India will be taking no chances and is fielding a full-fledged Test team in the opening encounter of their tour match against a strong Zimbabwe-A line up at Mutare. India has included their full strength Test batting & bowling line up with a view to give the players a feel of the wickets and conditions. The Zimbabwe-A side includes several former Test players and also a schoolboy wicket keeper Tetindu Taibu, who is tipped to take over from Andy Flower when he retires.

Meanwhile, many of the Indian team members who attended an official function at the Indian High Commission at Harare yesterday, were annoyed that they were provided only US$ 32 as their daily allowance to meet their food, laundry, telephone and other expenses. According to a team member the minimum daily allowance while on tour as fixed by the ICC, is US$ 50.00. This has forced the players to put a check on their expenditure.

Left handed batsman Nick Knight will replace Nasser Hussain in the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford, Manchester. Knight, who last played a Test match against West Indies at the Lord's last season, is having a good run in county championships this season. Knight, incidentally won his recall ahead of other experienced players like Lancashire's John Crawley and Surrey's Mark Ramprakash. Meanwhile, pace bowler Matthew Hoggard who was unfit for the first Test is likely to come back and take the place of left-arm pace bowler Ryan Sidebottom in the side.

Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis felt that his team's preparations to the Tests were hampered by the lack of good opposition in the warm up matches. Pakistan who lost the first Test by an innings, last week bounced back to defeat Leicestershire by an innings within two days. Before the first Test the team had played matches against British Universities, Derbyshire and Kent all of whom, it seems were not good enough for the Pakistanis.

Meanwhile England skipper Nasser Hussain has come down heavily on the Asian community living in Britain. Madras born Hussain, said he was disappointed when the Asians cheer on India and Pakistan instead of their adopted homeland. He hoped the young British Asians would re-appraise their obligations and support, and also inspire for playing for their adopted country - England.

Aussie paceman Glen McGrath is at it again. After making big noises before his tour of India earlier this year, that it was Tendulkar and Ganguly that he was after, McGrath now says he will target England's opening batsman Michael Atherton. McGrath, who is a good bowler in English conditions has got Atherton out 13 times so far and is raring to have a go at him again during the Ashes Test series.

The head of the ICC's Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) Sir Paul Condon, now on a visit to Lahore, said that names of the players, involved in match-fixing were not mentioned in his report due to legal reasons. During his visit to Pakistan Condon also met Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, who conducted a probe into match-fixing in Pakistan cricket, and the PCB chief Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia.

England fast bowler Darren Gough is angry and upset over the fact that he will be treated like a suspect. Gough was reacting to the recommendations in Sir Paul Condon's report that increased security should be around international teams. Gough did not seem happy with the idea of having policemen constantly breathing down his neck and also added that this extra policing would do nothing to stop match fixing.

According to a report, Britain's Inland Revenue will soon start an inquiry against banned cricketers as part of its investigation of players suspected of match fixing and also taking bribes. The department will initially target Mohammad Azharuddin, Salim Malik and Hansie Cronje and then would zoom in on the other players involved as well.

Three trainees from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore will be leaving for Australia under the Border-Gavaskar exchange scholarship scheme, to undergo a six-week training from June 3 at the Australian Cricket Academy at Adelaide. Karnataka's Deepak Chowgule, Mumbai's Vinayak Mane and Gujarat's Parthiv Patel are the three trainees. Bengal's Arindam Das will also accompany the trio to Australia but his expenses will be borne by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). This is the second batch of trainees to visit the Academy. Last year, three trainees from the NCA - Sridharan Sriram, Mohammad Kaif and Shiv Sundar Das - were the beneficiaries.

The West Indies cricket team is yet again in the news, although for the wrong reasons. Following the spat between the team manager Ricky Skerritt and psychologist Joe Hoad, it has now come to be known that the manager too may find himself without his job soon. It is rumoured that the contracts of the team coach Roger Harper and Skerritt may not be renewed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). Meanwhile the WICB had recently announced that former fast bowler Andy Roberts and former opener Gordon Greenidge would be the new bowling and batting coaches respectively at a camp that starts in Port of Spain from Monday. The ten-day camp is for preparing the West Indies team for their tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya from June.

A five-member panel has been appointed by the Sri Lankan sports minister Lakshman Kiriella to probe into the activities of former Sri Lankan Board president Thilanga Sumathipala and his sacked cricket Board members. This panel headed by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, will investigate charges of corruption and financial mismanagement by the previous Board. The minister had appointed an interim panel to run the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) since March this year. He had also promised all financial assistance for the upcoming tours by India and New Zealand.

Pakistan's captain Waqar Younis has welcomed India's decision to participate in the Asian Test Championships. India are scheduled to travel to Pakistan in September. He said he was delighted that the Indian government has agreed to send a team to Pakistan after 12 years. "It's good for Asian cricket," he said.

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