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South Africa’s selectors have called up players from their winter High Performance Programme to the national A squad for the home series against Sri Lanka A which comprises four-day and one-day matches. A late addition to the squad was CJ de Villiers, the Diamond Eagles seamer, who toured Australia for the Emerging Players tournament in Brisbane.”Basically we wanted to give all the players in our winter High Performance Programme the chance of playing either for the South Africa Emerging Squad or for South Africa A,” Joubert Strydom, who will stand down as convenor of selectors at the end of the month, said. “We did not consider the Test specialists who will be returning from England in August or our one-day specialists such as Albie Morkel, who will be going to England to join the team for their ODI series.”The winter programme is part of the ongoing process to help bridge the gap between franchise first-class level and international cricket and to create more opportunities for our future stars to experience different playing conditions.”Sri Lanka A tour South Africa to play three four-day matches and five one-dayers starting on August 29.South Africa A four-day squad: Ahmed Amla (Dolphins, capt), Yusuf Abdullah (Dolphins), Henry Davids (Cape Cobras), Matthew Harris (Lions), Arno Jacobs (Warriors), Heino Kuhn (Titans), Johann Louw (Dolphins), Ethy Mbhalati (Titans), Alviro Petersen (Lions), Andrew Puttick (Cape Cobras), Blake Snijman (Titans), Thandi Tshabalala (Eagles), Lonwabo Tsotsobe (Warriors), CJ de Villiers (Diamond Eagles).South Africa A one-day squad: Alviro Petersen (Lions, capt), Yusuf Abdullah (Dolphins), Gulam Bodi (Titans), Loots Bosman (Eagles), Henry Davids (Cape Cobras), Dean Elgar (Eagles), Imraan Khan (Dolphins), Heino Kuhn (Titans), Johann Louw (Dolphins), Ethy Mbhalati (Titans), Wayne Parnell (Warriors), Daryn Smit (Dolphins), Rusty Theron (Warriors), Thandi Tshabalala (Diamond Eagles), Vaughn van Jaarsveld (Lions).

With the period of bidding for the items in this months unique Junior Sabres fund raising auction half way through the website has received several enquiries regarding the bids that have been made for some of the items.In response to these requests, and to perhaps even encourage some more bids and raise additional funds for the Junior Sabres the highest bid received so far for each of the items is listed below.Don’t miss out – send in your bids todayLot 1 – A pair of Marcus Trescothick’s Sunday League pads – £20Lot 2- Somerset C.C.C. team cricket bag, black with Somerset team logo – £25Lot 3- A pair of Robert Turner’s Sunday League wicket keeping pads – £15Lot 4 -A pair of Graham Rose’s Sunday League pads – large – £40Lot 5 – A pair of Steffan Jones’s training shoes – grey / yellow (Size 11) – £25Lot 6 – 2002 players woollen team jumper with current sponsors name. This is a brand new jumper still in its wrapper with all of the badges and logos and is large size. – £15Lot 7 – A pair of Pete Trego’s Sunday League pads – £10Lot 8 – The pair of pads, from which a pad was made to support Marcus Trescothick’s thumb injury during the vital Cheltenham & Gloucester Quarter Final at Taunton. – £15Lot 9 – MIke Burns Gunn and Moore bat that he used during the 2002 season and in the C and G Final at Lord’s. – £40Please remember all items are genuine and in years to come will become serious collectors items and every penny raised from the auction will go to the Junior Sabres:-To take part in the auction please E-mail your bid to [email protected] stating your name and address, the lot number and the amount that you wish to bid.Don’t miss out on an item that you will never have the chance to purchase again- send in your bids today.

