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The South African team led by captain Ahmed Amla of KwaZulu-Natal beatBotswana in the final of the Africa Cup in Lusaka, Zambia, yesterday to takethe tournament trophy.South Africa bowled Botswana out for just 38 runs to win the final by 270runs and to bring home the Africa Cup.”There were three major benefits for South African cricket at thistournament,” said UCB CEO Gerald Majola today. “Firstly, the South Africanteam won handsomely, and they are the proud champions of Africa. Secondly,it has given this young team that was chosen from across the South Africanspectrum the chance to play international cricket together and to build forthe future. And thirdly, it was most meaningful to participate in atournament that is a vital part of the drive to make Africa a majorcricketing continent,” Majola added.

Lance Gibbs may now reside in Miami, but he cannot stay away from his own country, especially when there is cricket to watch. He appears in the prime of health – tall and erect, with a dignified bearing. Aside from being the first spinner to take more than 300 Test wickets, he is also an excellent raconteur.”Many spinners have gone past me in terms of wickets taken now, but I’m happy,” says Gibbs graciously. “Nowadays they are playing more matches; we could not play against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe or South Africa, and only few Tests against New Zealand.”Our generation didn’t play for records,” says Gibbs. He proceeds to add, mischieviously, “But you should give credit to this old man for crossing the barrier of 300 Test wickets first as a spinner.”The West Indies have lacked good spinners after Sonny Ramadhin, Alf Valentine and Gibbs. Why are youngsters not interested in taking up spin? Gibbs thinks it is a lack of readiness to work hard.”Spinners should have the mentality of toiling more than any other cricketer in the nets,” opines Gibbs. “The new genration of spinners in our country are not doing that. I can tell you that I used to come to the ground first and always left it last. For a spinner, accuracy is the main thing, and for that they have to devote more time in the nets. Even when my fingers were bleeding, I didn’t leave the nets. And that is why, even after retiring from the game almost 30 years ago, you are still coming to interview me, isn’t it?”Muttiah Muralitharan, the stellar off-spinner of this generation, has his eyes on 600 wickets. Gibbs considers him a very good bowler, but he was not ready to say anything about his action. “That is for the umpires to decide,” he says, unwilling to invite controversy.When asked about the batsman who had given him the most problems, he is quick to reply. “Ian Chappell – it was really difficult to bowl against him, and I couldn’t keep any close-in fielders for him,” says Gibbs. “Neil Harvey, Ian Johnson and Colin Cowdrey also played spin with authority. My list of favourite batsmen also have Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd. Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are there too. Every one of them is a very good player of spin.”However, he is not happy at the way Anil Kumble has bowled in this series. “Why does he keep the balls outside the leg-stump, especially when it was not turning so much?,” asks Gibbs. “To me, Sarandeep looks to be an average bowler.”

A classy half-century from young all-rounder Damien Brandy was the highlight of the second day of Leicestershire Second X1’s clash with Essex at Oakham School.It kept them in the match, and then some excellent bowling from Jamie Grove, George Walker and Ian Flanagan provided the ideal follow-up.By the close Essex were 176 for seven in their second innings, giving them a lead of 282.Brandy hit an unbeaten 57 in Leicestershire’s first innings total of 176,a knock made even more enjoyable for the 20-year-old because it was against the county where he began his career.Coach Lloyd Tennant said;”Damien came through the Essex youth system before coming to us last season.There is no doubt at all that he has a lot of class and style, and he showed it in this knock. Sometimes a lack of concentration lets him down.”When Essex batted again with a lead of 106, Grove took two more wickets to add to the four he claimed in the first innings, and there were two apiece as well for Walker and Flanagan.

