England in India

England are set to play an extra one-day international in India on Jan 19 in order to save next summer's fourth Test at the Oval, which India had threatened not to play.
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Tim Lamb, who returned to Britain from India on Saturday, had been given complete authority to negotiate with the Indian board after potential problems arose.

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England will be without Graham Thorpe for the remaining two Tests in India. The Surrey left-handed batsman flies back to England later on Tuesday to deal with private matters at home. It was decided on Monday night - the eve of the second Test - that Thorpe, 32, should be released for the final fortnight of the six-week tour. Yorkshire's Michael Vaughan replaced him in the side for the Ahmedabad match.

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Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly will not allow any complacency from his team during the second Test at Ahmedabad. Already 1-0 up after winning the opening game of the series by 10 wickets, Ganguly is determined not to give England even the slightest glimmer of an opportunity. India are eager to restore their reputation in the yes of their fans following a disappointing tour to South Africa.

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Coach John Wright said it was imperative for him to produce results as his performance was being scrutinized by fans and officials alike.
"Everyone should be responsible and accountable ... My position as India's coach is no different," Wright said in the western Indian city of Ahmadabad on the eve of the India's second test against England, a series that could have a far-reaching impact on Indian cricket.
Wright, a former New Zealand captain, is under pressure "to deliver an enhanced performance" from Indian cricket's new boss, Jagmohan Dalmiya.

West Indies and Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka

Teenage fast bowler Jermaine Lawson will make his international debut for West Indies when they face Sri Lanka in the third match of the triangular series on Tuesday. The 19-year-old Lawson has been picked ahead of Marlon Black for the West Indies' second match, a game they need to win to stay in the series after losing to Zimbabwe on Sunday.

"I think this is an opportunity for us to expose a few more players and let the captain and coach see what material we have out there," Skerritt said.

South Africa in Australia

South Africa are poised to gamble by leaving champion fast bowler Allan Donald out of the first Test starting in Adelaide on Friday. Donald, 35, has failed his elaborate bid to prove his fitness to play the Test world championship opener. He is now expected to set his sights on a comeback in Melbourne's Boxing Day Test in a fortnight.
Team insiders rate Donald just a 15 per cent chance of playing in Adelaide after he suffered a foot injury and copped a mauling from WA batsmen in the four-day tour match in Perth.

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South Africa comfortably avoided defeat in their warm-up game for the Test series as Jacques Kallis and Neil McKenzie made final day centuries. The tourists enjoyed an excellent day with all their batsmen playing themselves into form apart from youngster Jacques Rudolph, who could win his first Test cap on Friday if Herschelle Gibbs fails to recover from a groin problem.

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Shane Warne is adamant he has no problems being in the same Test team as fellow leggie Stuart MacGill. Warne said he and MacGill, who was recalled to the Australian squad for the first Test against South Africa starting in Adelaide on Friday, got along well and always had.
"Certain people seem to think there's some big rift between myself and Stuey," Warne told reporters after an Australian fitness session at Adelaide Oval. "We've always got along, we've toured together a few times and we've also been out to dinner a few times, shared a drink after a match.

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South African left arm spinner, Nicky Boje, says that as far as he was concerned he was fit enough to tour Australia with the national cricket side. The Johannesburg daily, The Citizen, reported on Tuesday that Boje was "packed and ready to go".

Boje told the paper "but then I was told at the last minute by selection committee convenor Rushdie Magiet that I'd have to stand down because the UCB was supposedly unwilling to take a risk with me."

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