de Villiers wins ODI Player of Year Award

South Africa's AB de Villiers has won the ODI Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in Bengaluru. De Villiers beat off tough competition from India's Sachin Tendulkar and the Australia duo of Shane Watson and Ryan Harris to take the prestigious award.

During the voting period, de Villiers helped his side to ten victories in 16 ODIs, scoring 855 runs at an average of 71.25 and at a rate of 103.38 runs per 100 balls faced. In that time he hit four fifties and four centuries, and also picked up five dismissals in the four matches in which he played as wicketkeeper. He is currently the No.1-ranked ODI player in the world, comfortably ahead of the next best.

On receiving his first-ever ICC award de Villiers said: "I've really enjoyed this season and it's great to have been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year. It's a World Cup season and a World Cup is something we would love to win and we rate our chances pretty highly".

De Villiers also features in the ODI Team of the Year and is the only South African in the side selected by the expert five-man panel.

The panel was chaired by West Indies legend Clive Lloyd and included former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden, former England bowler Angus Fraser, former Zimbabwe player and England coach Duncan Fletcher and former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri. 

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Bans are a bit harsh: Pollock

Former South African skipper Shaun Pollock today said if poor performance was criteria for handing out bans to Pakistani cricketers, then the punishment is a "bit harsh".

The PCB today invoked indefinite bans on Mohammed Yousuf and Younus Khan and also imposed one-year bans on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan on the recommendations of the inquiry committee which probed their flop show Down Under.

The Akmal brothers - Kamran and Umar - and Shahid Afridi were put under observation and imposed heavy fines.

"I don't know. If that's the reason that they lost in Australia so they are banned then its a bit too harsh. Elevens players make a team and they all have to perform. I don't know what the review system is but its not easy to comment when you don't know the truth is," said a shocked Pollock, when informed about the ban.

Talking about his IPL side Mumbai Indians, Pollock said Sachin Tendulkar's show with the bat would be crucial to their fortunes in the Twenty20 tournament, beginning Friday.

"I think Mumbai will need him to play well. Here is a guy so great so you would obviously want him to bat 20 overs and steers the ship through. If he can get some scores he can get the team to some wins in some matches," said the former all-rounder.

Pollock, who is here as an academy member for the Laureus Sport Award, also feels that Umpire referral system requires some fine-tuning to give better results.

"Certain things needs to be adjusted. We all want right decisions to be made so we have to ensure that the technology we use can get all in perfect place.

"Tennis have implemented it and there is no discussion on that. When something new is implemented it is difficult to change people but one year down the lane if you can get everything in line, it is good technology and can help the game," he said.

Pollock said the South African team has the firepower to excel and dominate world cricket in the next two years.

"I don't watch as much cricket as I used to as I have some other focuses but it is really nice to see the guys doing well. The team have moved on in the last 10 years. They have the team to dominate in the next two years.
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Maiden Duminy ton steers SAfrica to big win

Recalled J.P. Duminy scored a maiden one-day century as South Africa answered the call of coach Mickey Arthur with a 212-run thrashing of Zimbabwe at SuperSport Park on Tuesday.

Arthur demanded greater all-round ruthlessness after his team took much longer than expected to complete a 45-run victory on Sunday in the first encounter.

South Africa were put into bat and ran riot in the afternoon sun to compile 331-5 off 50 overs before bowling Zimbabwe out for 119 after 34.3 overs and completing a 2-0 series win.

The Proteas used the mini-series against their lowly northern neighbours to warm up for a tour by England that begins on Friday and includes Twenty20, ODI and Test fixtures.

"It was a very good performance and you have to be happy after winning by more than 200 runs. Now we look forward to the challenges posed by England, " said South Africa skipper Graeme Smith.

"We are not the finished article and must keep working. We do not see the England series as a chance to settle personal scores, but rather as a new challenge and we must just focus on our game."

Duminy, a 25-year-old left-hand batsman from Cape Town came in at number four and tormented the visiting attack to finish unbeaten on 111 after facing 87 balls in 126 minutes.

His record score included nine fours and two sixes in a virtual chance-less stand as South Africa bettered the 295 runs scored against the one-day minnows in Benoni.

