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The proposed Bangladesh tour of Pakistan, while agreed to in principle by the two countries’ boards, is being threatened by logistical problems stemming from a lack of coordination at the political level. The PCB has delayed sending its security plan to the ICC because issues between the federal government and the state government of Punjab. Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, urged the Pakistan government to play its role in moving quickly for the tour to fall into place, “for the sake of national interest.”Pakistan and Bangladesh, after reaching a consensus on the short tour, had informed the ICC earlier this week that they will play one ODI and one Twenty20 International at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The matches are scheduled for April 29 and 30.Ashraf returned to Pakistan on Tuesday night after attending the ICC board meeting in Dubai, calling for an immediate press conference to announce the Bangladesh visit. He did not however elaborate on any substantial plan ahead for Pakistan to host a foreign team for the first time in three years. Every question about the uncertainty surrounding the Bangladesh tour was responded to with a confident reply that all matters would be sorted out in time.Meanwhile, at a press conference at the National Cricket Academy, the Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, welcomed the Bangladesh tour but was himself not certain of the security arrangements in place. “Bangladesh are our brothers and I welcome them to come and play here in Pakistan,” Sharif told reporters in Lahore. “But the federal [government] is not coordinating with us.”The PCB, whose headquarters are housed in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the Punjab Government on April 16 regarding security arrangements and plans and was still awaiting a reply from the provincial government. “We had dispatched them the letter for the plan (on April 16) that they are yet to respond to, but we will send the plan to the ICC shortly,” Ashraf said. “The ICC actually was asking us to hand them the plan during the [board] meeting but we didn’t carry it. It’s our mistake that it is delayed for some reason but it will be sorted out soon.”Ashraf said that ICC has already promised to send their officials and the security plan that was sought by the ICC was merely a formality. “ICC won’t be sending any of its delegation to assess security. They sought the security plan which we will dispatch to them shortly but that isn’t a big issue for ICC.”ESPNcricinfo understands, though, that the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, after receiving the plan from the PCB, may consider outsourcing a company for an independent security assessment of the measures in place for the short tour by Bangladesh.The series broadcasters, Ten Sports, also had their qualms. “They earlier showed reservation about the series being very short,” Ashraf said, “but we told them this is what we have planned and that they have to cover it.”The prospect of an end to Pakistan’s three-year drought of international cricket, Ashraf said, counted as a big victory. “Cricket is a passion in Pakistan and convincing Bangladesh to tour is a victory for all of us,” he said. “The tour will not only benefit the PCB. The whole economy of the country is linked, so it’s about the country not about the federal and Punjab government. I think all should play their role for the one national interest.”The three-day tour, Ashraf said, “will break the ice” and he was also confident of the resumption of Indo-Pak cricket. “The breakthrough achieved during President Asif Ali Zardari’s tour to India will also help in the revival of Indo-Pak cricket.”Ashraf said the situation had changed considerably since 2009. “I thank the ICC Board for the way they appreciated the revival of cricket and approved of it. The situation is not like it was in 2009. Since cricket was suspended in Pakistan our grounds were left deserted but things have improved and I hope more teams will come after the Bangladesh team’s tour.”Edited by Siddarth Ravindran

CSA’s board is set for an overhaul after the current administration agreed to accept all the recommendations of the Nicholson Committee in principal. The board appointed a committee of eight people, four of them independent, at their quarterly meeting on March 30 to “lead discussions regarding the restructure”. They also agreed to approach the Chairperson of the Bar Council to appoint an advocate to preside over suspended chief executive Gerald Majola’s disciplinary hearing.The Nicholson commission was set up by sports minister Fikile Mbalula to investigate CSA’s handling of the bonus scandal, which centred on an amount of R4.7 million (US$611,000) paid to 40 staff, including Majola, in unauthorised bonuses after the 2009 IPL. In addition to dealing with the Majola matter, Nicholson recommended that the current structure of 24 board members be sliced in half and only 12 people sit on the board. Nicholson also suggested that three-quarters of the board, nine members, be independent directors, for better governance.Throughout the almost 20-month scandal, CSA have said they are committed to improving their governance but this is the first step in that direction. CSA Acting President Willie Basson called the restructure a “matter of urgency” and said he hoped the plans for the new board will be put in place by the next annual meeting in September. “The key approach has been to make principled decision with a sense of urgency and at the same time acting in the best interests of CSA,” Basson said.Basson is one of four board representatives on the committee. The other three are Archie Pretorius, Chris Nenzani, president of Border cricket president and Vuyo Ntswahlana, president of Eastern Province. The four independent members have all been involved in cricket over their careers: former convenor of selectors Rushdie Magiet; Shawn Christiansen, a former Western Province cricketer who works for the country’s labour dispute resolution body, the CCMA; former South African team manager Alan Jordaan; and Ashwin Desai, a sociologist who has worked on CSA committees previously.The restructure has already been given the thumbs up from the South African Cricketers’ Association who said they “want the administration of the game in the best hands”.The board did not announce any date for Majola’s hearing but stressed that the issue is at the top of their priority list. Majola has been suspended for as long as it takes to conduct the disciplinary the process.

