All posts by h716a5.icu

AB de Villiers, who is suffering with a tight right hamstring and was unable to keep wicket during Monday’s practice session

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2014South Africa are sweating on the fitness of regular Test wicketkeeper AB de Villiers, who is suffering with a tight right hamstring and was unable to keep wicket during Monday’s practice session. CSA said de Villiers is likely to play the first Test against Sri Lanka starting on Wednesday though there are doubts over whether he will keep.De Villiers’ injury worry increases the chances of 21-year-old Quinton de Kock making a second Test appearance, five months after making his debut, and this time he may find himself behind the stumps as well.It was during his century in Saturday’s ODI in Hambantota that de Villiers first experienced discomfort in his hamstring. He spent an hour and 41 minutes at the crease and scored a blazing 108 off 71 balls to take South Africa to their highest-ever total against Sri Lanka and a first ODI series win on the island.He did not take part in any wicket-keeping drills in Galle as a result. In a media release, CSA said he will “continue to receive treatment,” and that he is “likely to be available for selection for Wednesday’s match.” However, de Villiers has previously suffered from back problems and the management may choose to err on the side of caution if they feel he is not fully fit.Should de Villiers be forced out of the starting XI, de Kock would take his place behind the stumps but will probably bat in the lower-middle order. Although de Kock’s Test selection appeared premature in the only Test he played – against Australia in March – the youngster has hit form in Sri Lanka after struggling through the first two ODIs and struck a century alongside de Villiers on Saturday.If de Villiers misses out, it may also create room for a Test debut for Stiaan van Zyl – the Cobras’ top-order batsman who is part of the squad but is thought to be competing with de Kock for the No. 6 spot. Dean Elgar remains set to open with Alviro Petersen.

VVS Laxman has backed up Sachin Tendulkar’s criticism of the way Greg Chappell treated senior players during his tenure as coach, saying he “took Indian cricket backwards

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2014Former India batsman VVS Laxman has backed up Sachin Tendulkar’s criticism of the way Greg Chappell treated senior players during his tenure as coach between 2005 and 2007, saying he “took Indian cricket backwards.”In his autobiography , Tendulkar had claimed Chappell made a veiled threat about dropping Laxman when the batsmen said he did not want to open the innings. “This happened in 2006 at the Wankhede Stadium when India were playing England,” Laxman told NDTV. “Yuvraj Singh was picked ahead of me and five bowlers were fielded. We were going to the West Indies for a four-Test series after that and he asked me if I would open.”I mentioned that back in 2000, I had decided I would not open anymore after it didn’t work for me in the first four years. I was consistent in the middle order. Chappell asked me my age and said – Don’t you think 31 is too young an age to sit at home? I had a very good run under him. I was the second highest run-scorer under him.”Laxman said the team environment created by Chappell was poor. “In 2006, it was the worst dressing-room I was part of,” he said. “I have played under various coaches and captains for 16 years but that year was the worst atmosphere in a dressing-room.”More than anything else, it was very evident that there was an attempt to create a rift. A cricket team is like a family and there is no point in creating a divide between seniors and juniors. It was very unfortunate. The seniors felt very insecure. We never understood why Chappell thought that way when the seniors were playing well.”

The two have been consistent figures in the Pharaohs' starting team since they began this year's tournament with a loss to Nigeria.

With Ahmed Hegazi ruled out and doubts hovering over first and second goalkeeping choices, coach Carlos Queiroz is expected to tinker with Egypt's starting team for the semi-final game against Cameroon on Thursday at Paul Biya Stadium in Yaounde.

Meanwhile, the Pharaohs have won three of their last four Afcon games against Cameroon (L1), scoring nine goals, this after netting just twice across their previous six encounters against the Indomitable Lions in the competition (W1 D2 L3).

Egypt Football Association.Goalkeeper:  Mohamed Sobhy

He is set to make his first start in the tournament as Mohamed El Shenawy and Mohamed Abou Gabal – the first and second goalkeeping choices, respectively – remain doubtful after picking up injuries in the last two games.

AdvertisementBackpagepixRight-back – Omar Kamal

Kamal has been a consistent figure in the Egyptian team and is highly likely to keep his place. Kamal's ability to effectively block the opponents' attacks and offer additional attacking threats will be key for the Pharaohs as they face the hosts.

