Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision.

Grealish is set to appear in court on August 25 following an alleged incident when he breached lockdown regulations on March 29.

The midfielder was pictured on social media on a Birmingham street next to a Range Rover, which had apparently collided with two parked cars.

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Grealish apologised and said he was “deeply embarrassed” after it emerged he had visited a friend’s house, breaching government rules that were imposed to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

West Midlands Police launched an investigation and on Thursday revealed the playmaker, linked with Manchester United, has been charged.

“A Premier League footballer has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision,” a police statement said. “Jack Grealish is accused of the offences in Waterside, Dickens Heath, Solihull, on Sunday March 29.

“An investigation was launched after we responded to reports of a car hitting parked vehicles and the driver fleeing on foot. The 24-year-old from Barnt Green, Worcestershire, has been postal charged to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on August 25.”

Grealish donated £150,000 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and raised £55,000 for the NHS by raffling off one of his shirts after breaching lockdown regulations soon after they were imposed.

He has said he regrets breaking coronavirus lockdown protocols, but also stresses that he is “still human and we all make mistakes”.

“I knew straight away that I had to come out and apologise myself, which I wanted to do; I didn’t want to hide behind a club statement,” Grealish told The Guardian earlier this month. “I am old enough now and mature enough to know that I’d done wrong.

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“I know I am a footballer but I’m still human and we all make mistakes and straight away I knew I’d made a mistake. I’m also a role model as well to a lot of people out there, especially young children who might look up to me.

“So I try to act in a respectable manner but since then I have tried to keep my head down, work hard and do as much charitable work as possible.”

He played in Villa’s goalless draw with Sheffield United behind closed doors at Villa Park on Wednesday, the first game of the Premier League season since it was suspended in March.

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision.

Grealish is set to appear in court on August 25 following an alleged incident when he breached lockdown regulations on March 29.

The midfielder was pictured on social media on a Birmingham street next to a Range Rover, which had apparently collided with two parked cars.

Article continues below

Editors’ Picks

Grealish apologised and said he was “deeply embarrassed” after it emerged he had visited a friend’s house, breaching government rules that were imposed to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.

West Midlands Police launched an investigation and on Thursday revealed the playmaker, linked with Manchester United, has been charged.

“A Premier League footballer has been charged with driving without due care and attention, and failing to stop at or report a collision,” a police statement said. “Jack Grealish is accused of the offences in Waterside, Dickens Heath, Solihull, on Sunday March 29.

“An investigation was launched after we responded to reports of a car hitting parked vehicles and the driver fleeing on foot. The 24-year-old from Barnt Green, Worcestershire, has been postal charged to appear before Birmingham Magistrates Court on August 25.”

Grealish donated £150,000 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and raised £55,000 for the NHS by raffling off one of his shirts after breaching lockdown regulations soon after they were imposed.

He has said he regrets breaking coronavirus lockdown protocols, but also stresses that he is “still human and we all make mistakes”.

“I knew straight away that I had to come out and apologise myself, which I wanted to do; I didn’t want to hide behind a club statement,” Grealish told The Guardian earlier this month. “I am old enough now and mature enough to know that I’d done wrong.

“I know I am a footballer but I’m still human and we all make mistakes and straight away I knew I’d made a mistake. I’m also a role model as well to a lot of people out there, especially young children who might look up to me.

“So I try to act in a respectable manner but since then I have tried to keep my head down, work hard and do as much charitable work as possible.”

He played in Villa’s goalless draw with Sheffield United behind closed doors at Villa Park on Wednesday, the first game of the Premier League season since it was suspended in March.

Keshav Maharaj has put himself forward as a wildcard candidate to take over as South Africa’s Test captain. The position remains unfilled following Faf du Plessis stepping down in February, even though South Africa have appointed Quinton de Kock as their white-ball captain.

Maharaj has not been among those named as likely future Test leaders – a status reserved for Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar – but he wants the captaincy, and not just in red-ball cricket.

“I really want to captain the Proteas. It’s been my dream. Not many people know that, but those close to me know that I do want to captain the South African team across all three formats,” Maharaj said. “And I want to raise the World Cup trophy in my hand as the leader of the side.

“Apart from wanting to play for the Proteas as a childhood dream, captaining the team to a World Cup-winning campaign would be everything I have ever dreamed of and my life would be fulfilled from a cricketing perspective.”

While Maharaj’s goals may seem ambitious to those who follow South African cricket, he has previous experience on which to make his case. Maharaj led his franchise, the Dolphins, in last season’s one-day cup, where they were declared winners after the competition was suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dolphins finished top of the points’ table with seven victories from 10 matches. Maharaj was their leading wicket-taker and fourth-highest overall, numbers that earned him an ODI recall against Australia after an absence from the team for 18 months.

