South Africa in Zimbabwe

South African batsmen steadily piled up the runs as the second Test headed towards a draw. Herschelle Gibbs (74) and Gary Kirsten (65) put on a century partnership before Jacques Kallis (81 not out) and Neil McKenzie (74 not out) further consolidated adding 138 runs so far in an unbeaten partnership for the third wicket. Ray Price was the only successful bowler claiming the wickets of both the openers.

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In an unusual sight on the cricket field these days Herschelle Gibbs (74) walked after he had nicked a ball from Ray Price to Zimbabwe keeper Andy Flower. English umpire John Hampshire showed no signs of agreeing with the appeal but had no other alternative but to give him out as Gibbs had already "walked".
Gibbs later expressed his surprise that the umpire had not heard the nick since it was quite a loud one. It may be recalled that Gibbs was one of those indicted in the match fixing scandal and has served a suspension.

India to South Africa

India's key middle-order batsman VVS Laxman has ruled himself out of the ten match triangular one-day series to be played in South Africa in October.
Laxman who said he is yet to regain his fitness may make himself available for the three Test series in November. Left-handed batsman Hemang Badani will replace him.

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Sachin Tendulkar seems to be recovering well from the toe injury he sustained in Zimbabwe. Tendulkar has been undergoing vigorous training and practice sessions at his club in Mumbai. He was said to have felt at ease with no pain while taking catches and while running between the wickets.
The Indian team faces a fitness test at Mumbai before the team leaves on September 24 to South Africa. Indian physio Andrew Leipus and sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi will conduct the tests at the Wankhede Stadium.
BCCI secretary Jayawant Lele and selection committee chairman Chandu Borde are also expected to be present during the fitness test.

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Meanwhile, the Indian bowlers, heading for South Africa, had to undergo a fitness test at the MRF Pace Foundation yesterday by the BCCI's fitness expert Dr Anant Joshi. Joshi later said that apart from a minor stiffness, the bowlers were in good shape.
Joshi was at Chennai to assess the fitness of Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra all of whom are coming back after major injuries.

Miscellaneous

Former South African batsman Barry Richards has been appointed by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board as the batting coach of the side. He will take up his duties to assist the batsman from October in short spells.
Skipper Sanath Jayasuriya is reported to have suggested to the Board to engage the services of the former South African great. Richards had earlier worked with the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) way back in 1984 when he assisted a Sri Lankan Under-19 team that was then led by Arvinda de Silva.

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Sri Lanka, in the meanwhile, has lost the services of their fast bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake. He has been appointed as a development officer to the Asian Cricket Council for a three-year term.
Although Ratnayake will be based in Sri Lanka, he will have to constantly visit the other countries which the ACC feel needs a helping hand to uplift their cricket.
This would leave him little time to concentrate on home cricket. He has been a bowling coach to the national team since last ten years.
His place has been taken by their former pace bowler Champaka Ramanayake, who will help Suresh Perera in getting his suspected bowling action cleared.

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A Delhi High Court despite pressure from the BCCI has granted Ajay Jadeja permission to appeal against the five-year ban imposed on him for his role in match fixing and his links with bookies. Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar are others serving the ban.

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Following the uncertain political situation in Pakistan after the terrorist attacks against the US, the International Cricket Council has decided that Malaysia would host the October meeting of the executive board.
The ICC's Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said he was sorry Pakistan had to be ruled out as a venue but would consider it for future meetings after reviewing the situation.
The meeting was due to have taken place in Lahore from October 15-19, but will now move to Kuala Lumpur on the same dates.

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New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Martin Snedden said he knew nothing about the plans of the Pakistan Cricket Board to hold a seven match one-day series to make up for the losses suffered by the cancellation of the New Zealand tour earlier last week.
The PCB are in a dire financial straits after the New Zealand tour was abandoned for security reasons. The short tour would have helped the PCB to avoid financial losses of about $3.5million.

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Mumbai posted their third successive win in the triangular one-day series being played in Nairobi, Kenya, which also features Baroda besides the hosts. Batting first the visitors piled up 319-6 in 50 overs against Kenya, with all the batsmen making useful contributions.
Kenya were then restricted in their chase by Sairaj Bahutule (5-58) as they were all out for 243. Earlier Mumbai had beaten Baroda twice in the tournament so far.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 319 for six (R Morris 96, W Jaffer 91, A Agarkar 52, K More 34 not out, J Angara 2 for 72) beat Kenya 243 for nine (R Shah 42, D Otieno 72, M Odumbe 52, S Bahutule 5 for 58) by 76 runs.

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Orissa's international players Shiv Sunder Das and Debasis Mohanty were felicitated by the Orissa Cricket Association and were presented cash awards of Rs 50,000 and 25,000 respectively.
Das was the man of the series of the summer tour of Zimbabwe and Mohanty achieved a unique feat of claiming all 10 wickets of South Zone in a Duleep Trophy match last season.
The entire Orissa Ranji team and the coach Jimut Mohanty were also felicitated. The team had reached the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time last season.
They were also given cash prizes of Rs 10,000 each with special prizes of Rs 5,000 to Rashmi Ranjan Parida, Sanjay Raul, Pravanjan Mullick and Sanjay Satpathy for their role in the last season's Ranji tournament.

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The Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali which gets to host a Test match against England after two and half years is looking to spruce up the ground and facilities.
Projects involving an expenditure between Rs 8-10 crores, include installation of giant TV replay screen, speed guns as well as a media center that will be equipped with all communication facilities and computers.

Scores at a Glance

Zimbabwe vs South Africa (2nd Test)
Played at Bulawayo (4th day)
Toss: Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: 419-9 decl (A Campbell 77, D Ebrahim 71, S Carlisle 49, A Flower 67, G Flower 44, H Streak 31, P Strang; C Henderson 4-143)
South Africa: 300-2 (H Gibbs 74, G Kirsten 65, J Kallis 81 not out, N McKenzie 74 not out; R Price 2-105)

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