Sydney, Dec 9 : Neil McKenzie, whose career was almost on the brink of ruin due to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, now stands as a major top-order driving force for South Africa in its Test series against Australia.

McKenzie’s international career seemed to have terminated in 2004 when, after 41 moderate Tests in the Proteas’ middle order, national selectors cut him adrift, The Age reported.

Melbourne, Dec 9 : Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke has urged cricket administrators to reduce player workload to safeguard family life for the national team.

Clarke endorsed skipper Ricky Ponting’s claims that cricketers’ calendars were too full, an issue which will dominate discussions for the new memorandum of understanding between the players and Cricket Australia.

Melbourne, Dec 9 : South African main attack bowler Dale Steyn has been rested from tour’s opening warm-up match against Western Australia on Thursday, to ensure his survival for rest of the series.

Skipper Graeme Smith played down the injury on Monday after the Proteas’ first training run, a game of football, which Steyn did not play. The injury does not bode well for the record-breaking fast bowler to survive three Tests jammed into as many weeks.

London, Dec 9 : English all rounder Andrew Flintoff has admitted that he is fearing the prospect of playing cricket surrounded by large number of security personnel.

Five thousand police officers, including 300 highly trained commandos, will provide security cover ahead of first Test in Chennai to English players who arrived in India on Monday.

The Tamil Nadu police force has launched a major security operation unseen before in the world cricket.

London, Dec 9 : Five thousand police officers, including 300 highly-trained commandos, will provide security cover ahead of first Test in Chennai to English players who arrived in India on Monday.

The Tamil Nadu police force has launched a major security operation unseen before in the world cricket, The Telegraph reported.

The unprecedented security for England includes a total lockdown at the team hotel, the clearance of roads to and from the stadium and the use of armed guards from Rapid Action Force -- a specialist team of riot police.

“We are deploying over 5,000 people at the hotel and stadium,” said P Balasubramaniam, Joint Commissioner of Tamil Nadu Police.

Cape Town (South Africa), Dec. 9 : The ICC Chief Executives’ Committee met here on December 7 and 8 and discussed a range of issues relating to the playing and the business of cricket, some of which will be considered by the ICC Board when it next meets, in Perth at the end of January.

The results of the meeting were as follows: