India's tour of England

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the head of Indian cricket, has banned six players from travelling to South Africa to shoot TV commercials prior to the tour of England.

Vice-captain Rahul Dravid, spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, seam bowler Javagal Srinath, batsman Virender Sehwag and wicket-keeper Ajay Ratra were offered a 12-day break by a South Korean electronics company.

But the Calcutta-based Telegraph newspaper claims Dalmiya could have had them dropped from the squad for the forthcoming tour if they had not cancelled the trip.

"We advised them not to go ahead with their program as the gap between the two series in West Indies and England was too short," Dalmiya commented.

Sri Lanka in England

It was well over a year ago now that England last won a Test series - funnily enough, the opposition then, as now, were Sri Lanka.

Since then, home series against Pakistan and Australia, and away ones against India and New Zealand, have failed to end in a positive result.

And the pressure is on the Duncan Fletcher-Nasser Hussain think tank not to blow another 1-0 lead as they did in New Zealand recently.

That being the case, England will probably resist the temptation to try out the raw pace of Simon Jones at Old Trafford.

Some observers reckon the positive noises made in the Glamorgan seamer's direction are a sure sign that he will play.

Pakistan in Australia

With their country on the verge of war with neighbouring India, Pakistan's cricketers are happy to be thousands of miles away in Australia as they prepare for a one-day series.

Cricket in the Australian winter is a by-product of the hectic pace in modern cricket, and Waqar Younis said he was unconcerned by events at home.

Captain Waqar said on Friday: "We're not really worried at all."

Waqar told reporters in Brisbane. "We're here to play cricket and we're just focused on cricket."

New Zealand in West Indies

After an undistinguished batting performance in Jamaica, New Zealand will be looking for a better effort in the first one-day international to be played in Castries for 18 years.

Their score of 176 all out in the first game of the five-match series was not, however, a surprise, given that they had played only one warm-up game since arriving in the Caribbean.

Skipper Stephen Fleming admitted they had been saved from a probable defeat by the rain which prevented a single ball being bowled in the West Indies innings.

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Left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul will open the batting for West Indies in Saturday's one-day international against New Zealand in St. Lucia, home skipper Carl Hooper said.

Fellow left-hander Wavell Hinds is likely to move to the middle order, where Chanderpaul batted so well in the recent series against India.

"We were going to try Chanderpaul there in Jamaica and we will stick to that," Hooper said on Friday.

The West Indies skipper singled out Chanderpaul for praise at the end of the India series, suggesting that he may be "wasted" in the middle order.

The two sides will play back-to-back games in St Lucia over the weekend.

The first match in the series was abandoned on Wednesday when heavy rain fell at lunchtime at Jamaica's Sabina Park.

New umpire panel

The United Cricket Board has appointed a 14-man first-class panel of umpires for the 2002/3 season.

"While we had 22 men on the panel last year, the time was right to reduce the panel for various reasons," said UCB Director of Cricket Operations, Brian Basson.

"Firstly, because of the ICC 2003 Cricket World Cup, our domestic fixture format has been reduced next season, so we would need fewer umpires.

"Secondly the decision to trim the panel is in line with the ICC policy of taking a route of excellence - fewer umpires having greater exposure."

In addition to the first class panel, an emerging panel of 12 umpires will officiate in UCB Bowl and Under-19 domestic fixtures.

Miscellaneous

A minute's silence, observed to the very second, was held in Grapes, a pub in Benoni, on Tuesday night.

It was for Ian Noakes, one of the two pilots who had died with Hansie Cronje on the Outeniqua Mountains six days ago.

Noakes had been a regular at Grapes on a Tuesday night, which is quiz night at the pub. His team were always one of the challengers for the case of beer, the prize on offer for the winners of the quiz.

An Englishman with no local family ties, Noakes had a tight group of friends, some of whom he went flying with for fun in Pitt Specials on weekends. Once the silence had been broken, drinks were sipped in his memory and the quiz went on as it always had.

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