Paul Collingwood says he has enough on his plate with the one-day captaincy without considering taking over the Test duties for now. His remarks were in response to statements earlier this week by Michael Vaughan, who said he saw Collingwood as his eventual successor as England Test captain.Collingwood was keen to maintain the status quo, playing down media talk of him succeeding Vaughan in the immediate future.”He’s [Vaughan’s] very much the master when it comes to captaincy,” he told ahead of the England team’s departure for Sri Lanka. “I’ve learned a hell of a lot from him over the past few years and will continue to do so.”I look forward to getting back into the ranks and trying to fulfil my role as a batsman and as a fielder, and hopefully bowl a few dibbly-dobblers as well.”Collingwood was also quoted by saying, “I’m sure he’s got his eye on regaining the Ashes and that’s not for a long time, so I’m very happy in the role I’m doing at the moment. I’m enjoying it.I’ve had a four-month period of one-day cricket and the experience of being captain can take its toll mentally.”England play a three-Test series, which will conclude before Christmas, having beaten Sri Lanka soundly in the one-dayers earlier this month.

Group A

After having won the toss and opted to bat, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) were bowled out for a modest 200 runs at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium. By close, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) were 63 for 3, after having been reduced to 29 for 3. Sohail Khan was once again the star for SSGC and carried on with his good form in his debut season by taking career-best figures of 7 for 80 to demolish WAPDA. The 23-year-old also became the first bowler this season to pass the 50-wicket mark and now boasts a tally of 56 wickets from nine matches. Nawaz Sardar was WAPDA’s top scorer with 53 off 81 balls as the innings was wrapped up in 61 overs. Sarfraz Ahmed did cause panic among the SSGC batsmen by grabbing three quick wickets, but Ashraf Ali and captain Atiq-uz-Zaman ensured SSGC didn’t squander the advantage.Faced with a must-win situation in order to have a chance of making it to the final, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) did well to restrict National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to 207 for 6 at NBP Sports Complex. After having been put in, NBP were in dire straits at 98 for 5 but wicketkeeper Rashid Riaz (73) shared a 108-run sixth-wicket partnership with Qaiser Abbas (54*) to take his side past 200. Mohammad Aslam picked up 3 for 75 while Humayun Farhat took four catches behind the stumps.Lahore Ravi to skittled Sialkot, national champions in 2005-06 and runners-up last season, for a paltry 88 in their first-innings at Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground. In reply, Lahore managed to reach 146 for 7 at close despite having lost all those wickets before even reaching Sialkot’s total. Put in to bat, Sialkot were flattened by Junaid Zia (6 for 30) and Waqas Ahmed (4 for 48) as they bowled unchanged for 26 overs. Faisal Khan top scored with a quick 35 while the rest of the batsmen failed to contribute much to the total. For Sialkot, the three Mohammads – Wasim, Imran and Ali – wreaked havoc in the Lahore line-up with frequent breakthroughs. Waqas, however, shone with the bat and smashed an unbeaten 41 to take his team past Sialkot’s total – gaining three points for the first-innings lead in the process – while sharing an unbroken 59-run partnership with Shahbaz Butt.Hyderabad, placed at No. 10 in the group, did well to score 260 for 4 against Multan at Multan Cricket Stadium. Fresh from a maiden hundred in the previous match, Azeem Ghumon, the 16-year-old opener, missed his second by four runs, with his 96 coming off 262 balls with eight fours. Azeem’s second-wicket partnership with Faisal Athar (65) yielded 100 runs after Hyderabad had lost their first wicket with only nine on the board. Ghumon went on to add 103 with Rizwan Ahmed (58) for the third wicket as Multan bowlers were made to suffer after Abdur Rauf elected to field.Pakistan Customs were lifted by an unbroken 121-run fourth-wicket partnership between Asif Iqbal and Zahoor Elahi as they reached 223 for 3 against Karachi Whites at National Stadium. Asim Kamal’s decision to put Customs into bat first seemed to pay off instantly as Karachi picked up the first wicket with only 18 on board. However, a 78-run partnership followed by the unbroken stand took Customs past 200. Iqbal’s 94 came off 206 deliveries while Elahi, a former Pakistan international, took 102 balls for his 74.

