Briefly Cricket

Boycott apologises for rant

London: Cricketer-turned-commentator Geoffrey Boycott kicked up a storm with an on-air four-letter rant during the third England-South Africa ODI,prompting the BBC to apologise for the indiscretion. Known for his outspoken nature,Boycott was heard shouting f tr during BBC Test match special coverage of Englands third ODI against South Africa.

FTP is outdated: FICA

Melbourne: The Future Tours Program has become an outdated concept and the ICC will have to reinvent its scheduling structure to cut down the growing number of meaningless matches,feels the Federation of International Cricketers Association FICA. We believe the model of bilateral ad-hoc series that have been crickets structure for the past century is fast becoming an outdated model,and will be unable to cater for the changing cricket landscape, May said in his letter to the governing body.

Younis for domestic tie

Karachi: Pakistan batsman Younis Khan,who opted out of the tour of New Zealand,will return to action this week when he leads his domestic side Habib Bank in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy in Islamabad. It will be his first match since losing the ODI series to the Kiwis in Abu Dhabi in early November.

McKay replaces Hilfenhaus

Adelaide: Victoria fast bowler Clinton McKay replaced injured Ben Hilfenhaus in the Australian squad as the selectors on Monday announced a 12-man team for the second Test against the West Indies. Hilfenhaus,who has a knee-tendon injury,had taken five wickets in the first Test.

Taylor to return home

Adelaide: Jerome Taylor was on Monday ruled out of the Australian tour due to hip and back injuries. He will return to Jamaica to continue his rehabilitation. No replacement player has been named at the moment. The team management and selectors are in the process of discussing reinforcement, a WICB statement said.