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Shaun Pollock has been recalled to the South African team for their Twenty20 international against Australia at the Wanderers on Friday, replacing the big-hitter Justin Kemp. Kemp has been rested due to an ongoing shoulder problem that will require surgery, probably at the end of the five-match one-day international series starting on Sunday.After a poor display in the VB Series in Australia, where Sri Lanka pipped them to the finals, South Africa are taking the Twenty20 match seriously. Graeme Smith, the captain, left no cause for doubt when he said: “We’ll be looking to implement a few of the strategies we’ve been working on ahead of the World Cup in 2007, because we’ve only got 20 to 25 one-day internationals before then.”It’s more of a mindset thing. Ten or 15 years ago teams were happy to be going at four runs an over, but after playing Twenty20 cricket we now know that you can score at 10 an over. You’ve just got to break the mental barriers.”We have to be innovative because teams are going to need to play differently at the next World Cup, much like Sri Lanka did in 1996. Hopefully we can take the world by storm.”However, Smith said one of the ICC’s innovations, the Supersub, left him cold. “If we’re not going to be using [him] in the World Cup,” he asked, “why must we keep playing him in the next five or six games?”His Australian counterpart, Ricky Ponting, said he would also like the experiment, set to continue until March, to end as soon as possible. “Why wait as long as March?” Ponting asked. “It doesn’t make sense. The sooner we get back to playing how we will be playing in the future, the better.”Ponting added his team would be going to greater lengths to crack the Twenty20 code as successfully as they have in the 50-over game. “We haven’t yet got fully to grips with Twenty20 cricket and a few of the guys do still go into it quite lightheartedly,” he said. “But it’s a hard game to take too seriously because you basically have to come out and swing from the word go, and sometimes you’ll come off and other times you won’t.”But South Africa have chosen a specialist Twenty20 team and if the ICC are going to have a Twenty20 world championship, then maybe we do need to look at it more seriously. We’re still learning and hopefully we’ll learn a bit more tomorrow.”One of the Australians’ other goals tomorrow will be to neutralise a South African crowd which is expected to bombard them with plenty of caustic comments after the racial abuse their team endured Down Under. “We’ll be trying to block the crowd out,” he said, “but one of the things we’ve learnt on tours is that if the crowd keeps quiet it generally means we’re playing pretty good cricket.”While the Australians have generally expressed delight at the hospitality they have been shown in South Africa, some of the players were terribly disappointed with their practice nets on Thursday. Batsmen had a torrid time as the ball leapt around in deranged fashion, and Ponting pointed a finger of blame at the South African camp.”The practice facilities were great on Wednesday,” said Ponting, “but they were not very good this morning. I spoke to the groundsman and apparently the South African team kept training yesterday in heavy rain and the staff didn’t get a lot of the pitches covered in time. They were still very wet this morning, but at least we got a good session in yesterday.”South Africa were beaten by 95 runs by Australia in the Twenty20 international at the Gabba in January, but the Aussies have been weakened for the return clash by the absence of key batsmen Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds. Hussey’s wife gave birth to a baby boy on Thursday and he is flying over to South Africa on Friday, while Symonds will be resting a thigh strain.South Africa Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers (wk), Herschelle Gibbs, Neil McKenzie, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Robin Peterson, Roger Telemachus, Thandi Tshabalala, Johan van der Wath, Makhaya Ntini.Australia Adam Gilchrist (wk), Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Mick Lewis.

