Never has Ricky Ponting been prouder of his players than after they wrapped up their series victory in South Africa that sealed them as the top Test team in the world.

Ponting guided his vastly inexperienced side to wins in Johannesburg and Durban to ensure they held on to the number one spot.

Ponting said his win was “right up there” with any of his other achievements in the Australian side, largely because they entered the series as underdogs following their defeat at home against South Africa.

The squad has nine days to recover, after playing back to back tests as they search for a 3 -0 clean sweep at Newlands which starts on Thursday March 19.

It is upto India to do the needful as they pose a real threat for the Aussies, a team without any excuses as they have revived themselves.

Sport Agent, Jerry Maguire wrote about the perceived dishonesty in the sports management business and how he believed it should be operated and one of the most famous quotes in that movie was “show me the money”

Texan billionaire Sir Robert Allen Stanford is being asked that very question. US Federal securities regulators charged Sir Allen and three of his companies with a “massive ongoing fraud” involving about $8billion in certificates of deposit that drew thousands of investors with improbably high rates of return. These allegations, the latest in a string of alleged financial scams uncovered amid the global recession , named 58 year old Stanford, his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, and a pair of related US companies.

The Caribbean based Texan cricket enthusiast deemed “the Windies Godfather”  waltzed into the most traditionally genteel of games, brandishing his power, charisma and money and charmed The WICB  and the region.

At a time when the region was in a state of shock and depression at the West Indies Senior Cricket Team poor performances and lack of motivation, Sir Allen sauntered in and revamped the game with the advent of the Stanford Twenty/20 and entered into a 5 year agreement with the WICB , the first of which was played last November and won by Trinidad and Tobago. 

He revolutionised the conventional game, so that players may be paid millions of dollars for 20 overs rather than a few thousand dollars for hundreds of overs.  Stanford made contributions to the territorial  boards of the West Indies to assist them with the development of their cricket.

President of the WICB Dr. Julien Hunte said the setback did not mean doom for WI cricket.

One of the innovations introduced to International cricket as part of the television-friendly frenzy reform that included the 70 million sterling pound deal between Stanford and the English and Wales Cricket Board was an increased right of appeal against umpiring decisions. If only Sir Allen could overturn the raised finger of the US investigators who has charged him with this shocking magnitude of fraud.

Cricket lovely cricket!!! So many matches being played simultaneously around the world, where to begin? How about in the beautiful tropical islands of the West Indies, where the West Indies and England are playing for the Wisden Trophy.

Aah West Indies bowled England out for 51, with six English batsmen out for a duck in the first Test in Jamaica. What an unexpected win and that too by a one sided innings.

All of us are aware of the fate of the second Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, which was abandoned due to a sandy pitch that got worse when the rains poured. A pitch not even suitable for gully cricket.  Perhaps the curators were new to the job of preparing a pitch?

The third Test is wel underway at St john’s Antigua where the West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. The English are likely to score 550 - 600 and then perhaps stick the home side in for a spell before stumps on day two.

With Test Cricket number one position at stake, we move to Sydney where Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, says he thinks South Africa will be under more pressure than his side when the two teams clash in the return Test series in Johannesburg from February 26.

This after the Aussies were humiliated 1 - 2 at home by the Proteas last December and the series triumph over the Aussies in the ODI’s which saw South Africa to the top place in the shorter version of the game. South Africa have a chance to snatch the top Test ranking spot if they beat Australia.

Pakistan reeling from the ICC decision on Sunday to relocate the 2009 Champions Trophy to another country, suffered yet another blow as Australia has decided not to tour due to lingering security fears. Deja vu?

 Australia pulled out of their scheduled Test and ODI tour to Pakistan last year due to security concerns.

One may say their fears are warrented as more than 1500 people has been killed in militant attacks across Pakistan in the past 19 months and after Islamabad joined the US led “war on terror”, more than 1500 troops has been killed at the hands of extremists.

After some deliberation Pakistan and Australia has agreed to play five ODI’s and a Twenty20 game at neutral venues in United Arab Emirates in April and MAy.