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India legend Sachin Tendulkar scored his landmark 50th Test match hundred as they battled to save the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.

The 37-year-old great reached the milestone as India fought back on day four, reaching stumps on 107 not out.

“It’s just another number but it’s nice,” said Tendulkar. “Every innings, I want to go out and score runs.”

Tendulkar, who also passed 14,500 Test runs during the innings, brought up his century with a single off Dale Steyn.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has the next highest number of hundreds in Tests with 39.

Tendulkar added: “I’m very happy that it came at this moment. Saturday was my father’s birthday and so I dedicate this hundred to him. That’s the first thing I thought of, that I was doing it for him. And also to say thank you for all the fabulous support I have had over the years.

“I’m just really enjoying my batting at the moment and when you are striking the ball really well and moving well, you need to cash in as much as possible. It’s extremely important to have that hunger, that’s what keeps you going.”

Tendulkar’s century, which included 12 fours and a six, came in a gritty fourth-day fightback from India as they tried to avoid defeat against South Africa.

Having been bowled out for 136 on the first day - with Tendulkar top-scoring on 36 - and suffered in the field as South Africa racked up 620-4 declared, the Indians reached 454-8 at the close on day four, trailing the hosts by 30 runs.

Despite needing a miracle to avoid going 1-0 down in the series, Tendulkar believes India can leave Centurion with their heads held high after a stirring fightback.

“You need to think positively,” he added. “The batsmen have produced a very good response and it was extremely important for us to come back strong, to send a strong message and we’ve done that. We need to keep that up, do that for the remainder of the series.”

India coach Gary Kirsten, who has seen Tendulkar at close quarters for the past three years and came up against the right-hander during his Test career for South Africa, paid tribute to the man affectionately known as the ‘Little Master’.

“For me, Sachin is the professor of batting,” said Kirsten, who scored 7,289 Test runs. “He’s the model professional cricketer, he works harder than anyone else at his game and it’s a privilege to work with him.

“It’s little wonder he’s been so successful because he treats every single cricketing day with humility and respect. He doesn’t take one ball for granted in practice and you never see him have a loose net.”

Kirsten believes Tendulkar, who scored his first Test ton as a 17-year-old at Old Trafford against England in 1990, is enjoying his cricket more than ever before.

“He’s a fantastic team man and he’s so desperate to do well for India,” added Kirsten. “He really gets emotional and passionate about the team doing well.

“This is an incredible individual milestone for Sachin, but he wants to make contributions to the team. He wants to make sure that the team is doing well while he’s getting these milestones.

“He is enjoying his cricket as much now as he ever has done. The team doing well over the past couple of years has been good for him and in the last year he has been unbelievable. I’ve seen a real determination in the last year.”

Tendulkar is the leading run-scorer in Test cricket in 2010 with 1,539 at an average of 85.50, including seven centuries and five fifties.

The world of cricket was quick to pay tribute to Tendulkar’s latest stellar feat, with Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh proclaiming it the “greatest achievement by a batsman ever” on Twitter.

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar also tweeted: “He has got it finally! And judging from his reaction… meant a lot to him… the 50th Test ton… this is one record that is there to stay.”

Living With The Lions staff members at Centreparks. It was cold and full of action and the guys had a great time.

Click here to see the interveiw

SHANE Warne’s sex-ploits cost him the vice-captaincy of the Australian Test side in 2000, the chance to become one-day international skipper two years later and his Channel Nine contract in 2005.

His latest rendezvous, this time reportedly a steamy encounter with married actress Elizabeth Hurley in London, will almost certainly end any debate - serious or not - about returning to the Australian side and becoming an Ashes saviour.

Hurley today confirmed, that her marriage to Indian tycoon Arun Nayar, whom she wed in 2007, was over, writing: “Not a great day. For the record, my husband Arun & I separated a few months ago. Our close family & friends were aware of this.”

Whether the latest revelation again jeopardises Warne’s contract with the Nine network, and his flagging talkshow Warnie, remains to be seen.

The late Kerry Packer told Warne in 2005 that the negative publicity around his off-field life at the time meant his contract would not be renewed.

Warne briefly returned to his plush home in Melbourne’s bayside, driving with two of his children past a media pack.

Warne, dressed in black tracksuit pants and a black T-shirt, did not acknowledge the waiting media or answer his intercom after he returned to his Brighton home.

He flew into Melbourne last night from London, where he was filming interviews for his Nine Network chatshow.

While home this morning, Warne transferred suitcases from the boot of his black Mercedes before leaving about 20 minutes later with his two children.

The latest allegations in British tabloid The News of the World claims Hurley, who wed Indian tycoon Arun Nayar in 2007, spent two nights with serial bad boy Warne in his hotel suite last week.

Warne, 41, left immediately for London after commentating for Nine in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide to film interviews for his new show.

