No new faces in nz squad
Wellington: New Zealand have settled on an experienced line-up for their three Tests in Australia in November and December, with no new faces in the touring squad. The 15-man selection sees the return of several players including captain Brendon McCullum and bowling spearhead Tim Southee who missed the recent tour of Africa. Ross Taylor, Trent Boult and Corey Anderson are also back in the side after recovering from injury. Anderson is one of two all-rounders, along with Jimmy Neesham, as New Zealand tweak the balance of their squad for the Test campaign after seven consecutive series without defeat.
‘nervous about ind tour’
Johannesburg: Former cricket captain Graeme Smith has said that he is “nervous” about the Proteas’ upcoming “tough” tour of India, starting with the first Test in Mohali on November 5. “I’m a bit nervous. It’s a tough tour for us and this is a big season for South African cricket with the Indian tour and the English tour later this year. This could be the defining period for this team,” Smith was quoted as saying by The Times here. “Four Test matches in India are not going to be easy, especially because it involves a lot of travelling, a lot of people and the conditions are going to spin. “I’m holding thumbs that everything will go well. If we have a good Indian tour, I think we’ll then do very well against the English,” said Smith, who led South Africa to two series draws against India in 2008 and 2009,” he added.
palam to host warmup
New Delhi: South Africa’s warm-up game for the Twenty20 leg of their India tour has been shifted to the Palam ground from Feroz Shah Kotla with DDCA expressing their inability to host the match. The match will now take place at Palam on September 29 ahead of the three T20 Internationals with the Dharamsala staging the tour-opener on October 2. Chetan Chauhan, vice president of the DDCA, however, assured that Kotla will be ready to host the fourth and final Test of the “The Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela”, starting on December 3.