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The chief of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Association has expressed disappointment at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain not being allotted any Test matches for 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Dec-2010The chief of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Association has expressed disappointment at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain not being allotted any Test matches for 2011. West Indies host India and Pakistan in back-to-back home series between April and July 2011 but the Queen’s Park Oval, a regular five-day venue, will not be staging any of the five Tests during that period.”We will have three matches between West Indies and India and these matches are sure to be sold out come June next year,” Azim Bassarath said. “However, I have noticed that there are no Test matches for us in 2011 and this leaves us concerned. I understand that one of the legacies of the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean is that more venues cropped up and the board would like to please everybody.”However, we in T&T need to have Test matches here so that our young and developing players can get a taste of the best form of the game.”Instead, the island of Dominica will be hosting its first Test match during the India series, while Sabina Park in Jamaica and the Kensington Oval in Barbados are the two other venues. Bassarath hoped the completion of the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago would enhance the chances of the country hosting more Tests. “I am not bashing the WICB for the situation but what I am saying is that we have to come up with strategies to get more cricket in T&T,” he said.”The Queen’s Park Oval is a great venue and would continue to host matches but if we can add the Brian Lara Stadium to that, and of course the stadium is owned by government so the rental will be less, we can be in a better position to bargain for matches.”

Aiden Blizzard has won three Big Bash titles with Victoria, and now he’s aiming to help South Australia end their 15-year trophy drought

Brydon Coverdale04-Feb-2011It would be no surprise if South Australia have lost the key to their trophy cabinet, so long has it been since it was last opened. The state hasn’t won any silverware in 15 years, but success is a familiar feeling for one of their newest players, Aiden Blizzard, who wants to help the Redbacks end their drought on Saturday with what would be his fourth Big Bash title.Blizzard will line up in his fifth Twenty20 final – an individual record in the competition’s short history – when South Australia take on New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval, and his new team-mates know how destructive he can be. Last summer, Blizzard won his second Man of the Match award in a Big Bash decider when, as a Victorian, he smashed 42 off 19 balls against the Redbacks.”If I knew the recipe I’d try to do it every game,” Blizzard told ESPNcricinfo of his success in finals, having also been the best player in the 2007-08 decider. “I’ve been pretty fortunate to play in a Victorian team where they allowed me to express myself and go out there and back my abilities. It’s no different in the South Australian team, although I struggled to get in to the line-up in the early games with Kieron Pollard in the side.”Victoria have been the dominant state since the inception of the Big Bash, having won four of a possible five titles, but the power balance has shifted this year. The Redbacks have been riding on the success of a triple-pronged spin attack of Nathan Lyon, Adil Rashid and Aaron O’Brien, and have earned a home final having lost only one match in the tournament.Things have changed so much that the Bushrangers finished last this year, making Blizzard’s decision to switch states seem like a prescient move. He had played only two first-class games with Victoria, where he was viewed as a Twenty20 specialist, but the Redbacks have thrust him in to six Sheffield Shield matches this summer, and he has rewarded them with two centuries.”It was a crucial time for me,” Blizzard said of the 2010 off-season, when Cricket Victoria did not offer him a new contract. “It was either stay in Victoria and probably carry the drinks, and that might have been the end of my career, or make the move over to South Australia. It’s been a great move for me personally.”I like to let my natural flair play its course. I’ve worked pretty closely with [batting coach] Jeff Vaughan here to work out what the best formula is for me. I was lucky to get a couple of [Shield] hundreds early in the year. There’s four Shield games left and I really want to make another one before the end of the season. I think you’ve just got to play your natural game in whatever format you play.”For the time being, that’s Twenty20. And it will be in a few months as well, after Blizzard earned an IPL contract with the Mumbai Indians, where his team-mates will include Sachin Tendulkar.”Just to be around such a great player as Sachin Tendulkar will be a great eye opener, especially in his conditions,” he said. “He’s proven that he’s the best batsman in the world at the moment. It will be great to see how he goes about it and just to get in and amongst those champion players will be a great opportunity.”But Blizzard’s immediate goal is to help the Redbacks to a drought-breaking win. To do that, they’ll need to shut down David Warner and find a way to throw the 17-year-old fast bowler Patrick Cummins off his game after he burst on to the scene with 11 wickets in his first five matches.”I haven’t played against him but he looks quite impressive,” Blizzard said of Cummins. “He looks like he’s got a lot of raw pace and as a 17-year-old he’ll be absolutely fearless out there in the middle. He’s got big wraps from Stuart Clark and Shaun Tait. It’s going to be a good challenge. Hopefully we get a big crowd here and we can put some pressure on him.”And if South Australia can do that, they’ll be one step closer to blowing the dust off that trophy shelf.