Simon Katich will return to the Test team as an opener after Matthew Hayden was ruled out of Thursday’s match against West Indies with a heel injury. The move was expected as Hayden, who was so sore he did not have a fitness test, has struggled with the problem over the early stages of the tour, but it further disrupts Australia’s batting plans.Brad Hodge will come in and bat at No. 5 in place of Michael Clarke, the tour vice-captain, and the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin becomes the country’s 400th Test player. Hodge, who averages 58.42, was flown in from India as a shadow player and a day before he was due to leave will appear in his sixth Test.The last time Katich was part of the Australian squad he was a one-day opener, but he has spent most of his time batting three or four with New South Wales in the Pura Cup. His previous Test was during the West Indies series in Australia in 2005.Phil Jaques now has a greater role following the withdrawal of Hayden and he will open with Katich in a repeat of the combination used during the tour match against a Jamaica XI over the weekend. They put on 95 in the first innings and 23 in the second, and Australia will be looking for similar starts at Sabina Park.The bowling line-up also has a fresh face with Stuart MacGill coming back after wrist surgery. Brett Lee leads the attack, which includes Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson.Despite the changes to Australia’s team in the short and medium term, Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies vice-captain, is not expecting an easier ride. “They have an inexperienced attack compared to the normal Australian team, but they are very good players and we have to give respect to them,” he said. “We’re not going to take them lightly because they have lost five or six key players over the last year or so. We know how good a team they are. They still have world-class players in their set-up.”West Indies are without Chris Gayle, who has a groin injury, and the suspended Marlon Samuels. “It’s difficult at the beginning of an important series such as this one to have our captain out and also losing Marlon,” he said. “There is an opportunity for other players like Devon Smith, Brenton Parchment, Ryan Hinds and Runako Morton, who are the guys who have been in and out of the team.”Bravo arrived in Jamaica from the Indian Premier League on Tuesday after a chartered plane was arranged by Mukesh Ambani, the Mumbai Indians owner. He is not worried about swapping from Twenty20 games to Tests in less than a week.”I don’t see it as a problem,” he said. “I am mentally prepared for it and I know what I have to do to get out of [Twenty20 mode]. I am not the only one coming out of a Twenty20 tournament.”

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is known to come up with bizarre decisions and the latest example is the team selection for the third Test against Australia Saturday morning.All-rounder Shahid Afridi was flown in to replace the injured Abdul Razzaq. However the tour management surprised everyone by leaving out both the all-rounders and instead went into the match with four specialist bowlers, two of them still greenhorns and not regular members of the team.What was the logic behind dispatching Shahid for one Test when he was not to be considered is another decision by befuddled PCB officials.According to PCB officials, Shahid was not selected due to shoulder injury and lack of Test cricket. If this was the case then the flamboyant player should not have been flown to Sharjah in the first place.It seems obvious that Shahid was sent against the wishes of the tour selection committee which in fact trying its best to ruin his Test career.The same could also be said about poor Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan. He has been part of the original squad but so far has done nothing but carry drinks and do fielding stint as substitute which shows lack of imagination on part of PCB management.It was time for PCB to explain the cases of Shahid and Rana Naveed and whoever is responsible for this mess should be taken to task so that such blunders are not repeated in the future.Unfortunately nothing will happen, a legacy of our past, and such unfortunate and wasteful exercises will be swept under the carpet with the usual everything was satisfactory and the PCB was doing its best to win the 2003 World Cup.