A famous innings of 212 not out by Scott Styris dominated the third day of the State Championship match between Northern Districts and Otago at WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton.Resuming on an overnight score of 127 not out – already his career-best – Styris ravaged the Otago attack for two hours before ND declared at 460/7. The visitors fought back in the second half of the day, at the end of which they were 176/2, needing a further 166 to make ND bat again.Styris did not so much rewrite the record book, as put it through the shredder.It was the highest individual score by an ND batsman in the 46 seasons that the association has been in existence, beating Graeme Hick’s 211 against Canterbury in 1988/89.The partnership of 191 between Styris and Robbie Hart was the best for the ND sixth wicket, surpassing the 180 between Hart’s brother Matthew and Shane Thomson against Canterbury in 1992/93.The 10 sixes hit by Styris have been bettered only three times in New Zealand, by Dipak Patel (12 for Auckland v ND in 1991/92) and John R Reid (15 for Wellington v ND in 1962/63) and most recently by Nathan Astle in Saturday’s Test innings when he hit 11 sixes. Styris also struck 14 fours in his 236-ball innings.Styris and Hart set out to dominate from the outset. Thirty-seven runs came from the first five overs. A back-foot cover drive off David Sewell and an upper-cut six off Kerry Walmsley were the pick of a series of beautifully-timed shots from Styris.Opening bowlers Walmsley and Sewell were soon removed from the attack, leaving spinners Nathan Morland, Scott Waide and Jordan Sheed in the firing line. Neither of the latter two had taken a first-class wicket before today.The only time Styris’ rhythm faltered was when he entered the nervous 190s, though he was dropped twice before reaching three figures yesterday. The statistics give some idea of the power and stroke-making of the innings, but it was much more than good hitting.Styris played shots all around the wicket off all types of bowling. His judgment was as impressive as his strokeplay.As the morning went on, Otago became resigned to their fate, their collective body language increasingly resembling that of mourners at a funeral. Their fielding failed to compensate for deficiencies in the attack.Hart was dropped twice as he moved on to 66, though this did not devalue his contribution to the partnership one jot. The pace of his scoring increased this morning, culminating in a six over the sightscreen off Sheed, before he was out leg before wicket to Morland.Speaking to CricInfo at the end of the day, Styris described himself as being “calm and collected” during his innings.”I was in control of my objectives. It was good to achieve what I was trying to do,” he said.Styris welcomed the opportunity to bat up the order in the State Championship this season.”I am trying to change my role into that of a batsman who bowls a bit,” he said. “I have been batting up the order in the one-day version of the game for a couple of seasons and that’s definitely where I want my career to go.”Styris rejects the ‘one-day specialist’ label that is often attached to him.”It’s other people who label me as that. That’s the form of the game that I enjoy most, but I’m looking to break into the Test side and if I can keep putting scores like that up on the board then hopefully I’ll get my chance.”ND coach Bruce Blair described Styris as “a batsman with a tremendous amount of natural ability. He has a lot of attacking shots. It was evident to me from the start of the season that if we put together a batting plan that meant that looked for more singles than he has previously, he could become a very high quality top-order first-class and international batsman,” he told CricInfo. “He oozes talent.”Today the planning and practice paid off.”It was one of the better four-day innings that I have seen for a long time,” said Blair. “It was a good mixture of defence and consolidation with some outstanding attacking batting. It was a great innings to watch.”When Brendon McCullum was out without scoring to the last ball before lunch, a third-day finish was on the cards. But a breezy partnership of 110 between Craig Cumming and Chris Gaffeney restored faith in the Otago batting. Gaffeney scored 56, including six fours and two sixes, before falling to Matthew Hart’s first delivery of the match, caught by James Marshall at first slip.Cumming (74 not out) and newcomer Sheed (39 not out) batted though the final session putting on an unbroken 64 for the third wicket. Though the pace was slower, it was still good cricket, with the bowlers bowling accurately while the batsmen were organised and disciplined.Northern Districts should win the game tomorrow, but Otago have shown what can be achieved on what remains a high quality pitch.