Pakistan may have qualified for the knockout stages but their coach Waqar Younis is not prepared to look beyond their final group game against Australia just yet

Osman Samiuddin in Pallekele15-Mar-2011Pakistan may have qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time since 1999 but their coach Waqar Younis is not prepared to look beyond their final group game against Australia just yet. Pakistan slipped to second place in Group A after a seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Pallekele on Monday, but could still finish in any of the top four positions depending on what happens against Australia, and in other games.Waqar said he wasn’t thinking about whom his side might play in the quarter-finals. “Right now we are thinking of only Australia,” Waqar said. “If you win that game, then your morale will be such that you won’t worry about any team you play.”Barring a shock loss to Canada, Australia will go into Saturday’s game on a 34-match unbeaten streak in the World Cup, stretching back to the 1999 tournament. Their last loss, in fact, came against Pakistan, at Headingley. Ricky Ponting’s team is the only unbeaten side in this tournament.”You have an option [whereby] you could play the No. 4 team [from the other group] whose morale will be down,” Waqar said. “But momentum is very important and necessary. Australia are such a big team, world champions, and they haven’t lost for ages. That is an opportunity. If you beat them, you leave a mark. You can look at the next matches and teams will think twice about playing against you. The bigger thing is the momentum of beating the world champions and the confidence it gives you. That game is important.”As Sri Lanka did against Australia in a game that was eventually washed out in Colombo, Pakistan might consider playing a spin-heavy attack, though with Shahid Afridi, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez already in the XI, they are pretty well stocked.”The strategy will be very similar,” Waqar said. “Try to play 50 overs first, pile up a big total, that’s the key. And then, when you look at bowling sides around the world, I think we have a fairly good bowling side. If we can put a handsome total, we stand a good chance of winning that match. Or if we bowl them out cheaply, we have a good chance of chasing it.”There remained, Waqar insisted, further room for improvement within the side and part of his concern was directed specifically at two young batsmen, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal. Shehzad failed for the fifth match running, stumped trying to slog Ray Price. He now has 44 runs in the tournament and is a prime candidate for the axe.”We’re thinking of building an opening partnership, that is the first point,” Waqar said. “It was a rash shot from Shehzad. It wasn’t really required at the time. But don’t forget he is a youngster, he is only 21 and brand new in this arena. It’s not easy sometimes. In the heat of the moment you play silly shots and that’s how you learn cricket. He’s probably learnt a big lesson today that when the team needs you at the wicket, you should stay.”The more cutting observation was for Umar, who was for the second time in his short career, the subject of speculation about faking an injury to support his elder brother Kamran. Umar didn’t play against Zimbabwe and when Waqar was asked about the reasons behind it, he smiled, waited and said, “He has two or three problems.” He pulled back immediately, clarifying that there was a finger injury as well as an ankle injury picked up during a football session, but the comment will only fuel talk that the team management is not happy with Umar’s attitude.

