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Kevin Pietersen’s good form in ODIs could earn him a Test spot© Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen’s explosive start in international cricket could earn him a spot in the Test side, according to Michael Vaughan, the England captain. Pietersen, who was in remarkable form throughout the one-day series against South Africa, struck his third century in a crisis situation to help his side to a respectable total in the seventh one-dayer at Centurion, even though it couldn’t prevent another England defeat.England were reeling at 68 for six, when Pietersen took charge, hitting 116 and taking his series tally to 454. “You have to be a very good player to do what he has just done,” said Vaughan, quoted on the website. “He has come in and set the world alight with innings of unbelievable tempo in pressure situations.”I am certainly happy he is in our team. Once you get him and Andrew Flintoff batting together in that middle period you will certainly see some fireworks. And I don’t see any reason why he should not continue this form into Test cricket.”Pietersen’s efforts may have been in vain as England went down 1-4 in the seven-match series, but he did manage to win the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has also not ruled him out for the forthcoming Ashes series. “When an individual bats like that, you can’t ignore him,” said Fletcher. “He has to come into the equation. It is nice to have these pleasant problems; we need to sit down and weigh it all up, Australia are coming over, they are a tough side and we will have to give it a lot of thought.”Pietersen smacked 15 sixes in all making himself a strong contender to team up with Andrew Flintof and form the explosive core of the middle order. “The way he took on everyone, the South African crowd included, was impressive, he just seems to thrive on that and it is a big plus in his favour. He is a boy who likes a contest and that is very pleasing with the Australians coming along.”Pietersen, who left his South African roots at the age of 20, was delighted with his prolific run, and rated his knock of 116 as one of the best, but refused to be drawn on his chances of a Test debut against Australia. “This knock was pretty special and it would rank up there as the best hundred I have ever scored. Everyone is asking me about my desire to play Test cricket now but I do not select myself. I can only put my hand up for a place in the team by scoring some runs for my new team Hampshire.”

It didn’t take long for the battle lines to be drawn after the United Cricket Board (UCB) today announced a dramatic restructuring plan for South African domestic cricket. From the 2004-05 season, only six teams – down from the current 11 – will contest the first-class SuperSport Series and the Standard Bank limited overs competition.The six will represent professional franchises rather than provinces. The UCB’s 11 affiliates, or groups of them, may tender for a franchise from Cricket SA (Pty) Ltd, which will control the as yet undecided franchising process. The 11 affiliates will be joined by teams representing Limpopo, Mpumalanga, South Western Districts, Border-Kei (formerly Transkei) and KwaZulu-Natal Inland to contest amateur competitions.Players from the 16 amateur teams will feed into the sides operated by the six franchises.The decisions were made by the UCB general council at a meeting in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon, and before the sun set, the first salvos were fired in what promises to be a time of noisy debate in South African cricket. “Financial concerns are an important element, and we also need to formulate a strength-versus-strength system to ensure that our domestic cricket is strong to help us reach our goal of becoming the top cricketing nation in the world,” Gerald Majola, the UCB chief executive, said.Ray Jennings, who coached the unfashionable and impoverished Easterns to the first-class championship last season, was passionately opposed to the move. “It’s mind-boggling to try and understand the logic of this decision,” Jennings told Wisden CricInfo. “How do you decide who the six franchises are? Do they do it on the basis of results on the field, or is it done in the boardroom? What entitles someone to become part of South African cricket? Simply being the highest bidder? We could end up with five franchises in Gauteng, or one in Kimberley, which would have to be the worst place for it.”Jennings thought the impending changes represented the top of a slippery slope for domestic cricket. “I think this could be the start of the erosion of South African cricket,” he said. “You could find 30 or 40 first-class players giving up the game.” Jennings supported the concept of strength-versus-strength, but felt the marked departure from the status quo was ill-considered. “We’ve shown at Easterns that you can take cricketers from the bottom to the top,” he said.Newly-elected UCB president Ray Mali said the planned restructure was the crucial to the future of the game. “This is one of the most difficult and critical decisions to have been taken in South African cricket since unity in 1991, and it is one we have debated at all levels for two years,” Mali said. “We needed to make a tough business decision to ensure the survival of the game we love and to ensure that we can develop that game and pursue excellence.”We rely largely on the professional level of cricket to bring in the income we use to develop the game for all. Without restructuring that level into a stronger option, which can attract more crowds, sponsors and revenue, and which also does not drain funds, we would not be able to develop the game at all. We would barely be able to survive.”

Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge ground will have a new stand to accommodate 2,500 people in time for the NatWest one-day international between England and Sri Lanka next June.Planning permission for the development, which will cost £1.9 million, was granted last night, and work will begin at once.Notts chief executive David Collier said: “We are delighted about the outcome. The new stand will increase the seating capacity 15,400.

The BCCI has decided to invite bids for two new IPL franchises to replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the next two seasons. The owners of Super Kings and Royals had been suspended for two seasons by the Lodha panel, which had looked into corruption in the IPL.The board’s decision to invite bids for the next two years only, while Super Kings and Royals remain suspended, means that it is not looking to increase the number of franchises from eight. IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said as much when asked if the IPL will become a ten-team tournament in two years’ time, though he did not commit to it. “No, [it will be] just eight teams. That’s why the tenders will be given for only two years,” Shukla said. “Whichever bidder is interested in buying a team for two years will get it. Then we’ll see what to do, whether we should make it a 10-team tournament or what… [For now] the two bids will be invited for two years only for the two vacant slots.”The IPL title sponsorship, meanwhile, was given to Vivo Mobiles, a Chinese phone manufacturer. PepsiCo, the previous sponsor, had ended its deal with the league two years ahead of schedule. It is understood that PepsiCo held the right to transfer its five-year agreement, so the beverage giant brought in Vivo. The terms of the agreement remain the same, so the BCCI will earn Rs 78.2 crore (US$12 million approx) for each of the next two IPL editions from the new title sponsors.Among other decisions taken at Sunday’s working committee meeting in Mumbai, the BCCI also decided to hold its Annual General Meeting on November 9, and extend Nike’s deal as apparel sponsors of the Indian team. It also decided to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers to look into how the funds distributed by the board to its member state associations were being utilised. Auditing giant M/S Deloitte was hired for “Project Transformation”, the board’s initiative aimed at improving governance, and operational and financial processes – according to a statement explaining the project on the BCCI’s website.This was the first meeting chaired by the new BCCI president Shashank Manohar.The working committee also rubber-stamped the board’s decision to move the treasury office from Chennai to Mumbai, and hire M/S Gokhale & Sathe, a Mumbai-based firm, as internal auditor.The board’s statement following the meeting said it had also decided to “look at the lands offered” by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board for the further development of the National Cricket Academy, which is currently hosted within the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises in Bangalore. National Cricket Academy chairman MP Pandove, IPL chairman Shukla, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and BCCI joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhary will inspect the lands, and take a decision on the same “within one month”.

Declan Rice and Joe Hart were amongst the West Ham United players to be praised by the fans following Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

The Hammers followed their huge home victory over Southampton last weekend by picking up an extremely welcome point away to the Premier League champions on Sunday afternoon.

Rice and Hart were both excellent for the visitors, whilst Javier Hernandez was widely praised after coming off the bench to net the West Ham equaliser.

Not all of the club’s players have received kind words on social media, however, with Cheikhou Kouyate taking a lot of criticism for his performance.

The 28-year-old has scored twice and provided three assists in 27 Premier League appearances this season, which is not a bad record for a central midfielder, but his form over the last few months has been very inconsistent indeed.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction in relation to the midfielder, who is valued at £10.8m by transfermarkt.co.uk, can be seen below:

Lifting spirits: Stuart Broad was rewarded for his commitment by claiming Chaminda Vaas as his first Test wicket © Getty Images

Wicket of the day
Steve Harmison’s leaping delivery to dismiss Jehan Mubarak. It wasanother classic Harmison splice-trembler that confirmed his importance- when on form – to England’s cause. It came in the ninth over of themorning and confirmed that the good pace and rhythm that Harmison hadshowed in his first foray of the innings was no illusion. If Galleprovides any assistance for England’s quicks, he’s seems to be in themood to exploit it.Spirit-raiser of the day
Stuart Broad’s debut wicket. Before the match, Peter Moores had raisedjustifiable concerns about young Stuart’s stickability. He’s onlybowled more than 25 overs on four occasions in first-class cricket,and England are in no hurry to break their most exciting youngfast-bowling talent before he’s reached full maturity. But Broad ismade of stronger stuff than his willowy frame suggests, and in the29th over he finally got his man, as Chaminda Vaas fluffed anattempted hook and Ian Bell claimed a simple chance above his head.Shot of the day
Mahela Jayawardene had a slightly different mindset when he resumedhis innings today. He was less content to faff around and went afterthe bowling with some intent, most notably when he went down on oneknee to Monty Panesar and smeared him over midwicket for four. It wasthe most aggression he’d shown all game, but it came back to haunt himone over later – he tried the same shot, and Paul Collingwood at slippouched a steepling top-edge.Quote of the day
“C’mon Westlife, give us a ballad!” That was how Matt Prior set aboutenlivening the afternoon session, as England’s heads threatened todrop. His words were picked up on the stump microphone, although itisn’t entirely clear who was the target of his quip. A quick poll offemale teenage cricket fans, however, reveals that Broad is thelikeliest boy-bander in the current England set-up.Bowling change of the day
After bowling more than 47 overs for his five wickets in the firstinnings, Muttiah Muralitharan appealed for someone – anyone – to helpshare the spin-bowling load. And so, with scores of 0, 9 and 9 underhis belt, and a new string urgently needed for his bow, up steppedJehan Mubarak in the ninth over of England’s second innings. SanathJayasuriya he ain’t. A first-ball long-hop and three full-tosseslater, he was sent to graze in the outfield, as Murali was coaxed intothe attack in his place.Cheer of the day
Cricket is a perverse sport – you pay good money to go and watch yourteam, and as often as not – if you’re an England supporter – you’rejust as happy to see no cricket at all. “It’s so dark, it’sunbelievable,” chanted the Barmy Army, as the light began to fade, andsure enough, one over later, Aleem Dar whipped the bails off. Thenoise from the stands was louder than for any of England’s wickets,and as for Aleem, his efforts earned the ultimate accolade: “Aleem’sin the Army,” chanted the Barmies.

Following the bomb blast in Colombo the South African team refused to stir out of their heavily guarded team hotel before eventually deciding to abandon the tri-series © Getty Images

South Africa are likely to visit Sri Lanka later this year to make up for abandoning the tri-series (Unitech Cup) with India and Sri Lanka in August last year. South Africa decided not to go ahead with the Unitech Cup after a bomb went off next to their hotel in Colombo shortly before their match against Sri Lanka.Jayantha Dharmadasa, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president, said he had spoken to Gerald Majola, the South African Cricket president, and that South Africa were willing to come and play in Sri Lanka. “Maybe some of the senior players may not come,” said Dharmadasa. “Upto now the signs are good.”SLC sources said that if South Africa fails to fulfill their obligations to Sri Lanka during the course of the year they will face fines by the ICC amounting to US$ 150,000 per match. South Africa were due to play a minimum of four matches (five if they qualified for the final) in the cancelled tri-series.If worse comes to the worst South Africa may even opt to play the series with Sri Lanka at a neutral venue probably Abu Dhabi or Sharjah. Dharmadasa said that India has given their approval to come to Sri Lanka in June and play in the cancelled tri-series after they host the Afro-Asia Cup in Chennai from June 6 to 10.”It all depends whether South Africa is also free at that time. Whether we will play a tri-series or a bi-series depends on the availability of both teams,” said Dharmadasa “Otherwise it will be two separate series.” He also did not rule out a tri-series with India and Pakistan.Sri Lanka are set to tour India for a four-match one-day series from February 10 to 17.