Sports Mole.Left-back – Ahmed Abou El Fotouh

The Zamalek full-back was solid against Morocco as he was able to frustrate the Atlas Lions' strategy of attacking from the wing, and such a performance should certainly guarantee him a start against the Indomitable Lions.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Backpagepix.Centre-back – Mohamed Abdelmonem

Since he replaced Akram Tawfik, who got injured in the group opening game against Nigeria, Abdelmonem has been an ever-present figure in Carlos Queiroz's starting team and his consistent performances should keep him among the starters.

A second-wicket partnership of 274 from centurions Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick ensured Durham got much the better of Middlesex on day one at Chester-le-Street.

Press Association01-Jun-2014
ScorecardMark Stoneman was the first of Durham’s two first-day centurions•Getty ImagesA second-wicket partnership of 274 from centurions Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick ensured Durham got much the better of Middlesex on day one at Chester-le-Street.Their innings was anchored by Stoneman’s entertaining 187 before Borthwick assumed responsibility with an equally impressive unbeaten 164. Their partnership was Durham’s highest ever for the second wicket in first-class cricket.Middlesex won the toss and elected to field and it was a decision that away captain Chris Rogers no doubt rued as his bowlers were made to toil on the opening day.Stoneman took just 47 balls to bring up his half-century and he and Keaton Jennings took the score to 82 before Toby Roland-Jones bowled Jennings on 16 to end his 41-ball innings. Borthwick replaced Jennings at the crease and he was initially happy to play second fiddle as Stoneman dispatched the ball to the ropes regularly.The home side passed 100 in just the 20th over and Stoneman and Borthwick guided them to 140 for 1 at lunch before they went from strength to strength after the interval.Two fours off the bowling of Neil Dexter in the 27th over saw Stoneman enter the 90s and he brought up his 100 five overs later with a leg glance for four off Roland-Jones, his 17th boundary from 105 balls. But in the 38th over he had a reprieve when he was dropped by wicketkeeper John Simpson as he misjudged a Tim Murtagh delivery.Borthwick brought up his 50 an over later, dispatching Finn to the boundary. His half-century took 71 balls and included eight fours and a six. Borthwick then pulled Steven Finn away to the ropes for four to take the score past 200 in the 41st over and seven overs later his and Stoneman’s partnership passed 150 when Borthwick nudged a single off the bowling of Ravi Patel.Stoneman passed his previous best for Durham – 131 against Yorkshire earlier in the season – when he took two runs off Paul Stirling’s bowling in the 51st over as Durham went to 237 for 1. The 250 was brought up just four overs later as Borthwick clipped a single off Stirling – whose spin had been causing the batsmen a few problems.Stirling was certainly halting Durham’s speedy scoring but he could not prevent Stoneman from reaching 150 in the 61st over with a single. Three balls later and Borthwick was jumping for joy in the sunshine as a delightful on-drive to the ropes saw him reach triple figures from 132 deliveries.Durham reached tea on 286 for 1 shortly after Stoneman and Borthwick’s partnership passed 200.Borthwick flicked a single off his pads down to long leg to bring up the 300 team total and he and Stoneman guided Durham to 356 before the latter’s exquisite innings was finally brought to an end on 187 when he was caught at leg slip by Sam Robson off Stirling. Stoneman’s stay at the crease lasted 249 balls and included 26 fours.Middlesex claimed their third wicket of the day when a mix-up with Borthwick saw Michael Richardson run out by Rogers for 4.With Ben Stokes joining the action, Borthwick shrugged off Richardson’s dismissal to pass 150 by pulling a short Roland-Jones delivery to the fence for four.A Stokes thick edge evaded those behind the wicket and flew down to the third man boundary to bring up 400 before he perished on 23 as Finn found a way through his defences. But Middlesex’s bowlers could not get the better of Borthwick and he was unbeaten at the close of play on 164.

