Smith and Warne told to end gutter battle

Greg Baum asks in The Age where is the management in the gutter battle between Graeme Smith and the Australians?.

It began in the Australian summer when Smith made it policy not to let Australia trample over his team in any forum. At one stage, Warne called Smith an unimaginative captain, and Smith retorted by calling Warne a frustrated captain. So to the gutter they went, the provocateur and the provoked, and evidently in the gutter they intend to stay.

But that is not good enough, for any of those involved, nor for the game of cricket. A standard is in operation that would not be acceptable in any schoolyard. Smith's intention might be laudable, but he has neither the experience nor the class to wage this war with dignity. The Australians know better, and so are even more culpable.

In Ricky Ponting’s column in The Australian he says the players are switching on to Test mode.

Armed with just two days of preparation and practice, we now begin a tough block of five Tests in as many weeks against South Africa and Bangladesh, starting at the Newlands ground in Cape Town tomorrow. With no practice games beforehand and just one full training run, yesterday, to be followed by a top-up session today in which to get ready, it's not an ideal preparation.

Cricket Australia announced a new sponsorship deal yesterday and the Sydney Morning Herald looks at the details while The Australian reports James Sutherland’s speech at a two-day development summit.