New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart Monday ducked the controversy surrounding paceman Shoaib Akhtar who Saturday earned the questionable record of bowling the fastest delivery ever.”(Shoaib) Akhtar bowled well and quick. His action has been cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Besides, it is in the hands of the umpires and the match referee if they call him on that. But I don’t have any comments on his bowling action,” Aberhart told reporters at Gaddafi Stadium.Shoaib reportedly clocked 161kph in Pakistan’s 66-run victory over New Zealand the third One-day International. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) authenticated his speed and said the 26-year-old had broken Australian Jeff Thomson’s 160.5kph recorded in 1975. But the ICC Monday said the record was unofficial.Shoaib has been reported thrice for a suspect bowling action since December 1999. He was also reported after the fifth and final One-day International against New Zealand last year before he was again called during last October’s Sharjah Cup.”I don’t think they can clear a bowler once and for all. Obviously, there were no-balls and you just leave that to the umpires,” Aberhart said of the pacer who also recorded his one-day best figures of six of 16 in the first One-day International at Karachi last Sunday.Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar said he had no doubt whatsoever about Shoaib’s bowling action. “As far as we are concerned, he has been cleared by the ICC and that’s it,” Mudassar said.”He has now bowled before some of the umpires now in elite panel and match referees. And no one has raised any concerns on his action. For us, his bowling action is a closed chapter,” added Pakistan coach.

Log-leaders Western Province turned in one of their more average performances of the first-class season as they were dismissed for 265 on day one of this SuperSport Series Super Eight match against Free State at Newlands on Thursday. By stumps, Free State had moved to 55-1.On a wicket which was certainly slower than those seen in the shadow of Table Mountain this season, every Province top order batsman bar Lloyd Ferreira made a start, without converting it into a big score.No one could make it past 50, as Free State maintained a disciplined line, with Dewald Pretorius (4-78) and Johan van der Wath (3-46) particularly impressive.Not for the first time this season, young Province left-handed opener Graeme Smith looked a real talent as he moved effortlessly to 41 before being the victim of a questionable leg-before decision, the delivery from Kosie Venter appearing to have turned enough to miss the off stump.Turn on day one should perhaps come as no surprise, as Province are fielding two specialist spinners, and although Neil Johnson would later open the attack with his seamers, his ability to bowl off-spin as well will give Province captain HD Ackerman an extra option. Batting last on this pitch will be no picnic.Johnson himself again looked in magnificent nick, his breezy 38 ended by a mis-timed pull stright to midwicket. Before him Ashwell Prince had flashed at a wide one to be caught at first slip for 42 and later Renier Munnik (45) and Thami Tsolekile (31) both looking good without capitalising fully.There was just the one mishap for Free State as they began their reply, Gerhardus Liebenberg caught at first slip driving at left-arm spinner ClaudeHenderson. A sign of things to come? We shall see.

Three days into a pivotal second Test match and South Africa appear to have rediscovered the fighting spirit so sadly absent from their cricket for much of this summer. With the match teasingly poised, the home team are 307 for four in their second innings, ahead by 163 and with the possibility looming that Australia, for once, might have a serious target to chase in the fourth innings.If the second day of the Newlands Test produced wonderful cricket, so too did the third day at Newlands, although the tempo and mood of the match were different. It was never a grind as South Africa chipped away at a 143-run deficit, but neither was it carefree as the home side built one partnership after another to keep Australia, and Shane Warne in particular, at bay.Warne started the day from the Kelvin Grove end and finished it after getting through 42 overs. He took three for 100, probing and teasing the South Africans, but never quite managing the domination required by Australia.There were runs pretty much all the way down the order for South Africa. Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten put on 84 for the first wicket before Warne had Gibbs taken at silly point for 39 to give Australia another sight at new cap Graeme Smith, but if the visitors had been thinking of a soft touch, Smith was determined to prove them wrong."I wasn’t very happy with the way I got out (for 3) in the first innings," said Smith on Sunday evening. "It was about getting over my initial nervousness and being out in the field on Saturday helped."Smith and Kirsten dug in either side of lunch to put on 99 for the second wicket before Kirsten arrived at 87, the Australian Devil’s Number. And it worked for Australia. Brett Lee crashed one in to Kirsten’s box, doubling up the batsman and, it was later revealed, shattering the protector before pushing Kirsten onto the back foot to trap him