Zimbabwe in India

Zimbabwe recovered from a disastrous start to the second Test, losing two wickets with only 11 runs on the board, to end the first day on 260 for 6.

Andy Flower's 92 and Dion Ebrahim's unbeaten 82 were instrumental in the visitors' revival. Stuart Carlisle hopes his team can get past 400 on Friday.

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Zimbabwe skipper Stuart Carlisle praised batsmen Andy Flower and Dion Ebrahim, who made half-centuries to put their team in a solid position on the first day of the second Test against India on Thursday.

Flower struck 92 off 164 balls and Ebrahim was unbeaten on a 183-ball 82 to enable Zimbabwe to finish the day at 260 for six.

"Andy Flower batted really well and Ebrahim gave him great support," Carlisle told reporters after the pair shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 116.

England in New Zealand

Darren Gough could miss the start of the English season after picking up a knee injury in New Zealand.

The Yorkshire paceman hurt his knee during the final one-day international against the Black Caps in Dunedin on Tuesday.

Many had expected Gough to continue with the England squad for the Tests against New Zealand despite being dropped for his refusal to play against India before Christmas.

He re-established himself as England's number one strike bowler during the one-day series taking 13 wickets in the five matches.

Ironically, Gough's decision not to play India was based on his desire to avoid burn-out from a busy Test schedule, having already missed a number of series in his career due to injury.

Gough admitted that a 27-hour journey back from the tour had exacerbated the injury.

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Adam Parore's cricketing future has been thrown into more doubt after he was left out of Auckland's team for the latest round of provincial matches.

Parore had made himself available for the team having previously stated he wanted a break from cricket, but the Auckland selectors decided against including him.

The 30-year-old wicketkeeper, who has played in 75 Tests for his country, made his announcement after being dropped from the New Zealand one-day side that faced England in the recent five-match series.

However, he appears to have reconsidered his position after it was made clear that he would not be considered for the forthcoming Test series unless he appeared for his province.

Announcing the decision to exclude Parore, Auckland chief executive Lindsay Crocker said: "There is no place for him. He has not been available for Auckland since returning from Australia and indicated ... he was not available for the rest of the season.

Australia vs South Africa

South Africa's dream of grabbing the world Test championship receded markedly after the three-day defeat against the Australians at the Wanderers.

And another casualty of that performance could be box-office traffic for the second Test starting at Newlands on Friday, March 8.

An average of 3 000 tickets have been sold for each of the first three days of that clash, says WP Cricket Association administration manager Otto Langenegger. "We are still more than a week away from the start of the game, and ticket sales are normally good in the last week," adds Langenegger.

One highlight on the calendar will be the expected celebration of Aussie spin wizard Shane Warne's 100th Test, as well as the fact that he has become the second highest wicket-taker in Tests.

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Young Australian prospect Shane Watson makes his debut for his country at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth in a four-day tour match against South Africa A.

The 20-year-old allrounder, who grew up in Queensland but now plays for Tasmania, was named in the XI to take on a team of South African Test hopefuls.

As expected, the Aussie tour selectors left out four leading players in Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn.

But skipper Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist, who hit a double hundred in the first Test, will both play.

Miscellaneous

The Australian Cricket Board accepted NSW batsman Graeme Rummans' plea for leniency in the wake of his doping offence last night and he was handed a minimal sentence.

Rummans was suspended from cricket for one month (effective from last weekend) and fined $2000 after he had tested positive to the banned masking agent probenecid.

ACB chief executive James Sutherland in Melbourne handed down the decision shortly after midnight following a marathon hearing that lasted almost eight hours.

"I'm glad that the hearing acknowledged that I have never taken any performance-enhancing drugs and I am looking forward to finishing off the season with my district club St George," Rummans said in a prepared statement.

The ACB's anti-doping committee said Rummans had impressed it as a "man of honesty and integrity."

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