Adam Gilchrist’s image as his nation’s most untarnished cricketer took a blow late today when he was charged by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) with making statements detrimental to the sport.The ACB’s decision to act against Gilchrist under its code of player conduct followed comments yesterday in which he suggested that Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan possessed an illegal bowling action.Speaking as a guest at a function before an Australian Football League match in Melbourne, the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman raised doubts about the legality of the action employed by the record-breaking Sri Lankan off spinner.”Technically, if you read the rules, I think he’s not quite within them,” he said when directly questioned about the delivery style that has yielded Muralitharan a total of 412 Test wickets.”If you read the laws of the game, there’s no doubt in my mind that he and many others throughout cricket history have (thrown the ball).”It’s amazing when you do go to the subcontinent and you do see so many young bowlers in the nets and they all run in and they’ve all got similar actions and they obviously do not worry about it.”(If) a junior … has an action like that out here, it’s just corrected as quickly as possible. I’m sure there are other people that say Brett Lee throws the ball at different times. It’s such a fine line.”Muralitharan has been the centre of controversy on each of Sri Lanka’s two most recent tours of Australia. In 1995-96, he was no-balled by umpire Darrell Hair for throwing in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, and subsequently suffered the same fate at the hands of umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan in a one-day international match in Brisbane.Three years later, a decision by Emerson to no-ball the spinner from square leg sparked dramatic scenes in a limited-overs contest between Sri Lanka and England in Adelaide, and all but prompted a walk-off by the Arjuna Ranatunga-led Sri Lankans.The validity of Muralitharan’s action has since been upheld as part of an exhaustive review process conducted by the International Cricket Council.ACB chief executive, James Sutherland, revealed today that he had spoken with Gilchrist about his comments.”After reading the statements attributed to Adam, I rang him and asked him to provide me with more details about the accuracy of the comments and how they came to be in the public domain,” said Sutherland.”After considering Adam’s explanation, I have issued a charge under the ACB Code of Behaviour. An ACB Commissioner will determine whether Adam’s comments are in breach of the code,” he added, in a brief statement that provided a further signal of the ACB’s determination over recent years to crack down on any disciplinary lapses by its players.As well as possessing the highest Test batting average of any current player, Gilchrist is one of Australia’s most marketable cricketers. His wholesome image was also widely identified as one of the key factors in his replacement of Shane Warne as national vice-captain in August 2000.The imposition of any form of punishment would represent a major blow to his distinguished record in the game.A date for his hearing has yet to be set by the ACB.* In a further development late on Monday night in Australia, Gilchrist revealed that he had rung Muralitharan to apologise for the remarks and said that he regretted that they had become the subject of such public focus. The wicketkeeper-batsman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he was disappointed that a journalist had recorded the comments at what he had believed was a private lunch in Melbourne on Sunday. Sri Lankan cricket officials added that they bore no grudge over Gilchrist’s comments, with team manager Chandra Schaffter affirming from England that Gilchrist’s apology had been accepted by Muralitharan and his teammates.

Captain Ricky Ponting said not even matchwinner Michael Bevan was an automatic selection in the Australian one-day team tomorrow as selectors face the toughest choice of the South African tour.They must drop one of the in-form batsmen for the day-night clash in Durban if Bevan recovers from the hamstring strain which has sidelined him for the last three matches.The left-hander has batted in the nets, suggesting he is ready to return to a batting line-up which has driven Australia to a 3-0 lead with three matches to play.In-form Queenslander Jimmy Maher shapes as the most likely casualty if Bevan returns, but Ponting was reluctant to discuss the possibilities as he awaited a phone call from chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns.”It will be a hard decision now but we haven’t spoken about it yet,” Ponting said.”I don’t think anyone is an automatic selection but who do you leave out if you put Bevo in? That’s the hard thing.”Jimmy has performed well and most of the batters have done a good job in all of the games. It’s going to be very hard to slot him back in.”Despite Ponting’s caution, Bevan would be a certain inclusion because of his excellent record in one-day internationals, boasting the best batting average of anyone to have played more than five matches.He dragged Australia to a desperate victory over New Zealand earlier this season with a century at the MCG, confirming his reputation as the most reliable batsman in the game.If Bevan, Ponting and Adam Gilchrist are rated definite starters, selectors must drop one out of Maher, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn or Darren Lehmann incricket’s version of musical chairs.Each of those four players has performed during the series especially Maher, who received the man-of-the-match award in the second and third games when calledin for Bevan.He followed that with a valuable 14 not out from 12 balls in Australia’s 37-run victory in the fourth match in Bloemfontein last Saturday.Lehmann has been excellent in the series, helping Ponting in his first matches as captain, while Hayden has been promised an extended run as opener, scoring 79 in the tied match in Potchefstroom last week.Martyn has regained speed at No.4 after a scratchy run with scores of 42, 35 and 24, not making the job any easier for selectors.But that could change if Australia wraps up the series tomorrow, with Ponting indicating selectors could try different combinations in the final matches in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.”I want to win every game we play and if we put our best team on the park then it’s going to make the job a bit easier,” Ponting said.”We have to win the series first but we might try a different combination for the last couple of games if we win this one.”South African selectors face their own problems as they try to work fast bowler Nantie Hayward back into the team.Captain Shaun Pollock has already admitted Hayward’s recovery from an ankle injury left a question mark over the best combination for the Proteas, who have used Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Roger Telemachus in three of the four matches.