The paper claims the pair was captured on video in a series of ‘’sizzling public clinches”.

A witness told the paper: ”They were so passionate they looked like honeymooners. It was electric.”

The paper said the pair was seen exchanging kisses after popping out of Warne’s luxury suite in a hotel close to Hurley’s London home.

It was reported that on their second night together they were locked away in the same suite for more than 11 hours.

Warne, who has had an on-again, off-again relationship with former wife Simone, has been flirting with Hurley via Twitter for months.

On July 22, Hurley wrote to the father of three: ”Hello new Australian friend, how nice to have met you and in such sexy surroundings. I like the papers saying we are old friends”.

Warne’s serial philandering - at one time lurid text messages sent to an English nurse - prompted then Cricket Australia chief executive Malcolm Speed to strip him of the vice-captaincy in 2000 and replace him with Adam Gilchrist - a move that continues to this day to anger him.

The decision split Australia’s cricket hierarchy and drove a wedge between Gilchrist and Warne.

The champion leg-spinner was also shortlisted with Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting for the captaincy of the one-day side in 2002, but his off-field headlines meant he was never a realistic chance for the top job despite having one of the sharpest cricketing minds.

He is regarded as the best Test captain Australia never had, and his absence since retirement in 2007 has sparked a revolving door of spinners, with 10 used so far.

Calls for his Ashes return have grown since Australia was thrashed by an innings in Adelaide.

Dean Jones says Warne would return if guaranteed the captaincy for the next two years, while Australian coach Tim Nielsen has not ruled out the idea of Warne being recalled.

But selector Greg Chappell says he has been ”amused” by the calls and his panel ”haven’t really given a lot of thought about it”.

Australia squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Shane Watson, Phil Hughes, Mike Hussey, Steve Smith, Brad Haddin, Michael Beer, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus.

Left-arm spinner Michael Beer was a surprise selection as Australia dropped Marcus North, Doug Bollinger and Xavier Doherty for the third Ashes Test.

Beer, who has made only five first-class appearances, is joined by leg-spinner Steve Smith in a squad of 12.

Pacemen Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson, who played at Brisbane but were dropped for the defeat by England in Adelaide, are back in the reckoning.

And left-handed opener Phil Hughes comes in for the injured Simon Katich.

Smith, viewed as a genuine all-rounder in some quarters, seems certain to start the Perth Test, which begins on 16 December, since no batsman has been picked to replace North, Australia’s misfiring number six from Brisbane and Adelaide.

Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin could be pushed up a place in the batting order, leaving Smith to bat at seven, and four pace bowlers to follow - or three of them plus Beer.

Australia will be desperate to win at Perth to get back on to level terms in a series they must win to regain the Ashes.

While Smith’s inclusion was predictable, Beer’s call-up is something of a shock.

He came into first-class cricket in his mid-20s and has only 16 first-class wickets at an average of 39.93, five of which came in England’s tour match against Western Australia.

He had won the backing of Australia’s greatest ever spinner Shane Warne, but it is not clear whether the selectors were swayed by his opinions.

Australia’s chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said. “Michael is a left-arm orthodox spinner who has been very impressive at domestic level this year. He took wickets against England in the tour match earlier this summer and we expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground.”

Beer, 26, plied his trade in Melbourne club cricket until the end of last season, when he moved to Western Australia in an attempt to launch his domestic career.

One man who will definitely play at the Waca is Hughes, who made four and zero in his most recent first-class match but was always favourite to replace Katich. The veteran left-hander will miss the rest of the series with an Achilles tendon injury.

Smith has played two Tests, against Pakistan in England in July, when he was chosen as a leg-spinner in the absence of the injured Nathan Hauritz.

Hilditch said of his decision to drop North, following scores of 1, 26 and 22 in the first two Tests: “This is obviously disappointing for Marcus who has played some outstanding Test innings for Australia.

“But it was felt to be the right time to bring the exciting prospect Steve Smith into the Test team. Steve has already had success at international level and will also add to the bowling depth with his leg-spin bowling and dynamic fielding.”

Hilditch added: “Johnson and Hilfenhaus will be strongly considered for selection in Perth, where conditions will suit them.”

Former Australia fast bowler Geoff Lawson was critical of the selectors’ thinking, labelling Beer as “just a fledgling”.

Lawson told BBC Radio 5 live: “There are a lot of respectable spinners around in Australian cricket. Nathan Hauritz just had a respectable game in Sydney, and last week he played in Perth, took five wickets and bowled really well.

“Two leg-spinners, Jason Krejza and Bryce McGain, don’t seem to be in favour. There are a number of other decent bowlers but the national selectors don’t want to persevere with them.”

Looking at the return of Johnson and Hilfenhaus just one match after being dropped, Lawson added: “In his last six or seven Tests Johnson has been poor, but he wasn’t even allowed to play for Queensland against Western Australia in the match starting on Saturday.

