Markram returns home from The Hundred for personal reasons

Aug 6 : South Africa’s Twenty20 captain Aiden Markram has returned home from the Manchester Super Giants due to personal reasons, the English franchise who compete in The Hundred competition have announced.

Markram had captained the Lancashire side in their first five matches of this season’s competition, scoring 50 in his last outing on Sunday as they lost to MI London.

No reason for Markram’s return to South Africa was given in a statement that said: “Everyone at the Super Giants would like to extend our very best wishes to Aiden at this time, and thank him for his contribution to the team during this year’s competition.”

Jos Buttler has taken over as captain and New Zealand international Michael Bracewell will join the team as the replacement overseas player for the rest of the competition.

Markram, 31, plays for all three Super Giants franchises in Lucknow in the Indian Premier League and Durban in the SA20. Last month he was named South African Cricketer of the Year.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)