Mickey Arthur, the highly rated coach, has pledged his loyalty to South African cricket amid speculation that he is in the running to take over the job of England coach.
The Proteas coach is thought to be the top target of the England and Wales Cricket Board to replace Peter Moores, who was sacked in January following a high-profile falling out with then captain Kevin Pietersen.
Reports have continuously linked Arthur with the role, but he has scotched suggestions that he will be in charge of the side for their summer programme, despite suggesting his agent had been contacted in discussions with the ECB.
"I certainly didn't apply for the job," said Arthur.
"There have been chats back and forth, but I've only chatted to the agent who looks after me. My loyalties are totally with South Africa - I honestly can't see myself going to England at this point in time."
Arthur, 40, also pledged his full support to his current employers, adding: "I've got another three years on my contract with Cricket South Africa, and I'm really excited about where we're at.
"I'm really excited about the team we have and the brand of cricket we're playing, and I think the next three years are going to be very, very good for South Africa. I want to be part of that."
With Graham Ford also ruling himself out of the running the likelihood of interim coach Andy Flower, who oversaw the tour of the West Indies at short notice, taking the job permanently look to have increased.
Arthur, meanwhile, has described today's third one-day international against Australia in Cape Town as one of his side's most important fixtures of the year as the two sides prepare to meet for the eighth time in 12 weeks. South Africa were 4-1 victors during their five-match series Down Under and with the score 1-1 in the ongoing sequence of games, the Proteas coach knows that a win for either team will tilt the balance heavily in their favour.
"This match is hugely important," said Arthur. "It's about the side who want it more.
"The side who win it will take a lot from it. The two sides are so close, that if you just open the door, the other side will walk through.
"It's going to be one of the most important ODIs of the summer so we'll be looking to take the initiative."
Arthur is pleased Jacques Kallis suffered no set-back in his return from a groin injury on Sunday.
He added: "Jacques brings so much balance to our team. He is like two players. We couldn't play an extra seamer in Durban because our tail was long, so I'm very happy to have him back.
"We now bat down to No 10, and I include Wayne Parnell, because although he hasn't done much with the bat yet, I regard him as a future all-rounder.
"We also have seven bowling options. So our current squad is as good as we've ever had."
* With agencies
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Company%C2%A0profile
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Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs: 2018 Dodge Durango SRT
Price, base / as tested: Dh259,000
Engine: 6.4-litre V8
Power: 475hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 640Nm @ 4,300rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
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