Ian Chappell has sensationally blamed Sir Donald Bradman's meanness for the birth of World Series Cricket.
He claims the late Bradman would not pay Australian players a fair wage and treated the Australian Cricket Board's money as if it was his own.
"Bradman to me has as much to do with the starting of World Series Cricket as anybody, because I got the feeling Bradman treated the board money as though it was almost his own," Chappell said.
"He wasn't going to shell out anything. I think one of the most disappointing things about my relationship with Don Bradman was the fact he didn't have any sympathy for players of this period (early 1970s).
Chappell's controversial allegations to interviewer Mike Coward will be aired on the ABC tonight in the latest in the documentary series Cricket In The '70s - The Chappell Era.
He said Bradman's refusal to pay a fair wage was a major catalyst in the greatest revolution in Australian cricket history.
The Cricket Club of India will have another couple of memories added to its list of memorabilia - the club was presented with two glimmering silver trophies of the club's structure at a function yesterday.
The presentation was a gift back to the club made by Faiz Jasdanwalla, a life member and son of former president of the club Abdullahbhai Jasdanwalla.
The trophies under consideration were once presented by CCI members and staff to the senior Jasdanwalla in 1945 to acknowledge his relentless services towards the association.
"The trophies have been a part of my life," Faiz Jasdanwalla said. "Since I am single, there would be nobody to look after them once I am gone.
I decided to present them back to the club because it's significance could be appreciated.
New Zealand's cricket authorities have offered central contracts to 20 players, two weeks after resolving a pay dispute that threatened to tear the domestic game apart.
The only surprise inclusion is one-day specialist Paul Hitchcock, who has played six limited-overs internationals despite having taken part in only one first-class game in his career.
The other 19 players are familiar faces, including captain Stephen Fleming, all-rounder Chris Cairns, batsman Nathan Astle, spinner Daniel Vettori and fast bowler Shane Bond.
New Zealand have adopted the Australian points system for determining who gets a contract.
A selection panel of Sir Richard Hadlee, Denis Aberhart, Ross Dykes and Brian McKechnie chose the top 25 Test and the best 25 one-day stars.
World Cup
Corlett Drive, which leads to the Wanderers stadium in South Africa, will be closed to traffic between Rudd and Jacobs roads from midnight on Tuesday for 24 hours as a security "dry run" for the Cricket World Cup in February.
There will also be warning and traffic-free zones on the outskirts of the Wanderers precinct, where parking will be prohibited.
Instead, spectators will be encouraged to make use of park-and-ride or park-and-walk facilities situated close to the ground.
The practice run coincides with the first match of the one-day series against Sri Lanka. The idea is to ensure what the World Cup organisers have called a "people-friendly but secure event".
The Sri Lanka series will be used as pilot projects to help ensure the smooth running of World Cup matches and to test the spectator safety systems which will be in place for the event.
But local residents and businesses are fuming about the plans, saying they had been neither informed nor consulted about them.
With just 72 days to go for the 2003 World Cup, concern about the staging of six pool matches in Zimbabwe have mounted.
Two British journalists, Chief Sports Reporter of the Times and another for the Daily Mail, have been refused visas by the Zimbabwean High Commission to accompany ICC inspectors on their tour of Zimbabwe for security assessment.
The ICC also said that there were no guarantees that overseas reporters would be allowed to cover the six World Cup games in the country. The World Cup is being co-hosted by South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The last has been racked by political and economic turmoil in the last two years.
British Sports Minister Richard Caborn is outraged. "I do not accept that any country should censure qualified journalists from reporting."
He said the ICC should consider whether Zimbabwe is a fit and proper place in which to run international matches. The ICC group, including the representatives of all six countries scheduled to play in Zimbabwe, is to recommend whether the games can go ahead safely during the World Cup. Otherwise, the ICC could switch them to South Africa.
Cricket's ruling body has rejected a sporting embargo on Zimbabwe ahead of next year's World Cup.
A 10-man International Cricket Council delegation is currently on a three-day tour of Zimbabwe to inspect the security arrangements.
They will decide whether World Cup games can be staged in the country after the inspection.
But ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, who is in Zimbabwe, said they would not concern themselves with political matters.
"Sporting sanctions are a blunt instrument that are generally not effective. Cricket can do something positive in countries where it is played and enjoyed," he said.
Domestic news
Khadoos! That's what Mumbai cricket was known till some time ago.
Even though the Ranji team had done badly in the last season, there are forces in Mumbai that keep this - khadoos - character alive.
The city of dreams never fails to deliver.
The moment you feel Mumbai cricket is falling from the pedestal, there occurs a dream knock to lift it back and put it back to where it belongs.
And every time it is the Mumbai Schools Sports Association that comes to the rescue. Years back, it was Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli who were involved in a world record partnership of 600-odd runs.
Now, take this: Chasing a total of 236 runs set by S V Joshi school (Dombivli) in a Giles Shield match, Saraswati Vidyalaya (Thane) were bowled out for 119.
So what's new? Joshi conceded 16 extras, one run each was scored Nishant Dixit and Snehadeep Lolikar, while opener Vidyadhar Kamath recorded his maiden century in inter-school cricket.
So with Kamath's 101 and 16 extras, the remaining 10 batsmen in the team contributed just two runs! Statisticians say this is unheard of. It is, however, being verified at top level.
The 13-year-old said about the 'feat': ''My coach (Vinod Puranik) had asked me for a century and I was only concentrating on that. At the end of the day I was happy to score a ton but sad that my school lost.
