There were no major surprises in the 15 member Indian team announced by the selectors at Bangalore for the tour of Zimbabwe. Most of the players who played those remarkable two Test matches to tame Australia have been included in the squad. Debasis Mohanty, Ashish Nehra and Hemang Badani are the only three, who did not play the Test series against Australia, have found a place on this tour.

The full team:
Sourav Ganguly (Capt), Rahul Dravid (V Capt), Sadagopan Ramesh, Shiv Das, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Hemang Badani, Sameer Dighe (wk), Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Debashish Mohanty, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Sairaj Bahutule.

Coach: John Wright.
Manager: Chetan Chauhan.
Physiotherapist: Andrew Leipus.

Rain played a wet blanket to the much-awaited Pakistan and England Test series. No play was possible on the first day at Lord's as umpires Peter Willey and Australian Darrell Hair called off the game for the day after heavy rain in the morning. This was the first time an entire day was washed out in a Lord's Test since June 19, 1997 - the first day of the Ashes Test match. This was also the 19th instance when no play was possible the entire day at this venue, which is hosting its 101st Test match.

The delay to the start of the first Test between Pakistan and England may give the English all rounder Craig White a crucial extra day to try and recover in time to play. If White is still not fit when play starts today then Yorkshire's left arm seam bowler Ryan Sidebottom may take his place.

With Indian cricket coach John Wright declining the offer of coaching the New Zealand national side, former Kiwi all-rounder Dipak Patel in probability will be the new cricket coach for New Zealand. The previous coach, David Trist, had stepped down after coaching the side for two years since 1999.

Former Australian wicket-keeper Rodney Marsh, on a visit to the various NCA zonal cricket academies visited the academy at Kolkata yestersday. He expressed satisfaction with the facilities and was very impressed by the talent he saw at these academies.

Thirty-four year old former Sri Lankan left-handed batsman Hashan Tillekeratne has been recalled to the probables squad announced by the Sri Lankan selectors for the tri-nation tournament against India and New Zealand in July. Seven players, Aravinda de Silva, Suresh Perera, Dulip Liyanage, and three left arm spinners: Dinuk Hettiarachchi, Niroshan Bandaratillake, and Sanjeewa Weerakoon were added to the squad that won the Sharjah tri nation last month.

It appears that the BCCI is all set to host the popular ICC Knockout series in 2002 next year. The president of the BCCI AC Muthiah shrugged off the comments made by secretary JY Lele saying that India was most certainly keen on hosting the tournament. The BCCI president along with Malcolm Gray, the ICC president, had met the sports minister Ms Uma Bharati, last month, to seek governmental support for the event. The final decision on next year's event will be taken on June 15 during the ICC meeting at Lord's.

Meanwhile, the ICC president Malcolm Gray has written to the sports minister Ms Uma Bharati, requesting the government to provide tax exemptions, which would help India to host the next ICC Knockout tournament. This was confirmed by the Ms Bharati, although she felt that it was for the BCCI to approach the government for the tax exemptions, not the ICC. She has however reiterated all her support for the tournament, which is dubbed as the mini World Cup.

Former Pakistan skipper Salim Malik has agreed to meet Sir Paul Condon, head of the ICC's anti-corruption unit at Lahore on May 25. Malik has agreed to be questioned saying he was keen on proving his innocence.

Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis has admitted that at one point of time he was very keen to have the current England coach Duncan Fletcher as Pakistan's coach. Waqar who had played for Glamorgan, when Fletcher was the county coach said he was impressed with the way he handled the team. Waqar said that he had asked Fletcher to come over to Pakistan, but at that point of time the Pakistan Cricket Board was not interested in having him.

The Australian Cricket Board will sponsor a two-week "visitors period" during the three month Ashes tour where in families and partners of the touring squad will be flown to England. Under an agreement that currently exists players on tour for 50 days or more are qualified to have their families visit them for two weeks with airfare and accommodation paid. Families also include dependant children under the age of 18. This arrangement is based on the new four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Players' Association.