Zaka Ashraf has been reinstated as PCB chairman for the second time this year, after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) annulled the committee headed by Najam Sethi and all the decisions taken by it

Umar Farooq19-May-2014Chaos and the PCB

May 8 – Zaka Ashraf becomes the PCB’s first elected chairman

May 28 – The Islamabad High Court bars Ashraf from dispensing his duties, following questions over the legality of his appointment

June 13 – High Court upholds Ashraf’s suspension at a subsequent hearing and orders the PCB to name an interim chairman

June 19 – Key decisions are in the lurch, including an MoU that needs to be signed for Pakistan to tour the West Indies for a limited-over series in July

June 23 – Najam Sethi is named PCB’s interim chairman

July 20 – High Court overrules all major decisions taken by Sethi and orders the Election Commission to conduct fresh elections for the chairman post

July 24 – PCB files appeal against High Court decision

September 28 – The ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) names Amir Tariq Zaman Khan the PCB secretary – a role not defined in the PCB constitution – in compliance with the High Court order

October 15 – Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif dissolves the PCB governing board and forms a five-member interim management committee headed by Sethi

October 21 – Islamabad High Court sets November 2 as the deadline for Election Commission to fill the chairman post

November 4 – High Court says Sethi commission can continue working, stays election process

November 17 – Sethi raises conflict-of-interest questions by interviewing Misbah-ul-Haq on his political show

December 17 – High Court reserves judgment on PCB appeal against July 20 ruling

January 15 – High Court reinstates Zaka Ashraf as PCB chairman

February 10 – Najam Sethi returns as PCB chairman, after the patron of the board, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, dismissing the chairman Zaka Ashraf once again and dissolving the board of governors

May 14 – Zaka Ashraf comes under a cloud after an internal audit by the PCB covering his 22-month span as chairman reveals a staggering level of financial extravagance

May 17 – The Islamabad High Court dismisses the order issued by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on February 10 that removed Zaka Ashraf as chairman, paving the way for his return

May 19 – The IHC reinstates Ashraf again, anulling the committee headed by Najam Sethi and all the decisions taken by it during its four-month term

Zaka Ashraf has been reinstated as PCB chairman for the second time this year, after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) annulled the committee headed by Najam Sethi and all the decisions taken by it. The development is likely to impact the Pakistan team significantly because their head coach Waqar Younis, team manager and chief selector Moin Khan, and other staff were appointed during Sethi’s most recent tenure as PCB chairman.In its 26-page order, the IHC said the lawyers appearing for the respondents could not “prove the reason for removal of [the] earlier set-up of the board.” The court said merely leveling allegations against Ashraf without proof to back them up was insufficient evidence, and therefore the “notification for supersession of Pakistan Cricket Board is purely an arbitrary exercise, which is entirely based on malafide.”Therefore, the impugned notification (dated February 10, 2014, which dismissed Ashraf) superseding duly elected body of Pakistan Cricket Board without assigning any reason is required to be struck down. The same is therefore hereby annulled.”Ashraf arrived at the PCB headquarters in Lahore this afternoon with a large convoy of his supporters. “Eventually justice prevailed,” he said on arrival. “I always respected the court decision, and even if it was against me I could have accepted that as well. The court judgment says that all decisions in my absence are nullified but I will review them.”During the last four months Sethi’s management committee had taken several key decisions that could now stand void. A six-member selection committee headed by Moin and a junior selection committee headed by Basit Ali were formed. Waqar was named head coach; former Zimbabwe batsman Grant Flower and former Pakistan legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed were given two-year contracts as batting coach and spin consultant; and Misbah ul Haq was named ODI captain until 2015.There were several administrative appointments as well: Zaheer Abbas was named principal advisor, Amjad Hussain was named director media, Haroon Rashid was named director academy. The Sethi-led management committee had also passed a new constitution, which was to be implemented from June 10.The ongoing turmoil in the PCB administration dates back to May 2013, when Ashraf became the PCB’s first elected chairman. Shortly after he took office the IHC – responding to a petition filed by a former Rawalpindi Cricket Association official – suspended Ashraf, calling the process that elected him “dubious and polluted”.In June, the IHC upheld Ashraf’s suspension and later that month Sethi, a senior journalist and former caretaker chief minister of Punjab, was named the interim PCB chairman by the government of Pakistan. The very next month, the IHC directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to carry out polls for the PCB chairman’s post by October 18 and overruled all major decisions taken by the Sethi administration.The elections, however, never took place and after a succession of legal developments – including the dissolution of the PCB’s governing board in October and the formation of a five-man interim committee headed by Sethi to run Pakistan cricket – the IHC reinstated Ashraf as PCB chairman in January.The reappointment was short-lived because, in February, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif dismissed Ashraf again and dissolved the board of governors, and Sethi returned as chairman, heading an eight-member committee to run cricket in Pakistan. This is the administration the IHC’s latest ruling has done away with.

