South Africa reject tri-series proposal

The proposal for a tri-series in South Africa, also involving Pakistan and probably Sri Lanka has been rejected by Cricket South Africa, who said their top players need to rest after the recent tour of England.

"Cricket South Africa [CSA] have today informed us they can't arrange the series as their players have had a long and hectic tour of England which ended on a disappointing note for them," Shafqat Naghmi, the Pakistan board's chief operating officer, told Reuters.

Naghmi was also told by a CSA official that "South Africa's leading players were not interested in playing in the tri-series tournament (which was tentatively scheduled for September 12-28) immediately after their tour of England".

South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur had expressed concerns that fatigue was hampering his team's progress after their 4-0 loss to England in the recent one-day series and warned the administrators against "flogging a dead horse".

The PCB was trying to arrange the tournament to fill the gap created by the postponement of the Champions Trophy which was scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September. However, five of the participating nations said they would not travel to Pakistan because of security concerns, forcing the tournament to be put off.

"We have the option of inviting one or two teams for one-day matches but will only go ahead with them after getting a clearance from the Interior Ministry," Naghmi told the News.

Pakistan are now trying to set up a one-day series against Sri Lanka.