Moises Henriques, the Australian allrounder, has signed for Glamorgan. He will cover for Marcus North for the first part of the season while North recovers from injury and attends the birth of his second child.It will be Henriques’ first stint in overseas first-class cricket and provide him the chance to enhance his credentials in the longer form of the game. Henriques, 25, has a useful first-class record for New South Wales, having scored 1257 runs at 29.92 and taken 47 wickets at 31.38. He also played two ODIs for Australia in India in 2009.Moises is well known to Glamorgan’s head of elite performance, Matthew Mott, who was previously head coach of New South Wales. “I am delighted that Moises will be joining us for the first part of the season,” Mott said. “We play nearly a third of our Championship matches within the first five weeks. Given the probability of bowler friendly conditions, we opted for an all-rounder, which will provide us with some additional options as we look to start the season in a positive manner.”Mott is hoping to revive Glamorgan’s fortunes. Brought in for the start of last season after huge upheaval behind the scenes, Mott was unable to turn his new club around immediately, as they slumped to sixth in County Championship Division Two, fifth in group C of the Clydesdale Bank 40 League and seventh in the south group of the Flt20.Glamorgan, who appointed wicketkeeper Mark Wallace as captain at the end of last season, also had their plans to build forward from last season hit when Alviro Petersen decided not to return as the club’s overseas player owing to his international ambitions. He subsequently signed a deal for the early part of the season with Essex.Marcus North was brought in to replace Petersen but his absence has opened a window for Henriques. “I am thrilled to be joining Glamorgan – they are an ambitious county and I look forward to working with Matthew Mott again,” he said. “The first few weeks of the season will be hugely important for all counties and I hope to make a positive contribution for Glamorgan as they look to start the season on the front foot.”Glamorgan, who were in talks to sign Mitchell Johnson for their T20 campaign, begin their season away to Leicestershire on April 5.

The BCCI’s decision to ask Sahara to seek the “consent” of the other eight IPL franchises for fielding a fifth foreign player in their playing XI has met with an unfavourable response from the rival teams. Most of the eight squads are against stretching the rules to make allowances for the Pune Warriors, and felt that the agreement reached between the BCCI and Sahara appeared quite “short term.”The joint statement by both parties issued on Thursday after their truce has sought the approval of the franchises in two of the eight points of agreement. One was about Warriors’ request to play a fifth foreign player in their XI as a replacement for Yuvraj Singh, who is being treated for cancer and the other about being allowed to buy players outside those included in the auction. While they did not object to the latter, they objected to allowing the Warriors to play five foreign players in their playing XI – and asked why the board had put the onus on the team owners.A franchise official said, “The BCCI was keen to make the deal (with Sahara). They should have said ‘this is the rule’ or ‘this is not the rule’. By saying it is upto the other franchises it has become an emotional thing,” he said. He said it was not the most pleasant of situations and had put “the other teams in a bind.” The change in the decision regarding the inclusion of five foreign players was explained in the statement as, “Notwithstanding the recent working committee decision rejecting 5 foreign players in the playing XI, in consideration of the exceptional circumstance and the non-availability of Mr. Yuvraj Singh, Sahara has offered to obtain the consent of all the franchises for the submission to the BCCI,” the statement read.The franchise official feared that even if both the BCCI and Sahara had patched up, the situation still contained several loopholes. “If you look at the points in the joint statement, in half of those issues it is mentioned BCCI needs to consider. So the sense I get is it is a short-term arrangement.” To the officials, there was absence of clarity and direction on the part of the BCCI.The board’s approach, according to another team official, had set a precedent, “To me rules are rules, something emotions can’t buy. That is why you have got a number of Indian players as back-up. What if a prominent, current Indian player breaks his finger in the first IPL game. Then what do you do. Where do you stop it?” Asked why the franchises would oppose specifically to a fifth foreigner, the coach said the experience of the previous four seasons indicated that a foreign player could be more influential than the average domestic Indian players. “Basically what you [the Warriors] are saying is we don’t have enough Indian players to match the quality of the foreigner. And that is why I am actually asking for a fifth guy,” he said.While another franchise official said that the Warriors found themselves in extraordinary circumstances, exceptions could not be made. “If five foreigners are [allowed] for them, then it should be for everybody.” An exception had already been made by allowing the Warriors to pick up international players outside the unsold auction pool.Only one prominent franchise official did not object to five foreign players in the XI. “This is in my personal capacity but if it is just for one year I don’t think it should be a problem. Especially if a team is losing out on the services of a player like Yuvraj Singh,” he said.