Sri Lanka in South Africa
World Cup hosts and second favourites South Africa begin a key pre-tournament campaign with the first of five one-day matches against Sri Lanka.
The home team's credentials would be seriously damaged with a series loss to the inconsistent Sri Lankans.
And that is something skipper Shaun Pollock is only too aware of.
"This is an important period of our World Cup preparation," said Pollock after the team's final practice session.
"Sri Lanka represent very tough opposition," he said.
I am probably not the most popular groundsman in those guys' books at the moment, am I? So surmised Wanderers groundsman Chris Scott wryly on Tuesday.
Justin Ontong will replace the injured Jonty Rhodes in the South African middle order for the first one day international against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers on Wednesday.
Rhodes finally lost the battle to get fit on Tuesday despite intensive sessions with team physiotherapist Shane Jabaar.
"I've been working with him four or five times a day," said Jabaar after training on Tuesday. "And tomorrow, when the guys are on the field, we'll do some more work.
"We'll probably have a better idea tomorrow night whether he'll be okay for the Centurion game on Friday."
The 31-year-old Rhodes pulled his left hamstring while fielding for Natal against North West on Friday night in Durban.
Watching the South African and Sri Lankan teams practise on the outfield, the man who has worked at the Bullring for the past 32 years admits it's been a week where "things have just gone wrong and wrong and wrong" ahead of Wednesday's opening one-day international.
On Tuesday both sides expressed their unhappiness with the quality of the Wanderers practice nets.
The South Africans barely used the nets at all on Tuesday and needed to alter their normal practice routine, with unhappy captain Shaun Pollock saying the nets were "damp and underprepared".
The Sri Lankans weren't happy, either.
"We struggled with it (the nets). We hardly batted on it and just did throw-downs. It was still very wet," remarked batsman Mahela Jayawardene.
England in Australia
Australia's runaway wins against England in the first two Tests of the Ashes series have not dampened spectator enthusiasm with record crowds expected for the third Test starting on Friday, officials said.
"The Perth Test could surpass all previous Test match attendance records at the WACA Ground," Western Australian Cricket Association chief executive Kath White said on Tuesday.
She said indications were that the opening day of the Perth clash could attract more than 22 000 people, shattering the ground's record first-day attendance of 16 894 when the West Indies confronted Australia here two years ago.
"With a rush of sales in recent weeks, prospects of record first, second and third day attendances are mounting," she said.
"Pre-sales of tickets exceed those for all 29 previous Tests in Perth.
"We expect most seating for the first three days could be sold before the match starts."
A $7-million (about R70m) ground refurbishment had heightened interest, White said.
The records for second and third days in Perth are 22 680 and 24 151 respectively, both against England in 1974.
Key England batsman Michael Vaughan has been told to expect a hostile reception from Australia's bowlers in Perth on Friday for the third Test.
Australian paceman Glenn McGrath has warned Vaughan he can expect a series of bouncers when the third Test begins, after his outstanding 177 and 41 in Adelaide last weekend.
Vaughan slapped three short balls for six in Adelaide but the Australians aren't convinced he will be as effective with shorter-pitched deliveries on a lively Perth wicket.
"Rest assured we'll be testing Vaughan with plenty of short stuff in the third Test," McGrath told London's Sun newspaper.
"Does he hook or does he duck? I don't think spectators will have to wait long to find out.
Paul Collingwood faced an intimidating start to his Ashes tour after joining the England squad ahead of the third Test in Perth.
The Durham all-rounder was drafted in to the squad as cover for John Crawley (thigh) and Michael Vaughan (shoulder).
England called up Collingwood, 26, because he is already acclimatised after playing grade cricket in Melbourne.
He said he is looking forward to the possibilty of playing in Perth, but already feels the pressure of touring Australia.
"Every Australian was getting into me when I first arrived in Melbourne. It just seems that if you're a Pom they get straight down your throat," he said.
West Indies in Bangladesh
Bangladesh cricket officials expect a cyclone gathering steam in the Bay of Bengal will not affect the first one-day international between the home side and West Indies on Friday.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department said the cyclone was likely to hit Chittagong, the venue for the first of the three-match one-day series, early on Wednesday, but match organisers said they were not worried about the forecast as the weather was expected to improve by Friday.
"We are fully prepared for the match," Shahed Asgar Chowdhury, coordinator for the Chittagong matches, said by telephone.
Chowdhury said army personnel would also assist police in patrolling the stadium during the match to prevent a repeat of scenes that marred the one-day series in India when the crowd pelted the field with missiles.
The West Indies squad arrived in Bangladesh from India, where they won the one-dayers 4-3 but lost the Test series 2-0, on Tuesday.
West Indies coach Roger Harper said his team will use the tour of Bangladesh as preparation for next year's World Cup.
The Windies arrived in Dhaka ahead of a two Test and three limited-overs series. The first one-day international will be played in Chittagong on Friday.
The visitors hope to build on a thrilling 4-3 victory in the limited-overs series in India.
Bangladesh have lost 14 of their 15 Tests since making their debut in 2000, but Harper refused to write them off.
"We'll try to perform as we did in India, but we'll also be cautious about some of the hardworking Bangladeshi players," he said.
The only surprise inclusion is one-day specialist Paul Hitchcock, who has played six limited-overs internationals despite having taken part in only one first-class game in his career. 
The home team's credentials would be seriously damaged with a series loss to the inconsistent Sri Lankans.
Key England batsman Michael Vaughan has been told to expect a hostile reception from Australia's bowlers in Perth on Friday for the third Test.