Maharaj had only played four ODIs before that, two in England in 2017 and two against Sri Lanka in 2018, and was considered to be behind Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi in the national pecking order. But with Tahir’s ODI retirement after the 2019 World Cup and South Africa open to playing XIs with more than one spinner, Maharaj knew he could establish a regular place and the team management even gave him a blueprint for how to do it. “I got told that apart from bowling, you need to work on your batting.”

Though he only batted five times in the tournament, Maharaj finished with the Dolphins’ second-highest average, and scored his maiden List A half-century, which helped his team to a match-winning total in a low-scoring game against the Cobras.

That knock came after Maharaj scored two Test fifties, in Pune against India and in Port Elizabeth against England, innings that showed why he had initially been spoken about as someone with all-round potential. “I have a lot more ability than the numbers I have been showing,” he said.

Maharaj had two first-class hundreds and seven fifties to his name when he made his Test debut in 2016, but his early international displays, which often involved wild swings, did not indicate he could be considered an allrounder. However, he showed a more measured approach last summer, and now wants to work his way up the Test line-up. “In India, I got a taste of what it’s like to score an international fifty. I wanted to really kick on but it was a bit unfortunate to get out,” he said. “I really want to take my batting seriously and move to a bowling allrounder or a fully-fledged allrounder so I can contribute evenly. I know I am capable of scoring bigger runs. My biggest problem was getting the first fifty so I now I want to try and kick o from that and get big hundreds and match-winning hundreds.”

Maharaj hopes that if he scores runs in the longest format, it may also help him get into the international scene in the shortest one; he has not yet been capped in T20Is. “I do want to break into the T20 format but I know I have to bide my time in ODI cricket and score some big runs in Test cricket to improve my chances of selection,” he said.

Until then, he is happy to put in the hard work, under de Kock, who has changed the way South Africa approach their limited-overs cricket. “It’s a different dynamic to when I first debuted in terms of the aggression. It’s exciting,” Maharaj said. “You’ve got a younger leader and with youth comes a lot of flair.”

Maharaj has spent the lockdown working on developing flair of his own, as he looks to become a multi-format international regular. He will have more time to do that over the next few months after his overseas deal with Yorkshire was canceled as the counties look for ways to cut costs in the face of Covid-19. That means the earliest Maharaj will play is if South Africa’s July-August tour to West Indies goes ahead, a tour they will undertake with a new Test captain. Whether that is Maharaj remains to be seen.

In the meanwhile, he also has a wedding to reschedule. Maharaj and his fiancee Lerisha were due to tie the knot last Saturday but had to postpone their big day with the ban on social gatherings still in place. Even though he is disappointed not to have been able to say his “I dos”, Maharaj can see the silver lining. “It was tough accepting [the postponement] but it gives us some extra time to make the wedding even more perfect than what it was going to be.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The International Cricket Council has charged Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal with changing the condition of the ball during the second test against West Indies.

The ICC announced the decision via Twitter on Sunday, and later said that Chandimal had pleaded not guilty.

Match referee Javagal Srinath of India ”will hold a hearing following the conclusion” of the ongoing test, the ICC said.

Sri Lanka had resumed play on day three on Saturday under protest after delaying the start and strongly denied it tampered with the ball in St. Lucia.

The visiting team was charged with altering the condition of the ball by umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould, who reviewed video of West Indies’ first innings on Friday. They penalized Sri Lanka before play on Saturday with a change of ball and the award of five runs to West Indies.

Sri Lanka protested by refusing to leave its dressing room for nearly 90 minutes. Then the team went out to the middle and walked back to the boundary, where arguing with officials continued for another 40 minutes.

Sri Lanka Cricket advised the team to play ”under protest,” that team management said no players ”engaged in any wrongdoing,” and it would take all steps to defend any player charged with ”any unwarranted allegation.”

The West Indies resumed day three on 118-2, which was bumped up to 123-2 by the penalty runs. But the home side was all out in quick succession after tea for 300, a lead of 47 on the first innings.

At lunch Sunday on Day 4, Sri Lanka was 136-4 in its second innings – leading West Indies by 89 runs – with Chandimal 27 not out off 82 balls.

West Indies leads the three-test series 1-0.

RA said Stannard and a group of players and team management had been at a fast-food outlet following the dinner for departing coach Andy Friend when the alleged attack occurred.

Two players in the squad, including the side’s regular captain Lewis Holland, and Friend detained the man shortly afterwards and held him until police arrived, RA said.

Police said the incident happened at about 3.10am outside a kebab shop in Coogee, a coastal suburb of Sydney, when he was “punched in the head in an alleged unprovoked assault”.

Stannard was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in the city centre where he was understood to be “in a stable condition with head injuries”.

The suspect had been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The Briton has been bailed on “strict” conditions until an appearance at Waverley Local Court on April 19.

Stannard, who competed for Australia at the 2016 Olympics, was made captain of Australia’s Commonwealth Games side earlier this month after skipper Lewis Holland was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.