Brad Haddin knows precisely where he stands with the Australian team and its selectors, even though a thorough explanation has not been outlined for public consumption.ESPNcricinfo has learned Haddin spoke on Tuesday to the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, Paul Marsh, telling him he was satisfied that he knew where he stood and that the communication from the selectors had been adequate.The lack of a publicly mirrored statement from the national selector John Inverarity has left a few heads being scratched, though not within the dressing room.As he prepared to lead Australia as Michael Clarke’s stand-in, Ricky Ponting conveyed no discomfort at all about the way Inverarity and his panel have communicated with the players since they were appointed as part of the raft of team support staff changes brought in by the Argus review.Communication has been a buzz topic of the past few days, particularly after Steve Waugh then Shane Watson indicated that Haddin deserved a better explanation for his omission from the ODI team than that which had been publicly given. Inverarity had stated that Haddin was being rested for the first three matches of the series before the panel reassessed the position, but Ponting said a more concrete explanation had been delivered privately.”I think he actually has been given that [explanation], face-to-face,” Ponting said. “That’s my understanding of it all. He’s been told, his position has been rock solid all the way through. He hasn’t changed anything. What he had to say when he was left out of the first game is exactly what he’s saying now. I’ve got no idea why the communication has been the way it has been to the media but I know Brad’s stance hasn’t changed from day dot.”I think Brad’s been spot on the mark with everything he’s had to say. It’s been made pretty clear now that what Brad’s had to say at the start of the one-day series looks like it’s the way it is. He’s been unmoved in his stance on his situation. He’s got a week where hopefully he’s not answering those questions any more and he can get a really good Sheffield Shield game under his belt, score some runs, take some catches, and come out of this week a lot happier guy than he is at the moment. I think it’s all pretty clear as far as he’s concerned.”When he was appointed to the national selector role, Inverarity’s highest priority was establishing effective and mature communication with the players about where they stood at any given time. There have been very few of the player rumblings of discontent that accompanied the previous panel, chaired by Andrew Hilditch, but Inverarity has maintained a certain level of mystique by not explaining every decision in great detail to the public via the media.The public dimension to Inverarity’s role is still evolving, leading to the occasional moment of doubt about where players stood. David Warner’s elevation to the ODI vice-captaincy, for example, was not trumpeted, even though everyone within the dressing room knew exactly when and why he had been given the post. Ponting said his own communication with the panel had been strong and consistent, but added he could not speak for others.”Whatever communication I’ve had with selectors since this new panel’s been in place, to me directly, has been very good,” Ponting said. “Because I’ve been out of the loop in the last few months and not being the captain … I’m not exactly sure of the way the communication’s been between players on the outside or players coming in or out. I really can’t answer that question.”Inverarity’s appointment, alongside those of the other selectors Rod Marsh, Andy Bichel and the coach/selector Mickey Arthur, was hastened by the Argus review’s list of recommendations. Ponting said those changes had helped freshen a set-up that had become stale, providing something of a catalyst for the success that has followed.”I just think a whole freshening of everything has probably been the major reason that things have turned around the way they have,” Ponting said. “It’s just been a really refreshing feel I guess right through cricket in Australia, not just around the national team either but everything. All the issues that were brought up in the Argus review have been been addressed and some of the appointments that have been made, it certainly looks like we’ve got cricket in Australia heading in the right direction.”To be in and around the team in the last few months has been great fun, been very enjoyable. We’ve won some games of cricket and when you win games of cricket obviously the atmosphere around everything picks up. Culture in a team is all about winning games and when you start winning games it’s amazing what it does for the culture of the team. I think everyone that you would have spoken to throughout this year has enjoyed their cricket.”When you’ve got guys that are enjoying their cricket it’s amazing what guys can achieve. That’s been our whole focus, hard work, enjoyment, doing whatever you can to win and if you’re doing that then everything else tends to look after itself. I think everything that’s happened in the last six months has been ultra-positive for Australian cricket. Every now and then you’ve got to take stock and have a look at where you’re going, what areas need a lot of attention. There’s no doubt throughout Australian cricket there were a lot of areas that needed attention and I think most of those have been addressed.”