"I just hope I can take this form into the England series. I missed the first Zimbabwe game as a precaution because of shin splints, but I'm fine although there is still a little pain," said Duminy.

Jacques Kallis, another player who missed the first half of the series through injury, struck an 81 that contained eight fours and two sixes and opener Smith bettered a run a ball in compiling 53.

Zimbabwe skipper Prosper Utseya again gambled on a wicket that would aid his spinners and misread the situation once more with Ray Price (3-55) delivering the best return.

Only Tatenda Taibu, century hero of a record sixth-wicket stand on Sunday, offered any resistance to the South African attack, hitting 52 off 71 deliveries before being caught by fellow wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.

"It is tough batting against a great team like South Africa but I enjoyed it. I do not deserve the man of the series award, though, as JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla played only once and I played twice," said Taibu.
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Meaningless tours just sap your body: Smith

South Africa captain Graeme Smith has called on the ICC to tackle the Future Tours Programme head-on to avoid a precedent being set by Andrew Flintoff's rejection of his ECB contract and decision to turn free-lancer.

According to a report in cricinfo, Smith said international cricket remained his number one priority, but with the money on offer in cricket in the recent few years, it might not be so for a lot of players, since playing careers are limited and everyone will want to maximize their earnings.

Smith felt that a cutting down of 'meaningless' tournaments would be a good start.

"I don't think you can blame the individual, but it's an interesting time for cricket, and interesting to see where it goes now," Smith was quoted as saying by the website. "The crucial aspect is the decisions the leadership makes in the future. The ICC needs to give cricket a good direction, and crucial to that is how they look at the Future Tours Programme, because the decisions they make around that are going to be so important for the future of the game.

"For me international cricket is still the pinnacle," he said. "But you can't hide the fact that huge financial rewards and benefits for players have come into the game in the last few years, and it's obviously such a short career, so you want to make as much money in that time as possible. But I think playing for your country is the best, and the most important thing for us is to carry on being as successful as possible and try not to be distracted by other things that are taking place."

The FTP is going to expire in 2012, and a new programme will have to be put in place. There have been calls to have a World Championship of Test cricket instead of the FTP. But whatever format is agreed on, Smith said a greater importance has to be attached to international matches and that would only happen when meaningless matches are cut out of the calendar. Smith cited the current Australia-England seven-match ODI series as an example:

"With the greatest respect, the seven ODIs taking place in England at the moment are more for financial benefit than meaningful cricket," he said. "People want to see strength for strength, they want to see international sides trying their best in competitive tours. I mean, the Ashes was great to watch, it was competitive down to the last Test match, and speaking for myself as a cricketer, that's how you want to see all cricket being played.

"But all these meaningless tours just sap your body, especially when you are playing away from home for a long time," he added. "I think the ICC needs to really look at the format going forward, and really take control of the international game."

Speaking about Flintoff's decision to go freelance, Smith said he didn't blame Freddie Flintoff for taking the decision he had. "I don't think you can blame Fred for the decision that he's made. He's had a very successful career, and at this stage of his career, he wants to maximize his worth and really take control of things. He's had a number of injuries, and for his own good, he needs to take control of the few years he has left in him."

However, for the present, Smith is not too thinking too much about the future of the game and wants to concentrate instead on the immediate task at hand - winning the Champions Trophy.

"It's a terrific time to be a sportsman in South Africa, and to be a role model," said Smith. "When you think about our readmission after the apartheid years, we've got a young country in many ways, and our sport is going from strength to strength at the moment. The opportunity is there to grow, and the better that South African teams can be, the more the youngsters will want to be the heroes of the future. The Champions Trophy is another opportunity for that."
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Klusener returns to the CSA fold

Former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener has severed ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League and has been welcomed back by Cricket South Africa.

Klusener is now likely to take up a coaching job with his home province KwaZulu-Natal. KwaZulu-Natal has nominated him for the next Bakers' Level Three coaching course to be held at CSA's High Performance Centre in Pretoria early next month.

The return of Klusener, who won the Player of the Tournament award at the 1999 World Cup, would be a huge boost for cricket in KwaZulu-Natal.