The National Cricket Academy was launched in Bangalore on May 1. Butvery soon Chennai laid a claim to hosting the NCA, thanks to an offerof ground to be made available by the Tamil Nadu government in thesuburbs. However with the Karnataka government making a similar offer,it was always on the cards that Bangalore would stay as the home ofthe NCA, given the built in advantages of better weather and readyinfrastructure.But Chennai was always the favourite as the venue to host the Zonalbranch of the NCA. And now things are getting into place for thesouthern metropolis hosting the zonal academy at the MA Chidambaramstadium.In fact, Ashok Kumbhat, secretary, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, isconfident that the zonal academy will start functioning in April.Talking to CricInfo on Friday, he said that the two-member committeeof former Indian cricketers, Polly Umrigar and Brijesh Patel, who areconsultant and coordinator of the NCA inspected the existingfacilities at the stadium on Wednesday.”They were more than happy with the facilities available. What islacking among the list of items required for the academy is a swimmingPool,” he said.While the swimming pool could be got ready only after obtaining thesanction of the TNCA executive committee, a gymnasium and rooms toaccommodate 25 trainees drawn from the six southern state units of theBCCI would be built soon, Kumbhat said.Umrigar and Patel also insisted on visiting the accommodation wherethe boys are likely to be housed. They also inspected a warehouse tostore academy property, according to Kumbhat. Where the practicepitches are concerned, the TNCA is more than well equipped. While onlyfour practice pitches are needed for the academy, the TNCA has eightsuch wickets.Meanwhile, G Kasturirangan and Dhiraj Parsana, members of the pitchcommittee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India visited theChidambaram stadium on Friday in connection with the conduct of thethird Test match between India and Australia to be played from March18 to 22. According to Kumbhat, they expressed satisfaction with thepitch and the facilities at the ground.

The East Zone wing of the National Cricket Academy run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started functioning in Kolkata. The camp is being conducted by the former Test opener Arun Lal. Assisting him are Barun Burman from Bengal, Randhir Singh of Bihar and Jimut Mohanty of Orissa. However, the highlight of the Academy is the participation of Dr. Vece Paes, who incidentally is the father of India’s tennis star Leander Paes.The Cricket Association of Bengal initially had objected to the appointment of Dr Paes in the Academy. He is performing the role of a physical trainer. Initially, the CAB had planned to appoint some former cricketer of the state to perform the role. It was at Arun Lal’s insistence that the CAB was forced to accept Dr. Paes. Giving the reasons for his choice, Lal said on Wednesday, “To me he is the best man in the country as far as Sports Medicine is concerned. He can really work wonders with young kids.Being a former Olympian himself, he can understand the psychology of a sports person better than anyone else. That is why, I have brought him to the Academy.” Lal said that the camp will continue for two months and the emphasis will be on fitness. “I want to increase the physical ability, endurance and fitness of the cricketers in the Academy to the highest level.” The cricketers are going through their practice drills in two sessions. The morning session consists of physical exercise, swimming and fielding drills. The afternoon session is restricted to only fielding and batting.” The former Test opener who had earlier coached the senior Bengal team felt that it was easier to coach youngsters. “They listen to your advice. The seniors come as a much more hardened lot. They are not willing to change.”The Academy is being run in the same manner that Rodney Marsh runs theCommonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide. Bowlers have been askedto bowl a maximum of 40 deliveries per day. The cricketers have alsobeen given a file where they have been asked to write a daily reporton their performance.

