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/ 15 May 2008

Kirsten: Test cricket must adapt

Test cricket needs a radical overhaul to ensure its continued existence in the face of the Twenty20 revolution, India coach Gary Kirsten said. Kirsten suggested in an article on his personal website that there should be a one-year cycle of Test matches with an annual champion.

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/ 16 April 2008

Proteas turn attention to England

After one of the most successful seasons since unification, the Proteas have a few weeks off before gearing up for one of the toughest assignments on the cricket calendar — a tour of England. The two-month tour of England includes four Tests, one Twenty20 clash and five one-day internationals, as well several warm-up games.

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/ 16 April 2008

Proteas downplay Cosatu threat

Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith, Proteas coach and captain respectively, appeared unconcerned on Tuesday about a warning by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) that it plans to take up the issue of transformation in cricket, with mass action if necessary.

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/ 1 April 2008

SA devise plan to neutralise Sehwag

South Africa will target swashbuckling India batsman Virender Sehwag with short-pitched bowling in the rest of the series, coach Mickey Arthur said on Tuesday. Sehwag tore apart the tourists’ bowling in the drawn first Test at Chennai with a scintillating 319 off 304 balls, the fastest triple century in history and the second of his career.

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/ 28 March 2008

Charl Langeveldt is in denial

Who do Andre Nel’s supporters think he is? A better bowler than Charl Langeveldt, or perhaps in some other way superior? Or are they labouring under the falsehood that Nel is an Englishman, an Australian or a Sri Lankan, or a citizen of some other country whose cricket authorities have not committed themselves to racial transformation?

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/ 24 March 2008

SA to come up against familiar faces in India

Graeme Smith’s South Africa will have two close friends and compatriots plotting their downfall when they begin a three-Test series against India in Chennai on Wednesday. Former Proteas batsman Gary Kirsten starts his two-year stint as India’s chief coach, and India’s support staff also includes another South African, Paddy Upton.

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/ 22 March 2008

Smith: We can rise to the challenge

South Africa are confident they will put their selection problems behind them during Test series in India, skipper Graeme Smith said on Saturday. The tourists arrived for the three-Test series amid a storm or controversy following the omission of paceman Andre Nel to fulfil the team’s quota of black players.

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/ 21 March 2008

Majola: Transformation is about targets

The adverse publicity surrounding the selection of the Proteas is a matter of concern to all cricket lovers, Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola said on Friday. Speaking at OR Tambo Airport ahead of the Proteas’ departure for a three-Test tour of India, Majola said it was disappointing that cricket was hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons.

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/ 5 March 2008

Arthur eyes top spot for Proteas

South Africa cricket coach Mickey Arthur said on Wednesday his team hope to topple Australia from the top of the one-day charts by winning all their one-day internationals against Bangladesh. Australia are currently the best one-day side with 127 points, ahead of South Africa on decimal points.

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/ 4 March 2008

Peterson stakes claim for India tour

South Africa left-arm spinner Robin Peterson looks set to board the flight for India after claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in the second Test against Bangladesh. The 28-year-old finished with impressive figures of 5-33 as the Proteas wrapped up the two-Test series against Bangladesh with a comprehensive innings and 205-run win on Monday.

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/ 1 March 2008

SA set more records after opening heroics

After setting an opening partnership record and declaring their first innings on 583 for seven, South Africa also posted a wicketkeeping record on the second day of the second Test against Bangladesh on Saturday. With two catches behind, wicketkeeper Mark Boucher overtook Adam Gilchrist and took his tally for Test wicketkeeping catches to 401

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/ 28 February 2008

No end in sight to cricket spat

The row between Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse and chief executive Gerald Majola is likely to be a major item on the agenda at the meeting of the CSA general council on Friday. Senior members of the council are believed to be planning to introduce a motion of no confidence in Arendse.

