"India is afraid of losing to us on the cricket field," said Pakistani team manager Khawaja Mohammad Nasir on the sidelines of the Test series against Australia in Sharjah.
"There can be no other reason. India lost to Pakistan in Sharjah, Australia and Bangladesh and suddenly decided to stop playing us.
"The Indian nation is emotional about losing to Pakistan at cricket. India's constant refusal is playing havoc with the game in Asia. It's only a game and should not be a matter of life and death," Nasir, a retired brigadier of the Pakistan army, said.
India is scheduled to play a Test series in Pakistan next April, but the tour is likely to fall through given the border tensions between the two warring neighbours.
The controversial decision by South Africa's cricket chiefs to abolish compulsory race quotas at domestic level looks set to remain intact following a government appointed inquiry.
The inquiry's report was handed to sports minister Ngconde Balfour on Wednesday and although its contents were not revealed, all indications are that it will not recommend the reinstatement of quotas.
Balfour, meanwhile, added to the atmosphere of reconciliation by promising not to impose his will on the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) even if the inquiry's report recommended change.
"There is a difference between force and persuasion and I am not a forceful minister," Balfour told a news conference. "I never said I rejected what the UCB said - I simply said I would like to validate it. I would love to validate it."
Australia vs Pakistan in Sharjah
Pakistan captain Waqar Younis said it was unfortunate his country's golden jubilee series had to be played at neutral venues in Sri Lanka and Sharjah after Australia declined to tour Pakistan for security concerns.
"It would have been a grand affair had the series been played at home as scheduled," Waqar said.
England opener Michael Vaughan says he is ready for anything Glenn McGrath may have in store for him this winter.
Australian fast bowler McGrath plans to target an England batsman during the Ashes series.
McGrath has promised to name the player concerned before the start of the series on 7 November after previously focusing his attention on former captain Mike Atherton.
The likelihood is that the player in question is either Vaughan or fellow opener Marcus Trescothick. "It would be disappointing if he didn't target me," Vaughan said.
Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq has been ordered to remove stickers from his Test bat displaying the Ben Hollioake Fund because they are against cricket rules.
Surrey off-spinner Saqlain, 25, stuck the stickers on his bat in the first Test in Colombo against Australia to advertise the charity set up by Adam Hollioake in the wake of his younger brother's death earlier this year.
But International Cricket Council match referee Clive Lloyd ordered their removal for the second Test in Sharjah because they constituted advertising.
Both Saqlain and Adam Hollioake have foregone potential sponsorship deals with bat companies - worth £10,000-plus-a-year to each individual - in order to promote the charity, which raises money to help children with terminal illnesses.
Ashes series
England coach Duncan Fletcher has accepted a one-year extension to his contract.
His previous two-year deal was due to expire in 12 months' time but he will now continue at the helm until at least the autumn of 2004 following tours by New Zealand and West Indies.
The announcement of his new agreement was made the day before England set off to Australia for the Ashes series.
"Over the past three years, Duncan has proved himself an excellent man manager, a sound judge of talent and an astute tactician," said Tim Lamb, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Michael Kasprowicz has warned his former Australian team-mates to beware England's new pace duo Simon Jones and Steve Harmison after witnessing their potential first hand.
Kasprowicz played alongside Jones for Glamorgan in English county cricket earlier this year and rates the 23-year-old as one of the quickest bowlers in the game.
Jones, who began the English season as a relative unknown, was included in three England squads before eventually making his Test debut against India at Lord's, blasting a quick fire 44 before taking four wickets in the 170-run victory.
Although a side injury ruled him out of the squad for the rest of the (northern) summer, his absence opened the way for Durham's Harmison, who also enjoyed a positive debut with five wickets in the drawn second Test in Nottingham.
World Cup
Executive Director for the ICC Cricket World Cup Dr Ali Bacher on Wednesday rejected a claim that the World Cup Music Committee had been split along racial lines over the tournament anthem.
The report quoted musician Chicco Twala on Wednesday, claiming a song he had written for the event had been rejected as "too African" by white members of the music committee.
It further asserts that the row "had divided the committee into two racial camps - one white, which says the music is too African, and the group consisting of blacks, who say the music is suitable for the occasion".
"We really want all the different population groups in the country to feel it is their World Cup. We don't want to marginalise any one of those groups," said Bacher on Wednesday.
