworks at the death to power the Patriots to a very imposing 175-5

Much like the Royals, the Patriots made early inroads with their bowling dismissing both openers inside the first three overs. Although they needed a calamitous run-out to get them on their way when Johnson Charles found himself at the same end as Glenn Phillips.

Through the middle overs, the Patriots put a stranglehold on the game forcing the run rate up and putting pressure on the Royals batsmen to play high-risk shots.

Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers fell without making a significant indent on the scorecard and although Shai Hope anchored the innings with a well-constructed 44 his dismissal with six overs to go left too much to do for the remaining batsmen.

Azam Khan showed a few signs of his potential with some late blows, but the Patriots closed out the Royals innings with minimum fuss.

Scores: St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 175-5 (Rutherford 53,  Bravo 47*; Cottrell 2-39, Drakes 2-13) beat Barbados Royals 154-7 (Hope 44, Khan 28; Thomas 3-22, Amir 1-20) by 21 runs.

Chris Cairns has been left paralysed after suffering a stroke in his spine while the New Zealand cricket great underwent heart surgery.

Cairns had surgery in Canberra after a "major medical event" earlier this month and was transferred to St Vincent's in Sydney for another cardiovascular operation.

The 51-year-old was reported to have suffered an aortic dissection – a tear in the body's main artery – that put his life at risk.

Now he faces a battle to walk again after his lawyer, Aaron Lloyd, announced the latest setback to affect former all-rounder Cairns.

Lloyd said in a statement reported by New Zealand media: "During the life-saving emergency heart surgery Chris underwent in Sydney he suffered a stroke in his spine. This has resulted in paralysis in his legs.

"As a result he will be undertaking a significant rehabilitation process at a specialist spinal hospital in Australia.

"Chris and his family remain appreciative of the immense public support as they deal with this difficult time. They also appreciate the way in which their privacy has been respected.

"Chris and his family now want to focus on spending time together where possible and making whatever progress they can in his recovery. We will update everyone when there is more news, but that is likely to be some time away."

A previous statement from Lloyd said Cairns was off life support and able to communicate with family.

Cairns has been moved back from Sydney to Canberra for continuing treatment.

Between 1989 and 2006, Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 ODIs and two Twenty20 games for the Black Caps. His father Lance also played cricket for New Zealand.