West Indies manager Ricky Skerrit said on Thursday he won't allow his team to be used for target practice by rogue elements among the spectators, following crowd violence which has marred the limited-over series.
"There's no question about our desire to play cricket, but fans must realize it's just a game and not war happening in the middle," Skerrit said ahead of Friday's fourth limited-over international against India.
Going into the Ahmadabad match, the West Indies lead 2-1 in the seven-game series, which has been tarnished by crowd hooliganism which saw the Windies storm off the field in Tuesday's third one-dayer at Rajkot after fielder Vasbert Drakes was hit by a plastic water bottle thrown from the spectator stands.
"I'm not going to allow the rogue elements among spectators to use my players for target practice," said Skerrit, who has defended the Windies team decision not to resume the Rajkot match.
World Cup
The International Cricket Council is sending a four-man committee, headed by Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed, to New Delhi on Tuesday to hold meetings with various sponsors related to the World Cup to be played in South Africa from February next year.
The other members of the committee are Campbell Jameison, Commercial Manager of ICC Development International Limited (ICC's official name), General-Manager Cricket, David Richardson and Brendan McClements, who is the ICC's General Manager, Corporate Affairs.
It is understood that the committee will meet representatives of the various firms involved with sponsorships to thrash out a solution to a problem that had threatened to derail the ICC Knock-out tournament in Sri Lanka in September this year.
While most of the issues relating to the tournament sponsors' clash of interests with player and team sponsors had been skirted or deferred, none of the issues were ever really comprehensively sorted out, ensuring that the factor of clash of interest stays alive in the World Cup as well.
Pakistan in Zimbabwe
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has yet to decide on whether Shoaib Akhtar should be punished for ball-tampering.
The pace bowler was given a severe reprimand by match referee Clive Lloyd after a hearing on Tuesday evening but no further action is to be taken.
Shoaib took seven wickets in the first Test as Pakistan wrapped up a 119-run victory over Zimbabwe ith a day to spare.
A PCB spokesman Samiul Hasan told that the board will wait for a complete manager's report before deciding on further action.
"We have been told by the team management that Shoaib has been reprimanded on charges of ball tampering," Hasan said.
The Pakistan cricket squad arrived in the 'City of Kings' (Bulawayo) Thursday to begin preparations for the second and final Test of the series against Zimbabwe this weekend.
Having won the first Test in Harare by 119 runs with a day to spare, Wagar Younis's team will approach Saturdays full of warrior confidence in a city also know as 'the place of killing' because of its bloody past.
They will be playing on a slowish wicket that will last all scheduled five days and the weather, if it stays dry, might well be very hot.
This will suit the Pakistanis, even though their tactics call for only four bowlers.
Their team which will be revealed on Friday is likely to be the same as the one which defeated Zimbabwe, despite some shaky batting performances by Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan and Hassan Raza.
Sri Lanka in South Africa
South Africa received a boost with the news opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs will play in the second Test against Sri Lanka, starting on Friday at Centurion.
Gibbs was forced to withdraw from the side 30 minutes before the start of the first Test after injuring his back in the warm-up.
But he passed a fitness test on Thursday, paving the way for a swift return.
"I treated Herschelle twice a day on Monday and Tuesday this week in Cape Town," said South African team physiotherapist Shane Jabaar.
"He took a full part in training (on Wednesday) and (Thursday's) fitness test was simply to put his back under a bit of pressure and make sure there was no reaction."
Stand-in Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu has called on his side to stand up and be counted when the second Test against South Africa gets underway at Centurion, near Pretoria, on Friday.
Sri Lanka were thrashed by an innings and 64 runs in the first Test at the Wanderers on Sunday and go into Friday's match without regular captain, Sanath Jayasuriya, who damaged the ligaments in his right ankle during training this week. The injury is thought to require two weeks to heal.
Left hander Jehan Mubarak, who made his Test debut against Bangladesh earlier this year, is expected to come into the side in Jayasuriya's absence.
Atapattu admitted the loss of the skipper was a major blow for Sri Lanka, but said it was now up to the eleven that take the field on Friday to carry the fight to the South Africans.
England in Australia
Australia have named an unchanged squad for the second Ashes Test against England, in Adelaide on 21 November.
The hosts have stuck with the 12 men who won the first Test in Brisbane by 384 runs.
While the batting order appears settled, Australia's fastest bowler Brett Lee is competing with Andy Bichel for a place in the starting XI.
Lee was dropped for the opening Test and responded by taking 10 wickets for New South Wales in an interstate match against Tasmania.
Australia squad: Stephen Waugh (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne.
Miscellaneous
Australian Test captain Steve Waugh is being challenged to keep his place in the world's best Test cricket side, legendary fast bowling champion Dennis Lillee said on Friday.
Waugh, 37, was "the standout failure in the home side" in the first Test against England in Brisbane, Lillee said.
Australia crushed their old rival by 384 runs in the match ending Sunday -- but Waugh failed with the bat in both innings.
He has already been dropped from the country's one-day team.
"I'm not calling for the Australian captain's head just yet," Lillee said.
"But if Waugh seriously entertains thoughts of touring the West Indies early next year, he had better start making a better fist of England's fast bowling than he did in the first Test.
"That England's far from ferocious pace attack was able to get rid of Waugh cheaply twice at the 'Gabba caused me to raise my eyebrows.
"If Waugh is genuinely struggling to handle that calibre of fast bowling, it does not auger well for his prospects in the Caribbean.
The Oval will continue as an international venue for the next 20 years after Surrey signed a staging agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Thursday.
The agreement means The Oval, which staged the first ever Test match in England in 1880, will play host to matches involving visiting national sides up to and including 2022.
It also provides the financial support for the Surrey club to progress its plans to modernise and redevelop the stadium.
This year's championship-winning club plans to increase The Oval's 18,500 capacity to 23,000.
Former West Indies youth team captain Dudnath Ramkissoon has replaced Ian Bishop as chairman of selectors for the senior Trinidad and Tobago cricket team.
Former Trinidad and West Indies player Bishop, who was one of the fastest bowlers ever to reach 100 wickets in Test cricket, was selector in 2002 but opted out of the post next year because of other work commitments, including a job doing television commentary, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board said yesterday.
Ramkissoon, who captained the first-ever West Indies youth team to tour England in 1970, held the top selector position in 1991. He is currently a vice president of the local cricket board as well as chairman of the National Cricket League.
Joining him on the panel will be former West Indies stars Anthony Gray and David Williams, as well as former national all-rounder Roland Sampath.
