The Australian National Selection Panel (NSP) today announced a 15-player squad for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England, where Australia will be aiming to defend their title. Australia are in Group A of the Champions Trophy alongside England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Australia’s squad is: Michael Clarke (c), George Bailey (vc), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Phillip Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Clint McKay, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Shane Watson

South Africa’s 3-2 series win means England has finished second to world champion India on the Reliance ICC ODI Championship Table at the 1 April cut-off date.

South Africa, which started the series on 112 ratings points, needed to beat Pakistan 4-1 to move into second place. But the defeat in Durban ended its chances of collecting another cheque of US$75,000 alongside a cheque of US$450,000 that it has already won for finishing as the No.1 ranked Test side. This means India will receive the shield and will collect a cheque of US$175,000, while England will receive US$75,000 for finishing second.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers has joined team-mate Hashim Amla at the top of the Reliance ICC ODI Player Rankings for batsmen following his man of the series performance in the five-match series against Pakistan. The latest rankings were released on Monday after South Africa’s 3-2 series win over Pakistan.

De Villiers was the highest run-getter on either side with 367 runs from five matches at an average of 91.75. While he has regained the top spot he last enjoyed in May 2010, his current rating of 882 is his best-ever to date.

A brilliant, unbeaten 95 from AB de Villiers led the Proteas to a convincing six-wicket victory in the final Momentum ODI at Sahara Willowmoore Park on Sunday, allowing the home side to claim the series 3:2. Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq won the toss and chose to bat first but not a single one of his team could reach 50, a fact which only emphasised how emphatically different in class De Villiers was to the rest. The tourists stumbled to 205 all out with Ryan McLaren claiming his third three-wicket haul of the series and the Proteas passing the target with six wickets and six overs to spare.

Kamran Akmal top scored for Pakistan with a breezy 48 from 51 balls but a top-edged sweep against Robin Peterson ended realistic hopes of a 270+ total. Nonetheless, Younis Khan (29) and Misbah (24) worked hard to re-establish a platform on which a competitive score could be built and, at 151-4 with 16 overs remaining, 250 was still a possibility.