India in South Africa

The Indian batsmen and bowlers had a good work out in the opening match of the tour against Nicky Oppenheimer's XI at Randjesfontein. Turning down the offer of traditionally allowing the visitors to bat first Sourav Ganguly ensured his bowlers got a good workout by bowling first. Though the Oppenheimer's XI rattled up 244 in 50 overs including a century from opener JA Rudolf, the heartening feature was the return of Anil Kumble who claimed 2-47 in 10 overs. India overhauled the target easily with all batsmen getting a hit in the middle. SS Das (59 retired out) was the top scorer. Scores: Oppenheimer's XI 244-3 decl in 52 overs (J Rudolph 109, L Bosman 62, G Smith 54; A Kumble 2-47) lost to Indians 245-5 in 48.1 overs (S Tendulkar 45, SS Das 58 retd., R Dravid 48 retd., V Sehwag 44) by five wickets.

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Meanwhile, the South African squad to play India in Johannesburg on Friday and in Benoni on Sunday has been announced. The matches will be the first of the triangular series that also involves Kenya. Fast bowler Allan Donald was left out through illness while left-arm spinner Nicky Boje is sidelined due to injury. The team: Shaun Pollock (captain), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher (wk), Justin Kemp, Claude Henderson, Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel

England in Zimbabwe

England began their tour of Zimbabwe with an encouraging win over the Zimbabwe-A side at Harare. After being initially reduced to 61-5 in the 16th over England recovered thanks to a fruitful 158 run partnership between Graham Thorpe (95) and Ben Hollioake (61) to make 262 in 50 overs. Zimbabwe-A began badly and were in early trouble. They could manage only 124 in 44 overs. Seam bowler James Kirtley claimed 3-21 for the visitors after pace bowler Matthew Hoggard (2-9) provided the early breakthroughs.

Dalmiya swings into action

With Jagmohan Dalmiya returning to lead the BCCI the prospects of India hosting the 2002 ICC Knock-Out Trophy have emerged brighter. The tournament itself was the brainchild of the former ICC chief and all indications are there that India could be hosting it in September next year. Dalmiya who will be representing India at the ICC executive board meeting in Kuala Lumpur from October 15 will press for India's hosting of the knockout tournament between September 15-30 next year.

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The newly elected head of the BCCI Jagmohan Dalmiya, will have talks with the government about its stand on playing Pakistan. Dalmiya is scheduled to meet Sports Minister Ms Uma Bharati as a first step towards reviving cricketing relations between the neighbours. Dalmiya said the BCCI would always respect the government's right to veto, though he would prefer if the tournament organisers were given more time to re-arrange fixtures in case of cancellations or else India will tend to get isolated from the cricket world.

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Meanwhile, Dalmiya will represent the BCCI at the funeral of the former BCCI president Madhavrao Scindia at Gwalior.

Miscellaneous

West Indies will play South Africa in the opening match of the 2003 World Cup. The 54 match World Cup will be launched at the Newlands at Cape Town on 6 February 2003. Meanwhile the president of the West Indies Cricket Board former pace bowler Wes Hall said he deemed it a great honour to be chosen to play the opening game. The 14 participating teams have been divided into two pools. Pool A will consist of Australia, Pakistan, India, England, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Namibia; while Pool B has South Africa, the West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Canada and Kenya

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Banned South African cricketer Henry Williams will return to international cricket in the Hong Kong Sixes tournament to be held in November. Williams, like Herschelle Gibbs was banned for six months for accepting a bribe offer from former skipper Hansie Cronje during the team's last tour of India in 2000. The South African team for the tournament is Jonty Rhodes (Capt), Steve Elworthy, Derek Crookes, Loots Bosman, Alfonso Thomas, Andrew Hall, and Henry Williams.

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The Sri Lankan Cricket Board has agreed to visit Pakistan and play three one-day internationals in October some time after the 15 October. The Sri Lankan Board has requested its Pakistani counterparts to confirm the dates and venues before the final decisions are made.

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Former Pakistani skipper Wasim Akram has turned down an offer to play for the Natal Province Cricket Association in South Africa. He said he was not in a position to accept it as it clashed with his already fixed commitments for PIA. Moreover his family's need is most important. Another Pakistani cricketer Asif Mujtaba too turned down an offer to play for Griqualand, a South African provincial side, for the same reasons. While Mujtaba was offered $4000 a month, Wasim refused to divulge the figure he was offered.

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Wasim Akram has rubbished the allegations made by former teammate Sarfraz Nawaz that he has accumulated assests worth over Rs three billion. Wasim stressed that he has had his assets checked and everything was in order. Wasim declined to talk further on the matter. The former fiery fast bowler also accused another former teammate Salim Malik of amassing wealth of more than Rs 90 million.

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New Zealand has confirmed their participation in the Sharjah Cricket Tournament to be played in April next year. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the other teams. The tournament will be played from April 10-20.

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