While losing the Asia Cup final was a disappointment, Pakistan could take ‘a lot of positives’ from the tournament, captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2014While losing the Asia Cup final was a disappointment, Pakistan could take ‘a lot of positives’ from the tournament, captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said. Among them, was the ‘morale-boosting’ win against India in the round-robin stage, a victory which meant the team got a warm welcome at the Lahore airport on arrival, being showered with rose petals despite not bringing back the trophy.”Losing the final was a disappointment, but overall it was a very good tournament and we move on with a lot of positives,” Misbah said. “I think the team put in a lot of hard work, the way we won matches. As a team the performance was terrific, but at the same time no doubt it is disappointing that we didn’t win the tournament.The match against India, Misbah said, put Pakistan in the right frame of mind for the World Twenty20. “Winning against India was important because people have a lot of expectations and have lots of interest in it. With such performances, the morale of the team is very good. In this condition, we definitely have a chance [at the World T20].”Misbah did not take questions on his “slow” batting in the final against Sri Lanka lightly, cutting off one reporter mid-way through his question by saying: “When you are 18 for 3, even big teams also bat like we did in the final to recover.”Pakistan had lost their top three by the fourth over of the game, before Mishah and Fawad Alam were involved in a 122-run stand. Misbah made 65 off 98 balls before being dismissed, while Alam went on to remain 114 not out off 134. Pakistan reached 260 for 5, before Sri Lanka eased home with close to four overs to spare after taking a toll on Pakistan’s pacers.Misbah defended his fast bowlers, saying that the spin- and batting-friendly pitches of the subcontinent made life tough for the pacers. “It wasn’t an easy tour, especially for fast bowlers. You know in Asian conditions, it’s difficult for fast bowlers.”Overall if you look, barring one or two bowlers, fast bowlers struggled. Conditions are conducive for spin bowlers and it doesn’t help fast bowlers.”

Kevin Pietersen, the new captain of Delhi Daredevils, has rated Gary Kirsten as the No.1 coach at the moment, and said the franchise is lucky to have the South African in its coaching staff

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-201421:19

‘Still hopeful of playing for England’ – Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen, the new captain of Delhi Daredevils, has rated Gary Kirsten as the No.1 coach at the moment, and said the franchise is lucky to have the South African in its coaching staff, as it looks to rebuild after a poor 2013 season. Pietersen was speaking to ESPNcricinfo during a live video chat on Thursday where he took questions from fans via Twitter.Kirsten, who had earlier coached India and his native South Africa, was appointed Daredevils’ head coach for 2014 last September. Pietersen, who had represented Daredevils in previous seasons, was named captain last month. Pietersen said his interactions with Kirsten over the last few days, with the squad assembling ahead of the start of IPL 2014, have been “fantastic.””Gary and I sing off a similar hymn sheet. It’s an absolute privilege to work with Gary,” Pietersen said. “He is probably rated the No.1 coach at the moment. Delhi are very fortunate to have Gary. He’s got the personality that makes you want to really be successful for him and the franchise. He makes you feel happy about yourself.”When he talks he means it and everything that comes out of his mouth makes sense. It has been fantastic working with him so far. We will do whatever we can to prepare ourselves the right way so we can have a fun competition.”Kevin Pietersen: ‘He’s (Kirsten) got the personality that makes you want to really be successful for him and the franchise’•Delhi DaredevilsPietersen had had a shortlived stint as England captain and also had a brief period at the helm of Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009. Now in his second time leading an IPL franchise, Pietersen said his outlook towards the job has changed since his early days, by drawing on his experiences in dealing with different people.”I think my mindset has changed a hell of a lot. When I was thrust into the England captaincy, it was very difficult at that stage as I hadn’t been through a load of processes and I’ve had a load of ups and downs since then,” Pietersen said. “Only when you reach good heights and reasonably low lows do you understand everybody and everything. When you have a family you understand families, when you have kids you understand kids.”When I took over the England captaincy I hadn’t experienced a lot of those things. For me, understanding people, managing people and getting to grips with how everybody’s feeling over a 6-8 week period is vitally important in making sure we are all happy and everyone’s fighting for one result. The last 24-48 hours with these guys has been fascinating, in terms of achieving the goal. We can all learn from each other.”With the IPL’s credibility hit by last year’s spot-fixing scandal, Pietersen said it was important for players to remember why they took to the game in the first place and not worry about off-field issues.”I hope I can speak for all players that we play this game because we love this game. It gives incredible highs, and lows too. You have to expect that. You go out there and play to the best of your ability and you just hope that people aren’t putting a black line through days that you spend enjoying and having fun. Anything that happens in terms of the nonsense away from the field, we can’t go in to that. We just have to be honest with ourselves and each other.”Pietersen, whose international career was put to an abrupt end by the ECB, however, hasn’t given up hope on playing for England again. “I thought my time was up when things happened in January,” he said. “But I love playing cricket and I am still hopeful of playing cricket for England again one day so I’m going to do everything I can to play to the best of my ability.”

