Kirsten’s mother no more

Durban: Gary Kirsten’s ailing mother Gayl Hall passed away in Cape Town on Friday after losing a battle against cancer.

Gayl, 64, was undergoing treatment for lung cancer at Vincent Pallotti Hospital.

[Our Special Correspondent adds from Colombo: The team, according to captain Anil Kumble, has sent its condolences to Kirsten.

“It’s a personal message... We’ve already sent it,” Kumble told The Telegraph, shortly after the opening day’s play in the decider.]

Kirsten had left for South Africa on Wednesday to attend to her giving a miss to the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka.

Kirsten was to join the team for the five-match one-day series but now it remains to be seen when he would be able to return to be among the players.

Pindi dropped

Karachi: The ICC and the PCB have, in principle, decided to drop Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as one of the venues for the Champions Trophy next month.
Sources in the PCB said that due to the slow pace of construction work at the stadium, it has been decided to hold the 15 matches of the tournament in Lahore and Karachi.
He said the announcement about dropping the Pindi Stadium as a venue would be made after the visit of the ICC task force.

Dues cleared

Calcutta: Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya met the disgruntled malis on Friday and settled their dues. It has been learnt that 20 malis have been paid their outstanding dues. Dalmiya has assured the malis, who had earlier urged the former president Prasun Mukherjee to make them permanent employees of the CAB, that their future will be secured.
Meanwhile, Devang Gandhi and Utpal Chatterjee are the frontrunners for the Bengal coach’s job.

Pak security

Karachi: Faced with the prospect of a boycott by top international players, the PCB has sought the government’s assistance to convince teams reluctant to travel here for next month’s Champions Trophy about the security situation in the country.

Aussie series

New Delhi: The third and fourth cricket Tests series against Australia during October-November have been pushed back by a day in view of the Diwali celebrations in the country.

The revised schedule
First Test: Bangalore (Oct 9-13); Second Test: Mohali (Oct 17-21); Third Test: Delhi (Oct 29-Nov 2); Fourth Test: Nagpur: (Nov 6-10).