MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Eight years after the “Sandpapergate” scandal rocked test cricket, Australia will return to South Africa to play three test matches preceded by three one-day internationals in September and October.
It will be Australia's first test series in South Africa since the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal in 2018 when Australian fielder Cameron Bancroft was caught by TV cameras roughing up the ball with sandpaper hidden in his pants.
Bancroft was suspended for nine months and the then-skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner were each given unprecedented 12-month bans by Cricket Australia for their parts in the plot to change the condition of the ball so it would assist the bowling attack.
Smith is still playing test cricket for Australia and could feature in the upcoming South Africa tour.
The tests will also be the first between the countries since South Africa won the World Test Championship over Australia at Lord’s last June. It was the Proteas’ first major cricket trophy in 37 years.
Cricket Australia said Tuesday that the one-day matches will be played on Sept. 24 in Durban, Sept. 27 at Johannesburg and a day-night match at Potchefstroom on Sept. 30.
After a two-day warmup match at Potchefstroom on Oct. 3-4, the first test begins Oct. 9 at Durban.
The series will continue with tests beginning Oct. 18 at Gqeberha — formerly Port Elizabeth — and the final match from Oct. 27-31 at Newlands in Cape Town.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka , left, shake hands with Australia's Steve Smith after they won the T20 World Cup cricket against Australia in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/ Eranga Jayawardena)
TAPALPA, Mexico (AP) — A day after the Mexican army killed the country's most powerful drug lord, the picturesque town where it happened was a study in contrasts.
Children whose classes had been suspended by the outbreak of violence played in cobblestone streets and tourist shops were open on Tapalpa's main plaza Monday. But gunshots also rang out, and just outside the town a dead man lay on the road next to a Jeep sprayed with bullets.
Meanwhile, heavily armed Mexican security forces kept up their battle with cartel gunmen following the killing that sparked a surge in violence and put the country on edge. Cartel fighters continued to block roads as smoke rose on the outskirts of the town in the state of Jalisco.
More than 70 people died in the attempt to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and the aftermath, authorities said Monday. Known as “El Mencho,” he was the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.
The body count taken by security officials included security forces, suspected cartel members and others. Officials did not offer details, and the circumstances of most of the deaths were unclear.
Oseguera Cervantes was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials. The organization responded to his death with widespread violence, including erecting more than 250 roadblocks across 20 states and setting fire to vehicles.
The capo died after a shootout with the Mexican military on Sunday. Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had tracked one of his romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa.
The cartel leader and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
Mexican authorities reported that 25 members of the Mexican National Guard were killed in six separate attacks, while some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others in the neighboring state of Michoacan. Also killed were a prison guard and an agent from the state prosecutor’s office.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many people were anxious as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.
As the threat of more violence loomed, several Mexican states canceled school Monday, while local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside.
Steve Perkins, 57, had been visiting Puerto Vallarta with his wife and friends. The couple was scheduled to return to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on Monday when their flight was canceled.
Perkins said he and his wife were having coffee on the terrace of their hotel room in downtown when they heard rounds of explosions and gunshots, and saw smoke billowing over the city around 8:30 a.m.
“The entire downtown in the bay was just covered in thick black smoke, pretty scary,” Perkins said. “And then at one point, we heard screams. We heard a lot of screams … So then we started getting really worried.”
Perkins and his wife traded out their flip-flops for running shoes in case “we needed to make a run for it.”
“My wife called our kids to tell them goodbye if we were never gonna see them again," Perkins said.
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and in the state of Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday. It warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
In Guadalajara, the state capital, some ventured out into the streets to work and buy supplies, a notable change from Sunday, when Mexico's second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
More than 1,000 people were stuck overnight in Guadalajara’s zoo, where they slept in buses. Families were left stranded, unable to return home to nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan, said Luis Soto Rendón, the zoo’s director.
“We decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,” Soto said. “We have everyone from small children to senior citizens.”
José Luis Ramírez, a 54-year-old therapist, was in a long line of people waiting outside a pharmacy, one of the few businesses that were open Monday in Guadalajara. Families were buying food, medicine, water, diapers and baby formula, from pharmacists through a chained door.
It was Ramírez’s first time leaving the house since the violence erupted.
“We have to not think scared, but be cool-headed, like they say, and take things as they come,” he said.
Those who had to work carefully made their way across the city.
Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, normally takes public transportation to her job, but buses were not running, and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
“I am worried because I don't know how to get home if something happens,” she said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines.
At a blockade Monday on the outskirts of Tapalpa, 25-year-old Joel Ramírez and two friends were waiting for soldiers to clear a blockade of tree limbs. He hauls things in his pickup for a living and had not been able to get home since Sunday's violence.
“Everything seems calmer, but we were almost there and got stuck,” he said. “We're scared.”
Verza reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City and Juan Lozano in Houston also contributed to this report.
Vehicles pass a burned car a day after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
National Guard patrol past a charred vehicle the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
This wanted poster released on Dec. 4, 2024 on the U.S. State Department website shows leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (U.S. State Department via AP)
A charred truck blocks a road the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gives her the daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
Vehicles pass a burned car a day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," in Guadalajara, Mexico, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Mexican Security and Citizen Protection Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch speaks as President Claudia Sheinbaum looks on during her daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
A National Guard patrols the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
Charred vehicles sit in a parking lot sit outside a shopping mall in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, as authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
National Guards patrol the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
Carts stand outside of a vandalized supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
Army soldiers patrol outside the National Palace ahead of the daily, morning news conference by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
A police officer stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
A charred vehicle sits at a damaged supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
National Guards remove pedestrians by the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, following the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Armando Solis)
A man rides a bike next to a convenience store that was set on fire, in San Francisco del Ricon, Guanajuato state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alfredo Valadez)
