Melbourne, Dec. 10 : Former South African off-spinner Pat Symcox has criticized the current team's moves to excessively talk about their talent and skills ahead of their cricket series against Australia as pathetic.

Symcox insisted that the Proteas are living in false hope by believing that their recent 2-0 Test series romp over minnows Bangladesh is an adequate form line for tangling with Australia, the current world champions.

Dubai, Dec. 9 : India will go second in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table if it beats England in the upcoming two-Test series that gets underway in Chennai on Thursday.

By winning the series 1-0 or 2-0, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team will overtake South Africa and recapture second, a position it had briefly enjoyed after its 2-0 home series victory over Australia recently.

South Africa will have an immediate opportunity to take back that place with a three-match series in Australia on the horizon. The first match of that series begins in Perth on
17 December.

Dubai, Dec. 9 : The International Cricket Council has announced the referees and umpires who will officiate in the upcoming Test and ODI series between New Zealand and the West Indies.

Javagal Srinath from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees will lead the playing control team for the entire series.

Sydney, Dec. 9 : Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders have signed up young New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques for 300,000 dollars.

Henriques''s contract is believed to be heavily incentive-based, but it still stands to make him the highest-paid junior cricketer in Australia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The St George all-rounder said he was unaware whether the contract had been finalised, although Kolkata chief executive Joy Bhattacharya confirmed terms had been agreed upon.

Lahore, Dec. 9 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said that it is ready to host its upcoming series with India, or any other country at neutral venues, given the precarious security situation in Pakistan.

The England cricket team, led by skipper Kevin Pietersen, arrived in Chennai on Monday evening.

The entire team arrived in two batches from Abu Dhabi to play two test matches against India.

England are scheduled to play two Tests - in Chennai (Dec 11-15) and Mohali (Dec 19-23).

The first test is scheduled to begin on Thursday at Chennai.