lbw at 183 for two.Smith believes that the influx of new blood in the South African team has helped soothe some of the bruises suffered by those who toured Australia and were whipped at the Wanderers. Certainly Jacques Kallis looked to be renewed as he started his innings with a flurry of boundaries as the third wicket produced 71 for South Africa.For once Steve Waugh had to start looking around for additional bowlers and he employed his brother, Damien Martyn and himself in brief spells, but it was Warne who broke through, albeit with some generosity from umpire Steve Bucknor.Warne turned one into the left-hander, the ball squeezed between bat and pad and Bucknor gave Smith out caught at the wicket for 68 and although it was impossible to tell from later television replays whether the ball had touched anything important on its way through.Even so, South Africa were better placed at 254 for three that even the loss of Kallis for an unusually uninhibited 73 from Kallis at 284 for four was not a critical blow for South Africa. There were occasional moments of anxiety as Neil McKenzie and Ashwell Prince took South Africa to stumps (especially during a searching last over from Jason Gillespie to Prince), but no further successes for Australia.According to Smith South Africa have set their sights on a target of at least 400 in this innings. This would ask Australia to score upwards of 250 on a pitch that has played beautifully, but has taken turn and now hints at uneven bounce. If the South Africans can realise, or even better this ambition, Australia could find themselves chasing an awkward target.A South African victory here would level the series and a draw in Durban would relieve Australia of their world champion status. It is, of course, a completely absurd system, but whom would the South Africans be to argue with ICC rules.

If anybody understands twenty-over cricket, it’s Albie Morkel. The allrounder has played more matches in the shortest format than anyone else with a tally of 200, 11 more than his nearest rival David Hussey. With that has come an intimate knowledge of the strategies and tactics employed to be successful in this form of the game.Crucially, Morkel has learnt that the little things really do matter. “If you think about the game against Sri Lanka JP Duminy scored 12 off 5 balls. In the context of the game, that made a major impact,” Morkel explained.Duminy’s last over blitz took South Africa to 78 for 4 in a match reduced to seven overs, which Sri Lanka never looked likely to reach. Morkel said it’s performances such as that which add to a player’s value. “In the beginning of my career, I felt like a failure when I’d get 8 off 3 but once you understand the game better you know that stuff like that contributes to the game.”Morkel’s role as an impact player was established at Chennai Super Kings, where he was important enough to be retained instead of being put in the auction. There, he gained a reputation for being a big-hitter at the end of an innings and one of the leading bowlers but he was not always equally indispensable to his national team. Morkel was left out of the 2011 World Cup squad and operated as a fringe player but has found a secure place for himself in the Gary Kirsten era.He appears regularly in limited-overs side and has a more defined function, in keeping with the new structure Kirsten has brought in. “For the first time in a long time, we’ve got a settled T20 squad where guys have certain roles,” Morkel said. “My role is definitely to give the team a kick in the batting department when we need it. And with bowling – I am not trying to hide from the big guns. I try to take them on with the ball. That gives me as a person more to concentrate on.”Morkel, like Robin Peterson, has blossomed because he has had confidence shown in him. Instead of bowling only occasionally, he is guaranteed a couple of overs and is not expected to be the only batsmen who can win games. Morkel said knowing the big moments don’t only rest on his shoulders has helped take the pressure off him and has helped the South Africa team as a whole.”You need a good team around you,” he said. “Successful teams have 11 players who can make an impact and on the day you need three or four guys to make that impact. The impact you make can be in two or three balls, it doesn’t have to be in 30 or 40 balls like in fifty-over cricket. As long as you have that mindset, it doesn’t matter where you make the impact.”As monsoon rains have poured themselves onto the tournament, matches have been shortened to the extent that sometimes two or three balls have decided the game. With more wet weather expected, Morkel said all teams will have to rework their gameplans for even fewer overs. “The key thing is that it doesn’t become a slog fest,” he said. “Guys still need to take singles and look after the new ball.”Along with the possibility of shorter matches, Morkel thinks South Africa’s grouping in the Super-Eights and conditions in Colombo will also prove challenging for the team. South Africa will play Pakistan, India and Australia in their bid to reach the semi-finals. “They have all played some great cricket so it will be a tough group to qualify in,” he said. “It looks like the wicket is a bit slower and will take a bit of turn. It was almost home conditions in Hambantota so we will have to adapt.”

