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South African cricket captain Graeme Smith has declined an offer to play for English county side Warwickshire in the winter break that has just started here, preferring to rest and prepare for the tasks ahead that include a visit by India.

‘I could have gone to play for Warwickshire if I wanted to. I believe (national administrative authority) Cricket South Africa would have allowed me to, but I decided to stay, to rest and begin preparations for the new season,’ Smith told the Afrikaans weekly Rapport here.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has turned down a proposal by the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) to play seven One-day Internationals (ODIs) on Pakistan team’s tour to the African country there early next year before the World Cup.

A PCB official said South Africa had proposed that due to time constraints Pakistan should play seven ODIs instead of a Test and one-day series. Pakistan, under the Future Tours Programme (FTP), is scheduled to play three Tests and three ODIs in South Africa in January-February next year.

South Africa have climbed above New Zealand into fifth place in the ICC Test rankings following the Proteas’ 2-0 series victory over the Black Caps.

The International Cricket Council announced the standings on Monday, one day after South Africa had defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the third and final Test in Johannesburg. Australia remain well clear in top spot on 131 points, ahead of England (113), India (111) and Pakistan (109) with South Africa (101) moving four points clear of New Zealand.

After a miserable run of one win in eight Tests, South Africa captain Graeme Smith is looking forward to the end of the season.

Smith, whose own batting form has also suffered, leads South Africa in the third and final Test against New Zealand, starting on Friday.

“I think we’re all looking forward to packing the gloves and pads away, an opportunity to reflect and look back on the season. It’s been a tough one, in which we’ve learnt a lot, especially myself,” Smith told a news conference on Thursday.

Pakistan has hired former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes to boost its squad’s fielding skills ahead of an important tour of England, officials said on Friday.

“We have finalised the hiring of Rhodes as fielding coach for two weeks and he will be arriving in early June,” Director Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Abbas Zaidi said.

Rhodes, 37, played 52 Tests and 245 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and was regarded as one of the world’s best fielders during his career, which ended after the 2003 World Cup.

New South Wales bowler Stuart Clark has been rewarded for his fine performances in the 3-0 Test whitewash of [tag]South Africa[/tag] by being named on Monday as one of [tag]Australia[/tag]’s 25 contracted players for the next 12 months.

Clark took 20 wickets and the man of the series award during last month’s triumph and joins Queensland paceman Mitchell Johnson and New South Wales batsman Phil Jaques as first time recipients of a contract from Cricket Australia (CA).

Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said he was confident that the squad was ready for more success ahead of their bid to recapture the Ashes later in the year.

The inaugural [tag]Twenty20[/tag] World Championship will be staged in September 2007 with a 12-team, nine-day event in South Africa.

“South Africa has been an early adopter of Twenty20 cricket and will be an excellent first venue,” International Cricket Council ([tag]ICC[/tag]) chief executive Malcolm Speed said in a statement after the venue was decided at a board meeting in [tag]Dubai[/tag].

All 10 full members of the ICC board had confirmed that they would take part next year, Speed said. “The legacy of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 means that South Africa already has in place exceptional facilities and expertise and we are very confident that the United Cricket Board of South Africa will host a tremendous event,” he added.

Former South African player Jonty Rhodes has agreed to accept a two weeks coaching assignment with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) before taking charge as [tag]South Africa[/tag]’s fielding coach on a full time basis.

A PCB official said that Rhodes had indicted to them he had got clearance from the United Board of South Africa to take up a two weeks coaching assignment in Pakistan. “He should most probably join us later this month and work with the players leaving for England in the national camp,” the official said.

Pakistan’s star all-rounder Shoaib Malik had his elbow operated upon in the South African city of [tag]Cape Town[/tag] recently. He has expressed the hope that he would be fit in time to accompany the Pakistan team on its tour of England, which begins in late June.

The 24-year-old Shoaib from Sialkot has appeared in 15 Test matches and 117 One-day Internationals for Pakistan since 1999-00. He is expected to fully recover from the operation in four to six weeks’ time.

On April 30, 2006, the fourth day of the second Test match at Cape Town against New Zealand, Jacques Kallis became the first South African and the 17th batsman overall to score 8000 or more runs in Test cricket. He achieved this feat during his 71-run knock in his sides’ first innings.

Kallis took 10 years and 137 days and 170th innings of the 101st Test match to reach this landmark. At 30 years and 196 days, Kallis is the second youngest to reach this landmark after India’s Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 29 years and 27 days. The accompanying table has the details.