India's tour of England

Anil Kumble has been named in India's Test and one-day squads to tour England after recovering from the broken jaw suffered in the West Indies last month.

India take on the hosts and Sri Lanka in a one-day triangular series and then play four Tests against England.

Kumble was the only change to the Indian one-day squad that beat the West Indies earlier this month.

But young wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel was a surprise inclusion in the 16-strong Test squad that was also announced on Saturday.

Javagal Srinath appears to have paid the price for his decision to retire from Test cricket after being left out of the one-day side too.

Captain Sourav Ganguly has endorsed the selection of the players.

"I an satisfied with the teams," he told reporters after the announcement of the two teams.

Sri Lanka in England

Dominic Cork missed out as England named a reduced squad for next week's third Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford.

But Glamorgan's Simon Jones remains in the 13-man group and could get a chance as England seek to assess the paceman ahead of the winter's Ashes series.

Batsman John Crawley is included as cover for Mark Butcher, who will test his injured knee early next week.

Pakistan in Australia

Pakistan warmed up for their three-match series against Australia with a 15-run win over a Queensland XI on Saturday.

The hosts were bowled out for 179 in the final over of the 40-over match at Allan Border Field after Pakistan made 194 for eight.

Veteran left-arm paceman Wasim Akram finished with four for 24 from seven overs while allrounder Shahid Afridi claimed two for 23 to go with his 52 in the Pakistan innings.

Shoaib Akhtar also took two wickets from six overs and the tourists had their fast bowler to thank for his part in a face-saving lower-order partnership with wicketkeeper Rashid Latif.

Shoaib slammed 25 off 19 balls, including three fours and a six, and Latif chimed in with 25 off 36 balls after the tourists slumped to 151 for eight.

Queensland off-spin all-rounder Nathan Hauritz, overlooked by Australia after touring South Africa with the one-day side, hit 61 off 77 balls and took one for 24 from eight overs.

New Zealand in West Indies

A Shivnarine Chanderpaul century secured a six-wicket victory for the West Indies in the second one-day international against New Zealand.

Brian Lara struck the winning runs for the home side, to give them a 1-0 lead in the series, with five balls remaining.

Chanderpaul, promoted to open the batting, hit eight fours and a six off 135 deliveries for his 108 in a West Indies total of 250 for four.

Earlier, New Zealand totalled 248 for seven off their 50 overs.

Chanderpaul was dropped in the second over by wicket-keeper Chris Nevin but never looked back as the home team solidly launched their reply

Miscellaneous

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.

"The English tour is likely to be tough. So, the players need to stay focused on the game."

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