Johannesburg, Feb. 23 : The key to Australia defeating South Africa will be team skipper Ricky Ponting, who averages more than 50 per innings in Tests.

If the captain grabs the Proteas by the scruff of the neck and overshadows rival skipper Graeme Smith to make the series his own, not only will Australia''s chances of retaining the world No. 1 ranking go through the roof, but Ponting will go close to overtaking Steve Waugh in fourth place on the list of Test run-scorers," says in an article for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Johannesburg - Seven Zimbabweans, four men and three women, were found dead in South Africa after their shack in Western Cape province was allegedly set alight, police said Monday.

A police spokesman told SAfm public radio that the alleged attack, which took place in a squatter camp, was under investigation.

Last year, mobs killed at least 62 people and drove thousands of others from their homes in a two-week frenzy of xenophobic violence targeting mostly migrants from neighbouring countries, such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi.

Dubai, Feb. 23 : The ICC today confirmed that Emirates Elite Panel umpire Steve Bucknor had announced his retirement from officiating, effective at the end of his upcoming Test and ODI assignments in South Africa.

Bucknor's last assignment as an elite panelist will be the third and final Test between South Africa and Australia to be played in Cape Town from March 19 to 23, while his final match commitment as an international umpire will be in Bridgetown, Barbados, on March 29 when he will stand as a local appointee with elite panel umpire Aleem Dar in the fourth ODI between the West Indies and England.

Johannesburg (South Africa), Feb. 23 : West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor, who was at the centre of a bitter and controversial Test series between Australia and India last year, will retire next month.

The 63-year-old Jamaican has stood in a record 126 Tests and over 170 one-day internationals, but his last engagement will be the third Test between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town from March 19 to 23.

Johannesburg  - South Africa's amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius underwent emergency surgery in a Johannesburg hospital Sunday following a boating accident, the Sapa news agency reported.

"We are not sure what happened at this stage, we are still trying to establish it," Pistorius's manager Peet van Zyl said.

Meanwhile local radio reported that Pistorius, who is nicknamed "Blade Runner" because of the prosthetic legs that enable him to sprint, was in a serious but stable condition and had been placed on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in Milpark Hospital.

Johannesburg/Harare - Africa's oldest leader, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe turned 85 on Saturday, with a lavish party to follow on February 28.

At a fund-raising event organized by his Zanu-PF party earlier this month, pledges of 110,000 US dollars and several head of cattle, goats and pigs were secured towards the party, despite around half the population not being able to adequately feed itself.

Speaking on national radio earlier this week, Absolom Sikhosana, Zanu PF's youth leader, admitted raising funds for this year celebrations have been more difficult.