Miscellaneous

Australian cricket Chief Executive James Sutherland said the ACB was satisfied, at the moment, that it was safe for the team to tour Zimbabwe.

He also said it was appropriate that the tour go ahead as scheduled, even after Zimbabwe was banned from the Commonwealth overnight.

But Sutherland said the ACB would continue to monitor the situation in Zimbabwe as the safety of players and officials was the board's major concern.

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The International Cricket Council's decision to conduct a trial which will mean technology being used for more umpiring decisions has been met with mixed reaction.

Former umpire Dickie Bird fears the man in the middle will soon be left with nothing to do except count the number of balls per over and hold the bowler's sweater.

"If this proposal is accepted, the umpire as we know him will be finished," he told The Times newspaper.

"When I was umpiring, players used to accept that we couldn't be right 100 per cent of the time.

"All they asked for was consistency and common sense. That should still be good enough," added Bird, who stood in 66 Tests.

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Niranajan Shah, secretary of the BBCI, said Tendulkar, who had just been looking to strengthen his knees by sitting out the one-day and "we know that he will be available for the West Indies series". Similarly, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble were resting their shoulders.

While Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath will be taken at their word when it comes to their fitness for India's tour of the West Indies,

By contrast, Virendra Sehwag dislocated his shoulder, and Shah said that "the selectors will take Board doctor Dr Ananth Joshi's advice" before naming him in the squad to tour West Indies.

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Test double centurion Kumar Sangakkara looks set to open for Sri Lanka in the Sharjah one-day tournament, after Avishka Gunawardene was omitted from the 14-man squad.

Sri Lanka Squad:
Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, T.M. Dilshan, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Charitha B. Fernando, Kumar Dharmasena, Pulasthi Gunaratne. Standdby: Eric Upashantha

England in New Zealand

Kiwi wicket-keeper Adam Parore scored 0 and 1 and then put down a skied catch from Marcus Trescothick in the second innings of the 1st Test against England in Christchurch. He also conceded seven byes.

Disappointed at being left out of the one-day squad, Parore had earlier announced he would not play for Auckland in the State Championship ahead of the Test.

But Parore refused to blame his break for his performance. "I felt that was my best preparation for the game," he said, "and I still feel it was my best preparation. I know if I hadn't done that I wouldn't even be playing - simple as that. I felt fine. I felt refreshed."

Zimbabwe in India

5th ODI, Guwahati: India 333-6 (50 overs) bt Zimbabwe 232 all out (42.1 overs) by 101 runs

A crushing win by the home side saw them clinch a hard-fought series win against the unfancied Zimbabwe side.

Opener Dinesh Mongia hammered a brilliant unbeaten 159 as India posted their fourth highest score ever in a one-day international.

And Zimbabwe, with only 48 overs to reach a colossal target of 334 to win because of their poor over rate, were never in the contest.

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Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly praised the performance of the young players in his side following their 3-2 success in the one-day series against Zimbabwe

"Mongia played an outstanding innings," he said.

"It is good to win a series with youngsters. Our fielding has improved tremedously with young players in the squad," said Ganguly.

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