Group B

Samiullah Khan sent Lahore Shalimar crashing to 162 all out with a seven-wicket haul at the Gaddafi Stadium. In reply, Sui Northern Gas Pakistan Limited (SNGPL) had reduced the deficit by 78 runs while losing two wickets. Samiullah had Lahore reeling at 71 for 6 before Mohammad Hussain scored a fighting unbeaten 52 off 106 balls to add valuable runs to the total. Khan finished with 7 for 82, providing SNGPL’s batsmen a splendid opportunity to press for a huge first-innings lead.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) dismissed Karachi Blues for a modest 188 at United Bank Limited Sports Complex and had reached 15 without loss at stumps. Karachi opted to bat but Kashif Daud struck to have them reeling at 95 for 7. Ali Asad’s 65 and useful 30s from the lower-order batsmen ensured a recovery Mansoor Khan (38) and Azam Hussain (39) put on 63 runs for the eighth wicket. For ZTBL, Zohaib Khan bagged four wickets for 58 runs while Daud finished with best figures of 5 for 37.At Diamond Club Ground, bottom-placed Quetta made a useful 243 for 9 by close against Islamabad. Rauf Akbar’s did well to restrict Quetta to 118 for 6 but Faisal Irfan’s 50 and Nazar Hussain’s unbeaten 29 took them past 200. Akbar ended the day with figures of 5 for 65.Peshawar scraped their way to 134 for 6 on a weather-affected day against Rawalpindi at the Arbab Niaz Stadium after opting to bat. Seven of the eight batsmen so far have reached double figures but none went on to make an impact as the top score was 36 in a poor batting performance by the home team.The first day’s play at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium between Abbottabad and Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) was totally washed out due to rain and bad weather.

Zimbabwe may be facing certain defeat in their four-day match againstPatron’s XI at Karachi, but Ray Price, the veteran left-arm spinner,believes there are still positives to be drawn from the game.Zimbabwe have largely struggled through three days, bowled out for 209 onthe first day and struggling at 111 for six in their second innings. Theirbowlers fared little better, conceding 479 runs, though admittedly thelocal squad has been a strong one.But Price maintained at the end of day three that the game was a significant one. “The game is very important, especially to get some time out in the middle for our guys. It is important for our batsmen to spend time in the middle and doubly important as we are such a young side,” Price said.Price is one of only two players in the 15-man squad to have played more than ten Tests (and of only two men over 30 years in age) and has only recently returned to the national side. Zimbabwe have been suspended from Test cricket since January 2006 but have since been playing four-day matches against representative sides in order to find a way back.”It’s important for us to keep progressing towards starting to play Test cricket again,” said Price. “We’re very positive about it. We played some good cricket in South Africa before this [where Zimbabwe won four four-day matches].”Ultimately, these matches are more beneficial to us, playing four-day cricket against good sides, because we’re trying to spend some time in the middle and improve.”Price, one of Zimbabwe’s most successful Test bowlers before their suspension, was the tourists’ best bowler against the Patron’s XI, picking up 4 for 130. “This is my first time in Pakistan but I always enjoy bowling in the subcontinent.”

