Australia cling on to first place in Tests

Australia have survived at the top of the ICC Test Championship table following its 103-run victory over South Africa in the third and final match of the series in Sydney on Wednesday.

But the pressure is still on Ricky Ponting's team as the gap at the top has been close to just five rating points following their historic 2-1 series defeat.

It is the first time South Africa have won a Test series in Australia and it sets up a fascinating return series, the first match of which begins on February 26 in Johannesburg.

Any sort of victory in that three-match series will see South Africa go top of the rankings.

As it was, victory for Graeme Smith's team in Sydney would have been enough to put them top but Aussies dug deep in the final match of the series to keep the chasing pack at bay.

With India very much in the ascendancy, there are now just eight points separating first place from third with all three teams very much in contention for the right to be called the number-one Test side in the world.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka strengthened their hold on the fourth place following their 2-0 series win in Bangladesh.

After it had been pushed very hard in the first Test in Dhaka, Mahela Jayawardena's team proved far too strong the second time around and finally ran out winners by 465 runs in Chittagong.

That win gave Sri Lanka another ratings point to put them within 10 of India and six ahead of England, which recently lost an away series 1-0 to India.

Pakistan are another three points back in sixth place while the West Indies is still just ahead of New Zealand by a fraction of a point following the recent drawn series in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

I was my own enemy last year: Brett Lee

Injured Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee has blamed himself for the current breakdown, saying he ended up being his own enemy by bowling long spells despite having no strength to carry on.

Lee, the fast bowler, bowled a massive 4500 deliveries, over 580 overs, in the year gone by. The workload not just took a toll on his form but also left him down with an ankle injury, which required a surgery -- fourth of his career.

"I'd be OK in the first spell because the adrenaline's going and you've got the brand new ball in your hand, but then I would find that I just had nothing to give later in the day," Lee recalled.

"I guess I've been behind the eight-ball since India. I didn't have the greatest of preparations there and I've probably been chasing my tail ever since. It's been a difficult year, but maybe it's a good thing to listen to your body when it's telling you to slow down," he added.

"I was blown away with the amount of overs I bowled in 2008," the 32-year-old was quoted saying in The Age on Wednesday.

Lee said he never realised that he had strained himself so much until he picked up the ankle injury during the ongoing Test series against South Africa.

"You don't really look at it as a whole when you're bowling, but when you step back and look at the stats it's obviously a lot," Lee said. "I think 2008 has been a unique year. I have certainly bowled a lot of overs. I think if you were constantly bowling 580 overs in a season and you're being asked to bowl 150 kmh, it's going to put a lot of stress on the body. It's a difficult job, but I have been asking for the overs," he added.

Lee said he has been feeling better post the surgery and hopes to be in form on return.

"This is an opportunity for me to get my health back to 100 per cent. It's only been in the last three or four days that I have started to feel normal again. I have just had no strength at all this summer," The pacer, who has taken 310 wickets in 76 Tests, said.

"The surgeon seemed pretty happy with how it all went, so that's a good start. I'm only 32 and I want to play at least another three years. There are plenty of things I would still like to accomplish in the game. I'd like to cross off 400 Test wickets," he added.

England cricket in turmoil; Pietersen, Moores quit

England cricket has been hit with yet another crisis after Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores on Wednesday resigned as captain and coach, respectively.

'Sky News' said Pietersen decided to step down after his relationship with Moores had reached the breaking point.

"...it now appears Pietersen's relationship with Moores has reached breaking point, prompting him to stand down as captain," the report said.

Other media reports said Moores too had put in his papers after last night's teleconference of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The teleconference was held by the 12-man board to discuss a solution for the much-public spat between the coach and the captain. In fact, ECB sources had been quoted by the local English media on Tuesday as saying that both Pietersen and Moores could be axed for their much-public spat.

However, the ECB has not yet confirmed the resignation of both Pietersen and Moores.

The working relationship between Pietersen and Moores broke down after the coach, as part of the selection panel, ignored former captain Michael Vaughan for the West Indies tour against Pietersen's wish.

Their equation, however, had soured much earlier as Pietersen reportedly had no professional respect for Moores, whom he considered pretty mediocre as a coach.

England and Wales Cricket Board had entrusted Managing Director Huge Morris to broker peace between the feuding duo and Pietersen himself was keen to solve the issue before leaving for the west Indies.

"This situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before wee fly off to the West Indies," Pietersen had told from South Africa where he is holidaying. He will return to England on Thursday.

With Pietersen's exit, England will have to select a third captain for the team in five months time. Andrew Strauss is the favourite to succeed Pietersen.

For the coach's job, while South African Graham Ford is tipped to take over, former England spinner Ashley Giles may be given the job as a stop-gap arrangement for the Caribbean tour.

Malik retained as Pakistan skipper

Karachi: Despite being criticised for his leadership, Shoaib Malik was retained as the national captain for an indefinite period by Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ejaz Butt.

Chief Operating Officer of the Board, Saleem Altaf, told reporters in Lahore that Butt used his powers as chairman to make the decision without seeking approval from the governing council in view of a home series against Sri Lanka.

"The Chairman has already confirmed that Malik would remain the captain for an indefinite period," he said.

Asked if the Board had sought the approval of its governing council on the issue, Altaf said six members of the council had resigned so it was no longer operational.

"The council will become active once the Chairman announces six new technocrats to the council with the approval of the authorities-concerned," he said.

It has been a big turnaround for Malik, who was appointed captain in 2007 after the World Cup in Caribbean, as he has faced constant criticism from former players including his ex-captains and other officials.

But Altaf said Malik represented a strong future and everyone including the former players in the Board, the national team coach Intikhab Alam and national selectors felt he had shown definite improvement and deserved to be given a long run.

Malik has boosted his ratings and own confidence by leading his regional and provincial teams to the national Twenty20 and one-day titles in recent months and also led Pakistan to a 3-0 sweep over Sri Lankan in Abu Dhabi in November.

Shoaib an A-lister in new PCB contracts

Karachi: Controversial fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar made the cut for the top category as the Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday awarded annual central contracts to 26 players with some surprising omissions.

Saleem Altaf, the Chief Operating Officer of the Board, said the players had been given contracts on basis of seniority and their performances in the international and domestic cricket in last one year.

Previously the contracts were awarded mainly on basis of performances.

Pacer Abdul Rauf, who performed well in the Asia Cup last year and also in domestic cricket, has been sidelined as experienced batsman Asim Kamal while others like Samiullah Niazi, a left-arm pacer, has won the favour of the selectors.

Altaf said all the senior players had been kept in Category A of the contracts after the list of players was finalised by the national selection committee.

For the first time the Board has also given contracts to two uncapped players — batsmen Azhar Ali and Umar Amin — although in the past contracts were only awarded to players who had played for Pakistan.

Altaf also said that despite the financial constraints being faced by the PCB it had not reduced the monthly retainers given to players in the new contracts.

But the Board had decided to reduce the special bonuses given to individuals and team for their performances.

"The board is facing financial crunch due to our limited international commitments last year, especially at home. So the bonuses which were given to players and the team in the previous contract have been rationalised," he said.