AB De Villiers rled out of T20I's Squad

"I am missing T20s to be able to paly",AB de Villiers:

AB de Villiers has pulled out of South Africa's Twenty20 internationals at home against New Zealand in December, citing the need for extra rest before the Tests in January. Justin Ontong, the Cape Cobras captain, has been called into the squad.

"It's been an exhausting few months and I feel that I need some extra rest before the Test series," De Villiers said. "It's for this reason that I have put in the request and I'm grateful to the team management for supporting this decision."

When the squad was announced on December 13, South Africa's selectors had named Faf du Plessis as captain in order to reduce the workload on de Villiers, who was included as a player. Quinton de Kock, who was part of South Africa's Under-19 squad for the 2012 World Cup, had been designated as wicketkeeper for the T20s, he will also keep in the one-dayers after the Tests, although the ODI squad has not been named yet.

De Villiers has a history of back problems that have worsened because of wicketkeeping, and this request for a break will fuel speculation that he is in trouble again. After the World Twenty20 in September, de Villiers needed three weeks of rehabilitation for his back, and South Africa's management denied the injury has recurred again.


"There is nothing imminently wrong with his back, it is just about managing workload," Mohammed Moosajee said, the team manager. "The plan is to rotate players like Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla because of the schedule. Morne and Dale will probably only play one or two matches each. With AB, it's about getting his mindset right and getting him energised. It's physical and mental."

De Villiers had complained of stiffness and fatigue after playing in the domestic one-day cup playoff match on December 9. Moosajee said that could be a result of jetlag, as the team had only arrived from Australia four days before. De Villiers' role in the game could also have contributed to the fatigue. He scored a century and fielded for the entire duration of Cobras' innings because Heino Kuhn kept wicket.

Three days after that match, De Villiers said the game was "hard on my body," and that he was glad he was a wicketkeeper for South Africa "because the time in the field was tiring."

However,wicketkeeping is partly responsible for de Villiers' back injuries. He became the permanent Test wicketkeeper after Mark Boucher retired and wants to continue in the role. A source close to Cricket South Africa said de Villiers had been initially reluctant to take on the job but had "changed his mind" since. With Tests the focus for de Villiers, despite his role as limited-overs captain, he will be rested when the schedule allows, although he will play the IPL.

De Villiers' replacement Ontong captained Cobras to the final of the domestic one-day cup. He scored 268 runs in 12 matches at an average of 44.66. He was part of South Africa's squad at the World T20, although he did not play, and will lead the A side in a practice match against New Zealand this afternoon.


"Justin has been in our limited-overs plans for some time now and he has underlined his worth during the recent one-day cup, when he excelled as a finisher," Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors, said. "As we all know he is also an outstanding fielder with his direct hits and a more than useful spin bowler. We are fortunate to have a player of his calibre to replace AB and the loss of one is certainly an opportunity for the other."

Revised Twenty20 squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Justin Ontong, Rory Kleinveldt, Richard Levi, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Cricket South Africa will-possibly appoint Balck African selector

CSA will soon possibly appoint Black African selector:

Cricket South Africa will soon - possibly as early as next year - appoint a black African selector in accordance with their transformation policy, in an attempt to better represent the country's demographics. South Africa's population is more than 80% black African but they are largely under-represented in cricket.

 "We want to transform and reflect the demographic of our country as best as possible. A black African selector is needed to help address representation on all levels, which includes management," Jacques Faul, acting CSA chief executive.

He clarified that the move should not be seen as one which will push the case for black players only. "Just as white selectors don't only select white players, so would black selectors not only select black players," Faul said.

Ntini was quoted saying reserve wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile would have played for the national team if he was white, but Tsolekile brushed off the remarks. Despite being nationally contracted in February and identified as the replacement to Mark Boucher, Tsolekile has not played a Test because AB de Villiers has been promoted to the role of the permanent keeper.

In Perth, South Africa played their 200th Test since readmission but in that time, only five black Africans have represented the country. Of those, Ntini played 101 Tests but the other four: Mfuneko Ngam, Monde Zondeki, Tsolekile and Lonwabo Tsotsobe have less than 20 between them and South Africa have not fielded a single black African in Test cricket in the past year.

It is a record CSA wants to change. "I don't think people realise what a big gap Ntini left when he retired from international cricket. He was a great role model and obvious choice for the Test team," Faul said. "It is important for us to improve on this statistic. We hope that in the next 200 Tests we will be able to do that."

CSA does not enforce a quota system but state in their policy they intend to make cricket a "truly national game." They fund an academy at the University of Fort Hare which Ngam runs, exclusively for black African cricketers to further that aim. Ntini was due to start an academy in the Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape for the same purpose but has not been able to secure sufficient funding to get the project off the ground.

Failed endeavours like that are what CSA hopes to avoid in future. Their transformation policy thus "recognises the fact that, although now all South Africans are equal under the constitution, serious inequalities still exist in terms of creating opportunities and providing facilities and adequate coaching for cricketers of colour. The transformation charter carries the responsibility of capacity building in all communities and thus making cricket a truly national game."

Faul said CSA are encouraged by the "black African talent within the franchise system." Players such as batsman Khaya Zondo from the Dolphins Temba Bavuma, left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso from the Lions and wicketkeeper batsman Mangaliso Mosehle from the Titans are on the national radar, with Phangiso likely to be picked in the Twenty20 squad to play New Zealand.

The new selector will not be in place in time to pick those squads, though. South Africa are expected to name their T20 and Test squad for the New Zealand series on Thursday.

South Africa vs Australia 2nd test drawn

South Africa drawn 2nd test and Du Plessis unbeaten by 110:

Faf du Plessis would not have been playing in this Test were it not for JP Duminy hurting his Achilles tendon at the Gabba. And just as Duminy did on debut in Perth four years ago, du Plessis has grabbed his first chance at Test cricket to provide a remarkable result for the South Africans. At the WACA it was a near-record chase of 414 for victory; this time South Africa's challenge was to bat for four and a half sessions on a wearing Adelaide Oval pitch to salvage a draw.

Thanks to du Plessis, they did so. Thanks to du Plessis, the scoreline remains at 0-0 heading into the decider in Perth, despite Australia having had the best of the first two Tests. And thanks to du Plessis, Australia's bowlers will have only four days to recover from some serious exhaustion, especially Peter Siddle, who sent down 63.5 overs for the match and was so debilitated by the time he bowled the final over of the match that he could barely stand up.

South Africa vs Australia 1st Test Match Ends In Draw

1st test match drawn between South Africa vs Australia:

South Africa began the first Test looking every inch the world's best team. They ended it cornered, scrapping unattractively to secure a draw, having weathered a sustained and significant resurgence by Australia over the final two days.

The loss of Saturday's play due to persistent rain deprived the match of enough time for a result given the benign nature of curator Kevin Mitchell's pitch, but Michael Clarke's team will depart Brisbane with the kind of spring in their step that England took from the Gabba after a similar recovery at the outset of the 2010-11 Ashes. Such confidence will be derived as much from how James Pattinson and Peter Siddle discomforted South Africa's batsmen on the final afternoon as from the way Clarke, Ed Cowan and Michael Hussey dominated the visiting bowlers.

5th ODI SA Vs Eng Toss Updates

Final Of  Nat West Series Live From Trent Bridge:

Facts And Figures:

                                England won the toss and elected to bat first,Chris Woakes become a part of England XI today.

Team's Info:

England XI: 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Ravi Bopara, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 James Anderson, 11 Jade Dernbach 

South Africa XI: 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Dean Elgar, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Justin Ontong, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel