Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, who has opted out of the team for the last two one-dayers against the West Indies due to a back problem, today said that his injury was not serious and he would be fit for the New Zealand tour.
"I had been carrying a niggling injury for some time. It got aggravated at Baroda (the venue for the fifth one dayer of the series). So, I decided to opt out as I did not want to take risk ahead of the New Zealand tour and the coming World Cup," said Ganguly.
"But I can asssure you all that my injury is not serious and a few days of rest will make me fully fit," he said.
Describing the Kiwi trip as very vital as it was India's last tour before the World Cup in Feburary-March next year, Ganguly said the team would be bolstered by the inclusion of master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan.
Sri Lanka in South Africa
United Cricket Board CEO Gerald Majola has congratulated the South African National Cricket team on their win by three wickets over Sri Lanka in the second Castle Lager/MTN Test match at Supersport Park.
Majola was particularly pleased with the performance of Jacques Kallis who produced another superb display to take his second Man of the Series award in consecutive series.
Majola made a special effort to pay tribute to Kallis who just a fortnight ago had been at the centre of a political storm after the South African minister of sport Ngconde Balfour asked, "Kallis, who is he anyway? I don't go to Newlands to watch Kallis and Boucher, I go to watch Makhaya Ntini and Paul Adams."
England in Australia
Batsman John Crawley is hopeful of a return to the England side for next week's third Test after he was ruled out on the morning of the Adelaide match.
Crawley failed a morning fitness Test on a badly bruised right hip and was replaced by Kent youngster Robert Key.
He was struck by a delivery by paceman Brad Williams against Australia A in Hobart last Sunday and has not responded to subsequent treatment.
A team spokesman said Crawley had a ultra-sound scan on Wednesday which revealed a small muscle tear at the top of the thigh in addition to bruising.
Seam bowler James Kirtley has been called up for England's winter one-day squad.
Kirtley will be part of the core of players aiming to win the triangular VB Series against Australia and Sri Lanka in December and January.
He joins the list of one-day specialist players who were selected for the competition in September.
Ian Blackwell, Paul Collingwood, Ronnie Irani, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape and Craig White, who has subsequently joined the Test squad, are all in the party.
The remainder of the 16-man squad will be made up of the players already in Australia competing for the Ashes.
Ricky Ponting is no longer a batsman in a hurry and he believes that's why he has become one of the most dangerous players in international cricket.
Ponting is over the days when he would try to crush bowlers with a series of knockout blows. Now he is prepared to bide his time going into today's second Test against England at the Adelaide Oval.
The new attitude has delivered four centuries in Ponting's past six Tests, including 123 at the 'Gabba this month.
"In Brisbane, I really felt in control and I can't remember playing and missing at the ball the whole time," Ponting said today. "I've always been a free player and, in previous years, that has cost me.
"I would feel really good and I would just keep going and before you know it, you're out.
"I've tightened up, if anything, in the last year and just tried to bat for as long as I can, enjoy the time in the middle and try to keep up with Haydos."
Pakistan in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe will be without three first-choice bowlers for the one-day internationals against Pakistan in Bulawayo on Saturday and Sunday.
Star bowler Heath Streak is still unavailable after dislocating his shoulder in a traffic accident during the Champions Trophy in Colombo in September.
Fellow quickie Douglas Hondo also misses out through a shoulder injury while Travis Friend has a stress fracture of the leg.
Miscellaneous
A cricketer who was batting without a helmet was killed when he was struck on the head as he tried to hook a "beamer", an inquest heard on Tuesday.
Flt. Sgt. Jonathon Willis, 39, of the Royal Air Force, who was wearing a cap, collapsed at the wicket after the ball struck him behind his right ear.
He had been opening the batting for RAF Lyneham in a midweek cup fixture at St Erme, near Truro, Cornwall against the local RAF base, St Mawgan.
Flying Officer Scott Weir, a pace bowler, who was in the same team as Flt Sgt Willis a season earlier, was playing his second game of the season after serving in Afghanistan.
He told the inquest in Truro that the conditions had been hot and his hands were sweaty.
The ball slipped out of his hand and became a beamer — a fast ball that reaches the batsman at head height — hitting Flt Sgt Willis without bouncing on the wicket.