Though they lost a few wickets at the fag end of the first day’s play,Central Zone ended at 284 for 5 in their CK Nayudu Trophy semifinalencounter against North Zone at the Engineering School ground inCuttack on Wednesday.Put into bat, Central Zone were pegged on the back foot early on withopener Surender Singh (13) retiring hurt after facing just 19 balls.Then Anshul Kapoor (10) joined him soon in the pavilion. In the 13thover of the innings, Anshul was caught by Paras Dogra off JoginderSingh. Sachin Dholpure joined the other opener Amit Deshpande (40) andtook the score to 83. Amit Deshpande was the next to depart stumped byM Vishal off J Sachdeva.Raja Ali now came to the crease and with Sachin forged a 114 run standfor the fourth wicket. But in the last session of play, Sachin (71)departed caught by Sumit Sharma off Sandeep Sanwal off the last ballof the 62nd over. Three balls later new batsman Manoj Sriwastava (0)was bowled by Joginder Singh. Joginder came back in his next over todismiss Vashal Shitoot (0). Though being caught in a spot of bother,Raja Ali (85 not out) and Afroj Khan (32 not out) forged a unbeaten 80run partnership for the sixth wicket taking the team to stumps without further hiccups.

Kevin Pietersen has always prided himself on being the man for the big occasion, but in his estimation, nothing that he’s experienced in his career to date can rival the prospect of playing in a potential Ashes decider in front of nearly 100,000 spectators at the MCG on Boxing Day. With the series perfectly poised after Australia’s emphatic victory in Perth last week, and expectation levels in both countries at fever pitch, the grandest stage awaits for a player who loves nothing better than to be right at the centre of attention.In 2005, Pietersen played the defining knock of the series, and of his life, as he hauled England out of a final-day tail-spin with a brilliant, counter-attacking 158, to ensure a draw and secure the return of the Ashes for the first time in 16 years. Going into last week’s WACA Test, he looked in the right form and frame of mind to administer a similar coup de grace, having put the Adelaide Test way out of Australia’s reach with a career-best 227, but in the event he was scythed down on a lively deck for scores of 0 and 3. That experience, however, has not dented his desire to be right in the thick of the action.”Leading 2-1 in ’05 going into an Oval Test was pretty big, but this is huge,” said Pietersen. “Having won a Test, lost a Test, two to play, and one to win to take the Ashes home is an incredible opportunity for the team. I don’t know what ticket sales are like but it could be potentially around 400,000 people watching the five days. That is so exciting.”I’ve played a little bit, and I get goosebumps thinking about it,” he added. “Everyone in the team including the management and the Australians are really looking forward to what should be a great week’s cricket if the sun shines. Any day of Test cricket is amazing, but if you get 100,000 watching you on a particular day, you’re pretty pleased.”It’s a sentiment shared by the only Victorian in the Australian squad, Peter Siddle, who is desperate to make the cut for this match, despite being the likeliest seamer to miss out should the selectors opt to play the debutant spinner, Michael Beer. “Any Boxing Day Test is going to be big but an Ashes series just makes everything a lot more exciting,” said Siddle.”All this talk about the big crowd, you can’t stop to think about it,” he added. “There were 60-70,000 for South Africa [in 2008-09], they are predicting another 20,000 on top of that. It’s a big increase and you want to be a part of it and hear the roar. All the boys are looking forward to it and hopefully it does turn out to be a record.”The Melbourne curator, Cameron Hodgkins, has already set about preparing the grassier of the two MCG strips that had been earmarked for this Test, which implies that another all-seam attack might not be the worst idea for Australia, especially given that they’ve got Steve Smith’s legspin waiting in reserve. But whatever happens, Pietersen is confident that England will be better prepared for the challenge that awaits them, particularly from Mitchell Johnson whom, he