The Netherlands and Ireland Women’s teams have departed on a two-week tour to Sri Lanka as part of their preparations in the build-up to the Women’s World Cup Qualifier later this year

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2011The Netherlands and Ireland Women’s teams have departed on a two-week tour to Sri Lanka as part of their preparations in the build-up to the Women’s World Cup Qualifier later this year. A five-day coaching programme from April 18 to 22 will be followed by an eight-day quadrangular series also involving Sri Lanka and Pakistan from April 23 to 29. All four teams will be based in Colombo during the tour.The training programme, in partnership with the ICC European Development Programme, replaces what was previously run as the ICC European Women’s Academy. It is to be managed by Philip Hudson, ICC Regional Performance Officer, and will involve a three-strong coaching team, including former England A players Simon Francis and Kelly Evenson, from ICC Europe supporting the Ireland and Netherlands Women’s teams and their national coaches.It will consist of centre wicket and net practices focused primarily on batting against spin; local cricketers will be acting as bowlers to aid both sets of players in acclimatising to sub-continent pitches and conditions. Developing the standard of fielding is also a key objective of the programme. Selected players will undertake a media training session to learn key skills in dealing with the media to prepare them for future regional and global cricket tournaments.”For Women’s cricket in Europe this is the biggest event that has ever taken place,” said ICC Regional Development Manager, Richard Holdsworth. “It will be a fantastic opportunity for all the players and management to compete against full member nations and sample Asian conditions in preparation for the end of the year.”The development of women’s cricket in Europe is improving each year, with healthy participation figures, this series is just evidence of what can be achieved with a lot of hard work.”Ireland National Women’s Coach Stephen Moreton was pleased that the team would be travelling to Sri Lanka to improve Ireland’s chances at the Women’s World Cup Qualifier. “It’s a massive benefit to our preparations, as we will be facing similar conditions in November, when it really counts,” said Moreton.Netherlands Captain Helmein Rambaldo suggested that successfully acclimatising to sub-continental conditions will be her team’s main aim for the trip. “By having the tour to Sri Lanka, we are firstly getting the opportunity to get used to conditions in Asia and by playing the teams ranked above us, it will be a good challenge to see where we are at the moment and what we still need to work on till the tournament in Bangladesh.”Ireland and Netherlands will both play three ODIs and three Twenty20s each in the series.Ireland Squad: Ciara Metcalfe, Clare Shillington, Amy Kenealy, Eimear Richardson, Rebecca Rolfe, Laura Delany, Shauna Kavanagh, Louise McCarthy, Kimberley Garth, Mary Waldron, Emma Flanagan, Laura Cullen, Aisling GillNetherlands squad: Helmien Rambaldo, Violet Wattenberg, Marloes Braat, Laura Brewer, Christine Erkelens, Evelien Gerrits, Carlos de Groot, Denise Hannema, Jolette Hartenhof, Esther de Lange, Esther Lanser, Mol Alarda, Marijn Nijman, Miranda Meier

Former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne has said he is ready to share information with the ICC to back his allegations regarding match-fixing in Sri Lanka, since 1992

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2011Former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne has said he is ready to share information with the ICC to back his allegations regarding match-fixing in Sri Lanka since 1992.”I made the statements [about match-fixing] neither to get political mileage nor to put anyone in an awkward position,” said Tillakaratne, now a politician affiliated to the opposition party in Sri Lanka.”I made the comments in good faith and I will share the information with the ICC. The exercise was meant to protect the game and the players we all love so much.”On Monday, Sri Lanka Cricket had termed Tillakaratne’s decision to make the revelations after so many years as “strange”. Tillakaratne’s response was that he had kept quiet for so long since he feared for his life. “I stand by my comments about match fixing but can’t reveal names for my safety,” he said. “I made the statement in good faith and I will reveal the names to the ICC.”Meanwhile, Muttiah Muralitharan, who was Tillakaratne’s team-mate for the most part of his career, joined Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in asking Tillakaratne to prove his claims.”I don’t know why he has said this,” Muralitharan told . “If somebody is making such claims, he should first give enough proof to support them, otherwise someone can sue him. He has made allegations and only he is answerable for that. These are mere allegations which have not been proved yet.”Muralitharan said he had never been approached by match-fixers during his career. “In any case, I will tell this to ICC’s anti-corruption unit only,” he added. “There is a code and all the players follow that.”

