WEDNESDAY, 2.30PM:
THE opening match of the Cosafa Cup mini-league competition between defending champions Zambia and Mozambique has been postponed for a month, organisers announced on Wednesday.
The match has been rescheduled from April 11 to May 16 at the Independence Stadium in Lusaka, due to domestic cup commitments in Zambia.
The match between Zimbabwe and Namibia will start the five-nation final-round group competition at the National Stadium in Harare on April 19.
South Africa’s Cosafa Cup hopes were dashed when Namibia beat them 3-2 at Windhoek in January.
Zimbabwe’s other home game, against Zambia, will be played in Harare on the Sunday, September 27 after calls by Zimbabwean officials to have their team play all their home games on Sundays.
The revised fixtures are:
April 19: Zimbabwe v Namibia (Harare)
May 2: Angola v Zambia (Luanda)
May 16: Zambia v Mozambique (Lusaka)
May 24: Mozambique v Zimbabwe (Maputo)
May 30: Namibia v Angola (Windhoek)
July 19: Mozambique v Angola (Maputo)
August 8: Zambia v Namibia (Lusaka)
August 29: Angola v Zimbabwe (Luanda)
September 12: Namibia v Mozambique (Windhoek)
September 27: Zimbabwe v Zambia (Harare).
SPORT BRIEFS
SA SQUASH MASTERS DEFEATED
THE South African masters squash team suffered a narrow 4-3 defeat to Edgbaston on the eve of their Test match against England on Thursday. In the 45-year-old section, KwaZulu-Natal’s Tony Jackson beat Alan Purnell 3-2, while Western Province’s Charlie Bent and Willie du Toit of Northern Gauteng lost to Rob Shay and Matt Hammond respectively in five games. In the 50-year-old group, Frikkie Bester of Western Cape and Eddie Scoch (North West) beat Paul Shenbrook and Dave Mortimer, but Nick Penstone (Gauteng) and Roy Gossman (KwaZulu-Natal) were beaten by Alf Kavannagh and Gordon Noton, respectively.
SA WOMEN OUT OF STEAM
SOUTH Africa’s Anriette Schoeman jumped the gun a bit when she staged a solo attack less than 20km from the start of the first stage of the Tour de Snowy women’s cycling race in Australia’s Snowy Mountain region on Wednesday. Olympic gold medallist Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli stole Schoeman’s thunder, though, as she raced to the stage victory. The South African team has only three riders after talented climber Anke Erlank flew home earlier this week with a broken collarbone. The team will now focus on supporting Erica Green’s push for a good result in the individual rankings.
CULLINAN, CRONJE TOP AVERAGES
MAN of the recent Sri Lankan Test series Daryll Cullinan finished top of the SA batting averages, with 71,00 over four innings. Captain Hansie Cronje headed the bowling averages with 7,80 per wicket in the recent cricket Test series against Sri Lanka.
AUSSIES FEAR FOR PLAYERS’ SAFETY
THE Australian Rugby Union is having problems getting safety assurances from the South African Rugby Football Union for Australian teams playing in Super-12 matches in SA. The Union has also tried unsuccessfully to contact Sarfu for more information on the bitter racial debate between Sarfu and the National Sports Council.
BAFANA TO PLAY ZAMBIA
BAFANA Bafana are set to play Zambia in a World Cup warm-up in Johannesburg on May 20. The friendly international will be the first under new SA coach Philippe Troussier, and one of four planned before the start of the World Cup finals in June.
TRIANGULAR SERIES ITINERARY
TIMETABLE for the triangular one-day series between South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, beginning on Friday:
Friday: SA vs Pakistan, Durban (D/N)
Sunday: SA vs Sri Lanka, Johannesburg
Tuesday: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Kimberley
April 9: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Paarl (D/N)
April 11: SA vs Pakistan, East London
April 13: SA vs Sri Lanka, Port Elizabeth
April 15: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Benoni
April 17: SA vs Pakistan, Centurion
April 19: SA vs Sri Lanka, Bloemfontein
April 22: Final, Cape Town
April 23: Reserve Day
SA SECOND IN TESTS
AUSTRALIA still lead the Wisden rankings of the nine Test-playing nations by a wide margin, despite their recent defeats in India. South Africa is in joint second place with the West Indies, and Sri Lanka’s recent loss against South Africa has moved England up one place, from seventh to joint sixth position.
NEW CAMEROON COACH
CAMEROON have appointed Claude Le Roy, sports director at French Club Paris St Germain, as their World Cup coach. Le Roy has a long career coaching in Africa, notably taking Camerron to victory in the 1988 African Cup of Nations.