Gibbs withdraws from World XI

Herschelle Gibbs has withdrawn from the World XI to take on Australia next month due to a knee injury. Gibbs was set to line-up alongside fellow South Africans, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock for the matches in Melbourne and Sydney.

However, despite undergoing extensive treatment Gibbs has had to admit defeat in his race to be fit. The trouble initially occurred during the tour of West Indies in April and May and was then exacerbated during his stint with Lashings, the celebrity team based in England, during the summer.

Gibbs told News24: "I am withdrawing from the World XI side. I have just told the manager Goolam Rajah (who is also the South African manager) that I won't be able to play. I have worked with the Western Province physio since my return from my Lashings duty, but I am still feeling pain. I have also gone for an MRI scan where it showed that I had damaged the cartilage behind my right knee cap."

The other problem facing Gibbs in the near future is South Africa's one-day tour of India in November. Indian authorities have said that they are unable to grant Gibbs and Nicky Boje an amnesty as the match-fixing case remains open.

Gibbs has said that he will once again be forced to miss the tour - he pulled out of the Test series last year - if the Indian police do not co-operate. "It's never nice to miss games, but I don't think it would be a very wise decision to risk it. We have done everything we can on our side, so it is really up to them. It's up to them and whatever our CEO (Gerald Majola) can convince them to adhere to. But if they don't want to co-operate, then we are going to have to remain at home."