Rest days on the cards for South Africans

With the final round of the Benson & Hedges Cup taking place today, most of the South African players playing in the UK could find themselves watching the quarter and semi-finals from the stadium seats.

After another weekend where the South Africans, apart from Lance Klusener, failed to impress Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire have to win to have an outside chance of gaining the last two quarter-final spots.

Klusener sitting in sixth spot is the only South African featuring in the top 30 of the batting averages while Greg Smith with nine wickets comes in at number 19 on the bowling averages. Shaun Pollock with six wickets sits at number 23.

The Nottinghamshire trio of Klusener, four runs and 1/65, Kevin Pieterson, 29 runs and 0/33, and Smith 11 runs and 1/52, saw themselves beaten in a rain affected match against Lancashire and then managed a win over Durham with Klusener scoring 68 and taking 2/31, Pieterson six runs and 2/36, and surprisingly Smith no wickets for 43.

Pollock seemingly still not being able to get to grips with the English pitches managed two and 0/18 in a loss against Worcestershire but ended the weekend on the winning side making 21 and taking 2/18 for Warwickshire against Northamptonshire.

Hampshire, with Neil Johnson and Nick Pothas, lost two in a row against Sussex and Essex with Johnson scoring 18 and 24 and Pothas eight and 12 respectively. Johnson could not get a wicket in the two games.

Mark Davis did not have to bat in his two games for Sussex, winning two in a row, but took 1/27 against Hampshire and 1/30 against Warwickshire.

Sven Koenig on the losing Middlesex side twice over the weekend managed to get 24 runs against Kent and followed it up with 30 against Sussex.