Scorecard

Morne van Wyk’a 86 set Eagles up for a convincing win © Cricinfo Ltd

The Eagles have reached back-to-back Standard Bank Cup finals with an exciting 34-run semi-final win at the Wanderers against a game Lions team who were bowled out for 229 in 42.2 overs.An 85-run partnership between Morne van Wyk and Ryan Bailey allowed the Eagles to post a good total of 263 for 6 in their 45 overs after being asked to bat first. The innings had started slowly on a good hard Wanderers pitch with Loots Bosman speeding things up with a quick 40before being bowled after facing 39 balls. The big partnership ended when van Wyk was well caught by Stephen Cook on the third man boundary for 86 and Bailey was cut short by a close run out. With a good platform set, Roger Telemachus pulled out the long handle hitting 31 off 15 balls and Dillon du Preez scored 13 off six balls as the Eagles scored 67 runs off the final six overs.The Lions innings stuttered along in bursts that slowly but surely put themselves further behind the required rate. Adam Bacher was first to go after scoring 48 in a 76-run opening partnership with Cook. Cook, the top run scorer in the competition, had just started to accelerate theinnings when he mistimed to mid-off for 71. Werner Coetsee tried to play one too many reverse sweeps to be bowled for 15. Vaughn van Jaarsveld was run out in a bizarre way with Telemachus, standing in front of the wickets, missing a return from the deep that deflected into the stumps to leave van Jaarsveld well short for 22. Dumisa Makalima had to take risks but was caught for nine while Friedel de Wet gave the home supporters some hope striking two fours before being bowled for 11 by Ryan McLaren giving him career best figures of 4 for 43.In the end the Lions allowed themselves to fall too far behind in the middle of the innings and paid the price with a loss in a season that promised such a lot.

Geraint Jones – back in the runs© Getty Images

Geraint Jones admitted that England would be sleeping easily after all but securing their first series win in South Africa for 40 years. But, he added, they would be going flat out on the final day of the series, in a bid to secure a 3-1 scoreline.”We are fairly safe,” said Jones, whose hard-hitting 50 helped secure a first-innings lead of 112. “We have a good lead, they are a couple down already, and so we can have a good sleep and go at them hard in the morning. The first hour tomorrow will be crucial to how the match pans out.”We’ve gone a heck of a way towards securing the series,” said Jones. “It’s going to take a heck of a knock from one of their players, because realistically there are going to want a lead of 250 and two sessions to bowl us out. That’ll take some special batting.”To say you have won three Tests out of a five-match series is much better than two,” reflected Jones. “We came into this Test looking to do that and now we are in a position to do that. All it will take is just one more big effort from all the boys.”There was never any prospect of an England declaration, according to Jones. “Vaughany just said to us `keep batting’. We were looking for as many runs as possible, so we were able to keep playing naturally. From the runs side of things I have not got as many as I would have liked, so it was good to respond. It was the best I’ve batted for a while.”England had been in some slight peril at 114 for 4 overnight, but Graham Thorpe and Andrew Flintoff soon allayed those fears with a 141-run stand for the fifth wicket. “Getting through that first session was vital,” admitted Jones, “so for Freddie and Thorpey to go through undefeated was a great boost for us. That helped me a little bit, too, because I knew I had to score some runs. But I played positively under some personal pressure, which is something I enjoy.””They are going to be mindful that we bowled them out in two sessions at the Wanderers,” added Jones. “And they are still not past our total yet, so that is their first target – to get past with as few wickets down as possible. We didn’t really know what happened when Andrew Hall came out [at No. 3]. We thought he was going to throw the bat at everything, but he played quite a reserved innings.”Another ace up England’s sleeve is Steve Harmison, who has yet to make his appearance in the attack in this innings. “He’s obviously struggling a bit with his calf,” said Jones, “and Freddie probably put his hand up to bowl because Harmy’s been sitting around all day and it’s hard to go out there. But it’s a good option. Freddie’s batted well and is on a high, so to knock over a couple tonight was a good start.”

Glamorgan lost a dramatic floodlit National League match against Worcestershire at New Roadby 3 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method after being set a revised target of 126 to win in18 overs. Steady rain throughout the afternoon, meant that the start was delayed until 7.15pm,with the match being initially reduced to a 23 overs a sidecontest.Robert Croft then won an important toss, and elected to bowl first witha side showing one change from the team on Sunday, with Owen Parkin replacing DeanCosker. It was Parkin who opened the bowling with Michael Kasprowicz, and the Worcestershireopeners Anurag Singh and Vikram Solanki got their side off to a rapid start, striking8 boundaries in the first 27 balls.But Kasprowicz, bowling from the Diglis End, then took 3 wickets in five balls withoutconceeding a run, as Solanki was caught at slip by Michael Powell, before Graeme Hick fendedoff his second ball into the hands of Jonathan Hughes in the gully. Then in hisnext over Andrew Hall was also caught in the gully, this time by Jimmy Maher, as Worcestershireslumped from 36-0 to 40-3.Worcestershire captain Ben Smith made his intentions clear right from the outset, twicecutting Alex Wharf, who had replaced Kasprowicz at the Diglis End, over the pointboundary for six, but Adrian Dale then replaced Wharf and immediately deceived Anurag Singhinto chipping the ball into Powell`s hands at short mid-wicket with the score on 69-4.Smith and David Leatherdale had added a further fifteen runs when a further rain interuptiontook place, and the game was further reduced to an 18 overs contest. Aftera thirty minute delay, the Worcestershire batsmen came back out to face a further 15 balls.Leatherdale was dismissed from the first delivery, but Smith and Gareth Batty added 32 runsas Worcestershire finished on 117-5 from their 18 overs.After the recalculations had been done, Glamorgan`s target was 126, but they made a poor startlosing Robert Croft to the second ball of the innings. Jimmy Maher and Matthew Maynard thenadded 38 before Maher was caught and bowled by Mason, but Maynard kept Glamorgan in the huntstriking six crisp boundaries before chipping Mason to Kabir Ali at mid-on.Worcestershire came back into the match as Jonathan Hughes departed for 1, but Michael Powelland Adrian Dale put Glamorgan back in front, adding 24 in three and a half overs before the playersleft the field as the steady drizzle turned into heavy rain with 13.3 overs having been bowled.At the time, Glamorgan were narrowly ahead under the Duckworth-Lewis method, but the stoppageproved to a very brief one, and the players returned. With the game still on a knife-edge,Dale and Powell added a further 13 runs, before Powell was bowled by Leatherdale, and then MarkWallace was run-out.Dale then top-edged the next ball from Kabir Ali into his face, and with blood pouring from a cut, Dale wasforced to retire hurt, with Glamorgan still needing 15 from the last 10 balls. Wharf struck his firstball for four to briefly raise Welsh hopes, but only 1 run was added from the next three balls toleave Glamorgan needing 10 from the final over from Leatherdale.Wharf scored 3 from the first couple of balls, before Kasprowicz was bowled by the third ball.David Harrison then scrambled 3 from the next two deliveries, leaving Wharf to score 4 from the final ballto win the game. However, the burly Yorkshireman could not make contact with Leatherdale`s last delivery,and Worcestershire had won a dramatic game by 3 runs.