October 1996 – Makes his ODI debut at the age of 24. Scores 18 batting at No. 7 and grabs two catches in the loss to South Africa in Faridabad.April 1997 – Replaces the struggling captain Mark Taylor as a specialist batsman during the ODI tour of South Africa. Shows the first glimpse at international level of his batting potential, striking 77 from 88 balls in Durban.January 1998 – Is promoted by Steve Waugh to open the batting in the one-day team, and in just his second match in the new role strikes 100 from 104 deliveries to guide Australia to a comfortable win over South Africa at the SCG.February 1999 – Cracks 154 from 129 deliveries in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Melbourne. It was at the time the highest score by an Australian in a one-day international.November 1999 – Makes his Test debut at the Gabba, the home ground of his predecessor Ian Healy. Wins over the crowd with 81 from 88 balls, as well as five catches and a stumping. His first dismissal is Mohammad Wasim, caught off Damien Fleming.November 1999 – In only his second Test he is part of one of the most remarkable come-from-behind Test victories. At Bellerive Oval, Australia fall to 5 for 126 chasing 369 to beat Pakistan, when Gilchrist and Justin Langer combine for a 238-run stand to win the match. Gilchrist’s contribution is 149 not out from 163 balls.April 2000 – Collects five dismissals in a Test innings for the first time, then follows with another five in the second innings. His ten catches against New Zealand in Hamilton make him one of only three men – and the only Australian – to pouch at least ten chances in a Test.December 2000 – Is handed the captaincy in just his 12th Test after Steve Waugh is ruled out through injury. Leads Australia to a five-wicket win against West Indies in Adelaide.February 2001 – Turns another match on its head with Australia at 5 for 99 against India in Mumbai. Gilchrist’s 122 from 112 balls – the second fifty took 29 deliveries – helps set up a ten-wicket win.August 2001 – Stumps Darren Gough off Shane Warne at the Oval to register his 100th Test dismissal, in his 22nd match.February 2002 – Posts his highest Test score as Australia maul South Africa by an innings and 360 runs in Johannesburg. Gilchrist’s unbeaten 204 comes at almost a run a ball and features eight sixes, and says: “Gilchrist was playing with them like a cat keeping a half-dead mouse alive for entertainment”. Belts another century in Cape Town and finishes the series with 473 runs at 157.66.October 2003 – Becomes the third Australian wicketkeeper to reach 200 Test dismissals. Achieves the milestone by catching Tatenda Taibu off Brad Hogg at the SCG.January 2004 – Hammers 172 from 126 balls against Zimbabwe in a one-dayer at Bellerive Oval. It remains his highest ODI score.

