Durban (South Africa), Apr. 1 : Carpenter and pace bowler Ben Laughlin is hoping to make his one-day international debut some time in April in South Africa.

Just a year ago, the Melbourne-born Queenslander was ready to give up on his hopes of playing state cricket.

“I had a decent grade summer (in Brisbane in 2007-08) and I didn''t really feel like I was getting anywhere,'''' Laughlin said ahead of Friday''s opening ODI match against South Africa.

Johannesburg (South Africa), Mar. 31 : Ricky Ponting insists Australia''s South African tour hasn''t run off the rails despite three successive losses to the Proteas.

Ponting''s men must regroup for the opening one-day international in Durban on April 3 after losing the third Test by an innings and 20 runs, Friday''s first Twenty20 International by four wickets in the final over and Sunday''s second Twenty20 game by 17 runs.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has decided to declare their skipper and team for the upcoming second season of IPL in South Africa instead of India.

After the conclusion of a six-day training camp at the Eden Gardens, KKR CEO, Joy Bhattacharya said declined to declare the team and the skippers saying that they want to keep all alternatives open before they begin their IPL campaign in South Africa. “I don't want to disclose the names of the players who would be going to South Africa now as we want to keep all options open”, said Bhattacharya.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 30 : A battery of South African spinners -- acting captain Johan Botha, seasoned Robin Peterson and debutant Roelof van der Merwe played a crucial, luminary role in South Africa bagging the Standard Bank Pro20 highveld mini-series 2-0 against Australia.

The series sweep was a complete reversal of what happened Down Under several weeks back, and the weekend's successive wins before ecstatic, capacity crowds at the Wanderers and Centurion respectively stand the Proteas in pretty good stead for the second World Twenty20 jamboree in England not too long up the drag.

Johannesburg - US popstar Madonna attended a court hearing in Malawi on Monday in her bid to adopt a second child in the southern African country.

The hearing in the capital Lilongwe was held behind closed doors, the BBC reported.

Madonna is trying to adopt a sibling for her three-year-old Malawi-born adoptive son David Banda and two biological children, Lourdes and Rocco.

Johannesburg - Southern African leaders were meeting in the mountain kingdom of Swaziland on Monday to discuss an aid package for hard-pressed Zimbabwe and punitive measures against Madagascar following the ousting of the island's president.

Heads of state or government from at least half of the 15 members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had arrived in the Swazi capital Mbabane for the one-day summit, a Swazi government spokeswoman said.