South Africa omit Morne Morkel from Champions Trophy squad

South Africa omitted paceman Morne Morkel from their squad on Thursday for the Champions Trophy which starts next month.

Morkel was a member of the party which played Australia in a one-day international series in April.

"South African cricket is blessed with an abundance of fast-bowling talent with the emergence of (Lonwabo) Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell as outstanding new prospects and Charl Langeveldt becoming available again," said convenor of selectors Mike Procter in a statement.

"Langeveldt is not fit enough yet to be considered after his shoulder surgery and Morne Morkel is the unlucky one to miss out. He (Morkel) is very much part of our long-term planning and has a major role to play but we would like to see more consistency from him."

The 24-year-old Morkel has played in 21 ODIs, taking 31 wickets at an average of 30.16.

Left-arm swing bowler Tsotsobe, who has recovered from a long-term injury, and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson are the only new players in the squad.

"Planning for the 2011 World Cup is very much part of our thinking but there is a lot of cricket to be played before then," said Procter. "We must take our selections series by series and not get ahead of ourselves.

"We have four quality spin bowlers and two all-rounders in Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel to back up the seam attack. There is also batting potential most of the way down the order."

The Champions Trophy takes place in South Africa from Sept. 22 to Oct. 5.

Squad - Graeme Smith (captain), Johan Botha, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.

Delhi and Disputes Cricket Association

Virender Sehwag's revolt against the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), alleging nepotism and corruption in the selection of state teams and continued interference by the sports committee has seen more players, both former and present, voicing their displeasure at the manner in which cricket's governing body in the Capital runs the sport.

This, however, is not the first time that Delhi players have taken on the administrators over "injustice" done to them. There have also been precedents where senior cricketers have threatened to leave the state.

In 1980, Bishan Singh Bedi led the first major revolt against the then DDCA president, Ram Prakash Mehra. Delhi had won the Ranji Trophy two seasons ago and captain Bedi wanted the association to give more money to the players.

Mehra refused and a defiant Bedi was dropped ahead of the match against Haryana in Rohtak. In a hurry, Vinay Lamba was asked to lead the team but he was left with only four-five players on the field after the likes of Madan Lal, Rakesh Shukla and Sunil Valson, among others, walked out in support of Bedi. The management hastily summoned uncapped players — Sudhir Pathak, Arun Khurana, among others — from the Capital to play, before deciding to concede the match. Madan Lal and Shukla, though, rolled back on their decision later and joined the Delhi team for later games.

However, the players' opposition did eventually bring the Mehra regime to an end. Interestingly, Sunil Dev, who is now the DDCA sports secretary, played a major role in that episode, siding with Bedi and other senior players.

After that incident, DDCA witnessed a series of protests, though none on a big scale.

In 1984, former Delhi opening batsman and skipper Venkat Sundaram took a delegation of players to the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, seeking his intervention in setting things right at the DDCA, which at the time was led by Kamal Nath. The players wanted the prevailing proxy system of voting — under which a member can nominate another person to vote on his behalf — to be done away with. Later, Bedi and other players, including Manoj Prabhakar, also led an agitation against the system. There was little success this time and proxies still rule at the DDCA.

In 1990, Madan Lal and a few former cricketers, including Kirti Azad, Surender Khanna, Venkat Sundaram, started 'Operation DDCA Clean-up'. "The present DDCA officials have had a long innings. It is time for them to quit. We have had enough of their nonsense," Madan had said. He expressed his displeasure at the factionalism in Delhi cricket. The former India all-rounder holds the same views even today.

The latest revolt by Sehwag is mainly against the sports committee, which is a medium to appease 114 DDCA-affiliated clubs. In the early 1990s, players and members from those clubs held a big demonstration in front of the Ferozeshah Kotla, seeking involvement in the running of the game in the Capital. In its meeting on October 26, 1994, the DDCA executive had given some power to the sports committee, on an experimental basis. Initially, its main task was to manage the DDCA league and the hot weather tournament and co-ordinate with the administrators in running the game. But the sports committee kept gaining clout and now even picks the panel of selectors, managers and coaches.

In the past the discontent had led to players like Ajay Jadeja, Murali Kartik, Gursharan Singh and Amit Mishra leaving for other states and now Sehwag and Co are threatening to do the same.

Sri Lanka clinch 202-run win after New Zealand slump

Sri Lanka clinched a resounding 202-run victory on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in their two-match test series against New Zealand on Saturday.

The hosts set New Zealand an unlikely 413-run victory target and dismissed them for 210 in 71.5 overs shortly before tea on the final day.

Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed three for 88 for a match haul of seven for 161, to mark an impressive return to test cricket after a knee injury.

Skipper Daniel Vettori, battling a stomach bug in scorching heat, provided some resistance with a gritty 67, but the next highest score was Brendon McCullum with just 29.

Left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara, Sri Lanka's leading paceman in this match, struck early when play started on time, for the first time in this rain-interrupted game.