There are a few inauspicious ways to start an important series. One of them, as Rahul Dravid discovered, is to be subjected to a chaotic press conference. As he sat facing the media, trying to gather his thoughts and answer a few questions, he witnessed a loud verbal skirmish between the television cameramen and still-photographers, and saw things get worse when a few journalists intervened. Unable to watch the spectacle anymore, an incensed Dravid got up, huffed, and walked off.It was a mess waiting to happen. Press conferences, in most Indian grounds, are conducted in undersized halls. Here at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, television cameramen, still- photographers, and reporters had to endure the presence of officials and some general public as well. TV cameramen filled the back row and, as usual, made a noise about anyone blocking their focus. As Dravid settled into his seat, a flood of still-photographers invaded the front section, crammed into the aisle and frantically began their clicking.What all this meant was that Dravid’s answers were constantly interrupted by angry noises from the back, with one set of cameramen pretty much telling the other set to buzz off. Dravid waited for the commotion to cease but things just got worse, so bad that a senior journalist, completely enraged, took it upon himself to stand up and hush up all concerned. That turned out to be the last straw: Dravid had had enough of the farce and he stomped off in quite a rage.The tragic part about this whole episode is that nobody was surprised. The Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) can take a lot of pride in the spruced up stadium but it’s incidents such as these that will rankle. Sense finally prevailed. Dravid returned, unveiled the trophy along with Andrew Flintoff, smiled for a zillion photographs, sat down for the second part of the press conference, smiled again for another short session of shooting, and, only when all the still-photographers had left the scene and cleared the path for their TV counterparts, did he entertain questions.All parties were finally satisfied and Dravid, as if to make up for his walk-out, patiently answered questions for close to seventeen minutes. “There may be something for the bowlers,” he said, while comparing the pitch to the one used for the game against Pakistan around a year back. “That one was fresh and it was the first game on it. Even when we played in the Test against Sri Lanka, there was a bit in it for the seamers.” He reiterated that India’s fielding in the Mumbai Test was a “serious concern” and hoped the one-day side wouldn’t slip up on that front.The absence of Supersubs, he felt, wouldn’t make too much of a difference as the rule “mainly supported teams that won the toss”. Would being appointed captain till the 2007 World Cup make a difference? “Not at all. It’s the same irrespective of whether you captain for a day or a year. I’ve never thought about it, it doesn’t affect my decision making.”Dravid spoke about the threat that England posed, especially with “impact players like Flintoff and Pietersen”, and he felt it could all come down to who holds their nerve in the crucial stages. The more interesting question to be asked, though, is how calm both captains would remain in the post-match press conference tomorrow. Don’t forget your cameras. It promises to be a right royal scrap.

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Matthew Engel, the editor of the 2006 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which is published today, has criticised the continuing expansion of the international game.Writing in his Notes by the Editor, Engel highlights the bloated 2007 World Cup schedule (47 days as opposed to 16 for the Olympics and 31 for football’s version) as an example of how things have gone wrong. “The ballooning of the World Cup derives from one fact alone: the delusion of expansion. From well-intentioned beginnings, this has now become an outright menace. The error is right up there at the start of the ICC’s mission statement. It will lead, it says, ‘by promoting the game as a global sport’. It should change its mission statement.”Engel argues that while expansion might be a noble aim, the reality is that cricket remains embedded in its traditional strongholds. “None of the four countries elevated to Test status since the Second World War represents a gain of territory: Pakistan and Bangladesh were simply new political entities carved out of India; in cricketing terms, the same is true of Zimbabwe which – as Rhodesia – played in South African domestic cricket; and the rise of Sri Lanka was just a matter of degree.Overwhelmingly, the game in non-traditional countries is played byexpatriates, mostly South Asian. Journalists were kidded into believing thatcricket was about to burst on China, on the basis of some warm commentsby civil servants and a couple of coaching courses. I have seen not oneshred of evidence to back this up. Are the kids playing with tapeballs onthe streets of Shanghai? Are they heck!”Engel goes on to bemoan the ICC’s decision to grant another six countries one-day status. “This will add another layer of distortion to cricket’s poor old statistics. Far more often than not, it will also create yet more bad cricket, leaving less time for the great contests which the public want to watch.”Two terrible events, the Champions Trophy and the Afro-Asia Cup, have already been justified by the need to raise money for expansion. Millions of pounds later and -aside from the thoroughly dubious case of Kenya – what has emerged?”The top two of the five teams who qualified for the World Cup via theICC Trophy are Scotland and Ireland. Well, whoop-de-doo! In cricketingterms, these are not separate countries. It is just a historical quirk that theEngland cricket team is not called Britain or the British Isles. Every Scotsmanand Irishman who gets good at cricket wants to play for England, and alwayshas done. Of course they do.”And he concludes by questioning the strength of the new additions. “The idea that they can provide proper opposition for any genuine Test team is ludicrous. But the World Cup will be substantially ruined to perpetuate this myth.”If I ever get the chance to report the first China v England Test at Guangzhou, I would be delighted to celebrate with a plateful of sweet-and-sour hat. But it is time to stop wrecking the game we do have in the vain pursuit of the one we don’t.”

