After being banned from the bowling attack on the third day of the first Test at Bulawayo, for running onto the pitch in his follow through, India's left-arm pace bowler Ashish Nehra reacted to the incident in the best way possible. He took three Zimbabwe wickets in the last 45 minutes of play on the first day of the second Test at Harare to leave the hosts reeling at 31 for three stumps. Earlier, India put up yet another unimpressive batting performance when they were bowled out for 237 with only SS Das (57) and Rahul Dravid (63 not out) making any kind of impression.

Statistical Highlights

Former Indian opening batsmen Sunil Gavaskar and Navjot Singh Sidhu, who are in Zimbabwe as part of the television commentary team had a narrow escape two days ago when the car they were travelling in collided head on with another. Gavaskar, Sidhu and the driver of the car were lucky to escape unhurt. The collision however damaged their car severely. The two were returning to their hotel after having dinner with some friends in Harare.

The West Indies cricket team arrived in Harare to begin their month long tour of Zimbabwe. West Indies are the third team in the tri-series contest, that features Zimbabwe and India, which will be played soon after the on-going Test series. The West Indies will then stay on to play two Tests in Zimbabwe.

The England Cricket Board (ECB) has reacted immediately to its recent dismal run of losses in one-day cricket by organising a hurried tour of Zimbabwe, soon after the Ashes series and before their tour of India. England will play a series of five one-day matches in Zimbabwe. Although England's coach Duncan Fletcher (a former Zimbabwean captain) said that the Zimbabwe tour would give the English team the much needed experience before the World Cup 2003, it is generally felt that the ECB has hurriedly organised this trip so that the team, which has now lost a record nine one-day games in a row, could redeem itself by facing a weaker opposition. However former Zimbabwe captain Dave Houghton has warned the Englishmen that they will not find the home team an easy opposition.

With England has been left exasperated by the continuous run of failures in one-day internationals, coach Duncan Fletcher has decided that he will set up a pool of young athletic players to cope with the tough international schedule. After identifying the talent, he proposes to blood the youngsters gradually into the international scene to gain match experience. He said he is happy with the performances of Marcus Trescothick and Owais Shah, the two youngsters who have shown potential in the short time they have been with the England side.

New Zealand have named their squad to tour Sri Lanka. The tour begins with the tri-series featuring the hosts and India. Daniel Vettori and Dion Nash make a come back to the side after being sidelined due to injury. New Zealand, meanwhile have also put Chris Nevin, Shayne O'Connor, Brooke Walker, Paul Wiseman and Andre Adams on standby as replacements in case of injury to any member of the squad.

The team:
Stephen Fleming (Capt), Nathan Astle, Grant Bradburn, James Franklin, Chris Harris, Craig McMillan, Kyle Mills, Dion Nash, Jacob Oram, Adam Parore, Mathew Sinclair, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori and Lou Vincent.

The Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium will not play host to any of the one-day matches in next month's tri-series involving the hosts, New Zealand and India. The Sri Lankan Cricket Board said the legal problems regarding the ownership of the land, was the reason for not considering Dambulla as a venue. The stadium at Dambulla was built in just 175 days and has hosted one international match so far, when England played here in March this year.

The Bradman family appears to be unhappy with the publicity his publisher Tom Thompson has been drawing this past week over statements that the Don may have made to him in confidentiality. The late great Sir Don Bradman has apparently disclosed to Thompson that he was disgusted at the Australian umpire Darrell Hair's calling Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan for chucking in 1995. The Bradman family has also distanced themselves from the presentation of the Bradman caps to six international cricketers so far, with the latest recipient being Muralitharan. The Bradman family as well as the Bradman Foundation has felt that Thompson had done so without proper authority. They have also raised objection to publishing of private comments made by the Don many years ago.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram will be one of the many stars to take part in the benefit match that is to be awarded to England fast bowler Darrren Gough. A match will be played in August between a Rest of the World XI and a Gough's All-Star team at the Don Valley Stadium. Costcutter Supermarkets UK will sponsor the match. The 30 year old Gough who is England's seventh highest wicket taker with 211 Test wickets in 51 matches, said he was delighted that Wasim has accepted the invitation to play in his benefit match.

No cricket matches can be held at the new Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, located some 86 miles north-east of Colombo, as the land on which the stadium was built is owned by a local temple that houses a group of Buddhist monks. Ministry officials say that the monks had no right to lease out the land to build the stadium in the first place. Since the matter is pending in a Sri Lankan court and no cricket will be played in the picturesque stadium until then. This will also mean that the venue will not see any cricket during India's and New Zealand's tour of Sri Lanka beginning next month. England and the host Sri Lanka are the now only teams to have played a match here - a one-day international game in March this year.

Former England all-rounder Ian Botham, who had come out with strong words two days ago, by warning that someone could be killed if the match-fixing problem is not put to an end, has been approached by the English Cricket Board. The ECB has urged him to come out with the information he has to the ICC committee headed by Sir Paul Condon, as merely talking to the media will do nothing to help the situation. Botham had said that players were scared to blow the whistle on match-fixing as they feared for their lives.

Four bookies in Jaipur, were caught taking bets on the one-day match between England and Australia that was being played at Manchester. A large amount of cash, betting slips, a television set and two telephones were recovered from the den. The accused Nanagram Sharma confessed that he has taken bets for many important matches, and that he had contacts with other bookies in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkatta. A case under Rajasthan Public Gambling Law was registered against the four.

Banned South Arfican skipper Hansie Cronje was awarded the "Newsmaker of the Year" award by the Pretoria Press Club. The other awardee was the South African Air Force for its sterling rescue operation it carried out when floods ravaged the neighbouring Mozambique. Cronje who did not attend the presentation ceremony said it is not an award that he was proud of. Meanwhile the Club chairman Yusuf Abramjee, emphasised that the award to Cronje should not be seen as one of merit, but for rather having dominated the headlines for his involvement in match-fixing.

In its recent issue, the Wisden Cricket Monthly (WCM) in an article titled 'Tendulkar the Great' has predicted that the great batsman will amass 20, 480 runs with 81 centuries in the next 10 years if he maintains his present form. (However an aggregate of 16,000 runs and 50 centuries, would be a more realistic figure).

Former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee would be conducting a camp at Chennai at the MRF Pace Foundation from June 17 to 27. The Chief Coach of the Bangalore based National Cricket Academy (NCA) Balwinder Singh Sandhu, along with four pace bowlers from each zonal academy will also be present during Lillee's visit. The ACB's psychologist Dr Sandy Gordon would also be conducting classes at the Foundation.

An Uttaranchal High Court has granted a stay on the arrest of former Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar for three weeks. Prabhakar, has been accused in his involvement in an investment fund scam. The company, of which Prabhakar is a director, has duped thousand of investors by not returning their investments. Prabhakar's lawyer has filed a petition before the High Court pleading that the former cricketer was not guilty.