India's tour of West Indies

Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is out of the first Test against the West Indies, which stats on Thursday, because of a shoulder injury.

Singh pulled a shoulder muscle when he threw the ball in from the boundary during the warm-up match against a Guyana Board President's XI on Sunday.

"Harbhajan was feeling better but we decided to rest him for the first Test so that the injury can heal properly," said Indian team manager Gautam Dasgupta.

"We thought there is no point in playing him in the first Test and jeopardising his chances of serving the team in the rest of the five-match series."

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Thursday's first Test against the West Indies at Guyana is a key moment for Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

India have not won a series outside South Asia for 16 years, but many are favouring them to triumph over a transitional West Indies team over five Tests.

And Ganguly says the old hands on his team have the ability to muscle the tourists towards ending the terrible hoodoo that afflicts them.

"We have a number of people here who have been to the West Indies before," Ganguly told reporters.

"They know what it takes to play in the Caribbean, they have seen the conditions. That should help a great deal."

India's tour of England

India will play four first-class county matches on their tour of England, beginning in June. The itinerary for the trip, confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday, sees the tourists play four Tests and take part in the one-day triangular tournament, also involving Sri Lanka.

The final Test of the series, at The Oval, had been in jeopardy until England agreed to play an extra one-day international during their trip to India in January.

Bangladesh get new coach

Test novices Bangladesh have terminated the contract of coach Trevor Chappell to replace him with former Pakistan Test player Mohsin Kamal.

The contract of the Australian, the least well-known of the three Chappell brothers, was to last until June.

But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has relieved him of the coaching responsibilities immediately.

"We have told him that we are going to have a new coach so that we could further improve our performance, especially ahead of the next year's World Cup in South Africa," BCB president Ali Asgar told BBC Sport Online.

Miscellaneous

Surrey may sign Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood as a back-up overseas player to start the season.

Star spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is not available until the third week of May as he will be on international duty for New Zealand's tour of Pakistan.

And the club's chief executive Paul Sheldon has confirmed that Azhar is one of the players the county has approached.

Azhar is currently playing with Pakistan in the Sharjah's triangular tournament, but may not be involved with the home series against the Kiwis.

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Jonty Rhodes recent fine form with the bat has seen the South African jump 12 places in the one-day international player ratings to sixth spot.

Rhodes, who retired from Test cricket a year ago, hit 338 runs at an average of 67.60 during the seven-match series against Australia, which concluded with the home side's sole victory on Tuesday.

Australia have reinforced their position as the premier one-day batting side with six batsmen featuring in the top 20.

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South African all-rounder Lance Klusener has been found guilty of intimidation during a provincial match.

Klusener, who is set to turn out for Nottinghamshire at the beginning of the county season, was fined 5,000 rand (£300) by the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA).

The fiery all-rounder was charged over an incident with Western Province batsman Thami Tsolekile, in a match for KwaZulu-Natal last month.

He was alleged to have fielded a ball off his own bowling and thrown it at Tsolekile. The UCBSA said Klusener, who was not present at the disciplinary hearing, has the right to appeal.

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