Pakistani players disciplined

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger donated Rs 25 lakh (approximately US $52,600) to the Cricket Club of India's cricket academy on Tuesday after he was conferred honorary life membership of the club in Mumbai by its president Raj Singh Dungarpur.

Jagger, a keen cricket enthusiast, was conferred life membership along with bandmates Charles Watts, Keith Richards and Ronald Woods at the Brabourne stadium before the start of their concert on Monday evening.

Pakistan's new work ethic and disciplinary rules claimed their first casualty on Wednesday when two youngsters were slapped with a one-match ban by the team management for reporting late for practice.

Mohammad Zahid and Naved Latif were not considered for the last league match of the Sharjah Cup against Kenya.

Coach Javed Miandad said the action was aimed at instilling a sense of discipline in the side, especially the younger members. "Dedication and commitment to the team should be uppermost in their minds," he said.

All-rounder Bhavin Thakkar will be captain of the Mumbai under-25 squad that will take part in the Board of Control for Cricket in India's all-India knockout tournament at Bangalore, starting April 12.

Mumbai Cricket Association joint secretary Mayank Khandwala said Ranji Trophy player and left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar will be Thakkar's deputy.

The team: Bhavin Thakkar (captain), Rajesh Pawar (vice-captain), Vinit Indulkar, Pushkaraj Jadhav, Himanshu Waigankar, Abhijit Shetye, Wilkin Mota, Majid Ansari, Swapnil Hazare, Rajesh Verma, Mussavir Khote, Abhishek Nair, Dushyant Kadam, Manish Bangera and Harshad Rawle.

Stand-byes: Sahil Kukreja, Vijay Singh, Omkar Salvi and Sameer Surve.

Coach: K Jayantilal.

Manager: Hemant Gharat.

West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle acknowledged that his 'misguided' decision to compete in a double-wicket international tournament probably cost him a match against Australia in the first Test starting on Thursday.

But Gayle, with 28 Test caps since his debut in 1999, said he believed the West Indies Cricket Board had allowed him to compete in the tournament in St Lucia rather than play for Jamaica in the Carib Beer final against Barbados. "While I may have made a misguided decision, I do not believe I have done anything wrong," the 23-year-old left-hander said.

Jamaica's cricket team manager Lyndel Wright and captain Robert Samuels said they gave Gayle the green light to play in the tournament because they also felt that West Indies officials had approved his participation.

The WICB was not immediately available for comment.

Former New Zealand off-spinner John Bracewell is among the candidates to become Sri Lanka's cricket coach, but no decision has been taken, Anura Tennekoon, chief executive of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, said.

The BCCSL has decided not to renew coach Dav Whatmore's contract when it expires in May, following the team's semi-final exit at the World Cup last month.

Bracewell, 44, has helped English county Gloucestershire win six one-day trophies in the past four seasons, after winning just two trophies in 117 years. The former Otago and Auckland all-rounder played 41 Tests for New Zealand from 1980 to 1990, scoring 1,001 runs and taking 102 wickets.

Another candidate is former Australian wicketkeeper Steve Rixon, 49, who coached the New Zealand team from 1996 to1999, then returned to Sydney for a second stint as coach of the New South Wales team.

A legislation on sports transformation may soon be introduced to ensure that the country's sporting teams, especially in cricket, are more representative, South Africa's Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour has said.

Balfour said the country's cricket and rugby sporting codes in particular were still predominantly white nearly a decade after the introduction of a non-racial democracy in South Africa.

"I have so far resisted the option of legislating on sports transformation, offering national federations instead to reconsider their own options for driving the initiative in their structures," he told the parliament. "Teams from Europe look more representative than our national teams," he remarked.

The minister said he would continue with plans to facilitate the establishment of a National Sports Academy to speed up the transformation processes.

Realistic enough to know what it means to lose the important wicket of Carl Hooper even before the series has begun, West Indian coach Augustine Logie is determined to exploit the "immense talent" his younger guys have. Logie, yet not the full-time coach, said, "It is a bit disappointing and disheartening and the loss of Carl Hooper is a strange twist to the situation."

While fans are still in shock at Hooper's non-availability, there should be excitement over the array of young cricketers in the squad, such as Carlton Baugh and Jermaine Lawson, he said. Besides, "the senior players -- Brian Lara, Shiv Chanderpaul, Merv Dillon, along with the management, myself included -- will have to reinforce the purpose of West Indies cricket. This is a tremendous opportunity for the team as a whole to rise above the thunderclouds and fly in the jet-streams."

Teams:
West Indies (from): Brian Lara (captain), Carlton Baugh, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Daren Ganga, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs (wicketkeeper), Jermaine Lawson, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith.

Australia (from):
Steve Waugh (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Martin Love, Darren Lehmann, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Andy Bichel, Stuart MacGill.