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/ 28 February 2008

Proteas rest Kallis, Boucher and Ntini for one-dayers

Senior players Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini will be rested for South Africa’s limited-overs series against Bangladesh, team officials said on Thursday. Captain Graeme Smith will, however, lead the side in the three-match series starting in Chittagong on March 9, despite speculation that he would return home due to a nagging knee injury.

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/ 27 February 2008

Govt throws weight behind Arendse

South Africa’s government threw its weight behind embattled Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Norman Arendse on Tuesday by calling for an increase in the number of black players in national teams. Arendse angered selectors and CSA chief executive Gerald Majola by vetoing the squad chosen by national selectors to tour Bangladesh.

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/ 16 February 2008

Arendse, Majola bury the hatchet

Cricket South Africa (CSA) President Norman Arendse and chief executive Gerald Majola officially buried the hatchet on Friday, after a week of turmoil in South African cricket. The two men issued a joint statement in which, among other things, they apologised to the people of South Africa for the row.

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/ 15 February 2008

Who will tame the tiger?

To the long list of people who would urge Norman Arendse rather to spend his considerable energies on saving the Bengal Tiger from a fate worse than the aphrodisiacs industry, add a frustrated woman. ”I’m so unpopular with my wife right now,” Arendse said this week in a brief aside from South African cricket’s affairs of state.

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/ 13 February 2008

Rainbow nation wrestles with race

South Africa has been plunged into a fresh debate over the racial make-up of its sports teams 14 years after the country emerged from apartheid. As the cricket squad prepared on Wednesday to fly to Bangladesh after a furious row over the dearth of black players in its line-up, white rugby legends protested against government pressure on selectors to put colour ahead of ability

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/ 12 February 2008

Troubled times for SA cricket

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Monday announced the team that Proteas coach Mickey Arthur and the national selectors wanted, but the dispute in South African cricket is far from over. The team announced after a week’s delay resulting from the bitter row between Arthur and CSA president Norman Arendse was the one that Arendse had twice vetoed.

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/ 11 February 2008

Row over as Proteas touring squad named

South Africa announced their squad to tour Bangladesh on Monday after a week of disagreements among the country’s cricket officials. The squad, which is scheduled to leave for Bangladesh on Wednesday, was due to have been named last Tuesday. Disputes between the selectors and the president of Cricket South Africa, Norman Arendse, held up the process.

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/ 10 February 2008

Bid to sack Arthur as selector blocked

The turmoil at the top of South African cricket deepened on Sunday when the board’s chief executive overruled a move to sack coach Mickey Arthur as a selector in a row over racial quotas. Arthur was removed from the selection panel on Saturday at a meeting of Cricket South Africa’s general council.

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/ 9 February 2008

CSA reaffirms transformation policy

The general council of Cricket South Africa (CSA) has called for the crisis regarding the selection of the national team to tour Bangladesh to be resolved as a matter of urgency. The Proteas are scheduled to fly to Bangladesh on Wednesday, but the announcement of the squad has been delayed by the row between CSA president Norman Arendse and Proteas coach Mickey Arthur.

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/ 8 February 2008

Cricket row to be handled internally

The row over selection issues that has erupted between Proteas coach Mickey Arthur and Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Norman Arendse is to be handled internally. CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said on Friday that the CSA had formal human-resource procedures for dealing with disputes.

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/ 7 February 2008

Cricket row described as ‘ridiculous’

Proteas coach Mickey Arthur has laid a counter-charge of ”disrespectful and abusive behaviour” against Cricket South Africa (CSA) chairperson Norman Arendse. Arendse confirmed on Thursday that he had laid a charge against Arthur for ”disrespectful and abusive behaviour and for not complying with CSA’s policy of transformation”.

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/ 7 February 2008

Row delays naming of SA squad

Disagreement between South Africa’s selectors and administrators has delayed naming the squad to tour Bangladesh this month. The list of players was due to be decided on Tuesday but the announcement was deferred after Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse refused to approve the selectors’ decision.