Pakistan women won the final of the Twenty20 Quadrangular Series in Colombo, after a nine-over match against Netherlands

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2011It was a disappointing day in Colombo, as persistent rain meant that none of the matches in the women’s Twenty20 Quadrangular Series between Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Netherlands and Ireland lasted a full 40 overs. Pakistan women won the final after a nine-over match against Netherlands. They had got there after beating Ireland on the Duckworth-Lewis method, while Netherlands’ first match against Sri Lanka was abandoned after one over of Sri Lanka’s innings, and got through to the final by virtue of a coin toss.Pakistan got to 53 for 7 in nine overs in the final, after being put into bat. There were only six boundaries in their innings, with Javeria Khan and Bismah Maroof hitting three each. Evelien Gerrits finished with figures of 3 for 13. In response, Netherlands could not manage a single boundary in their innings, and got to just 41 despite losing only one wicket. Their openers stayed together till the eighth over, but only managed a 30-run partnership. All of Pakistan’s bowlers were economical; Qanita Jalil and Masooma Junaid both gave away five runs each in two overs, while Sana Mir finished with 1 for 4 from his two.In their first game, Pakistan put Ireland in and Jalil was impressive then as well, taking 2 for 9 as Ireland managed only 75 in their 20 overs. Pakistan’s openers scored 37 in 7.2 overs, and they were 15 runs ahead on the D/L method at that stage. Netherlands got to 46 for 8 in 13 overs against Sri Lanka in their first match, but Sri Lanka’s innings only lasted one over before rain forced the game to be called off. The third-place playoff was abandoned without a ball bowled.

Kent are poised to sign Wahab Riaz, the Pakistan left-arm paceman, after he received clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board for a spell in county cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2011Kent are poised to sign Wahab Riaz, the Pakistan left-arm paceman, after he received clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board for a spell in county cricket.Kent, who have a small squad due to their financial situation, have been hit by a number of injuries to their pace bowlers this season and have often been forced to field an inexperienced line-up.Riaz made his Test debut at The Oval on the tour of England last year and took 5 for 63 in the first innings to help set up a four-wicket win for Pakistan. Overall he has played seven Tests and taken 17 wickets along with 38 scalps in 22 one-day internationals.The club hope the deal will be sealed next week once Riaz is granted the required visa.

South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula has sought a meeting with top Cricket South Africa officials, including its chief executive Gerald Majola, later this week following allegations of improperly awarded bonuses

