'KP was not at all the right man to lead'

England off-spinner Graeme Swann has criticized the manner in which Kevin Pietersen led the side during his stretch as England captain.

In his new memoirs, 'The Breaks Are Off', Swann has been quoted as saying:"There is no uncertainty that Kevin is a good player, a actually fine batsman, but he was never the right man to captain England in my opinion. Some people are better leaders of men and Kev, for all his plentiful talent is not one of those natural leaders."

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Swann prefer the calmer management style of Strauss, saying that at one point in the 2008 Chennai Test.

"I wouldn't say he was a ineffective skipper, but he wasn't my sort of captain and we've ended up with the right man. I can't really work out why Strauss strain admiration, but he does. I've known him a long time but there is a line I won't cross with him that I will cross with anyone else. It's the sign of a good leader.
I'm in awe of the way he speaks."

Swann felt that Strauss knew accurately what the bowler was thinking. "He forever seems to press the right buttons with me and says exactly what I'm thinking. He's to the point and significant and I'd be really upset with myself if he ever felt it essential to dress me down," Swann was quoted as saying in the book.

The British paper also disclose the moment when Pietersen's relationship with the then coach Peter Moores started to stop working - before he was made captain - when Moores insisted the team do tiring training in the instant aftermath of a tied one-day international in Napier in 2008.

"I've never known one particular event create so much conflict. The New Zealand players were just smiling their tits off at us. I've never been more uncomfortable on a cricket field. It was such a shame because Moores had done little wrong until then and he was the man who got me back into international cricket," Swann said.

Swann speaks favourably of Moores and sees no reason why he could not return to coach the national team again in the future.

He said: "Yeah, why not? I'm amazed that he's not had a go with another country. He's boxed quite clever, going back to Lancashire and doing well with them."

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Brett Lee ruled out of South Africa tour

Brett Lee has been ruled out of Australia's Twenty20 and one-day series in South Africa after being diagnose with appendicitis.

The fast bowler complain of abdominal pains after he arrived in Cape Town with the squad on Sunday, and Australia`s physiotherapist Alex Kountouris has established Lee will absolutely miss the tour.

"After consult specialist and having the relevant investigation, he has been diagnose with appendicitis and will be having surgery in Cape Town later today," Kountouris said.

"He will clearly be ruled out of the Twenty20 and ODI series in South Africa and is likely to return to cricket in six to eight weeks."

Australia plays their first T20 game next to South Africa in Cape Town on Thursday before moving to Johannesburg for the second match on Sunday.

They will then play three ODIs before the two-game Test series start in Cape Town on November 9.

Cricket Australia's National Selection Panel is set to make statement concerning a possible substitute for Lee in the incomplete over’s series in due course.

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Ricky Ponting cheerful to bat at No. 4

Ricky Ponting has said that he has no difficulty in moving down the order as long as he is part of the playing XI.

Australia shuffled its batting order to press in Marsh at the number three place, which means former captain Ponting, his descendant Clarke and Michael Hussey had to slip down one spot each.

"It was a long-term plan of Michael's to have Shaun move to No 3 and me shift to No 4 and Michael move to five and Huss (Hussey) to six," Ponting said.

"So that wasn't just amazing I don't think as a one-off for that game. Michael sees that in the best welfare of the team going onward for a period of time. So I'll be three this week, almost positively three in the one-dayers in South Africa and then probably drop back to four for the Test matches," he added.

Ponting also said that playing at number four spot would give him some more time to think on how to go about his batting.

"When I first came into the Australian side, batting at six was hard. Waiting that amount of time to bat for me was something that was very foreign to me.

"But three to four I don't think is as big a change as three to six, or it surely wasn't in the last Test because I was in pretty early both times. Slight adjustment. It just gives me a little bit more time once our fielding's over to get my head approximately what I have to do to bat," Ponting said.

Clarke had previous made it clear that Shane Watson will not be moving down the order from his original opening slot.

Ponting, meanwhile, urge that while Cricket Australia will choose on a range of appointments optional by the Argus review the position of team presentation manager must be finalized first.

Ponting felt that Clarke would be troubled with an additional task of decision-making on the future tour of South Africa as interim coach Troy Cooley is not very at ease with the selection role trusted upon him.

"Unfortunately at the moment the way things are working out a lot more of the responsibility is going to come back on the captain for this next tour," Ponting said.

"So it's significant that the captain, the vice-captain and probably the senior players do as much as we can around the group on this trip. Troy's been around the group for a long time and understand everybody really well, but he's sort of been push into that selection role at the instant as well which is something very foreign to him," he experiential.

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