South Africa keen to fill gap

South African coach Mickey Arthur has stated his team would like to play against England in an ODI series should Pakistan pull out.

South Africa recently pulled out of the now cancelled tri-series in Sri Lanka due to safety concerns, though they have scheduled a short series against Zimbabwe.

“We would be delighted to go, we’d jump at the chance,” Arthur said to the SuperCricket website, “although I must stress that I have heard absolutely nothing official and I think it’s nothing more than speculation at the moment.”

Following the ball tampering allegations and their forfeit of the Test at The Oval, Bob Woolmer said he could not guarantee Pakistan’s participation if Inzamam Ul-Haq is penalised for ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute.