Former England captain Paul Collingwood announces retirement
London, Sep 13 : Former England skipper Paul Collingwood is set to retire at the end of the ongoing domestic season, ending a career spanning more than two decades.
Collingwood, who led England to the World T20 title in 2010 -- their first major win in a global tournament -- played in 68 Tests, 197 one-day internationals and 36 Twenty20s.
"After much thought and deliberation, I have decided to announce my retirement from cricket at the end of the current season," the 42-year-old all-rounder said in a statement.
"I knew this day would eventually come but it hasn't made it any easier - although it's an emotional decision, I know that the time is right and I'm comfortable knowing that I have given every last ounce of energy to the sport.
"I have achieved so much with both Durham and England; far more than I ever imagined and I feel extremely privileged to have had such a long and rewarding career," added Collingwood, who was part of three Ashes-winning teams and was one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 2007.
Collingwood made his first-class debut in 1996, also played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals, and played and coached in the Australian Big Bash with Perth Scorchers.
Collingwood, who had retired from Test cricket in 2011, will play his final game for Durham at home against Middlesex, starting on September 24.
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Around 70 people killed in attack on hospital in Sudan's Darfur region: WHO chief
El Fasher (AP): Some 70 people were killed in an attack on the only functional hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan, the chief of the World Health Organisation said on Sunday, part of a series of attacks coming as the African nation's civil war escalated in recent days.
The attack on the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital, which local officials blamed on the rebel Rapid Support Forces, came as the group has seen apparent battlefield losses to the Sudanese military and allied forces under the command of army chief Gen Abdel-Fattah Burhan. That includes Burhan appearing near a burning oil refinery north of Khartoum on Saturday that his forces said they seized from the RSF.
International mediation attempts and pressure tactics, including a US assessment that the RSF and its proxies are committing genocide and sanctions targeting Burhan, have not halted the fighting.
In the Saudi hospital attack in El Fasher, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered the death toll in a post on the social platform X.
Officials and others in the capital of North Darfur province had cited a similar figure Saturday, but Ghebreyesus is the first international source to provide a casualty number. Reporting on Sudan is incredibly difficult given communication challenges and exaggerations by both the RSF and the Sudanese military.
“The appalling attack on Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, Sudan, led to 19 injuries and 70 deaths among patients and companions,” Ghebreyesus wrote. “At the time of the attack, the hospital was packed with patients receiving care.”
Another health facility in Al Malha also was attacked Saturday, he added.
“We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged,” he wrote. “Above all, Sudan's people need peace. The best medicine is peace.”
Ghebreyesus did not identify who launched the attack, though local officials had blamed the RSF for the assault.
The RSF and Sudan's military began fighting each other in April 2023. Their conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country.
Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll in the civil war.
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