Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori, welcoming BCCI's request for an extra Test during India's tour to New Zealand, has said he was very excited about playing a three-match Test series against one of the best sides in the world (India). "I'm pretty excited. I think most players have been crying out for that third Test match style series," Vettori has been quoted as saying in the media on Tuesday.

AFTER toiling away without much luck in the first innings, Doug Bollinger has picked up his first Test wicket to give Australia an early breakthrough in its quest to remain top of the ICC rankings. The NSW paceman, playing in his first Test in front of his home crowd at the Sydney Cricket Gound, ended Morne Morkel’s innings by luring the South African into spooning a chip to a diving Mitchell Johnson at mid-on for a duck.

South Africa suffered an early setback with the dismissal of Morne Morkel while chasing 376 to win the third and final Test match against Australia at the SCG here on Tuesday. Australia skipper Ricky Ponting decided to declare their second innings at 257-4 with a lead of 375 with plenty of cracks on the wicket where batting will not be easy. The pitch was rolled during the interval. In reply, South Africa opted to open with Neil McKenzie and Morne Morkel. McKenzie is leading the visiting side in the absence of injured regular skipper Grame Smith.

Despite expressing apprehensions about touring Pakistan in the past, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland has said that they have a commitment to play Pakistan in Pakistan even though they are looking at neutral venues at the moment. "We'll do checks on any neutral venues if they come into play, but as far as we're concerned we've got a commitment to play Pakistan in Pakistan and we'll work through that process as we've done in the past," Sutherland has been quoted as saying in the Australian media.

Australia increased their lead to 270 despite losing two early wickets that of opener Matthew Hayden and skipper Ricky Ponting on the fourth day of the third Test match against South Africa at the SCG on Tuesday. Medium pacer M Morkel got both the wickets that fell when he cleaned out both the Australian veterans to reduce them to 134 for two in their second innings. Hayden was bowled for 39 after facing 63 balls and scoring seven fours while Ponting, who looked set for a big score, was also bowled for 53 off 57 balls with nine hits to the fence.

Uttar Pradesh bowlers bounced back from the terrible mauling they received on the first day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final but could not prevent Tamil Nadu from amassing 445 in their first innings on the second day, in Nagpur on Monday. After virtually running around on a leather hunt on the first day, Uttar Pradesh bowlers clawed their way back into the game by allowing Tamil Nadu batsmen score just 149 runs in exchange of eight wickets in 73.5 overs on the second day.

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) will request that an extra Test be added to their tour of New Zealand as they try to recover lost money from cancelled events. "We have requested New Zealand to accommodate an extra Test and are waiting for their response," BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told Reuters. The tour already includes two Tests, five One Day International and a Twenty20 International from March but the BCCI is seeking extra events after missing out on a tour to Pakistan and two One Day Internationals against England, which were postponed in the wake of the November Mumbai terror attacks.

The Indian Cricket Board has formally sent a proposal to the New Zealand Board to extend the two-Test series by a match when India tour the island nation in March-April this year. The tour, starting March 6, originally featured two Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 match. "The proposal to play an additional test match has been sent to New Zealand Cricket, which will be responding to it soon," BCCI chief administrator Ratnakar Shetty said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants to host Australia in a proposed one-day series in April at home, a board official has said. The official said the PCB wants to resume international cricket in Pakistan, and added that a series against Australia will be a major step towards that direction. He rejected reports that the PCB is planning to host the series that will include five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game in Kuala Lumpur or any other offshore venue.

'Hold your horses,' says the BCCI to reports that India would tour Sri lanka for a five-ODI series in February. According to Chief Administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty of the BCCI, there has been no official communication with the Sri Lankan Cricket board in this regard. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, has stepped in to tour Pakistan. But their Sports Minister said on Sunday that the tour would be split with Sri Lanka returning home after the one-dayers to play five games against India.