Shaun Marsh has been “tentative” in his first two Test appearances at home and needs to rediscover the decisive footwork and wise judgement of which balls to leave that made him look so accomplished overseas, Australia’s head coach Mickey Arthur has said.During his first three Tests in Sri Lanka and South Africa, Marsh appeared the most organised of Australia’s batsmen, but convalescence due to a back problem and lack of first-class match preparation on recovery left him hesitant during three brief innings so far against India.Each time Marsh’s feet have not quite reached the place they needed to be to cover the line, length and movement of the bowling, and Arthur said that he and the batting coach Justin Langer would be putting “plenty of work” into Marsh ahead of the Perth match.”The thing with Shaun is, when he’s playing well, he leaves very well,” Arthur said. “And I’m not talking behind his back because these are conversations we’ve had with him. He’s probably been a little tentative, and that’s natural when you come back into international cricket [after injury].”It only takes one shot, one innings, batting for 25 minutes, getting through those first 20 balls that we are so pedantic about in our dressing-room for him to rediscover that touch and form, and get that confidence back. I’m not worried. Shaun is a fantastic player who is going to score a lot of runs for Australia.”In contrast to the cachet Michael Clarke has won as captain and batsman with his 329 not out in Sydney, Marsh’s innings of 0, 3 and 0 in front of his home audience has caused many to doubt his capability in the No. 3 spot. His innings in Sri Lanka were not seen by nearly as many observers, and do not carry quite the same weight with the public or even the current selection panel who, aside from Clarke, were not in place at that time.However Arthur said Marsh was a man who had been earmarked for a lengthy spell in the Australian top order, and would be persevered with.

Arthur’s eye view of Clarke

As South Africa’s coach, Mickey Arthur searched for weaknesses in Michael Clarke. Having watched Clarke enrapture the SCG with his 329 not out, Arthur said the best indicator of whether or not Australia’s captain is at his best can be seen in how late he plays the ball.
“He worked extremely hard, especially in the lead-up to the Melbourne Test match, to technically get everything working again,” Arthur said. “I think we saw the signs of all the work he put in escalated in this [SCG] Test. When Michael Clarke’s hitting the ball late and hitting the ball under his eyes, he’s playing exceptionally well.
“I think there were so many graphics of him during this innings [that show he] hits the ball under his eyes and hits the ball late, which was fantastic. The minute he pokes out in front of his front pad, that’s when he gets himself into a little bit of trouble. He’s not doing that now, he looks the complete package, and he’s also the complete captaincy package as well. Truly, he’s inspirational within the dressing-room.”

“We’ve got to back that we’ve put our faith in, the right personnel,” Arthur said. “Shaun’s certainly a guy that we have got a lot of faith in. He’s shown when he’s played that he can do exceptionally well. He has been a little out of touch but form’s temporary, class is permanent and Shaun certainly has a lot of class and is one that is definitely worth persevering with.”We’re comfortable that we’ve got the best top six available to us right at the minute. We’ll get a lot more work into that top six before Perth.”Less certain of his place is Shane Watson, who was not considered for Perth due to his continuing leg muscle problems, and may yet miss the Adelaide Test also. Arthur said Watson needed more time to get his body right, and to have confidence in its ability to do the job.”He’s not yet fit … we feel we’ve got to get a little bit more time into Shane. Hopefully it’s Adelaide, maybe it’s the one-day series. We’ll just have to see how he progresses,” Arthur said. “We like to think we’ve got eight real quality batters at the moment. Eight doesn’t go into six, so we’re always going to have two missing out. We feel we’re developing a core, we’re developing depth in each department, which is really exciting.”That depth extends to Australia’s bowling options, which has allowed Ryan Harris to prepare carefully for a recall in Perth. Arthur said the extra week of training during the Sydney Test had been valuable for Harris, and gave the selectors extra assurance about choosing him.”The value [of Harris’ extended preparation] is we’ve got a proven Test quick bowler waiting in the wings, ready to go,” Arthur said. “We’ve put a lot of work into Ryan over the last two weeks. He was close to getting a game here [in Sydney]. We felt he hadn’t had enough work. We’ve put that work into him and we’re satisfied that, if selected, he’s ready to go in Perth.”