March 2004 – Helps Australia recover from what appears a losing position to beat Sri Lanka in Kandy. Bats at No. 3 in the second innings – Australia made 120 in their first – and puts on a 200 partnership with Damien Martyn. Gilchrist makes 144 and Australia win by 27 runs.October 2004 – Captains Australia to their first series win in India for 35 years, guiding them through their first three Tests as they take an unassailable 2-0 lead.January 2005 – Belts Pakistan into oblivion once again, hammering a century from 109 balls in Sydney. Gilchrist brings up the milestone with a straight six off Shahid Afridi and finishes with 113.February 2005 – Creates the only wicket that Glenn McGrath ever wanted to disown, by stumping Craig McMillan while standing up to the stumps to McGrath in an ODI in Wellington. It was the first stumping off McGrath in any senior match, and it came from a delivery timed at 136kph.March 2005 – Hammers 162 from 146 balls against New Zealand in Wellington. It is his third century in consecutive innings, making him the first Australian batsman since Don Bradman in 1947-48 to achieve the feat.July-September 2005 – Australia lose the Ashes in England and Gilchrist has a poor tour, with only 19 victims from the five Tests. He later singles out the Old Trafford Test as the lowest point. He drops Michael Vaughan on 41 – he went on to make 166 – and misses two simple stumping chances off Shane Warne.August 2005 – Collects his 300th Test dismissal when he catches Ian Bell off Shaun Tait at Trent Bridge.October 2005 – Makes a mockery of the ICC World XI with 103 from 79 balls at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium. Achieves the feat against an attack boasting Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Flintoff and Shoaib Akhtar. Gilchrist is eventually dismissed by Virender Sehwag.April 2006 – Saves Australia from potential embarrassment against Bangladesh in Fatullah. After Bangladesh make 427, Australia stumble to 6 for 93. Gilchrist combines with the bowlers beautifully, and manages 144 to get his team back in the match. The bowlers and Ricky Ponting secure the win.November 2006 – Passes Rod Marsh’s mark of 355 Test victims when he catches Paul Collingwood off Stuart Clark in the opening Ashes Test at the Gabba.December 2006 – Destroys England with the second-fastest Test century in history, taking 57 balls and falling one delivery short of Viv Richards’ record. Achieves the feat at his home ground at the WACA and thrills the crowd as he bashes his second fifty in 17 balls. Deals with Monty Panesar especially harshly, taking 24 from one memorable over.January 2007 – Equals his personal best of five dismissals in an innings. Finishes the Test against England at the SCG with nine victims as he helps secure Australia’s Ashes whitewash.April 2007 – In a breathtaking innings of clean hitting and bravado, strikes 149 from 104 deliveries in the World Cup final as Australia beat Sri Lanka in Bridgetown. Is named Man of the Match and later reveals part of his success was due to using a squash ball inside his glove.November 2007 – Becomes the first man to strike 100 sixes in Test cricket, when he slog-sweeps Muttiah Muralitharan out of Bellerive Oval. The ball disappears and after numerous pleas for its return it is tracked down to Melbourne and given back to Gilchrist.December 2007 – Takes a regulation outside edge from Wasim Jaffer off Brett Lee to register his 396th Test victim. The catch at the MCG moves him past Ian Healy to become Australia’s leading wicketkeeper in terms of dismissals.January 2008 – Becomes the second wicketkeeper to reach 400 Test dismissals when he catches MS Dhoni off Brett Lee in Sydney.January 25, 2008 – Takes a regulation outside edge to remove Anil Kumble off Mitchell Johnson’s bowling in Adelaide. The catch takes Gilchrist to 414 Test victims and he passes Mark Boucher to become the world-record holder for most wicketkeeping dismissals. He achieves the milestone in his 96th Test.January 26, 2008 – Announces his retirement from all forms of cricket, effective from the end of the CB Series.February 15, 2008 – Gilchrist scores 118 against Sri Lanka, his 16th and last ODI hundred as he bids farewell to the WACA.February 29, 2008 – Blitzes 83 off 50 balls in his last appearance at the MCG, but his knock proves to be in vain as Australia succumb to a 13-run loss.March 4, 2008 – Gilchrist bows out quietly when he scores just two runs in Australia’s nine-run loss to India in the second final of the CB Series at the Gabba.

