Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar may have lost out on all his chances to play the first Test against England at Lord's tomorrow. Clearly short of match fitness after a stomach problem Shoaib has struggled in the only match he played on the tour so far.

Darren Gough's confidence for the first Test must have received a big boost after the bubbly Yorkshire cricketer was awarded the Vodafone England Cricketer of the year award. Gough will be playing his 50th Test match when he walks out to play Pakistan tomorrow at Lord's. He also needs just three more wickets for 200 Test victims.

A confident South Africa take on the West Indies in the seventh and final one-day international match at St Vincent on Wednesday. South Africa has already won the series 5-1.

The young South African pace bowler Andre Nel, one of the five accused of smoking marijuana in their room during a post Test match celebrations St John's last month, claimed that he was innocent. Nel, who is on his first international tour, insists that he would do nothing that would jeopardise his cricket career. He said he and Justin Kemp were just present in the room when the others were smoking.

The new ICC Test championships will begin with the England-Pakistan Test match at Lord's from tomorrow.

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India skipper Sourav Ganguly, at the end of the third day of the Bangalore camp said that most likely Mumbai skipper Sameer Dighe will be the first choice wicket-keeper for the tour of Zimbabwe. He said Dighe's performance with the bat under pressure against Australia at Chennai was noted and he would be a handy prospect in Zimbabwe, although the Indian skipper did not comment on his keeping. The cricketers in the camp are also taking yoga training, which according to the skipper was good for both the mind and body.

Meanwhile Surinder Singh Bagal, the left-arm pace bowler from Jammu and Kashmir, has replaced Baroda's Rakesh Patel in the camp. Patel has suffered some injuries while at the camp.

The BCCI has decided to reappoint former Test opener Chetan Chauhan as the manager of the Indian team to Zimbabwe. Chauhan was the team manager during the recent Australian tour to India.

The West Indies Cricket Board has appointed a veteran lawyer to conduct an inquiry into the allegations made by the Indian bookie Mukesh Gupta that Brian Lara was paid $30,000 to under perform when he was in India in 1994. Lara had denied the charges and has been supporting any move being made to clear his name.

The belatedly brought up issue of the mysterious phone calls to Adam Gilchrist and Colin Miller during Chennai Test match has been considered as closed by the BCCI. The matter has been referred to the ICC investigator chief Sir Paul Condon. The main issue being raised is why the Australians took the calls in the first place and brought up the issue only after they had returned home.

After a public outcry, especially from the cricket statisticians, over the statement made by the ICC Anti Corruption chief Sir Paul Condon that he would recommend to Wisden to erase records of the tainted players, the Wisden editor Graeme Wright has clarified that such a proposal can not be worked out as cricket is a team game and it would not be possible to erase individual records.

The marketing cell of the IMG-TWI have negotiated a seemingly clinching deal with the BCCI for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team. The new sponsors are said to be a processed food multinational company and have offered the Board Rs. 50 lakhs (approx US$ 100, 000) for a Test match and Rs 43 lakhs (approx US$ 91,000) for a one-day international. The offer is Rs 28 lakhs (approx US$ 60, 000) more than the outgoing sponsors ITC (Rs 35 lakhs for a Test and Rs 30 lakhs for a one-day) had to offer. Meanwhile, TWI-IMG refused to let out the name of the sponsor and the exact sponsorship amount until the deal is finalised.

The new West Indies Cricket Academy based at St George's University in Grenada began its functioning from yesterday. The first group of players between the age group of 18-23 will train for three months. This may be the first step to revive the West Indies team after a slump in the late nineties. Some of the former West Indian 'greats' will be involved with this academy.

The Lashings Cricket Club in England, will have one more international star in their rolls. West Indian fast bowler Reon King will join Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Richie Richardson, Junior Murray and Stuart Williams in the team during this summer. Lara, however will play for the club only until June 10 after which he has international commitments (the West Indies tour Zimbabwe). He will then return to England to play for Lashings in August.

The famous Lord's Cricket Ground in London will now have three new statues - one of a batsmen and the other of a bowler, besides a statue of Dr WG Grace. The MCC Arts and Library Sub-Committee have commissioned these statues, which will be placed at the either end of the ground.

The former Somerset skipper and batsman Peter Roebuck and now a cricket journalist, has been charged of inviting teenage boys to his home in Taunton and then indecently assaulting them. He has been arrested on these charges. Roebuck, incidentally, was in India in March-April to cover the India-Australia series.

In an aim to promote cricket in all European countries, the European Cricket Council have decided "May 20th" as the Europe Cricket Day. Cricket events like coaching and exhibition of one-day matches will be organised to introduce the youth to the game and to persuade them to take it up. Special events have also been planned to promote Women's cricket too in these countries.

An Australian women's cricket team will be touring England in June for a two match Test series, which is dubbed as the Women's version of the Ashes. The visitors will also play three one-day internationals. Prolific batswoman Belinda Clark will lead the Australian side.

The working committee of the BCCI meets in Delhi today under Sunil Gavaskar to try and work out the new format for domestic cricket. It is proposed that the domestic schedule be worked out in such a way as to ensure maximum participation by the international players.

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