Firdose Moonda12-Jun-2011South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula has sought a meeting with top Cricket South Africa officials, including its chief executive Gerald Majola, later this week following allegations of improperly awarded bonuses that were decided on two months ago. This is the second bonus-related issue CSA has been embroiled in over the past year.The newspaper reported that a total of Rand 1.9 million (US$271,428) was awarded to Majola (R1.4 million, US$200,000), Kass Naidoo, brand and communications manager, (R200,000, US$28,571) and Nassei Appiah (R300,000, US$42,857), chief financial officer, without the board’s approval. CSA, which has rejected claims of impropriety, said in a statement that the bonuses were decided on at a meeting held on April 15, where annual increases, salary adjustments and annual bonus payments were discussed.”The payments were issued through the remunerations committee (Remco) so there really shouldn’t be a problem,” a CSA insider told ESPNcricinfo. However, John Blair, chairman of the audit committee, indicated that proper procedure had not been followed because, “everything must be referred back to the board. These bonuses have not been approved by the board.”CSA reported their highest ever increase in income for the financial year ending April 2011, with revenue going up from R497 million (US$71 million) to R727 million (US$103.85 million). The hike was due to the hosting of the Champions League Twenty20, the Indian tour and the Makhaya Ntini T20 farewell match and concert held at Moses Mabhida Stadium in January.”It was agreed that in the current market conditions a general salary increase of seven percent should be awarded,” Appiah said in the release. “It was also established that certain members of staff were being paid below the salary rates applicable to their positions. It was also agreed that bonuses should be performance-driven. In these circumstances the bonuses were well-merited and were approved by the chairperson of Remco.”The seemingly large amounts paid out have been defended by CSA sources, who said that that the body enjoyed an “outstanding” year and that “the IPL bonuses were taken into consideration when awarding bonuses this year.” Despite that, some board members felt that there should have been a cap on the bonus amounts.The board has asked Remco to re-look at their processes. A meeting will be held later in June to discuss “a framework for salary increases and bonuses,” according to the release.This issue closely mirrors last year’s bonus affair, when R4.7 million (US$671,428) was paid to 40 staff members after the hosting of the IPL and the Champions Trophy in 2009. Those payments were not declared through Remco and only picked up after CSA’s auditors, Deloitte, found irregularities in the body’s financial statements.Insiders said that the payments were in keeping with precedents set in 2007, regarding the issuing of bonuses following major tournaments. CSA President Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka called for an external investigation at the time but CSA held an internal inquiry, chaired by vice-president AK Khan, because it believed it had not exhausted its own procedures.The Khan commission found that “in future, matters of this nature must be signed off by a member of Remco,” without making mention of board approval, except where event bonuses for major tournaments, outside of the usual incoming tours, are concerned. In a recommendation, it said that “management of events be regulated by a comprehensive system of control accounting and that full and proper reports be furnished to the board during and at the conclusion of the event.”CSA has said that Remco chairperson Thandeka Mgoduso did sign off on the 2011 bonuses, but made no mention of whether the board was informed of bonuses relating to the Champions League, which could prove central to the most recent scandal.The Khan commission had cleared Majola of any wrongdoing but the issue formed the kernel of a protracted battle between Majola and Nyoka that saw Nyoka removed as president after a vote of no confidence was passed against him in February this year. The decision to remove Nyoka was found to be unlawful by the South Gauteng High Court and he was reinstated in May. The court judgment also made provisions for Nyoka’s request for a full forensic audit to take place.CSA appointed KPMG on May 23 to conduct the audit /southafrica/content/story/516392.html, which is expected to take four weeks. Their mandate is to “to investigate and report on the payment of bonuses, travel expenses, related expenditure and fringe benefits to CSA staff members in connection with the IPL and Champions Trophy hosted in 2009,” which was does not cover the latest allegations.KPMG reportedly wrote a letter of complaint to the board, saying that there was too much interference from CSA in their work. Blair rejected the seriousness of such allegations, saying, “There was a bit of miscommunication between the office and KPMG. The office wasn’t sure what information it needed to give KPMG.” CSA currently have both KMPG and the South African Revenue Service auditing their books.

MS Dhoni escaped the trip-wires of the over-rate through the somewhat open-ended ICC rules that depend on “many factors on the ground” and their interpretation

Sharda Ugra and Nagraj Gollapudi27-Jul-2011India head into the second Test in Nottingham with much hanging over them: they trail England 0-1, their main strike bowler is battling to return from injury and their batting is looking to get into the groove. The one blessing is that captain MS Dhoni has defied widespread apprehension and cold calculation to escape the trip-wires of the over-rate in Tests through the somewhat open-ended ICC rules that depend on “many factors on the ground” and the interpretation of those factors.A transgression at Lord’s would have been Dhoni’s third in a calendar year and would have led to an automatic suspension from the next Test.At the end of England’s innings at Lord’s, India were found to be two overs short; that was the calculation of three independent sets of scorers, two of whom were present at the ground. A similar calculation by the official Lord’s scorer would have meant Gautam Gambhir captaining the side at Trent Bridge. After the match, Dhoni said that he had been informed by the match referee that India had done well on the over-rate and he was in the clear.ESPNcricinfo contacted the ICC and asked whether it was possible that the official scorers had taken a particular situation or event into account before arriving at their calculation that had India well within the rate required and if there were unconventional factors other than innings breaks, fall of wickets or inadvertent delays that had been worked into the calculation.An official spokesperson said that the calculation for over-rates depended on “many factors on the ground on the day and the interpretations of those factors. These are always left in the hands of the match officials as they have a better grasp of the mitigating issues. The calculation is made over the course of both innings and the regulations provide that in calculating the over-rate, allowances must be given for, inter alia, all time lost due to circumstances beyond the control of the fielding team.”When asked whether India had been reminded of their over-rate at any point during the Lord’s game, the ICC spokesperson said, “What we can say is that players are regularly reminded of the laws and regulations regarding time wasting and over-rates and they are always requested to be more proactive in improving the pace of play.”An official present at Lord’s said that umpires could give due licence to captains depending on local circumstances. At Lord’s, for example, new batsmen sometimes take more than two minutes to settle down. “You have to come down a flight of stairs and then walk through the Long Room and past the members into the stands. At times the batsmen take more time to settle down and can delay the play by doing various sorts of things.”The official stated that both teams were on par in terms of over-rates, though India may have been a minute faster, and that the official times varied across all the three Lord’s “time-keepers” – the field umpires, the match referee and the official scorers.The best way to complete the required number of overs, the official said, would require the change between overs to be around 10 seconds, which can save up to 16 minutes in a day. Protracted celebrations of wickets followed by a fielding change after the new batsman had got ready to play also led to more time being wasted.

