Sydney, Mar. 25 (ANI): Former Australian leg spinner Stuart MacGill has endorsed off-spinner Marcus North as the first-choice spinner against England and said specialist tweaker Bryce McGain was never in contention for the Ashes, even before his horrific debut against South Africa.

MacGill, who took 208 Test wickets for Australia, said he would stick with North given there was enough grunt in the pace attack.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 25 : Australian middle order batsman Michael Hussey is hoping that the selectors will not cast him aside for the upcoming Ashes series because of his current poor form.

Hussey''s disappointing performances across the entire summer, at home and in South Africa, have left room for questions about whether he remains an automatic choice.

London, Mar. 25: Television rights and not the weather, it appears convinced Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi to chose South Africa instead of England for the second edition of the twenty20 tournament.

According to The Independent, Modi did not bother going on to London as initially planned to hear a pitch from the England and Wales Cricket Board for staging the game''s most lucrative competition.

Bridgetown (West Indies)

London, Mar. 25: England cricket players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff will lose 150,000 and 75,000 pounds respectively due to the rescheduling of the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Originally, the IPL was to start on April 10, but the event will now commence on April 18, as it has been shifted to South Africa and because the Indian cricket board wants to give its players some rest and time with their families after they return from New Zealand on April 8.

Karachi, Mar. 25 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made it clear that no Pakistani player would take part in second edition of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) even though it has been shifted out from India to South Africa.

"We know that some players really want to play in the IPL but I don''t think that they would be a part of it this year. They may be included in the league next year but not now. These are the harsh realities of life," The News quoted PCB's Chief Operating Officer, Saleem Altaf, as saying.