South African players fighting for places

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LONDON, Aug 30(AFP):South African coach Mickey Arthur has warned his players they are fighting for their places following their one-day series loss to England.

The South Africans went down by 126 runs at the Oval as England took an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five match series.

The tourists won the Test match series 2-1 but have looked out of sorts and disinterested in the subsequent 50 over games.

And Arthur has told his players they must buck up their ideas or risk losing their places ahead of the next World Cup.

Arthur said: "It is really time for us to move out of this era of South African one-day cricket. We have got to start moving forward before the next World Cup. We have got to re-evaluate the personnel and start a new era.

"Everybody is under serious threat and they need some big performances.

"We have got some very young players who we need to get out there and expose them. We want the youngsters to put their hands up and stake a claim for their places in the team.

"I am disappointed but not surprised at how England have outplayed us in all three disciplines. Every meeting we have hammered home basics, basics, basics' but we have not taken it into the games.

"It would be unfair just to blame our batters - the bowling has been below par and we have been below par in all three disciplines.