AMLA IN LINE FOR INTERNATIONAL AWARD

South African cricketer of the year, Hashim Amla has been shortlisted amongst four nominees to win the coveted ICC Cricketer of the Year Award to be held in Bangaluru, India, on October 6.

The other nominees for the Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket of the Year trophy are the India duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag and England’s Graeme Swann.

Amla meanwhile has been a benchmark of consistency over the last 14 months, scoring 923 runs an average of 65.92 in nine Tests against England, India and West Indies. His match-winning 253 not out against India in the first test in Nagpur on February 7, 2010 was also the 7^th highest by a South African as well as the highest by a South African against India. His exploits have subsequently earned him a nomination for Test Player of the Year where he is up against Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn, Tendulkar and Sehwag.

AB de Villiers who recently rocketed to the top of the ODI batting rankings has been nominated for the ODI cricketer of the year award alongside Tendulkar, Ryan Harris and Shane Watson of Australia.

Another Protea, Ryan McLaren has been nominated for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year following his and South Africa's first ever five-wicket haul at the T20 World Cup in Barbados.

The nominees:

Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Graeme Swann (Eng), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind).

Test Player of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Dale Steyn (SA), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind).

ODI Player of the Year: AB de Villiers (SA), Ryan Harris (Aus), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), Shane Watson (Aus).

Emerging Player: Umar Akmal (Pak), Steven Finn (Eng), Angelo Matthews (SL), Tim Paine (Aus).

Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Ryan McLaren (SA), Michael Hussey (Aus), Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Brendon McCullum (NZ).

THE BATTLE OF FATIGUE AWAITES SUPER RUGBY TEAMS

The new look Super Rugby campaign is certainly set to receive mixed reviews following an official launch by SANZAR in Sydney on September 13.

The Southern Hemispheres premier franchise competition has received a brand (name and logo) makeover and the addition of the Melbourne Rebels from Australia has restored parity as the three competing nations will be represented with five teams each in 2011.

The new look format however poses the biggest concern to South African fans as the competition is five weeks longer. Each side will have to endure 16 matches in a regular season as opposed to 13 matches played in 2010. This meaning that the amount of matches including knockouts has increased by 33%.

The 15 teams will play out of national based conferences (leagues). The five South African teams will contest one conference, the five New Zealand will contest a second conference and five Australian teams will compete in their own conference as well.

Each side will play the other 4 teams in their local conference, home and away (eight local derbies). They will also play four of the five teams in the other conferences (another eight matches).

The top placed side in each conference will automatically reach the six-team finals series. The other three positions will be filled by the wild card entrants who finished with the most points without winning a conference. Therefore not necessarily will the second placed team in each conference make into the finals series,which will further increase the length of the season.

Kick-off is February 18, 2011.

PIETERSON LEADS REVIVED ENGLAND TO WORLD CUP GLORY

Published May 18, 2010

Kevin Pieterson (MBE), 30, may have been born South African but his loyalty now lies with England. There are “Three Lions” on the England shirt and in Pieterson’s case there are three more on his upper arm, which define his dedication to his new allegiance. Just like these fierce predators of the bush, Pieterson too reigns superior in his cricket domain.

In recent years his charismatic hunger for success has driven him to become England's premier batsmen and the icon his birth country may look back one day and wish that they had not allowed him to depart. Having departed due to his displeasure with quota system’s in South Africa, Pieterson under his mothers eligibility, served a qualifying period of four years before being called up to make his One Day International (ODI) debut against Zimbabwe in 2004. Since his inception, the tall right hand batsman became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in ODI’s and was the quickest in terms of time to 5,000 Test runs.
 

A shameless demeanor and devastating touch has made him arguably the world’s most destructive cricketer, exploiting most bowling attacks around the world. Pieterson is known for his rapid scoring ability as demonstrated once again during the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies. Pieterson had returned from injury for the tournament, which started on April 30 and was quickly back to his prolific best, earning the status, “the King of the Carribean”. In the group stages he scored 33 runs as England eased past the group matches against West Indies and Ireland, progressing into the Super 8’s. In the Super 8’s Pieterson guided England to a 6 wicket against Pakistan. He was unbeaten on 73 from 52 balls.
 

In the following Super 8’s match against birth country, South Africa, Pietersen scored an aggressive 53 runs from 33 balls, contributing to a 94 run partnership with Craig Kieswetter and a 39 run victory for England. Following the match Pieterson dashed across the Atlantic to attend the birth of his son, Dylan Pieterson. He did however return in time to smash an unbeaten 42 off 26 balls, guiding England passed Sri Lanka in the semi-finals and into their first ICC tournament final since the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy.

In only three weeks, Pieterson had inspired a revolution in the England camp. His dynamic batting style had lead to the other players in the team to become more assertive at the crease. His rampant stature and attacking freedom had transcended into the other 10 players on the field. In the final against old foes Australia, he scored 47 runs from 31 balls. His knock was vital as England thrashed Australia by seven wickets, earning England a maiden ICC title in Barbados on May 16.

In the tournament in the Caribbean, Pieterson batted six innings, scoring a total of 248 runs at an average of 62. His strike rate of 137.77 had revived a once depleted looking batting line-up into world champions. As a result, Kevin Pieterson was named the player of the 2010 ICC World Twenty 20 and had changed the way cricket was viewed in England.