Ricky Ponting, the Australia batsman, has said that he encouraged India’s Rahul Dravid to keep going when their sides met in a two-Test series in India last October

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2011Ricky Ponting has said that he encouraged Rahul Dravid to fight through his struggles and continue playing when their sides met in the two-Test series in India last October. Dravid was going through a lean patch at the time – his only century in 2010 up till then had been against Bangladesh and he managed just one half-century during the series against Australia – but Ponting said he urged Dravid to ignore critics who wrote him off.”I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished,” Ponting told . “I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said ‘don’t you even think about retiring’ because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player. I just said ‘don’t let them wear you down, don’t let them get you down’. I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well.”After that home series against Australia, Dravid scored two centuries against New Zealand before a string of low scores in South Africa. Since then, he has been prolific in tough conditions, with four centuries in seven Tests spread across West Indies and England. In the second of those tours, where England humbled India to claim the No. 1 Test ranking, Dravid was easily India’s best batsman, with three centuries and 461 runs over the four Tests.Ponting, 36, has not scored a Test century since January 2010, said it was nice to see the 38-year-old Dravid doing well. He believed players like Dravid were as much an inspiration for senior players like himself, as for youngsters.”There are a few [who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years]. Sachin [Tendulkar] and [Jacques] Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now. It’s not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it’s good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and working hard, and if you’ve got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game.”While young players have role models to look up to, Ponting said he worried that an excess of Twenty20 cricket played at youth level would hinder the development of Test batsmen.”The big worry I’ve had about Twenty20 cricket and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids’ careers is that it won’t teach them the art of concentration. Cricket for me when I was growing up meant batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that’s how long it took them.”Now, even Under-17s and Under-19s are playing T20 games in national championships, and at the detriment of two-day games. Good state players these days are averaging 35; if you were averaging 35 when I was playing your dad would go and buy you a basketball or a footy and tell you to play that. So there are areas of concern there; I don’t know how you change them.”Ponting is one of the few senior members left in what is a transitional Australia team that goes up against Sri Lanka in a three-Test series. He said India, who lost their No. 1 Test ranking in England, could also enter a similar phase once their experienced batsmen retired, but believed their barren bowling reserves were a bigger cause for concern.”India still haven’t reached that point that I thought they’d get to yet. They’ve still got that crux, those great batters in that side. Time will tell with India now. Dravid was probably one who was in the gun before the rest of them and he’s found a way to come through. They [Tendulkar, Dravid and VVS Laxman] are all about the same age and they won’t go on forever. They will be tested more than anything with their bowlers. I think we found even in the last few years that a lot of their spin bowling probably isn’t as strong as it used to be, and if you take Zaheer [Khan] out of their fast bowling stocks there’s not much left there either; so they’ve got an interesting couple of years ahead.”India’s whitewash in England has led to criticism that there is too much emphasis on the shorter formats of the game in the country, and Ponting, who has not played in the IPL since the end of its first season, said the tournament was affecting India’s cricket.”They’re probably prioritising Twenty20 cricket as much as anyone aren’t they, with the IPL being based there and the commitment some players have to certain franchises and tournaments going on around that. I reckon a good example of where their cricket is now is the fact they played RP Singh in that last Test match, when he hadn’t played a first-class game since January.”While India have got the great players they’ve had they’ll remain competitive, but once those guys move on it’ll be really interesting for them, and I think South Africa will be exactly the same. Once [Graeme] Smith and Kallis and [Dale] Steyn go out of that team it’ll be interesting to see how they rebuild as well.”