The government of Pakistan has initiated a probe into its team's defeat in the two World Cup matches in England in 1999. The government would nominate a judge for this purpose.

The first report of the ICC's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) has said that many of its important witnesses have faced threats of murder and kidnap. Condon said that since the Cronje episode, match fixing has reduced a great deal, although he still felt there were instances in recent times in which he suspected players of dishonesty. Under special scrutiny are the recent Pakistan-New Zealand one-day series and the final of the ICC Knockout between India and New Zealand that India lost. The 80 page report also states that match fixing had its roots in England in the 70's during county matches.

In his report, Sir Paul Condon, has criticised former ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, without actually naming him, for his role in negotiating lucrative television deals for the ICC, as these negotiations are subject of investigation. Condon is critical of the potential conflicts of interest within the ICC.

International Management Group - Trans World International (IMG-TWI), a sports management company, based in New Delhi was awarded the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team for the next three years. IMG-TWI who turned out to be the highest bidder will in turn rope in corporate houses to sponsor the team. IMG-TWI will pay the BCCI Rs 50 lakhs per Test (approx. US$ 100000) and Rs 40 lakhs (approx. US$ 85000) per one-dayer. This agreement begins from the tour of Sri Lanka in July. In the meanwhile, the Indian Tobacco Company (ITC), will continue as the team sponsor when India tours Zimbabwe later this month.

Zimbabwe have already started their warm up to the Indian tour. The Zimbabwe `A' team to play the Indians in a three-day warm up match at Mutare from May 28-30, has been announced. The team: G Rennie (capt), H Masakadza, D Ebrahim, C Wishart, Craig Evans, D Viljoen, T Taibu, T Friend, B Murphy, D Mutendera, BC Strang, S Matsikenyire.

Reacting to reports appearing in the media a few days ago that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was unable to take action against its top players of wrongdoing as they lacked suitable replacements, the PCB chairman Tauqir Zia regretted that his remarks had been misquoted and misinterpreted. He urged the media to be more careful in evaluating the contents of his statements in future.

Meanwhile, Gen Tauqir Zia, said he will not step down in the wake of the recent controversies and the poor performance of the national team. It is interesting to note that apart from former cricketer Majid Khan, all other PCB chiefs were either thrown out or forcibly told to leave. Gen Zia said he was very keen to do something good for the system and would certainly not resign at this stage.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has extended its television contract for the next three years, from 2003 to 2005, with Channel 4 and Sky Sports. The tours covered under this period include Zimbabwe and South African tours of England in 2003, the New Zealand and the West Indies tours of England in 2004 and the Bangladesh and Australia tours of England in 2005.

The Australian captain Steve Waugh said that he was unhappy with the points system for the International Cricket Council Test championship and has called it "stupid". Waugh argued that if when two points are awarded for a series win and one for a draw, one could be faced with a situation where a team that wins the first three matches of the series (and thereby win the series) is left playing for nothing in the last two Tests. He also said such a situation will lead to these matches being fixed.

The BCCI President AC Muthiah reiterated that there would be no problem for India playing in Pakistan in the Asian Test Championships since the Indian Government is only opposed to bilateral series between the two countries. Meanwhile, Indian officials, including Muthiah, are scheduled to attend a meeting of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) at Lahore, later this week.

In reaction to former Sri Lankan Board president Tilanga Sumathipala's move of freezing the accounts of the Board through a court order, the sports ministry has offered to fund the running of the Board by using its own resources although the official has admitted it would be a big burden. The Sri Lankan Board urgently needs funds to run the administration and also to host a Test and one-day series in July-August.

The proposed graded system of payment for the Indian cricketers that is likely to be introduced from the end of the year has come in for a lot of flak in the Indian media. Major Indian newspapers questioned the logic behind Sourav Ganguly (who scored a handful of runs in the Australian home series) was being paid more than Harbhajan Singh (who had the Aussies hopping to his tune). Most felt that the payments should be based on performance and nothing else. Meanwhile, the treasurer of the BCCI, Kishore Rungta was quoted as saying that for a contract system to be in place, players must first turn professional which will in turn mean more taxes and they must also share with the board a part of their endorsement earnings.

Mumbai will be felicitating its son of the soil, Sachin Tendulkar on his completion of 10,000 runs in one-day cricket at a special ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. He will be presented with a silver bat, weighing 10 kg., and a cash award of Rs. 2.51 lakhs (approx US$ 5200.00). However, the decision to name the MCA pavilion at the Wankhede Stadium after the batsman has been put on hold, thanks to a bungling by the MCA officials.

The Barabati Stadium at Cuttack will soon have flood light facility. This venue will then be the second in the East Zone to have one, after the Eden Gardens at Kolkata. The next one-day international match, to be hosted by the Orissa Cricket Association, will be played under the flood lights.

Champions Gloucestershire beat Durham by 66 runs at Bristol to reach the semi-final of the B&H Cup. Although the home side were restricted to 199, Durham could only manage 133 runs.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has cautioned Kent as to future conduct and ordered them to pay £400 by way of contribution to the costs of the hearing. A meeting of a Panel of the Discipline Standing Committee of ECB held at Lord's yesterday considered a complaint by Middlesex CCC that Kent CCC had been in breach of Regulation 7 of the Qualification and Registration Regulations, by an approach to their contracted player, Jamie Hewitt, without first obtaining the consent of Middlesex.

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