The International Cricket Council’s proposal to have lbw decisions referred to third umpires by batsmen has evoked a strong reaction from S Venkatraghavan, the former Indian offspinner and umpire, who says such a move would reduce on-field umpires to mere dummies.Venkatraghavan, who officiated in 73 Tests and 52 one-dayers, said instead of resorting to the television umpire for every decision, the ICC should put in place quality umpires to minimise chances of a wrong decision. He also said ICC must not hesitate to pull up umpires if they make too many mistakes.”I am a traditionalist and in my opinion, the ICC should put in place the best umpires instead of coming up with such proposals,” he told Press Trust of India. “A player has to accept the decisions given by the on-field umpire. After all there are certain rules wherein the on-field umpires can seek the assistance of the third umpire before declaring a player dismissed for stumping, run-outs and even for catches taken on the boundary line.”These are perfectly alright but I am not able to accept the fact that the leg-before decision will also be referred to the third umpire. Such a rule will reduce the on field umpires to dummies. If this rule change is accepted that would mean that every jurisdiction is given to the third umpire. It amounts to having the game held without on-field umpires, who could eventually be termed as dummies and robots. That will take the charm out of the game. I think I have officiated during the best of times when the game was played as per the laws of the game.”

Makhaya Ntini has won the Mutual & Federal South African Cricketer of the Year award for the second year running.Ntini, the winner in 2004-05, ended the season with 19 wickets in the home series against Australia and 20 against New Zealand. Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock were the others nominated for the award.”Yet again, Makhaya is a worthy winner. He’s both the smiling face and the steely cutting edge of South African cricket,” said Bruce Campbell, the managing director of Mutual & Federal. “His unprecedented run of five-wicket hauls makes him the year’s outstanding performer. Everyone at Mutual & Federal is proud to salute this great champion of the game.”Shaun Pollock, the top-ranked bowler and allrounder in the latest ICC ODI rankings, picked up the Standard Bank One-Day International Cricketer of the Year Award. Pollock was also honoured by his fellow players when he received the SA Players’ Player of the Year Award.Johan van der Wath, the allrounder who came into the international scene during South Africa’s tour of Australia, bagged the SA Newcomer of the Year award while AB de Villiers was voted SuperSport Fans Cricketer of the Year.Apart from recognising international players, the awards also honour domestic performers and administrators. The Coach of the Year award went to Phil Russell of the Nashua Dolphins. Chris Scott of the Wanderers was adjudged Groundsman of the Year while Marais Erasmus was Umpire of the Year.

Western Australia hope to fill the slow-bowling gap created by Beau Casson’s switch to New South Wales with Victoria’s Josh Mangan, who has accepted a rookie deal with the state. Mangan, a former Australia Under-19 leggie, will move west on a two-year contract and will come under the eye of the ODI spinner Brad Hogg.Wayne Clark, the Western Australia coach, said the signing of Mangan, 20, would add depth to the squad. “He’s obviously got talent given that he represented Australia at the Youth World Cup,” Clark said. “Having another quality young cricketer in the squad can only be a positive.”Mangan held a rookie contract with Victoria last summer and is expected to move to Perth next month to start pre-season training with the Warriors. Tony Dodemaide, the WACA chief executive, was desperate to prevent Casson from moving to New South Wales, but he accepted a full contract with the Blues.