Manicaland made Matabeleland toil for two sessions at Mutare Sports Clubyesterday afternoon after winning the toss and batting in favourableconditions. Having hit 269 for three it’s impossible to envisage a way theycan lose the game, but coming in on four successive first-class defeats itwould still take courage to put meaningful money on them. Matabeleland hasyet to win a game themselves this season so this result will decide the footof the table.The first session was lost because overnight rain caused a wet patch on oneof the bowlers’ delivery creases. Despite the recent acquisition ofTest-size covers, ground staff tipped water onto the playing area whilstremoving them before start of play. To speed things up a burning barbecuehalf-drum was positioned above the patch and left to smolder for two hours.Manicaland owe their strong position to a splendid unbeaten 137 from captainNeil Ferreira. It was his highest first-class score to date, his third ofthe season and the sixth of his career. Offering only one chance on 88, hiscontrol was total — being particularly severe off the back foot through thecovers. Even before the innings he was talking of a possible move nextseason to Harare to further his prospects. His record and commitmentcontinue to be ignored by the selectors– even at A team level. As withcricket all over the world, to get noticed you need to play in the capitalcity. It’s ironic that senior players like Alistair Campbell, Andy Flowerand Paul Strang have moved away from Harare this season to rediscoverteam-values and spirit in Manicaland.After an opening stand of 126 with 16-year-old schoolboy Tino Mawoyo (37),Ferreira was joined by Leon Soma who blitzed a smoking 52-ball 75. His styleof controlled mayhem is a psychological crusher from number three. `Pommie’Mbangwa – recently back from Zimbabwe’s tour of India — was launched forconsecutive overs of 18 and 15.Missing Heath Streak — required on the family farm during the biggestcrisis to face the Zimbabwe farming community — the Matabeleland attacklacked the firepower to overcome a benign pitch. Opening bowler MattTownshend – son of team-manager and ex national off-spinner `Dobbo’ – wasthe best – mixing up in-swingers and slow balls — but even he could notovercome the conditions. With half-an-hour being added to the second dayManicaland will look to score quickly and declare by tea to give themselvesa chance of bowling the opposition out twice.

New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has said that he feared for his career while New Zealand Cricket was investigating his latest incident of misconduct – “intoxicated and rowdy” behaviour at a hotel during an indoor cricket tournament in the first week of July. NZC fined Ryder but warned that another incident, in addition to several in the past, would have more serious consequences.”It went on for quite a while as New Zealand Cricket was investigating what actually happened,” Ryder told . “I was actually thinking that this could have been it for me. But luckily they’ve given me one last chance.”Now I know that I have to keep my head down, keep training hard and force my way back in the side. This is pretty much a wakeup call for me. I just have to stay home now and try and stay away from all the off-field distractions so I don’t get in trouble out in public. I’m pretty desperate to stay on the right track and be a Black Cap [New Zealand player].”Ryder said he had apologised to the hotel for his behaviour after a noise complaint was lodged with the board but Geoff Allott, NZC’s general manger of cricket, said the matter was viewed “very seriously”.”The simple answer is that if the same thing happened again in the same circumstances, then yes [his contract would be in danger],” Allott said. “Circumstances, I would say, have to be considered but if something similar happened again, Jesse knows the consequences. He has got some extra parameters outside the other 19 contracted players and he’s accepted that. There’s some clarity now around instances, particularly involving alcohol and that’s important.”Heath Mills, the head of the New Zealand players’ association, said NZC was doing what it could to back Ryder. “They are remaining relatively firm but aren’t going to support any further instance of alcohol-related misconduct. If that happens again, their support will not be what it has been. The one person who suffers the most here is Jesse. It means fewer opportunities for him to score runs, take wickets or earn income.”The shame of it is Jesse has been making some genuine gains, training hard and getting fitter. He just has to be responsible for his actions. The trouble is those who hang out with him also need to take some responsibility and reflect on their roles in his life.”The most serious of Ryder’s indiscretions came in 2008 when he put his right hand through a glass window during a late-night session at a Christchurch bar. Early last year he gave up alcohol after another incident. Ryder is presently out of the New Zealand side because of fitness reasons and will miss the tri-series in Sri Lanka, though he is expected to be fit for the tour of Bangladesh that follows.