A bottle of champagne is usually the gift for a world record holder, but Mark Boucher should save the postage after Adam Gilchrist became the game’s most successful wicketkeeper. The two glovemen will play pass the parcel with the mark as they wait for the music to stop on Gilchrist’s career.The milestone of 414 has arrived at a testing time for Gilchrist, whose sloppiness behind the stumps has spread through the team. Ian Healy described the wicketkeeper as the drummer in the band, but during the India series Australia have lost their beat and their previously impeccable standards have dropped.Gilchrist has a strong collection of 35 dismissals in the past seven Tests, but it is the four catches and two stumpings he has missed against India that are being remembered. Agendas to have him removed are premature, but at 36 each mistake is magnified by those looking to the new generation. Slowing reflexes and heavier legs are normal for those in middle age and Gilchrist has to regain his sharpness to fend off Brad Haddin, another attacking batsman and rounded keeper.Footwork has been a problem for Gilchrist at times over the past four weeks, preventing him from making enough ground for more comfortable takes, but regulation offerings have also been spilled. VVS Laxman benefited from Gilchrist’s error on the first day and the affliction was caught by Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey on the second.Seven offerings were grassed in India’s first innings of 526 and when Gilchrist moved clear of Boucher with the final wicket there was no Warnesque fanfare. The edge from Anil Kumble’s drive was accepted and the celebration involved Gilchrist brushing his gloves together like he does after taking most deliveries.Almost two days in the field wore down Australia and only Ponting, Brad Hogg and Brett Lee congratulated Gilchrist on his achievement. Matthew Hayden, who spilled a take at first slip on Thursday, sprinted off the field to prepare to bat and the hardest backslaps came from the crowd on the way up to the dressing room. Head-to-head battles for untouched marks seem more riveting when the gloves are off.Gilchrist accepted his two chances on the second day and both were comfortable, Harbhajan Singh lobbing a sweep for a running take before the Kumble nick. The men around him were not so fortunate and when a bowling attack is experiencing hard days, like it has in Adelaide and Perth, it looks to the fielders for a boost.Only one chance was floored by Gilchrist in the innings, but his performances set the pulse for the side, and not just through sharp running between overs and sprints for balls in close. The mood is also relevant to his run-making, which has become hit and miss since the 2006-07 Ashes, when his scores were 0, 64, 0, 102 not out, 1 and 62.In this series his results have been mixed again, with a half-century pushing his tally to 136 runs at 22.66. Australia expect more from someone who changed the role of the wicketkeeper-batsman, but the slide has been starting since his problems with Andrew Flintoff in the 2005 Ashes. From the beginning of that campaign he has averaged 30.66 in 27 Tests with only two centuries.Over the past couple of years Gilchrist has complained about the workload before returning refreshed and energetic from off-season breaks. Unless the Pakistan tour is cancelled there will be no holiday this year and it would not be a surprise if Gilchrist shaved his one-day duties. A 100th Test is looming – he is playing his 96th – and so is more time with his family.The lure of being a world record holder has also gone and a cross-Asia battle with Boucher is unlikely to hold his interest. Boucher, who has played 109 Tests, overtook Healy’s 395 dismissals in Pakistan in October and South Africa will be playing India in March while Australia are scheduled to tour Pakistan.However, wicketkeeping remains largely unfashionable despite Gilchrist’s all-round exploits and the title fight for the record will not be covered like the Warne v Murali duels over the past four years. After the subdued reaction from his team-mates, Gilchrist may have to wait for a meeting with Boucher before the corks for the world mark really start to pop.

Matthew Elliott, the opening batsman who was a regular member of Australia’s Test team during the late 1990s, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket in Australia. Elliott, 36, follows his South Australia team-mate Darren Lehmann in quitting the game and he said it was time the state’s younger players were given a chance to establish themselves.Wednesday’s one-day match against Tasmania at Adelaide Oval will be his final appearance unless the third-placed Redbacks secure a spot in the FR Cup decider. “After much thought and many discussions I’m convinced the timing is right,” Elliott said.”It has to be about the team and what is right for the team now, it’s not for an old boy like me to battle out the rest of the season. Retiring now will give the younger players in the Redbacks squad the same opportunity that I was afforded early in my career.”Elliott’s first-class form waned in recent years and he did not make a Pura Cup century in the three seasons since he moved to South Australia. However, he remained a formidable one-day player and is the leading run scorer in the FR Cup this season following an equally impressive 2006-07, in which he was named the tournament’s Player of the Year.That limited-overs form has made him a target of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Elliott said he was considering an offer to take part in the Twenty20 tournament. He is weighing up how the opportunity would affect his university studies; he is doing a course in construction management in Adelaide. “I’m thinking about it,” Elliott said of the ICL offer. “It’s more about what’s best for me after my cricket career.”At his peak while opening for Victoria, Elliott was one of the most dangerous batsmen in Australia. He managed 21 Tests, although at the highest level he never quite lived up to his potential and had to settle for 1172 runs at 33.48. A naturally reserved character, Elliott reportedly had trouble fitting into the Australian dressing-room culture and he also had problems on the field.His second Test, against West Indies in Sydney in 1996-97, looked like becoming memorable as he worked his way to 78 and he was within sight of a maiden century when the game suddenly turned unforgettable for other reasons. A mid-pitch collision with his partner Mark Waugh left Elliott sprawled on the ground with torn knee cartilage and he did not play another Test for two months.Elliott’s first century came at Lord’s on the 1997 Ashes tour and he followed with 199, which would remain his highest Test score, at Headingley. Those innings, at the age of 25, established him as an excellent hooker and driver and earned him the honour of being named a Cricketer of the Year.However, that tour was his career pinnacle and he ended up on the sidelines following a string of low scores. An unsuccessful recall came for the tour of West Indies in March 1999 and his only appearance after that was a one-off chance against Sri Lanka in Darwin in 2004, when he was surprisingly called up at the age of 32 to replace Ricky Ponting at No. 3. He managed only one run from the two innings and his international career was over.Elliott remained a force at state level, and the summer before his 2004 comeback he had registered what was then an all-time record of 1381 Pura Cup runs at 81.23, with seven centuries. Most of his 17,251 first-class runs came at Victoria, or during his county stints at Glamorgan and Yorkshire, before he switched to South Australia in 2005-06 and reinvented himself as a damaging one-day opener.