Somerset have lined up Vernon Philander, the South Africa pace bowler, as an overseas player for the first two months of next season.The deal is subject to Philander not being involved with the IPL, which which overlaps the start of the county campaign. If he is available he will add depth to Somerset’s pace attack for the first half of the County Championship season before South Africa’s series against England begins.Philander burst onto the Test scene in November when he took 5 for 15 on debut against Australia at Cape Town and ended with the Man-of-the-Series award.”Watching Vernon bowl in Cape Town against Australia recently I was immediately impressed by his ability and character in an especially demanding debut on his home ground,” Brian Rose, Somerset’s director of cricket, told the club website. “His all-round ability will be a great asset in our side and I’m sure our supporters will be engaged by his infectious personality.”Should Philander join he would help cover for the loss of Charl Willoughby, the left-arm seamer, who departed Somerset after the 2011 season and has joined Essex.

Scorecard
Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, made his second consecutive century against Mumbai (file photo)•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It was a significant day for Hrishikesh Kanitkar, formerly Maharashtra’s second-best batsman of all time and now a professional for Rajasthan. He scored his 31st first-class century today, 26 of which have come in Ranji Trophy cricket, matching the tally of Maharashtra legend Surendra Bhave. There was more to it, though.When Kanitkar started playing first-class cricket for Maharashtra, his side was the kid brother to a side called Bombay. Now that he has moved on to Rajasthan, the side most often his team’s nemesis is called Mumbai. Until he joined Rajasthan, Kanitkar averaged 17.3 against Mumbai and Bombay combined. Last year he broke through, scoring his first century against them and helping Rajasthan knock defending champions Mumbai out of the Ranji Trophy in the quarter-finals. Rajasthan would then go on to be crowned champions for the first time in their history.With some talk of revenge in the air as Mumbai, the shoe now on the other foot, faced the defending champions at home, Kanitkar slammed his second century against them in as many innings to take Rajasthan to a position from where they can think of a first-innings lead.Kanitkar came in after the early fall of Aakash Chopra, gave respect to the new ball, and then accelerated to take toll of tired bowlers and end the day unbeaten on 129 out of a total of 309 for 4.Rajasthan were helped by a flat pitch at the Cricket Club of India, and the overnight illness to Mumbai’s Aavishkar Salvi. They did lose Chopra in that first session, but thereafter Kanitkar had good company. He added 77 with Vinit Saxena for the second wicket, and a quick and dominating 137 for the fourth wicket with Rashmi Parida, who fell to what proved to be the last ball of the day.Kanitkar’s acceleration was acute – he reached 50 in 122 balls, and brought up the hundred off the 182nd ball he faced. He did so without any frenetic hitting but through correct shots along the ground. The only hiccup came when he could have been run out on 70, but Iqbal Abdulla threw wide from cover.Kanitkar, however, wasn’t aware of his statistical achievement. “I don’t really give a lot of importance to centuries unless they really contribute to the team cause,” he said. “You try hard every game; sometimes you get runs, sometimes you don’t. I am very happy with the way I played. I hope the result will be good for us.”Mumbai could draw heart from how they got rid of Parida in the last over the day when Dhawal Kulkarni trapped him with one that moved in. Kanitkar and Parida had exploited a tired attack and set of fielders for the last 31.5 overs. This was a flat pitch that now stands an even chance of backfiring on the hosts. A measure of how unresponsive Mumbai found the track lay in how they used as many as seven bowlers in the first session.Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai captain, said that keeping the nature of pitch in mind his side had done a fair job of containment in the first two sessions of the day, but conceded 30 or 40 too many in the final session. With the wicket of Parida, though, they have a new ball in hand and a new batsman to bowl to on the second morning. A crucial first session follows.

