Melbourne, Dec 10: Australia offspinner Jason Krejza has declared himself fit for the first Test against South Africa next week.

The match starts in Perth on December 17 and Krejza, with a new ankle brace, is already planning a follow-up to his 12-wicket haul in his debut Test in India last month.

Krejza twisted his right ankle during training before the second Test against New Zealand in Adelaide, which ruled him out of the contest. He had been set for a recall after missing out at the Gabba, but his injury gave Nathan Hauritz an unexpected chance.

Melbourne, Dec 10: South African captain Graeme Smith has joined strike bowler Dale Steyn and frontline spinner Paul Harris on the sidelines for the tourists' opening match against Western Australia on Thursday.

Smith will miss the one-dayer at the WACA with an elbow injury, coach Mickey Arthur told reporters on Wednesday.

Steyn, who is nursing a minor hamstring strain, and left-arm spinner Harris, who has had a cast removed from his injured left thumb, will also miss the game, the Daily Telegraph reported.

However, all three are expected to play in the two-day match against a WA XI starting on Friday.

Arthur said the injury to Steyn, the leading bowler in Test cricket in 2008 with 60 wickets, was not serious.

Sydney, Dec 10 : Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, who opted out of the inaugural IPL ballot to shore up his position in the national team, will seek a contract with an Indian franchise for the next tournament which can only include Australian players if the rescheduled limited-overs tour of Pakistan is again put off for security reasons.

His manager, Sam Halvorsen, said the left-arm paceman was ready to add the extra demands of the rich Twenty20 league to his workload and would nominate for the February auction.

Melbourne, Dec. 10 : Thanks to the bonanza offered by the Lalit Modi-led Indian Premier League (IPL), which was launched in April and May this year, seven cricketers are in the top 50 sport earners list.

Australian cricketers Ricky Ponting (3.05 million dollars) and Brett Lee (2.5 million dollars) lead the way.

But with fringe Australian players like David Hussey and Cameron White just missing out, list compiler John Stensholt predicts Aussie cricketers will be the big movers in the near future.

"Expect to see a few more cricketers in the list next year. IPL is changing the way cricketers think about earning money," The Age quoted Stensholt, as saying.

Dubai/ Cape Town, Dec. 10 : The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent out a clear signal to sledgers by indicating that it is seriously considering the imposition of harsher penalties for verbal abuse.

"There was also a feeling among CEC members that a stronger stance needed to be taken against players guilty of verbal abuse," The Age quoted an ICC statement, as saying.

Harsher interpretations and penalties for players would be a bitter pill for the Australian players to swallow, given their tradition of "mental disintegration" to unsettle opponents.

Mohali/Chandigarh, Dec 10: Security has been beefed up in Mohali ahead of the second cricket Test match between India and England, as six persons were arrested with explosives in nearby Chandigarh city.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Security Advisor Reg Dickason, who assessed the security arrangements at the Stadium with the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) officials and security agencies, said that a a detailed meeting would take place on Wednesday.

PCA President I S Bindra asserted that ECB had suggested Mohali as the venue for the second Test match and there was no doubt about hosting the match there.