Thushara's burst left New Zealand reeling at 39 for three after Martin Guptill (18) was bowled by a beautiful leg-cutter and Tim McIntosh was caught low down at slip for a duck.

Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara then sprang a surprise, throwing the ball to part-time spinner Mahela Jayawardene.

However, the unorthodox tactic worked, Jayawardene snaring Ross Taylor (16) thanks to a fine leg-side catch from wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene.

Leg spinner Ajantha Mendis then had Jacob Oram trapped leg before for 21, reducing the visitors to 125 for five at lunch.

After the interval, Vettori and Jesse Ryder (24) battled hard with a 48-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Muralitharan eventually had Ryder caught behind with a flighted off break that spun sharply.

The bowler followed up with the wickets of Jeetan Patel (22) and Iain O'Brien (five) and Mendis had Vettori caught behind, dashin New Zealand's hopes.

Thushara finished with two for 37 from 14 overs and Mendis claimed two for 50 from 18.5 overs.

Trott puts England on top

Debutant Jonathan Trott scored a mammoth 119 to help England set the Aussies a challenging target of 546 runs to win.

Bangladesh won by 49 runs

bangladesh won by 49 runs

Team India hit the ground running

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had the words 'Have feet, will dance' emblazoned in silver across his black sleeveless t-shirt, and while breaking into a jig would've been the last thing on his mind at the end of a gruelling three-hour session at the Ferozeshah Kotla on a searingly hot Monday afternoon, he did have enough left in the tank to want a round of badminton at the indoor courts (unfortunately, he and RP Singh couldn't play for the lack of shuttlecocks).

The players hit top gear for a brief while even as the sun beat down upon them during a Team India fitness assessment session before another hard season ahead. It didn't take long for Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar to shed their tops in an attempt to counter the heat, while Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, RP, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh decided to stick to their Team India training gear.

The eight players completed the sprint-repeat schedule - running six sets between cones placed at variable distances - and the core training programme of push-ups, pull-ups and squats inside the gymnasium under the watchful eyes of coach Gary Kirsten, strategy head Paddy Upton and physio Nitin Patel even as fitness trainer Ramji Srinivasan noted down their Body Mass Index, heart rate and endurance levels. Nehra was spotted wearing a bandage on his bowling arm but the left-arm seamer is expected to be fit. Sources confirmed it was nothing serious and Nehra had suffered a slight bruise during fielding practice about a month back.

Kirsten, Upton and Patel arrived straight from the airport after a delayed flight even as players trickled in way past noon. The remaining players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, will be sweating it out on Tuesday in Mumbai.

"The players had enjoyed a long break and we wanted to assess their physical condition," Kirsten said. "We have conducted an assessment that we will keep as reference material. We will have more such tests in future and compare it with the results we have here. This is the beginning of our preparations for the coming season.

While the conditions bordered on the brutal - the maximum temperature in Delhi was 38 degrees Celsius on Monday - Kirsten said he didn't really mind that. "The heat might appear a bit too much but the more players stretch themselves, the more they will be tested. Hopefully when they give the next test in the cooler climes of Bangalore, they will shock me with their fitness levels," Kirsten, who even put himself through the sprint test along with Ishant and Nehra, said. "I must say that I am really happy with the players' physical condition," he added. Dhoni, meanwhile, only said that it was a "routine affair" before leaving for the airport.

Training camp from Aug 27

Team India will have a four day training camp at the National Cricket Academy from August 27. The camp is expected to focus on both physical conditioning and skills before the players disperse on August 30 to participate in the BCCI Corporate Cup. The team is expected to regroup on August 7 before leaving for the Sri Lanka tri-series.

Younis Khan hopes of winning major titles in next two years

Notwithstanding rumours of rift in the Pakistan cricket team and match fixing allegations during the just concluded Sri Lanka One-Day series, captain Younis Khan has said his team would win major tournaments in next two years.

Interacting with media persons after winning the fifth and final match of the ODI series, Khan said he had a pool of 20 cricketers in mind who will win 'either the Champions Trophy this year or the 2011 World Cup.'

He expressed hope that if selectors and team management supported him and players perform according to their capability, Pakistan can surely pocket major tournaments in near future.

"The pool of players includes some talented players and if things go well and everyone including the board, selectors, team management and players fulfill their roles properly I am sure we can win one of the two big tournaments coming up," The Nation quoted Khan, as saying.

Khan said he would have loved to have the same authority that former captain Imran Khan enjoyed during his days.

"When Imran was captain things were different. There were fewer people running the board, there were just a few selectors. So I don't think it is possible to get the same authority that Imran had. But if it can happen I would love to have that authority and call the shots," he said.

Khan rejected reports that he is in favour of dropping vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf from the team.

He also criticized former players for fanning rumours about fissures in the squad and match-fixing.

"If we perform badly I don't mind being criticized but the criticism should be logical and based on facts and figures it should not be personal. That only hurts the team. Some of our former players need to realize that," Khan said.