Today..

"Players like Daniel Vettori, Monty Panesar, Michael Clarke have come up to us in the past for tips, but strangely our own board thinks we, or a special spin clinic is not worth the effort. Strange.”

A billion dollar Board; bankrupt.

"Sporting contests on an everyday basis are decided not so much by outstanding shots as loose strokes."

A wordsmith; on a workhorse.

Hundreds of media professionals who are married to the Truth (or should be) filing over five long days “minute by minute” developments as Times Now put it, imaginary descriptions of real events they knew nothing about?

Now why does that sound eerily familiar (albeit in a different context)?

"I think it's very easy to hype up a huge game like this so much that the players become overanxious. We're trying to play it down as much as we can and just keep the guys in a really good space, because the guys all know what they have to do."

Sambit Bal previews the South Africans before tomorrow's semi final.

"Until individual performances start surprising me we've always got room for improvement. I haven't been surprised with anything so far."

Rahul Bhattacharya previews the Australians before tomorrow's semi final.

The former Indian medium pacer’s non-commital take on the status is indication enough of the fact that high-profile western Indian sides like Mumbai and Maharashtra may have shown a keen interest in buying Mhambrey out for the next season.

Mumbai angling for a bowling coach?

The Lankan skipper, who has been growing in that role through this tournament, then produced a master-stroke: he took Dilshan out of the attack after that wicket-taking over and brought back Murali, to attack Oram. The bowler went round the wicket, the batsman was unsure whether the ball was a doosra or a regulation off break; his hesitant push saw Murali dive forward, and sideways, to take a stunner (3/4; 114/4).

Prem Panicker's match report of the just concluded semifinal between Sri lanka and New Zealand.

Where were you when Michael Vaughan skipped down the track to lift Chris Gayle over long-on for six?

The weekly Spin.

"This was my last game as one-day captain, but I still want to captain the Test side," said Fleming, who has led the side to 98 wins and 106 defeats in his time at the top, including two World Cup semi-finals.

Stephan Fleming stands down as NZ captain.

'You have to go after Australia' - Chappelli

Actually you dont.

If you play the game on thier terms and thier pace, you are toast. If you play the game at your pace and force Australia to match it, you are setting the terms.

The one thing South Africa will need to guard against is losing wickets in a heap.

Far too often, teams try to do too much against Australia, and in doing so, lose the plot. And Australia are far too good a side to let any opportunity slip. Deny them that and I think South Africa should be all alright.