South Africa dismissed England for 231 on the first day of the third Test on Wednesday after further failures for captain Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood.
Ponting said that he has never been more impressed by a young cricketer than Hughes.
His side lost the battle for number one Test spot with India with their innings defeat in the second match but captain Graeme Smith said they were proud to have troubled the home side in their own backyard in the drawn series.
South Africa frustrated England's attempts to force a result on the final day of the first test at Lord's on Monday with more stubborn defence on a somnolent pitch to earn a draw. A rearguard action, which started on Saturday evening when South Africa followed on 346 runs in arrears, ended on Monday with the visitors 393 for three in their second innings.
Kallis, the nation's leading run-scorer in Tests and one-day internationals, was controversially omitted from the squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, which they exited before the semi-final stage, hosted by South Africa in September.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said batsman Kevin Pietersen would be the key player for England in their forthcoming Test and one-day series. South Africa have not won a series in England since 1965, but Smith said the hosts may have their minds on selection issues this time around.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn walked away with four major awards, including Cricketer of the Year, at Cricket South Africa's annual award ceremony. Steyn, who played for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League, won all four awards for which he was nominated. He was also named Test Cricketer of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and the SuperSport Fans' Cricketer of the Year at the ceremony in Johannesburg on Tuesday night.
South African captain Graeme Smith plans to hold off surgery for a chronic tennis elbow injury until after next month's home Test series with Australia, he said on Thursday. Smith told a news conference on his return to South Africa from Australia, where his side beat Australia in an away Test series for the first time, that he would see a surgeon on Saturday to discuss the best course of action.
Skipper Graeme Smith came out to bat with a broken hand but could not save the match for South Africa as Australia won the third and final Test in Sydney by 103 runs on Wednesday to prevent a series whitewash and retain the top spot in ICC Test rankings. Chasing an improbable 376 for victory, the South Africans, who were 62 for one overnight, folded up for 272 just 10 balls before the scheduled close of play on the final day.
Dale Steyn is set to play his first Twenty20 International since March 2019
South Africa captain Graeme Smith will be out of action for six weeks after he broke his left little finger on the second day of the third and final Test against Australia in Sydney on Sunday. Smith, who was set to miss the one-day series in Australia and fly home after the third Test to inject his own blood on his injured right elbow, was surprised by a Mitchell Johnson delivery and was struck on the knuckle on his little finger.
England were skittled for 180 on the stroke of tea, having no answer to the pace of Dale Steyn on the first day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa on Thursday.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith revealed he and coach Micky Arthur had plotted a three-year plan, the perfect execution of which led to the Proteas' first series win in Australia.
Former South African greats shied away from comparing Graeme Smith's men to the 1969-70 all-star squad but had no hesitation in acknowledging that the current side is better than the 1990s batch led by Hansie Cronje.
Kings XI Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 41 runs in the last league match of the Indian Premier League at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Wednesday.
AB de Villiers hit an unbeaten century to guide South Africa to a successful record-breaking run chase of 414 -- the second biggest run chase in Test history against Australia at the WACA in Perth on Sunday. De Villiers was unbeaten on a cracking 106 and debutant JP Duminy was not out on 50 as South Africa produced a great batting display on the fifth and final day to win the opening Test by a comfortable six-wicket margin.
Warne, Watson to play on Saturday Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi rubbished reports that Rajasthan Royals' skipper Shane Warne -- along with teammates Shane Watson and Graeme Smith is quitting the tournament due to the bomb blasts in Jaipur, saying the trio are already on their way to the Pink City to play the next match there.
Warne, Watson to play on Saturday Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi rubbished reports that Rajasthan Royals' skipper Shane Warne -- along with teammates Shane Watson and Graeme Smith is quitting the tournament due to the bomb blasts in Jaipur, saying the trio are already on their way to the Pink City to play the next match there.
Going by the recent track record, Australia and South Africa have pulled out of tours in the sub-continent due to terror threats.
Following the global outrage against racism, a lot of former and current players have opened up on the issue.
