The national selectors will meet on January 29 to pick the India senior, India A and India B teams for the Challenger Trophy to be played in Chennai from February 12-15. The selectors will also pick the probables for the camp preceding the Australia home series.

Australian opening batsman Mark Waugh has agreed to face questioning over his alleged role in the match fixing scandal, conceding he was under pressure. Waugh in a letter faxed to the ACB chief said he was reconsidering his earlier refusal. The ACB welcomed his decision. Waugh was named by the Indian bookie Mukesh Gupta as being the recipient of $20,000 in 1993 in return for team and weather information. From Wellington, New Zealand, former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe has also agreed to co-operate with the ICC anti-corruption unit.

The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) said that the Australian Board (ACB) has been disrespectful in its attempts to convince Mark Waugh to co-operate with the ICC investigation. The ACB had informed Waugh that if he did not co-operate with the ICC he would not be considered for selection.
The BCCI anti-corruption commissioner K Madhavan is planning to summon former BCCI President IS Bindra for interrogation. Bindra is to be queried on the statements he has made recently to the media, regarding Prabhakar's allegations about Kapil Dev and his knowledge that the 1997 West Indies/India Sharjah encounter was fixed.

Former Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who is on a visit to Chennai in connection with the MRF pace academy said" I believe that anyone who is found guilty of taking money and fixing matches should be banned forever". Clarifying his stand, he said "I do not care who they are, whether it is Azharuddin, Cronje or anyone else, such players have got to be rid of."

The perfect house for an Indian cricket fan is for sale in London - 10 Dulka Road. Tom Gueterbock moved into Dulka Road in south-west London four years ago and sent out change-of-address cards adorned with an image of former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar. Now he wants to sell the terraced home. ``All my mates just say, 'We're going round to Sachin's for dinner'. It's become a bit of a running joke,'' Gueterbock said.
Three schoolboys Muthumudalige Puspakumara (Ananda), Sukith Pieris (Nalanda) and Kaushal Lokuarachchi (St. Peter's) have been included in the BCCSL Colts XI, which will take on the visiting England cricket team early next month. Puspakumara toured South Africa with the national team while Sukith Pieris has scored more than 650 runs for his school. Leg -spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi has claimed more than 40 wickets for St. Peter's this season.

Former South African off-spinner Pat Symcox, now a television commentator, who was supposed to coach the Pakistan junior side has now decided that he will not be able to fulfil this role. Symcox has been recently contracted by the South African Cricket Board to develop spin bowling in South Africa.

Orissa's medium pace bowler Debasis Mohanty created history when he became the sixth Indian bowler to take all ten wickets in a first-class match in India. He claimed 10-46 for East Zone in South Zone's first innings at Agartala in a Duleep Trophy match on January 25, 2001. By doing so he bettered the previous best figures by a bowler in the Duleep Trophy which was the 9-55 by leg-spinner Baloo Gupte for West Zone also against South Zone at Calcutta during the 1962-63 season.

The first bowler to do so on Indian soil was Australian all-rounder and left arm spinner Frank Tarrant (then stationed in India) for the Maharaja Cooch Behar's XI at the Poona Gymkhana Ground in August 1918. Then 37 years later in December 1954, leg-spinner Subash Gupte became the first Indian bowler to take all ten wickets for a Bombay XI against a touring Pakistani side at the Brabourne Stadium. Medium pacers PM Chatterjee (in 1956) and Pradeep Sunderam (in 1985) achieved their feats to become the only bowlers to do so in a Ranji Trophy match. Kumble took all ten in a Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground, Delhi in February 1999 while Mohanty has now become the first to achieve this in a Duleep Trophy match.

The full list:
10-90	FA Tarrant	Maharaja of Cooch Behar's XI Vs Lord Willingdons's XI	Poona	1918/19
10-78	SP Gupte	Bombay XI Vs Pakistan Services & Bahawalpur XI	Bombay	1954/55
10-20	PM Chatterjee	Bengal Vs Assam	Jorhat	1956/57
10-78	P Sunderam	Rajasthan Vs Vidharba	Jodhpur	1985/86
10-74	A Kumble	India v Pakistan	Delhi	1998/99
10-46	D Mohanty	East Zone v South Zone	Agartala	2000/01

Scores at a glance…..

Duleep Trophy (1st day) At Agartala (South Zone vs East Zone)
South Zone:
113 (Mohanty 10-46) & 3-0
East Zone:
124 (J Srinath 6-32)

At Delhi (North Zone vs Central Zone)
North Zone:
391-4 (V Dahiya 81, V Rathore 94, Yuvraj Singh 34, D Mongia 78 not out, V Shewag 43, RS Sodhi 34 not out)

Carlton Series: At Adelaide (West Indies vs Zimbabwe)
West Indies:
235-6 in 47 overs (M Samuels 68B Lara 70, R Powell 33; HH Streak 3-27)
Zimbabwe:
175 in 40.2 overs (A Flower 50, G Flower 41, M Nagatootoo 4-32).

JOKE OF THE DAY
The office boy had asked for the afternoon off to attend his uncle's funeral. Instead, he went to a cricket match where the score was 220-0. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and there was his boss.
"So this is your uncle's funeral?" asked the boss.
"Looks like it," replied the boy, "he's the bowler!'

Yesterday's News

Compiled by: Mohandas Menon