Cricinfo’s Rahul Bhattacharya has been voted as the ‘Cricket Writer of the Year’ by the Tata Sports Journalists’ Federation of India, in the annual Indian Sports Journalism Awards held in Mumbai on Thursday. Bhattacharya also won the award for the ‘Best Feature of the Year’ in the magazine category.The second edition of the awards was attended by Sunil Gavaskar, Nari Contractor, the former Indian captain, and several other notable personalities from other fields. Bhattacharya who has extensively covered international cricket for the last five years won awards in both the categories he was shortlisted in, ahead of Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, also from Cricinfo, and Sharda Ugra from . His cover story for the February 2006 issue of – titled ‘The heart of the matter’ and reflecting on how Sourav Ganguly is the most fascinating Indian cricketer of our time – enabled him to win the ‘Cricket Writer of the Year’ trophy.Another cover story, written for the April 2005 issue of , on the impact that Virender Sehwag’s rapid pace has on his teams’ performance, was voted the ‘Best Feature of the Year’ in the magazine category. Bhattacharya, who is currently on a sabbatical, wasn’t present to collect the awards.Cricinfo’s Anand Vasu and Vaidyanathan were nominated in the ‘Best of the Web’ section but lost out to Deepti Patwardhan from Rediff. Ugra won the award for ‘Best Magazine Interview’. Among the newspapers, won the maximum number of awards in diverse categories like photography, football and other sports.Gavaskar, one of the guests of honours in the function, spoke about how the press remains one of the pillars of the sporting fraternity, adding that it was vital that sportsmen, administrators, media and fans work with a common purpose in mind.

Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved have left to join the Pakistan team in England before the fourth Test at The Oval but it isn’t clear whether they will play in the Test. Wasim Bari, the chief selector, said that the decision was entirely up to the team management.Bari said that the two bowlers would be tried out in the nets and the conditions would be judged before any further announcements were made. He also said that for the moment no team would be announced for the five-one day internationals beginning August 30.Asif has fully recovered from his elbow injury but the management was considering holding him back from the Test and only play him in the one-day series. Naved was ruled out because of a groin injury.”Rana bowled eight overs on Sunday under the supervision of the doctors and they have cleared him now from his groin problem,” Bari told Supercricket website.Pakistan played the first three Tests without their key bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar, Naved and Asif. They have lost the series 2-0, with a Test to play.

Graham Onions, the Durham bowler, wants to force his way into England’s Champions Trophy plans after earning a shock call-up into their one-day squad. Onions has replaced Darren Gough for the remainder of the limited over series against Pakistan after Gough was ruled out with shin problems.No-one was more surprised at his elevation to the international ranks than Onions, who has been used sparingly by Durham in limited overs matches this year and has not taken any one-day wickets. But Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, has seen something in Onions and called him into the squad despite his lack of limited overs experience.”It’s unbelievable really,” admitted Onions. “If someone had said at the start of the season that I’d be representing my country I would have laughed at them, but it’s a great opportunity for me. I’ve always been desperate to play for my country and I’ve put a lot of hard work in the winter and it’s paid off now – I just didn’t think I’d get here as quickly as I have.”Should Onions impress this week he has a chance of being included in the 14-man squad for next month’s Champions Trophy tournament in India. That may come too soon, however, and more realistically he may be looking to get into England’s plans for the one-day series in Australia early in the New Year, with the World Cup possibly to follow.

Scorecard
Tasmania were in the driver’s seat at the end of the second day of the Pura Cup match against Queensland at Brisbane. Half-centuries by Travis Birt, Brett Geeves and Michael Di Venuto helped the Tigers gain a first-innings lead of 138 before their opening bowlers, Adam Griffith and Ben Hilfenhaus, rattled the top order to leave the home side at 3 for 54, still trailing by 84.Resuming at 1 for 70, Di Venuto and Birt added 72 for the third wicket to take them closer to Queensland’s total of 196. Di Venuto fell 12 runs short of his century, caught by Martin Love off Nathan Rimmington, and his dismissal sparked a middle-order collapse.After being reduced to 6 for 214, Tasmania regained control through Birt and Geeves, who added 57 for the seventh wicket. Geeves struck 12 boundaries in his entertaining 65 off 77 balls but was lucky to be let off on 38 when Andy Bichel spilled a sharp return chance. Birt also made 65 and played a more sedate knock.Dismissed for 334, the Tasmanian opening bowlers soon had Queensland reeling after picking up three wickets for five runs. Matthew Hayden was forced to drop down the order due to an injured finger, and his absence was felt as Griffith accounted for Martin Love and Jimmy Maher in successive overs.Love chased a wide delivery outside off stump, edging to Daniel Marsh at first slip, and in the next over Hilfenhaus got the crucial wicket of Clinton Perren, who was caught behind first ball. James Hopes reached 40 by stumps and was being assisted by Lachlan Stevens.