ScorecardRoelef van der Merwe followed up a fifty with four wickets as the Titans clinched the MTN Domestic Championship with a 38-run win over the Warriors in the final in Centurion.The Titans were the leaders after the group stage of the tournament, which helped them edge out Cape Cobras after the semi-final – also in Centurion – between the two sides was washed out.Warriors put Titans in to bat, and the top-order batsmen built a solid foundation. The openers added 44 in nine overs, and van der Merwe put on a 79-run third-wicket stand along with Francois du Plessis. van der Merwe hit two sixes off Robin Peterson, but holed out to deep midwicket for 52, which came off 58 balls.Peterson struck again with the wicket of Martin van Jaarsveld, but an unbeaten 31-ball 59 from Farhaan Behardien boosted the Titans to 269 for 6, their highest total in the tournament. For the Warriors, Juan Theron, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, was the pick of the bowlers – with 2 for 36 off his nine overs.Both the Warriors openers scored 60s in reply; Hylton Ackerman hit 11 fours in his 62 in an opening stand of 80, which took only 13.3 overs. His partner, Justin Kreusch, made a patient 63 off 86 balls, but the Titans managed to chip away with wickets at the other end. Arno Jacobs, the top run-getter, fell to Albie Morkel for 1, and when Kreusch was dismissed by Titans captain Pierre Joubert, the Warriors were at 174 for 5, needing another 96 from 59 deliveries.Johan Botha’s quickfire 30 kept his side in the chase, but van der Merwe ended his innings, and removed Nos 10 and 11 as the Titans bowled the Warriors out for 231 in 42.4 overs, 39 runs short of their target. Joubert got rid of both the openers in his 3 for 52, while Man of the Match van der Merwe took 4 for 42 with his left-arm spin.”I think we chased well, but we lost the way at a crucial time,” Zander de Bruyn, the Warriors’ captain, said after the game. Joubert hailed his team for their consistency through the campaign. “Our preparations were not ideal as we were distracted by rain, but we don’t have any control on the weather,” he said. “Our self-belief carried us through. It is important for us to keep on believing in ourselves going forward. We need now to re-focus our attention on the Pro20 Series.”The teams will feature in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series, which begins on March 25.