Welcoming Klusener in the CSA fold, board CEO Gerald Majola said, "It is great to have Lance Klusener back in the CSA fold. He rightfully gained legendary status as a Proteas' all-rounder, and helped change the face of limited overs cricket worldwide.

"We are particularly impressed and pleased with his decision to become a top-level coach because he still has so much to offer in bringing through the next generation."

Besides Klusener, several former international cricketers, including Roger Telemachus, Paul Adams and Neil Johnson, will be attending the coaching course.

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ODIs are the best format, insists Pollock

Dubai: Ex-South Africa captain Shaun Pollock believes one-day international cricket is still the best limited-overs form of the game.

Looking ahead to next month’s ICC Champions Trophy to be played at The Wanderers and Centurion, Pollock said: "Having played a lot (of 50-over cricket), maybe I’m a bit more of a sucker when it comes to appreciating the game.

"The fast 20-over game has caught the imagination of many but if you get off to a bad start then you can cost yourself the game."There is a lot of skill involved in the 50-over game and it’s over a much longer period, so that allows teams to have a bit of a mishap and recover from it and you’ve got time to implement tactics.

"I think ODIs are still the best format of limited-overs cricket, especially with regard to making sure the best team comes out on top," he said.

Pollock knows all about that. He was part of the South Africa squad that came out on top in the first staging of the ICC Champions Trophy, when it was known as the ICC Knock-Out, in Bangladesh in 1998.

The tournament has had several face lifts since then but now, with just the top eight-ranked international sides involved in a short, sharp contest of 15 matches in two weeks starting on 22 September, Pollock believes it is set up perfectly for a great spectacle.

"A lot of sports have gone that way (involving just those sides at the top end of the rankings)," he said. "Tennis and golf are just two that have done it."It’s always good when you’ve got the best teams competing against each other and that’s exactly what you’ll have here.

"All those teams will be based in one place, it will all take place around Johannesburg and so it will be easy to go and view and it will give you some fantastic cricket.

"It's a great format, I’m glad the tournament’s come here and I’m glad they’re continuing with the (ICC Champions) Trophy," he added.

Pollock is also excited by the added touches at this year’s event, including a total of four million USD prize money, match of the match prizes of a watch worth 8,500 USD, a special Champions Trophy jacket for each member of the winning team and value-for-money ticket prices starting from just ZAR 35 with the highest price for a ticket to the final only ZAR 140.

“It’s good for the game. There need to be incentives for the players and spectators and for everyone involved so that all forms of the game are looked after from Test matches, to the 50-over game to the 20-over game.

"The better we market them, the better we make everyone with regard to their mindset to play in them (and) then it’s obviously going to be a better spectacle and that’s what you want,” Pollock said.

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Rhodes dismisses home advantage for South Africa

Jonty Rhodes, the former South African player, has said home advantage will mean little in next month's Champions Trophy in South Africa since teams travel a lot more and are used to different conditions these days.

"The support of the crowd does make a difference if things go a bit flat and they can lift you, but South Africa won't be relying on that," Rhodes told the Supercricket website. "They'll be relying on planning and getting in place all the processes involved in winning."

Rhodes, a fielding coach for IPL team Mumbai Indians, said South Africa were favourites for the trophy along with Australia and India. "They [South Africa] are a really well-balanced unit and they are setting standards for the other teams to chase. But Australia are written off far too easily, they will obviously be strong contenders, they have a good record in the competition and they know how to win. India are also very good, they've learnt how to travel and win and they have destructive bowlers and hitters in their line-up."

South Africa's strength, Rhodes said, was their consistency, which is important in a 50-over tournament. The top eight teams have been divided into two groups of four each and the top two from each group will qualify for the semi-finals of the two-week long tournament. "They've been playing great cricket, the team is settled and everyone knows their roles, they've got special players in batting, bowling and fielding. Their preparation and organisation will be excellent and they've learnt how to hit the ground running. They've learnt how to switch on very quickly and the management team of Graeme Smith and Mickey Arthur have been very good at that.

"But you can't afford to have a bad day. We saw that in the Twenty20 World Cup, where we played great cricket but, to take nothing away from the opposition, someone like Shahid Afridi produced something special."

South Africa will open the tournament, from September 22 to October 5, with a game against Sri Lanka in Centurion.

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