Captain Shane Warne hit the fourth and fifth ball of the final over for two huge sixes to ensure Rajasthan Royals a three-wicket win over the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League match at Hyderabad on Thursday.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith said his side was vastly improved since they last toured Australia and are ready to put the world's top side under pressure in their three-Test series starting next month.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn led South Africa to victory by an innings and 129 runs on the fourth day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The visitors, following on, resumed on 67 for three and South Africa needed only 27.3 overs to bowl them out for 159.
Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla hit unbeaten centuries as South Africa punished Bangladesh's bowling attack on the first day of the first Test in Bloemfontein on Wednesday. South Africa ended the day, cut short by nine overs by nearly an hour of rain and bad light, on 299 for one with Smith on 138 and Amla on 103.
Cricket South Africa has instructed its players to return home after the India Test series to play the semi-finals and final of the Standard Bank Pro20 tournament before competing in the IPL.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith, buoyed by his side's thumping win at Motera a few days back, is unperturbed about what the Green Park pitch hold in store for his team in the final Test against India, beginning Friday.
Hashim Amla proved his worth as a limited-overs opening batsman when his century guided South Africa to a series-clinching 128-run victory over Bangladesh on Sunday. Amla hit 140 off 135 balls -- his maiden ODI century -- to lead South Africa, who were sent in to bat, to 358 for four.
Sachin Tendulkar held on to his second spot, while his one-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni occupies the 10th spot in the ICC One-Day Internationals rankings issued on Monday. The master batsman, who jumped to second spot after his scintillating performance in the tri-series in Australia last month, has 777 rating points, 15 behind South African captain Graeme Smith.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith was fined 20 per cent while his teammates were docked 10 per cent match fees after the visitors were found guilty of slow over-rate in their first Test match against India.
Following are the statistical highlights of day one of the first Test between India and South Africa in Chennai on Wednesday.
With the world's top one-day batsman -- Graeme Smith -- leading them, the South Africans are all set to "thump" India in the upcoming three-match Test series, declared Cricket South Africa chief Gerald Majola. Lauding the in-form Smith for guiding the team to the top of the ICC ODI rankings, Majola said the South Africans will be a tough proposition for the home side.
1178 - Virender Sehwag's run-aggregate in Test matches in the year 2008 @ 65.44. He is now just one short of equalling Graeme Smith's record tally in this year.
A prolific series in Bangladesh allowed South African captain Graeme Smith to dethrone Sachin Tendulkar from the top spot in the ICC one-day batting rankings. An aggregate of 199 runs for the left-hander not only won him the Player of the Series award but also earned him 39 ratings points which were enough for him to leapfrog Tendulkar as well as Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
Captain Graeme Smith hit an unbeaten half century as South Africa beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the third and final one-day international on Friday, to sweep the series 3-0.
Left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, who took career-best figures of five for 33 in South Africa's innings victory over Bangladesh in the second Test, retained his place in the squad which has Ashwell Prince as Graeme Smith's deputy.
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie surpassed 413 to set a world record for the opening wicket partnership.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith is proud of his team's achievements this season despite being outplayed by England in the one-day series. "In terms of the team, we've realised that we've lost some key players in our one-day setup," Smith, who was forced out of the last three one-dayers through injury, told a news conference in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Jacques Kallis will take over from the injured Graeme Smith as South Africa captain for the third one-day international against England, coach Mickey Arthur said on Thursday. South Africa need to win Friday's match at the Oval to keep the series alive after being thrashed by 10 wickets in the second ODI at Nottingham on Tuesday but Smith will be absent due to a persistent elbow problem.
India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni can inch closer to the top spot of ICC batting rankings if he continues his good form of the Asia Cup in the five-match series against Sri Lanka starting on Monday. Dhoni, who was on top of the batting list for a week in April 2006, is 19 points adrift of table topper South African Graeme Smith in the latest ICC ODI batting list with 773 rating points.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur will keep their jobs despite the disappointing show at the World Cup.
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