Cricket Canada has announced its first ever major sponsor, Scotiabank, a big boost for a country’s cricket set-up which had been living “hand-to-mouth” according to its president, Ben Sennik.The board has agreed a three-year deal for an undisclosed sum that will make the company the premier national sponsor and official bank. The bank will sponsor both the men’s and women’s national teams as well as the senior and Under-19 championships in Canada.A Cricket Canada spokesperson told Cricinfo: “Scotiabank has been a long-standing supporter of cricket internationally, and their recognition of the position that cricket now has on the Canadian amateur sporting scene shows just how much the game has grown over the past decade or so. Their partnership with Cricket Canada will help to sustain that growth – importantly at the grassroots level and in our schools, as well as with the country’s elite cricketers.””It’s big day for us,” Sennik told the Toronto Star. “It’s very important, because it gives us now the muscle to go ahead in a more organised manner. The national team players are always in a dilemma because neither are they professional nor are they amateurs.”In recent years, the Canadian Cricket Association – now Cricket Canada – has been putting itself on a stronger footing both administratively and financially including the appointment of a full-time CEO and a national coach. The involvement of Scotiabank is one further step in the process. The CA spokesperson said: “It is important because as the sport grows in Canada in line with the country’s changing demographics and increased demands internationally, so the financial challenges increase.”Canada is set for another boost with rumours that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is about to sign a deal of assistance with them. Arjuna Ranatunga, the Sri Lanka CEO, was in Canada on a short visit recently and agreed to back Canada’s national side. However, concerns were raised about the level of the support given SLC’s well-publicised financial problems.And, contrary to reports, it is unlikely that Scotiabank’s support will lead to Canadian cricketers becoming professionals, at least in the short term. “There are a host of other factors involved in that process,” said the spokesperson. “But it is certainly a major positive step forward for cricket generally in Canada.”

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced the schedule of Australia’s tour in February -April of 2009, which comprises three Tests, five one-day internationals and a pair of Twenty20s.Johannesburg (February 26-March 2), Durban (March 6-10) and Cape Town (March 19-23) are the venues for the Tests, followed by the two Standard Bank Pro20 games and ODIs, shared between Johannesburg, Centurion, Durban, Cape Town and Port Eizabeth.The tour starts in the second half of February and finishes in mid-April.Australia in South Africa:
Tour match v South Africa A: February 20-22, Potchefstroom1st Test: February 26-March 2, Wanderers, Johannesburg
2nd Test: March 6-10, Kingsmead, Durban
3rd Test: March 19-23, Newlands, Cape Town1st Pro20: March 27, Wanderers, Johannesburg
2nd Pro20: March 29, SuperSport Park, Centurion
1st ODI: April 3, Kingsmead, Durban
2nd ODI: April 5, SuperSport Park, Centurion
3rd ODI: April 9, Newlands, Cape Town
4th ODI: April 13, St. George’s, Port Elizabeth
5th ODI: April 17, Wanderers, Johannesburg

Kate Hoey, the former sports minister and the chair of the UK’s all parliamentary committee on Zimbabwe, has called on the government to renew attempts to obtain a copy of the independent forensic audit commissioned from KPMG by the ICC.The audit, which the ICC executive board voted not to release, is believed to have been unsuccessfully requested by the government last month. David Morgan, the ICC’s president-elect, revealed at the weekend that Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, was one of those on the ICC executive that voted not to make the report public.Speaking in a debate on Zimbabwe in the House of Commons, Hoey, who is also a honorary vice-president of Surrey, renewed her demands that Peter Chingoka, Zimbabwe Cricket’s chairman, not be allowed to enter the country.”[Robert] Mugabe is a ZCU patron, and Chingoka and managing director, Ozias Bvute, are both deeply implicated in the financial corruption that props up the regime,” she said. “Through cricket, they have access to hard currency, which they misuse to exercise corrupt patronage in collaboration with the bigwigs of Zimbabwe’s ruling party.”At international matches Chingoka uses the VIP pavilion to host the ZANU-PF politicians, CIO operatives and senior army officers on whom he relies for protection.”Zimbabwe cricket is an extension of the worst aspects of Mugabe’s regime. Those of us who care for Zimbabwe and cricket in particular, or human rights and sport in general, must do all we can to support the prime minister’s proposal to ban the Zimbabwean cricket team from touring in the UK. I hope the [foreign] minister will confirm that no UK visa will be given for Chingoka to come here to attend any ICC meetings, or for any other reason, in the next few months.”The minister did not respond to the questions but it is likely Hoey will seek a formal answer in the coming days.