A round-up of the third day’s play from Group B Ranji Trophy matches played on December 8, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2013
ScorecardThe Uttar Pradesh bowlers took a little more than 50 overs to claim all ten Services wickets in the second innings and wrap an innings win on the third day in Ghaziabad. Services needed to score 205 to make UP bat again but fell short of the mark by 14 runs.While pacers RP Singh and Imtiaz Ahmed got rid of the top four batsmen, pacer Amit Mishra and legspinner Piyush Chawla picked two wickets each to run through the lower order. Barring captain Rajat Paliwal, who made a valiant 95, only three other batsmen reached double-figures. Services were first reduced to 45 for 4 after RP Singh and Ahmed struck in consecutive overs, and were later struggling at 71 for 6 once Mishra dismissed Yashpal Singh and Vishnu Tiwari in the same over.Shadab Nazar scored 29 with the help of five fours in the company of Paliwal to take the score past 150 but Chawla picked up his second wicket to break the partnership. Nishan Singh also fell for a duck five overs later and Paliwal’s wicket gave UP seven points which took their total tally to 20.
ScorecardRajasthan pacers Pankaj Singh and Rituraj Singh struck decisive blows against Madhya Pradesh to ensure that their side had to chase 148 for their first win in this Ranji Trophy. The pacers took four wickets in four overs between them after Naman Ojha’s 12th first-class hundred looked set to take MP to a challenging score. By close of play on the third day, Rajasthan were 77 for 3, with Robin Bist unbeaten on 39.MP began the day at 121 for 2, and the pair of Anand Rajan and Ojha went about wiping out the 167-run deficit. They were dealt a minor setback when Rajan and Mohnish Mishra were dismissed off successive balls by Ramesh Powar, but consolidated through a 110-run, fifth-wicket stand between Ojha and captain Devendra Bundela, who scored 54. The pair of Rituraj and Pankaj, however, reduced MP from a solid 276 for 4 to 295 for 8. Pankaj dismissed Ojha for 137 off 204 balls in the 83rd over and MP’s innings folded seven overs later for 314. Rituraj finished with 4 for 74, while Pankaj added another three wickets to his first-inning five-for.Rajasthan’s chase got off to a poor start, as Siddharth Saraf and Dishant Yagnik fell to Ishwar Pandey with the score at 18 for 2. Vineet Saxena and Bist then added 59 for the third wicket, before Saxena fell a few minutes before close of play.

One of the few remaining vestiges of the Mickey Arthur era has departed Cricket Australia, with bowling coach Ali De Winter going his separate ways from the team

Daniel Brettig24-Jan-2015One of the few remaining vestiges of the Mickey Arthur era has departed Cricket Australia, with bowling coach Allister de Winter going his separate ways from the team after his former role was gradually taken up by the return and subsequent promotion of Craig McDermott.A former Tasmania bowling coach, de Winter had interviewed for the role of bowling coach in mid-2011 but was overlooked, before taking on the job fulltime a year later as part of the support staff overseen by Arthur when his predecessor and sometime rival McDermott resigned following the end of the 2012 West Indies tour.Between then and the end of the 2013 Ashes tour, de Winter served as chief mentor for Australia’s pace bowlers, who enjoyed some success at home but struggled notably on tours of England and India in 2013, culminating in the “homework” suspensions of four players in Mohali.McDermott worked with the pacemen again in the lead-up to the Ashes in England, and while de Winter oversaw the unit that began to unearth weaknesses in the batting order of Alastair Cook’s side during the course of that series, the new coach Darren Lehmann had begun to look further afield for other options.McDermott was re-hired to work with the Test team at the outset of the home Ashes series, during which the outstanding combination of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle confounded the English tourists. Following an underwhelming World Twenty20 campaign in Bangladesh, de Winter was sidelined further from his limited-overs coaching role when McDermott was promoted to assistant coach across all formats in mid-2014.”Ali is no longer working with the Australian team,” the team performance manager Pat Howard told the . “He played a valuable role supporting our bowlers from 2012. He finished on very good terms and the door remains open to him working with us again in the future.”Echoing Howard’s words, de Winter said there was nothing acrimonious about his exit. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the Australian team over the past two and a half years,” he said. “I’m pursuing other career opportunities in a number of areas, including cricket. I remain on good terms with everyone involved in the game.”Other members of team support staff to either depart or changes roles since Lehmann replaced Arthur have included the strength and conditioning coach David Bailey and the fielding coach Steve Rixon, replaced by Damian Mednis and Greg Blewett respectively.

