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In a plot straight out of sub-continental cricket, the South African selectors seem to have got entirely inspired by how cricket is played in the selection committee meetings. After being on the highest of the highs – having beaten the Aussies in their own backyard – south africa have managed to lose three successive matches and those few wise men have turned the side around like a kid turning a box of candies upside down while searching for his favourite colour. Graeme Smith’s injury has ensured that he will not be a part in the third test, and his replacement is Ashwell Prince. But that is where sensibility ends. For one, Neil McKenzie’s stay at the top has also been terminated despite having a 2008 which saw him get to more than 1000 runs at an average of 54, much to the chagrin of his captain. It gets better after this. Given Smith’s non-availability as skipper, the selectors first handed the captaincy over to Ashwell Prince, someone who hadn’t played a single test since the last week of December last year! If this was weird enough, the sudden change of mind that followed and stripped Prince of his kingdom – read captaincy – and assigned it to Jacques Kallis, further added to the melee. One can be rest assured that the Aussies would be watching all this with great interest and try to finish off their opponents in the third test match too. Fortunately for the hosts, the Australian bowling does not look half as menacing as the South Africans allowed it to seem at Durban and with a little application, they can still look to come back. Team india, on the other hand, seems to have no such problems with selections yet, and everything seems to be hunky-dory there. Yet, the bowlers are still struggling with their lines and lengths and proving to be easy meat and drink for the Kiwis so far. The argument put forth could very well be of the placid pitches, small grounds and equally poor bowling by the Kiwis, yet, if one looks at it in absolute terms, the performance hasn’t looked too inspiring by the Indian seamers. Lastly, two tournaments seem to have run into difficulties. ipl was always in a spot of bother ever since the Lahore terror attacks, but with less than a month to go, the final schedule is yet to see the light of day. On the other hand, the already postponed Champions Trophy had been shifted out of pakistan to sri lanka for obvious reasons, but now it seems that even Sri Lanka will not be able to host it. And the reason? They weren’t able to provide sufficient guarantees about the weather! Now this is seriously hilarious. For one, the Sri Lankan cricket board does not exactly stand for MET and to forecast the weather and then provide guarantees is as silly as it can get. Secondly, by that logic, an international game should have never taken place in the countries of england and new zealand! Or probably, those were able to guarantee it to the icc. That, it would definitely rain!