admitted, had bowled an exceptional spell of inswing bowling that exposed a few unprepared techniques.”He took us by surprise for sure,” said Pietersen. “He bowled well, really, really well and had a good game of cricket, and we’re going to have to prepare ourselves for that swinging ball. We knew he could swing it, but we didn’t realise he would swing it that much. He did some really good work in the week off he had, but we will be a lot better prepared for it here in Melbourne so we will play him a lot better.”As for the row over the choice of wickets, Pietersen said he had no issue with Australia choosing a livelier deck. “Of course they are going to do it,” he said. “They’ve just had success in Perth on a bouncy wicket, but we’ve had success around the world on bouncy wickets. We lost that Test within half an hour, 5 for 20, that’s where we lost it. Full swinging balls knocked over our top order. We didn’t lose it to a bouncy wicket. We lost it to balls that swung that we didn’t prepare ourselves properly for. We will be prepared fully for everything come Saturday morning so I don’t think the wicket will play any different part.”An added aspect of the Perth contest was the renewed chirpiness of Australia’s cricketers, after a subdued performance in the one-sided match at Adelaide. From the moment Mitchell Johnson started trading verbals with James Anderson during his half-century on the first day, the tensions between the teams were cranked up an extra notch, and it was Australia who came out on top in every respect. Right at the heart of it all was Siddle, whose confrontation with Matt Prior on the second evening was especially fiery, and who admitted he’s at his best when let off the leash a little bit.”It’s part of my game anyway,and I think that’s when I’m at my best,” said Siddle. “That’s how Ricky goes about it with me, he knows that if he can get me up and firing and at my best, I can get the rest of the boys going. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t, but in this case it has and no doubt down the track it won’t. But hopefully we can keep it going down the series and we can keep on top of them.”It was a bit different from Adelaide,” he added. “When you’re 1 for 500 [sic] the sledging isn’t going to look as obvious, you’re not going to have much to say, and you’re not going to be out there as much. But both teams are going hard at it, it’s good fun out there. They’re at us, we’re at them, and it makes it lively out there. And no doubt the spectators like to see it.”Pietersen, however, played down Australia’s fighting talk, and suggested that things had been rather more intimidating in past series. “I’ve played against Australia in I don’t know how many Test matches, and believe me, the first time I played and the second time I came out here, with the likes of Warne, McGrath etc, there were some pretty big verbal contests. I haven’t seen or heard anything different from what’s happened in the first two Tests, let alone last year in England. There are not really any big chirpers or sledgers.”It’s England v Australia, an Ashes series,” he added. “Blokes get the red mist occasionally and you’re allowed to do that, things happen. You’re playing for that little urn and it’s historic, it’s huge. But there’s nothing that’s been overboard, and if things go overboard match referees deal with stuff like that and there’s been nothing like that. There’s not been anything close to it.”Either way, Pietersen is determined to move beyond the Perth experience, and concentrate solely on the challenge that awaits in Melbourne. “You can’t live in the past or think about things in the past,” he said. “You have to focus your attention on what’s to come and that’s what all the team are doing. We took momentum into Perth and we got hammered, so we’re not thinking about things that have happened.”The key to us being successful on this Ashes trip would just be to forget about last week,” he added. “Learn from the mistakes we made, but just forget about last week. The open and honest meeting we had the evening the game finished was a very good meeting. We have left that and it’s time to look forward now. We’ve got to learn from the mistakes we made and we’ll be better prepared come Sunday.”