Graeme Smith believes South Africa did well to overcome the conditions and persistent clouds to ensure they were undefeated in a 14th consecutive series

Firdose Moonda in Durban30-Dec-20130:00

Don’t think we’ll ever replace Jacques – Smith

Welcome back, Durban. You are part of South Africa again.After being the scene of four straight defeats between 2009 and 2011, South Africa have turned their fortunes at the coastal city around. That Graeme Smith could lead his men out to sing their team song on its surface more than three and a half hours after they sealed the series victory was confirmation Kingsmead has returned to the fold of home turf.”Protea fire” is the chorus of their song. The concept, featuring their nickname, the Proteas, is based on the germination of the country’s national flower. It can only grow after a fire, because the seeds are cased in a hard shell which can remain closed for two decades. After the adversity of flame, it blooms.Graeme Smith on Robin Peterson: “Robbie did well with the ball and with the bat last night. He brings a good balance to the team”•Getty ImagesSmith believes his men lived up to their emblem because they overcome conditions and persistent clouds to ensure they were undefeated in a 14th consecutive series. Of those, they have won eight, including this one. “The wicket didn’t make it easy for us. It’s almost like we were back in India,” he said. “The weather and the pitch made life a little more difficult. We had to work hard. To have the ability to turn it around and win like we did is a huge achievement.”The difference ended up being in the spin department, but not in the way anyone would have expected. Robin Peterson ended up as South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in the second innings with four scalps. MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja were two of them, having misjudged their shots against him.Zaheer Khan was the other on the final day, adjudged lbw. Replays showed the ball would have missed legstump but the delivery Peterson bowled to achieve that wicket was a carrom ball, a skill many would have thought Peterson lacked. Add that to the 52-ball 61 he powered his way to with the bat and it was a good game for Peterson, who was under scrutiny after the way he bowled in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan.South Africa still have unanswered questions in that department but Peterson went some way to reassuring them with this showing. “Both our spinners have faced challenging times,” Smith said. “Robbie did well with the ball and with the bat last night. He brings a good balance to the team. The four wickets will be hugely rewarding. Without those four wickets, I don’t think we would have come close to winning this Test match.”Peterson’s ability as a lower-order allrounder may take the pressure off South Africa to find another seam-bowling two-in-one immediately following Kallis’ Test retirement. There will be no easy polyfill for them, something MS Dhoni warned them of when he described Kallis as their “ultimate luxury” which India could have used.”If we had a Kallis, we would have played two spinners and three seamers,” Dhoni said. “But there’s no point complaining about what we don’t have. South Africa will have to find someone. They have players who can bat and bowl but they will have groom them further.”Smith acknowledged something similar but has already understood Kallis himself cannot be substituted. “I don’t think we are ever going to replace Jacques. The sooner we face that, the better,” he said. ‘We’ll need to get tactically smart. I don’t think anyone who gets picked should be labeled as Jacques Kallis’ replacement. What Jacques has left is huge. It’s important that the next guy gets a fresh start.”South Africa have six weeks to ponder that before Australia arrive, a contest they are relishing despite the break to play domestic 20-overs cricket. “We’re just hitting our straps and now we have another month off… I feel if we had a couple more [international] matches, we’d play really well,” Smith said. “But it’s setting up for an exciting series.”Until then, South Africa can soak in the success they’ve just achieved in beating the team ranked second, gaining two ranking points, winning a series against India for the first time since 2006. “The one team we haven’t beaten over the last three years [is India]. At the Wanderers, we were behind the game for 90% of it and fought our way back to draw. This was an incredible win considering the weather and India’s performance on the first day.” Smith said. “This team conducts itself in ways that speak for itself.”