India in West Indies

Sachin Tendulkar put his body on the line to help India win the fifth and final one-day international against the West Indies and clinch the series in the process.

Tendulkar sat out the fourth game with an injured shoulder but played through the pain on Sunday to claim the man of the match award as India won by 56 runs to take the series 2-1. "Deciding to play wasn't easy. I didn't want to let the team down after saying I was fit to play," Tendulkar said.

"There were some shots I just couldn't play. I had to change my game and try to stay till the end.

"My shoulder is still a little stiff, but I've been told it's nothing serious."

Tendulkar top-scored with a 70-ball 65 to help his team post a challenging total of 260.

Sri Lanka in England

England's star performers in the innings victory over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston have made big advances in the Test rankings.

Man of the Match Matthew Hoggard has risen nine places to 13th in the PWC bowling list, with new ball partner Andy Caddick moving up six places to fifth place.

Caddick is now England's number one bowler, with Darren Gough, who was forced to miss the Sri Lanka series following knee surgery, dropping two places to eighth.

Graham Thorpe's 11th Test century, meanwhile, has lifted him 10 places to 11th place in the batting rankings, with Marcus Trescothick making a 16-place advance to 14th following his career best 161.

Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has lost the number one spot among the bowlers to Australia's Glenn McGrath, despite taking five for 143 at Edgbaston, the 34th five-wicket haul of his Test career.

Death of Hansie Cronje

A memorial service for former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje is to be held at his former school in Bloemfontein.

The service at Grey College has been organised following 32-year-old Cronje's death in a plane crash.

It is throught that his funeral will take place on Wednesday, also in Bloemfontein, but details have yet to be confirmed.

The crash happened on Saturday in mountains near the city of George, about 500 kilometres east of Cape Town, killing all three people on board.

Investigators have now retrieved the cockpit vice recorder and flight data recorder from the Hawker Siddeley 748 cargo plane.

"The investigation continues, but the probable cause of the crash will not be known for some time," said Trevor Davids, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority.

Cronje was one of cricket's most controversial figures, having been banned from the game for life after admitting that he accepted money to fix matches.

Miscellaneous

In an interview with PTI the Indian skipper said, "Obviously wicket-keeping is an important area.

"We needed a keeper who could contribute substantially with the bat. Rahul looked pretty good in Barbados and I hope with time he improves because then we could be a good one-day side.

Ganguly went on to suggest that the move could be a permanent one, adding that the decision was not taken lightly and had been on the drawing board for several months.

"It is important to see what Rahul does with the gloves over a span of time," he said.

"We told him when we were playing against Zimbabwe in Hyderabad earlier this year and he was all set to keep wickets then. It was a very critical game for us and the wicket there didn't look very good so we didn't want to take any chance.

"But we are looking forward for a long run from him in this area. Especially when we chase, we need somebody at number seven to come and contribute with the bat."

________________

Speaking to the press Srinath said, "It has been in my mind for quite some time, six-seven months, but today I announce my retirement from Test cricket."

Srinath who is currently in India, having elected to sit out of the ODI series against the West Indies, went on to say that although he had chosen to miss out of India's recent ODI matches he would once again be available for the Asian outfit.

Indeed with the World Cup less than a year away the 32-year-old confirmed, ""I still have some cricket left in me and would like to focus on the World Cup."

Srinath has taken 232 wickets at an average of 30.46 in 64 Test appearances. He made his Test debut in Australia in 1991-92.

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