South Africa in Zimbabwe

In form batsman Herschelle Gibbs made a quick 69 to lead South Africa to a crushing 148-run win against Zimbabwe in Harare on Saturday in the second match of the three-match one-day series. Gibbs received excellent support from Jonty Rhodes who made 56 from just 45 balls. Neil McKenzie chipped in with a well compiled 40 as the visitors made 272-7 in their 50 overs. Zimbabwe, without their captain Heath Streak who withdrew before the start of play because of back spasms, collapsed to 124 to the left-arm spin of Claude Henderson who finished with four for 17.

India in South Africa

The Indian cricket team after an intense week of training decided will take a day off tomorrow and watch a rugby game at the Ellis Park in Johannesburg. For security reasons the team has been practicing at Centurion Park, which is about 60 kms from Johannesburg. The Indian team management has been busy observing the South African newcomers in the South African team in action against Zimbabwe on television. There are a quite a few players like Claude Henderson, Justin Kemp and Andre Nel in the South African side who have not played a match against India.

________________

In view of the world-wide volatile situation following the terrorist attacks on United States all cricket fans coming to the ground to watch the Indians practice will be required to produce their identity before they allowed in the ground. The visiting Indian cricket team will be the first to given such an unprecedented security in South Africa. The officials feels that with the World Cup 2003 round the corner, it was better to start the security procedures early with this tour. Meanwhile hundreds of local Indian families and young Indian fans are finding it difficult to approach the players. Some of the Indian cricket's fans feels that the security for this tour is tougher than what one sees in Indian grounds. Meanwhile the stadium authorities were unusually busy checking every fan's identity.

Miscellaneous

Noted television commentator Harsha Bhogle has been invited by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to be their Master of Ceremonies (MC) for a function to be held in London on October 8.
The function is to unveil ICC's brand identity in presence of major sponsors and key administrators. This function is said to be a part of the ICC's attempt to create a new image for itself.
Incidentally, this is the first such honour given to any Asian media person by the ICC. Bhogle, who will be in South Africa as a part of the ESPNStar Sports commentary team will miss the Kenya-South Africa one-dayer at Benoni on October 7 because of this assignment.

________________

Former Pakistani pace bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has once again alleged that two matches in the 1999 World Cup were rigged.
He was giving evidence at an official inquiry on Saturday probing Pakistan's matches against Bangladesh and India in the World Cup in England.
The former paceman, appearing before a commission headed by Justice Karamat Bhandari, spoke to Lahore's High Court for two hours while gaving a lengthy statement confirmed registrar Kazim Ali Malik, although the latter refused to go into details.

________________

Former Indian all-rounder Syed Abid Ali will take over as the new cricket coach of the Andhra Cricket Association for the next two months. If Andhra qualifies for the knock-out phase, the ACA could renew his coaching contract. The Andhra Ranji camp will commence from November 20 in Visakhapatnam.

________________

Former England batsman and captain Michael Atherton has signed a TV broadcasting deal with Channel 4. He will appear as an expert for all six Test matches against Sri Lanka and India next summer. He will also make regular appearances on Channel 4's Saturday morning horse racing preview The Morning Line.

________________

Jagmohan Dalmiya was elected as the new president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He had earlier served as the BCCI secretary, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman.
At the Board's 72nd annual general meeting at Chennai on Saturday, the Bengal Cricket Association president Dalmiya defeated incumbent AC Muthiah from Tamil Nadu CA by 17-13 votes in a day of dramatic developments. However, Saurashtra's Niranjan Shah, belonging to the Muthiah's group, was elected BCCI secretary.
He edged out present occupant, Jayawant Lele from Baroda 16-15, with the out-going president Muthiah's casting vote making the difference in the end.
Jyoti Bajpai (Uttar Pradesh) was re-elected joint secretary, getting the better of MP Pandove (Punjab) 17-13, while Kishore Rungta (Rajasthan) retained the treasurer's post by overcoming DC Agashe (Maharashtra) 16-14.
Following a consensus among the members, status quo was maintained with regard to the vice-presidents. Messrs. CK Khanna (North), Kamal Morarka (Central), Narahari Amin (West), KM Ramprasad (South) and Dr PK Misra (East) would continue in their roles.

Yesterday's News .........................  News Roll archive