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Fast bowler Charl Langeveldt has been added to South Africa’s ODI squad for the three-match series in India. Langeveldt’s inclusion adds further strength to a pace attack comprising four specialists - Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell - and two allrounders - Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel.

“We do not believe that we have all our bases covered at the moment in the bowling department,” Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive and convenor of the national selection panel, said. “We have two major ICC tournaments coming up - first the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies and then next year’s ICC World Cup on the subcontinent - and it is important that we explore all our options.

The ICC president-in-waiting Sharad Pawar has met with Bal Thackeray, leader of the right-wing political party Shiv Sena, asking him to stand down on his earlier remarks about the safety of Australian players during the third season of the IPL. This follows a warning issued by the Mumbai-based regional party that Australians will be barred from playing matches in Mumbai in response to the recent attacks on Indians living in Australia.

Another series, another opponent, same result. Two days after completing a tri-format clean-sweep against Pakistan, Australia continued their unbeaten summer with a 113-run victory over West Indies, set up by Shane Watson’s half-century and Doug Bollinger’s new-ball efforts. Chris Gayle’s prediction of a 4-1 West Indies win can still come true but they have only one day to regroup before Tuesday’s second match in Adelaide.

The double-century continued to elude Jacques Kallis but not Hashim Amla, who accumulated his way to the highest Test score by a South African in India. He also provided solidity from the other end as AB de Villiers played havoc with the spinners’ lengths during a 108-run partnership that followed the 340-run stand between Kallis and Amla, the fifth-highest association in India. On a pitch behaving like it was a fourth-day track, it seemed a formidable total.

Ricky Ponting believes Australia’s pace attack is the best in the world and hasn’t ruled out Shaun Tait being used in one-day internationals after breaking the 160kph barrier in Friday night’s Twenty20 win. Tait’s Man-of-the-Match performance in his first game for Australia in a year served as another reminder of the depth in the country’s fast-bowling ranks, which has been tested over the past few months.

Jacques Kallis defended like a rock, attacked like The Rock, put behind him the odd play and miss, and scored 120 out of South Africa’s 193 for 2 by tea. Hashim Amla, who joined him at 6 for 2, gave him the strike when he was in the zone and took charge after tea when India slowed the scoring down with defensive fields and reverse-swing. Both scored unbeaten centuries to put together South Africa’s highest partnership against India and, by stumps, render Zaheer Khan’s opening spell of 6-4-2-2 to a footnote.

Shaun Tait believes he has made the right decision to abandon first-class cricket and focus on the shorter formats after delivering the fastest ball ever recorded in Australia on Friday night. Tait’s third delivery in Australia’s Twenty20 win over Pakistan hit 160.7kph, a speed that has only been bettered by Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee since measurements became common.

Tait had clocked 160kph before but this was his quickest ball and he maintained a consistent pace - he didn’t drop below 150kph in his opening two-over spell. The record on Australian soil was a fullish ball that Imran Farhat missed, and Tait expended such energy that he stumbled and nearly fell over in his follow-through.

The English umpire, Mark Benson, has confirmed his retirement from the ICC elite panel, and will see out his career on the county circuit, following his sudden withdrawal from the Adelaide Test between Australia and West Indies in December.

Benson hit the headlines on the opening day of the second Test on December 4, when he was reported to be upset over several incidents involving the Umpire Decision Review System, one of which led to his original decision against Shivnarine Chanderpaul being overturned.

He withdrew from the contest and flew back to England while the match was still taking place, although the ICC later claimed his withdrawal had been on the grounds of ill-health.

A devastating 83 off 40 deliveries from Jacob Oram set up an emphatic 146-run victory for New Zealand at McLean Park in Napier, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series against Bangladesh. New Zealand were pegged back to 232 for 6 after 43 overs on a placid pitch by a much improved Bangladesh attack, before the batting Powerplay transformed what might have been an average total into a daunting one. New Zealand pillaged 82 runs for the loss of a solitary wicket during those, elevating the total to a match-winning 336 for 9.

Members of Pakistan’s parliamentary committee on sports panel have asked for a meeting with Pakistan president Asif Zardari, who is also patron of the PCB, as pressure mounts on Ijaz Butt’s board administration after two days of development in Islamabad.

First, the National Assembly’s Standing committee on sports, headed by the increasingly vocal Jamshed Dasti, met in the capital on Wednesday and again grilled Butt over a range of issues. Then on Thursday the upper house of parliament, the senate, called its own committee meeting though Butt didn’t turn up for this one.