South Africa batsman Alviro Petersen believes he will keep his place in the national side, despite mounting pressure from Jacques Rudolph.Petersen is the man in possession of the opening berth but after Rudolph topped the SuperSport series rankings last season, started this one with a pair of half centuries for Titans against Knights and captained the South Africa A side on their trip to Zimbabwe, he has increasingly looked like usurping Petersen. Now, Petersen has issued his own statement of intent with scores of 186 and 64 for Lions against the Dolphins.”I would hope I’ve done enough,” Petersen told ESPNCricinfo at the Wanderers. “In the last eight months, I’ve played good cricket and that’s the only thing I can go on.”Since making his Test debut in February last year, where he scored a century against India at Eden Gardens, Petersen has not reached the three-figure mark again. However, in eight Tests, he has notched up three half-centuries – one each against West Indies, Pakistan and India – and has an average of 33.64.It’s his record outside of South African colours that has been noticeable. Petersen spent the South African winter captaining county side Glamorgan and was their highest run-scorer with over 1000 runs in first-class cricket. Across all formats, he scored more than 2000 runs, becoming only the sixth player to achieve that feat for the Welsh side. His authoritative performance in the first match of the South African domestic season appears to be a follow on from his run at Glamorgan.”It was a good challenge to go there in my first year and to captain a county,” he said. “There was massive pressure and I wanted to lead from the front.” Like many other South Africans, Petersen said his time in England had taught him more about cricket and he can take those lessons onto the international stage. “I learnt a lot about my game. Because there are no practice times, you have to learn in matches and I’ve learnt how to still score runs under pressure and how to still score runs when you haven’t had a net,” he said.Petersen’s stint in England coincided with Sri Lanka’s tour there and he used the opportunity to pick up tips for how to deal with them when they visit South Africa for three Tests later this year. “I looked at what sort of attacks they go with, because England and South African conditions, they are not the same but are similar in terms of the ball moving around,” he said. “I’m sure when Sri Lanka come we will have some greener wickets for them, just like England had. I’ve had a look at their strategies, how they go about things and their combinations with their bowlers and I have built up my own sort of idea about how I want to go about it.”It was on the more sporting pitches in South Africa that Petersen was criticised for not being able to push on last season against India. After a solid 77 in Centurion, he did not score more than 26 in four other innings and started to be seen as a weak link. However, Petersen was not disappointed by his efforts, given the conditions.”Our ploy was always to get green wickets against India in South Africa and that makes an opener’s job a little but hard, so myself and Graeme [Smith] had to really knuckle down hard,” he said. “He didn’t score any runs in that series either. It was hard work.” Smith scored 143 runs in the three matches, while Petersen managed 170 and the pair shared in one century partnership and two half-century stands.With similarly hostile strips to be expected this summer, Petersen is prepared to post more, if his showing at the Wanderers is anything to go by. On a green top, with the ball moving around significantly, Petersen saw off the first session with Stephen Cook and once he had steered himself to safety, cashed in. His innings showed the value of experience, something he wants to take into his international game.He is determined to continue opening with Smith and is of the view that the two form a complimentary pair, not just because of their right-left combination. “Graeme is attacking and so am I. So often you can have an attacking batter and a guy who stabilises and it doesn’t work out because you can’t put pressure on bowlers as a unit,” he said. “I think myself and Graeme do that well. We showed it against Pakistan , where we had a 150-run partnership and it brought the middle order into play so guys can play freely after that.”

Kirstie Thomson and Alison Hodgkinson have been included in the South Africa squad for the series against England in October. The 15-member squad will be captained by Cri-zelda Brits, with Trisha Chetty as deputy.Thomson returns after missing about a year’s cricket due to injury, while batsman Hodgkinson is making comeback after being dropped in 2005. Hodgkinson had last represented South Africa in an ODI against West Indies in April 2005, and was looking forward to another international stint. “It’s great to know that hard work still pays off,” Hodgkinson told . “I have trained harder than I ever have in my life to earn back my place.”Captain Brits said her team will be wary of England. “We know that as the world’s No. 1 team and they won’t be holding anything back, but I have every faith in the team that the coach and the selectors chose,” Brits said. “We are at the best that we have ever been mentally and physically, and we look forward to getting this tour started.”The series gives South Africa a chance to evaluate their progress, according to coach Yashin Ebrahim-Hassen. “This series against England would be an excellent yardstick to assess where we are at in women’s cricket,” he said. “With a bit of luck hopefully we can cross that finishing line first, failing which we will endeavour to grow as a unit.”Squad: Cri-zelda Brits (capt), Trisha Chetty (vice-capt), Shandre Fritz, Shabnim Ismail, Mignon du Preez, Kirstie Thomson, Melissa Smook, Marizaane Kapp, Dane van Niekerk, Denisha Devnarain, Masabatta Klaas, Yolandi van der Westhuizen, Alison Hodgkinson, Sunette Loubser, Chloe Tryon.