The England and Wales Cricket Board has said it would have to cut costs by four million pounds ($6.3 million).

ECB chief executive Tim Lamb told the BBC Sport Website: "It is regrettable that these cost savings need to be found, but they are part of the financial fallout from the 2003 World Cup."

England had boycotted their pool-stage World Cup match in Zimbabwe two months ago.

The International Cricket Council subsequently withheld 2.3 million pounds of World Cup money from English cricket.

"It is only right and proper that all parts of the game should bear the pain. The ECB is committed to managing cricket on a thoroughly professional and modern basis, and we need to balance our books," Lamb said.

The West Indies Cricket Board has apologised to Australian Cricket Academy head coach Bennett King for prematurely announcing his name as the coach of the national team.

"I spoke to them this morning over phone about my disappointment regarding some of the processes and another couple of issues that are a little more personal," King said from Adelaide.

"They apologised for the confusion and expressed regret for using the word 'appointed' in their announcement."

King, who had applied for the position last December and appeared for an interview in early March, was on Thursday told that the job was his and the media had been informed.

But no official appointment offer had been made and no terms and conditions agreed with him.

King said the West Indies Board wants him to start in the first week of July after they replace Roger Harper following a disastrous World Cup campaign.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has said it has sorted out its internal finances and would pay the match fees and other payments due to the players before the team departs for the Dhaka triseries on April 9.

BCCI secretary S K Nair said that the board has to settle the dues from the NatWest series, which India won in England, to the recently concluded World Cup.

"It is not that the board does not have enough money to pay the players' dues. It was just that we were sorting out the internal finances and now that it is settled we would like to pay the players as early as possible," Nair said shortly after announcing the team for Dhaka.

"In fact, now we have decided to pay the players well in advance and compensate them by paying their share for the Dhaka triangular series even before the tournament commences," Nair said.

Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev has said that the failure of the BCCI to give rest to players is resulting in injuries to some of the key members of the team.

"There are people in the board who have played cricket for more than 20 years. I hope they know what it takes to play non-stop cricket throughout the year," said Kapil Dev, who was in New Delhi on Wednesday to announce the dates for presentation of the Hero Indian Sports Award.

Referring to the upcoming triseries in Dhaka just three weeks after the end of the World Cup, Kapil Dev said the players should have been given at least a month's break before embarking on any international tour.

"They are playing cricket throughout the year. They need time to spend with their families, manage their accounts and do other personal work," he said.

Australia's federal opposition has favoured granting asylum to Zimbabwe pace bowler Henry Olonga, who is hiding in South Africa.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd appealed to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to act, saying Australia should not forget Olonga's courage.

"I call on Mr Downer on behalf of the Australian government to organise a sporting scholarship for Henry Olonga to Australia so that he can come here to contribute to Australian cricket and to further his own personal cricketing career," Rudd said.

"I believe that is the right thing for Australia to do," he insisted, saying that Olonga's life is at greater risk than ever following the victory of Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.

The fast bowler had made a World Cup protest with teammate Andy Flower over what they perceived as human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

The two had worn black armbands and wristbands 'to mourn the death of democracy' in Zimbabwe's first two Cup matches.

Former policeman Shane Bond concluded his second season of international cricket by taking three honours, including player of the year, at New Zealand Cricket's awards dinner on Thursday.

The Canterbury paceman won the award for first-class bowling, the Walter Hadlee Trophy for one-day international bowling, and the overall National Bank player of the year title.

Bond bowled New Zealand to an inaugural Test series victory in the West Indies last July. He was its star player at the World Cup, where he took record New Zealand one-day international figures of six for 23 against eventual champions Australia.

A love for cricket was on display in Kolkata on Thursday, as children from different parts of the city sketched Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and the various glorious moments of the national side's performance in the World Cup.

Ganguly's ton against Kenya emerged as the favourite topic, while the batting of Sachin Tendulkar also found favour among the kids, who gave pictorial expression to their thoughts on the theme 'An Indian moment at the World Cup 2003'.

Organised by a private corporate house, the event 'draw for Sourav' attracted 68 children belonging to two age groups -- 8-12 and 12-16.

The Indian tricolour, wildly cheering fans in the stadia and the glittering World Cup were also captured in most of the canvasses.

Five children from each of the two groups will be selected to present their creations to Ganguly at a function at the Swabhumi Complex in Kolkata on Friday. Ganguly will also be felicitated on the occasion.

Sachin deposed before a five-member disciplinary committee of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Mumbai on Thursday after filing a complaint against his chartered accountant Madhav Bhatkhande over a financial dispute.

Sachin's brother Ajit, who handles the accounts, had gone to the institute to represent the cricketer. Later, Sachin and his wife Anjali also arrived at the institute to substantiate their charges against the chartered accountant.

Bhatkhande's chartered accountancy firm M/S MSB and Co had been handling Sachin's accounts since 1989. Bhatkhande reportedly borrowed Rs26 lakh from the cricketer in 1996. Later, his firm served on Sachin a bill of Rs42 lakh as fees.

The cricketer disputed the fees saying it was on the higher side and asked back his loan amount. Tendulkar also refused to pay the balance amount of Rs16 lakh, which the accountant claimed was due.

Bhatkhande dragged Tendulkar to the Mumbai high court, but the cricketer in turn filed a counter-complaint with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India based in Cuffe Parade in South Mumbai.