“It is bizarre thinking from the coaching staff and selectors to put him back in the team when he has been bowling poorly for some time and has only had net work, whereas someone like Doug Bollinger has been Australia’s best bowler for the past 12 months.

“He had a poor game in Adelaide but so did quite a few others and they have discarded him on the evidence of one Test match. So it is quite confusing. There is a lack of consistency, a lack of clear process and you can only believe that come next Thursday in Perth there will still be a lot of confusion.”

There’s no love lost between Ian Chappell and Ian Botham. The Australian and the Englishman came to blows way back in 1977 in a Melbourne bar, and they were almost at it again on Monday. The duo went at each other in the car parking at the Adelaide Oval — the venue for the second Ashes Test. Had it not been for people around, who pulled them apart, things could have turned nasty.

According to reports, Chappell, 67, and Botham, 55, squared up to each after the end of play on Monday. They were in the parking area when “Chappell muttered something highly provocative as he went past”. A surprised Botham turned around to retort: “What did you say?”

And after Chappell made another incendiary remark, both were at each others’ throats before being quickly separated.

“They went for each other and it could have got very nasty if there hadn’t been people to keep them apart,” the daily quoted a source.

Clearly, the two aren’t in a mood to call truce anytime soon

The British & Irish Lions will break new ground on their 2013 tour of Australia by taking on the Barbarians in Hong Kong.

The tourists will face the famous invitational side for the first time since 1977 in a curtain-raiser for their Test series with the Wallabies, creating another chapter in their history with their first game in the region.

Legendary Scotland fullback Andy Irvine has been confirmed as the manager of the tour - with former Wales wing Gerald Davies named as Lions chairman.

Irvine, 59, won 60 caps for Scotland in a glittering career, touring with the Lions on three occasions following his bow on their famous 1974 trip to South Africa. In total he played 41 games for them, including nine Tests, and scored 19 tries.

He will now take on the key task of identifying the coach to lead the tourists against the Wallabies, who triumphed 2-1 in the Test series on their last meeting in 2001, alongside Davies, who managed the 2009 tour to South Africa.

“Last year’s tour was a phenomenal showcase for rugby, and I look forward to upholding the best of Lions traditions when we travel to the home of the Wallabies for what will be a fantastic experience,” Irvine said. “In the meantime, I can’t wait to get my teeth into the planning and logistics that will be so crucial to the success of the tour over the next two-and-a-half years.”

The tourists have also renewed their sponsorship deal with HSBC until the end of the tour to Australia and the bank will continue as the Lions’ principle partner and shirt sponsor, extending the agreement that was first signed in 2007.

“To be able to confirm today that the Lions will break new ground with their first ever fixture in Hong Kong will ensure the tour to Australia is even more special,” Lions chief executive John Feehan said.

“I’d also like to congratulate Andy and Gerald on their appointments. The Lions will benefit hugely from having two highly regarded and respected former Lions at the helm for the tour to Australia.”

Hong Kong has a strong rugby heritage thanks to the annual Hong Kong Sevens and has moved up to hosting Test matches in recent seasons thanks to the policy of taking Bledisloe Cup Tests to Asia - with the All Blacks and Wallabies set to face off on October 30 at Hong Kong Stadium. The fixture was first staged at the ground in 2008 although this year’s edition was initially plagued by poor ticket sales.

Pre-Register for the LWTL 2013 tour by clicking this link

The Perse School Cambridge has just returned from a very successful tour to South Africa.

They chose to follow an original itinerary by avoiding Cape Town and the Garden Route and it certainly paid off as their overland trips showed them the country and gave them a valuable insight into the country and people of South Africa.

With the country still recovering from Football World Cup fever the Perse began their tour in Pretoria enjoying the excellent sports facilities at the High Performance Centre, which had been the base for the Argentinean Football team a few weeks earlier.

After impressive displays on the pitch in Pretoria & Nelspruit the boys then enjoyed some R&R in the Kruger before heading south through Battlefield country to the Drakensberg Mountains.

More rugby followed with some great results for the Perse before the tour ended in the Durban area and included a fixture against the impressive Glenwood School. One highlight was the day spent at Gods Golden Acre, a centre that provides support, education and guidance to vulnerable & abandoned children. The day was a mix of rugby, entertainment and hard work with the boys lending a hand to help out with some of the maintenance jobs at the centre.

We were delighted to be involved in organising the tour for the Perse and well done on ending the tour having won 10 of the 16 games played. No mean feat in South Africa.

Rachel Barber

Until England’s untimely collapse on the second morning of the First test v Pakistan, it looked like Morgan’s first test century was setting us up for a big total! Nonetheless it is great to see this young talent making it now in the test side and I personally hope we will be seeing a lot more of him in Australia.