Hall released to play for Worcestershire

Despite his success in picking up five wickets during South Africa's famous victory at Lord's, Andrew Hall has been given special permission to play for Worcestershire in their C&G Trophy semi-final against Lancashire on Saturday.

Hall played an important part in South Africa's one-day squad, but signed for Worcestershire after he had originally been left out of the Test side. But when Jacques Kallis was ruled out of the second Test following the death of his father, Hall was drafted in and proved an immediate success.

South Africa were initially reluctant to allow Hall to play in the match against Lancashire, but they had a change of heart after being contacted by Worcestershire's director of cricket Tom Moody.

"Tom Moody has spoken with our coach Eric Simons and they have agreed on that position as regards Hall," said a South Africa spokesman. "We're going to release him for Saturday's game. He will be available to play for Worcestershire in their semi-final."

"It's great news for us," said Moody. "It means we can go into the game with Lancashire at full strength. I would like to thank South Africa for their help in this matter."