India's tour of England

One-day batsmen Mohammed Kaif, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia could stay with the Indian squad for the remainder of their tour.

They were due to fly home following the NatWest Series, but the selectors are to meet on Tuesday to decide whether to add them to the 16-man party already named.

Kaif and Yuvraj were the heroes of India's two-wicket win over England at Lord's last Saturday as the tourists successfully chased a target of 326 to win the triangular competition.

But Yuvraj suffered a chipped bone in his right hand during the game and a team spokesman confirmed he would be unable to play again for three weeks, even if the selectors decide he should stay.

Neither he nor Mongia has played Test cricket, but Kaif has four appearances behind him, the last of them against Sri Lanka in Colombo 11 months ago.

Batsmen Shiv Sunder Das and Wasim Jaffer, all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel have already arrived in England after being chosen for the second half of the tour only.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers rankings

Marcus Trescothick has jumped up 16 places in the one-day rankings for batsmen while Sourav Ganguly, Nick Knight and Russel Arnold have all lost ground.

The Pricewaterhouse Coopers rankings, updated after the NatWest series featuring England, India and Sri Lanka finished on Saturday, also shows that Sachin Tendulkar remains top of the tree.

There has been less dramatic movement in the bowling, with Harbhajan Singh dropping three places to seventh and Darren Gough down two to 10th.

But one clue as to why Sri Lanka may have done so poorly lies in the fact that Muttiah Muralitharan, out injured for the whole series, is still ranked the best bowler in world cricket in the shortened form of the game.

Trescothick moved from 24th to eighth in the list, one place above Australia's brilliant Adam Gilchrist (top in the Test rankings), and one below Pakistan's best entry, Yousuf Youhana.

World Cup 2003

Cricket World Cup organisers were forced to stop selling tickets on the internet midway through the first day of sales due to high demand.

The decision came after the computer system crashed after just 12 tickets were sold for the tournament to be held in South Africa early next year.

Although that initial problem was solved, so many people were registering at venues and to call centres that the internet ticketing arm was disabled to ease the pressure.

Stadium packages for the grandstand in Cape Town, East London, Paarl and three other venues have already sold out.

Miscellaneous

Cricket's governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed on Monday that umpires would be able to use TV replays over leg before wicket decisions at September's Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.

ICC cricket manager Dave Richardson said lbw provoked most errors among umpires and needed to be addressed.

"LBW will be one of the areas where umpires can consult, but only in certain areas such as whether the ball pitched outside leg-stump or took the inside edge," the former South Africa wicket-keeper said.

"LBW is one of those areas where umpires are making mistakes time and time again," he added.TV replays have up to now been used for run outs and catches.

________________

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis on Tuesday hoped cricketing ties between India and Pakistan would resume in the near future.

"It is only good for the game that the two countries play against each other. I spoke to Sourav (Ganguly) during the captains meeting and he too said it would only be good for the game in the sub-continent and world in general if India and Pakistan were to play against each other," said Younis.

The speedster who recently led Pakistan to a famous 2-1 win over World Champions Australia in a one-day international series said he was impressed by India's win over England in the NatWest trophy final on Saturday.

"They were very impressive but I would not straightaway say they are one of the contenders for the World Cup.

"Such is the nature of one-day cricket that you can't predict," Younis said.

________________

The International Cricket Council has rejected calls to cut the number of Test and one-day matches between now and 2007.

After a crisis meeting at Lords, attending by the captains of the Test playing countries, the chief executive of the ICC, Malcolm Speed, said no changes would be made to the calendar.

"We presented a paper about the Tests and one-day internationals," said Speed. "I do not anticipate cuts to the programme."

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming warned on Monday that a massive shake-up of international cricket was needed to avoid widespread player burn-out.

Fleming insisted that the overflowing number of fixtures was leading to increasing injuries and threatening the careers of leading players.

"We raised concerns about the amount of time between games," Fleming said.

________________

England fast bowler Darren Gough believes an increasing number of players will follow Graham Thorpe's lead and quit one-day cricket.

Gough, who himself chose to miss a tour of India last winter, believes the rigours of the international game are becoming too tough.

Thorpe announced his retirement from England's limited overs set-up game in order to try to preserve his life in the Test side.

And England team-mate Gough supported his move. He said: "I believe Graham has made the right decision and one more and more players will be forced into over the next few years.

"An international player at both Test and one-day levels will probably get a maximum of four weeks off in any 12-month period.

"The strain on the body alone is enormous and it is going to get harder and harder.

________________

Surrey captain Adam Hollioake paid tribute to his brother Ben at the memorial service for the young cricketer held in London on Monday.

Ben Hollioake, a rising star on the international scene, was just 24 when he died in a car accident in March.

At Southwark Cathedral on Monday, older brother Adam described him as an outstanding athlete but also a non-conformist who was unruffled by pressure.

He said he believed his brother was "one hundred percent happy" at the time of his death. But he told the congregation: "Life has changed for my family: Before there were good days, bad days, hard-working days and relaxing days.

"Now all these times have gone and been replaced with before and after Ben. "That's how my life will be from now on."

Womens' cricket

Women's one-day tri-series, Durham:
England v New Zealand England await a fitness report on new ball bowler Lucy Pearson before taking on the reigning world champions at the Racecourse Ground.

Left-armer Pearson suffered a foot injury in Jersey, where the first part of the tournament took place last week.

She has been receiving treatment but England have Nicki Shaw and Laura Spragg available to deputise if she fails to recover in time.

England beat India by six wickets in the opening game of the competition, but are well aware that New Zealand will present a much tougher proposition.

Emily Drumm's team warmed up for the tournament with a sequence of victories in Holland and Ireland and are strong in all departments.

________________

Women's cricket in England has a bright future, according to the head of the game's national governing body.

England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb offered an upbeat assessment after travelling to Jersey to watch the triangular series between England, India and New Zealand.

"What is absolutely clear is that whereas women's cricket tended to be regarded as a little bit of a curiosity a few years ago, I think those sceptics are now realising that with an increasing standard of the game, the additional skills, the athleticism, and the general professionalism, women's cricket has been completely transformed.

"It is not only a much better quality sport, it's a better quality spectacle as well," Lamb told.

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