South African opener Neil Mckenzie, who hammered a century against India in the first cricket Test, is down with flu, South African team management said on Friday.
South Africa have appointed former player Neil McKenzie as batting coach until the end of next month's World Twenty20 in India. McKenzie, 40, retired as a player last month and has been roped in to help South African batting line-up that has looked fragile recently. He will work with the team in home Twenty20 series against England and Australia, as well as the World Twenty20 that starts on March 8. "It's been something that we have been trying to do for a long time," South Africa head coach Russell Domingo told reporters on Wednesday. "We have explored a few options and finally one guy has committed to us, we are ecstatic that Neil will be joining us. "He will work with us until the end of the World Cup. Things will be assessed from there, it's the end of the cricket season, and we will look at things going forward."
Vincent Barnes has been roped in as high performance manager and bowling lead coach' while former assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa was appointed as the South Africa A and National Academy lead coach.
Graeme Smith (223 not out) and Neil McKenzie (169 not out) put on a record opening stand as South Africa took command of the second cricket Test against Bangladesh on the opening day itself, finishing on 405 without loss at close.
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie surpassed 413 to set a world record for the opening wicket partnership.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians started their campaign on a disappointing note, losing to Lions by eight wickets, in their opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 in Johannesburg on Sunday.
'But I can't say regret. I can say that if I had made my comeback earlier, 3-4 years ago or two years ago, then I could have played more matches and performed better.'
Maxwell fell for a first-ball duck against Chennai Super Kings while a return to Chinnaswamy Stadium, a favourite hunting place of his, too did not offer any respite.
Back-to-back wins over two star-studded Indian Premier League teams -- Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings -- have made the Highveld Lions a force to reckon with in the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament, feels senior batsman Neil McKenzie.
South Africa will be looking to add another 100-150 runs on Thursday to push for a possible win in the first cricket Test against India here, opening batsman Neil McKenzie said.
South Africa rode on twin half centuries by Neil McKenzie and JP Duminy and some late fireworks by Albie Morkel to edge past Australia by three wickets in the opening one-dayer of the five match cricket series in Melbourne on Friday.
India were bowled out for 627 before South Africa replied with a solid 131 for one in their second innings to take a 44-run lead, on Day 4 of the first Test.
The Lions team for the Champions League T20, which kicks-off in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday, September 10.
Neil McKenzie was unbeaten on a fluent 155 as the first Test between India and South Africa at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai ended in a dull draw on Sunday.
Neil McKenzie scored 94 and Hashim Amla was unbeaten on 85 as South Africa amassed 304 for 4 by the end of the first day in the first Test against India. India must be grateful to spinners Harbhajan (2 for 92) and Anil Kumble (2 for 61) for helping them fightback.
The Board, however, did not clarify the reason behind granting leave to the veteran cricketer.
Bangladesh are expecting that batting coach Neil McKenzie will help them decode the Indian spinners.
Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh said they will need to play "better cricket" and felt the defending champions were 20 runs short after losing their opening match in the Champions League Twenty20 on Sunday.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff was recalled to the national team on Monday after England took only three South African wickets on the last two days of the first Test at Lord's. Former captain Flintoff, 30, who has not played Test cricket since January last year, is the only the change to an England 12 named shortly after a sixth successive Test draw.
Jaffer and Sehwag on Friday registered their first double century partnership for the first wicket - their third 100-plus in Tests.
South Africa will pin much of their batting hopes on a new opening pair in the third and final Test against Australia which starts on Thursday. Imraan Khan has been brought in for his debut and opens with the recalled Ashwell Prince, who normally operates in the middle-order. They come in for captain Graeme Smith (broken finger) and Neil McKenzie (dropped).
Rookie batsman Imraan Khan joined Hashim Amla as the second Indian-Origin player in the South African team which will be without regular skipper Graeme Smith in the third and final Test against Australia starting March 19 in Cape Town.
Ashwell Prince has been recalled to replace the injured Graeme Smith as South Africa captain for the third Test against Australia where he will open the batting alongside debutant Imraan Khan.
South Africa will be without their injured captain Graeme Smith in the two Twenty20 and five ODI matches against Australia and Johan Botha would lead the side in his absence, coach Micky Arthur said in Sydney on Thursday.
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.
South Africa struggled to handle Australia's seam attack on a tricky Wanderers pitch, limping to 85 for three at the close of the second day of the first Test Friday.
Ricky Ponting's bold declaration on Tuesday injected drama into the third and final Test in Sydney which seems headed for a nail-biting finish with South Africa needing 314 runs on a tricky fifth day track to complete a rare 3-0 whitewash. Set a daunting target of 376 runs, South Africa lost makeshift opener Morne Morkel for a second ball duck before reaching 62 for one at stumps on day four.
Mushfiqur Rahim rescued Bangladesh on the first day of the second and final Test against South Africa on Wednesday.
Kevin Pietersen celebrated his first innings as England captain with a century, leading the hosts to a 122-run first-innings lead over South Africa on the second day of the fourth test at The Oval on Friday. South Africa, bowled out for 194 in the first innings, were 37 for one at the close in reply to England's 316.
Statistical highlights at the end of the first Test between India and South Africa at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
The wicketkeeper-batsman will be on standby for Herschelle Gibbs.
South Africa cruised to a 153-run win over Sussex under the Hove floodlights.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has decided against taking the Bangladesh Cricket Board's offer to become its Test team's consultant citing his personal and professional commitments. Bangar was offered to coach Bangladesh batsmen in red-ball cricket eight weeks ago but he could not take up the offer as he signed a two-year contract with Star Sports in the interim.
Former skipper Graeme Smith on Friday dropped in at South Africa's training session, continuing an interesting trend of ex-captains visiting their teams with bagful of wisdom ahead of matches against India.
India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin may be back in the mix after being dropped in the first two games and South Africa batting coach Neil McKenzie feels that the tweaker would be a preferred choice against his team.
Highveld Lions' seamer Sohail Tanvir cited lack of experience as the reason for his team's defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the interesting numbers from Day 1 of the India-England Test at Leeds.
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